“Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying…”
Truly exalted poetry aptly describes Deborah’s divinely-inspired song. By no means is the Bible
(or post-Biblical times) a stranger to divine poetry or song, as Abravanel writes extensively in
Exodus 15 (See Abravanel’s World.). But even a quick glimpse shows depth and insight. At
heart, the poem reads as a paean to the Maker, for having delivered the Jews from their
enemies’ clutches. “And the hand of the Children of Israel prevailed more and more against
Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan. Then sang Deborah and
Barak the son of Abinoam on that day, saying…”
Deborah the prophetess penned her song for the ages. Beside the religious overtone
reverberating throughout the stanzas, It’s also replete with a frank assessment of her
countrymen. We shall see how Deborah sang the praises of some tribes, for their valor and
altruism, while of other tribes she painted disparaging hues. We’ll focus on Abravanel’s
comments on a segment of Deborah’s song.
“The kings came, they fought; then fought the kings of Canaan, in Taanach by the waters of
Megiddo; they took no gain of money.” Abravanel explains that the Hebrew tribes did not want
to lend a hand in the holy cause, in God’s war. Contrast that attitude of laissez-faire, per se,
with that of the Gentile leaders. “The kings came, they fought…” Volunteerism, for the
Hebrews’ enemies, was off the charts; they came in droves.
They also came for free. “They took no gain of money.” Though soldiers of fortune could have
extracted handsome sums for their efforts, they didn’t ask King Jabin for a farthing. Money was
the last thing on their minds. If Hebrew enemies came to fight the good fight, the Hebrews
themselves acted differently. Love or money wouldn’t budge them from the comforts of home,
from their indifference. To their brothers who felt the brunt of King Jabin’s onslaught, the tribes
turned a cold shoulder.
In the vacuum, in the breach, the God of Israel appeared. “They fought from heaven, the stars
in their courses fought against Sisera.” The Maker took the field, in a manner of speaking, to
defeat Jabin and Sisera. In addition to God’s help from above, He also enlisted nature below.
“The brook Kishon swept them away, that ancient brook, the brook Kishon. O my soul, tread
them down with strength.” Rushing waters swept away Canaanite warriors. Abravanel contends
that the decisive battle between Deborah and Barak’s troops and those of Jabin and Sisera took
place at river’s edge. Yet, for enemy troops either wanting to flee or join the fight, mighty
waters waved – decimating them. How? River banks flooded the area, miraculously. Chariots of
iron stuck in the mud, where wheels became decoupled from the chassis. Thus, for Abravanel,
“that ancient brook” alludes to those other bodies of waters that brought storied victories to
the Jewish nation. We refer to the splitting of the Red Sea, as well as the parting of the Jordan
River.
Here, in Judges, it was the brook of Kishon that bamboozled the enemy. Miraculously, for all
the damage and chaos Kishon’s waters perpetrated against the Canaanites, the Hebrews had
not been harmed in the least bit. For them, fording the fickle brook water was, well easy as pie.
”O my soul, tread them down with strength.” Deborah exclaims that from the great victory at
Kishon, her soul exults. The prophetess refers to the river wreaking havoc with the enemy
(albeit kind to the Jews). “Then did the horse hoofs stamp by reason of the prancing, the
prancing of their mighty ones.” Kishon knew which horses to pass, and which to bewitch.