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the souls that were therein; he left none remaining, according to all that he had done to Eglon; but destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein.

And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir; and fought against it: and he took it, and the king thereof, and all the cities thereof; and they smote them with the edge of the sword, and utterly destroyed all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir, and to the king thereof; as he had done also to Libnah, and to her king.

So Joshua smote all the hill country, and the south, and the lowland, and the slopes, and all their kings: he left none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded. And Joshua smote them from Kadesh-barnea even unto Gaza, and all the country of Goshen, even unto Gibeon. And all these kings and their land did Joshua take at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel. And Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, unto the camp to Gilgal.

XVI

THE STORY OF DEBORAH

(Judges iv-v)

Introductory Note.-It must be understood that the Israelites, nothwithstanding the warnings of Moses and Joshua, failed to dispossess the Canaanites of their walled cities. When Israel was strong, the Canaanites paid tribute; but when, as often happened, Israel was hard pressed by attacks from the outside, the Canaanites shut their gates, leaving the Israelites without strongholds.

After having been oppressed by the kings of Moab and delivered by the valor of Ehud, the Benjaminite, Israel was overwhelmed by an alliance of Syrians and the Canaanites of Northern Palestine.

And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, when Ehud' was dead. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, that reigned in Hazor; the captain of whose host was Sisera, which dwelt in Harosheth of the Gentiles. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord: for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and twenty years he mightily oppressed the children of Israel.

And Deborah a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth she judged Israel at that time. And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el

1. See Introductory Note.

2. A woman who could arouse enthusiasm by exhortation and song.

3. As palm-trees were rare in Palestine, this "is mentioned as a well known and solitary landmark."

in the hill country of Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. And she sent and called Barak the son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him:-"Hath not the Lord God of Israel commanded, saying, Go and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali, and of the children of Zebulun? And I will draw unto thee, to the river Kishon", Sisera, the captain of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude; and I will deliver him into thine. hand."

And Barak said unto her:-"If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go."

And she said: "I will surely go with thee: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.”

And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. And Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh; and he went up with ten thousand men at his feet and Deborah went up with him. Now Heber the Kenite, which was of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had severed himself from the Kenites, and pitched his tent unto the plain of Zaanaim, which is by Kedesh.

4. Between Bethel and Shechem.

5. The rivers of Palestine, except the Jordan, are merely places where water flows when it rains. In the winter and spring, the Kishon is a considerable brook which flows for thirty miles through southern Galilee into the Sea at Mt. Carmel.

And they shewed Sisera that Barak the son of Abinoam was gone up to mount Tabor." And Sisera gathered together all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him, from Harosheth of the Gentiles unto the river of Kishon.

And Deborah said unto Barak:-"Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand is not the Lord gone out before thee?"

So Barak went down from mount Tabor and ten thousand men after him. And the Lord discomfited' Sisera, and all his chariots, and all his host, with the edge of the sword before Barak; so that Sisera lighted down off his chariot, and fled away on his feet. But Barak pursued after the chariots, and after the host, unto Harosheth of the Gentiles: and all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left.

Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him:-"Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not.”

And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. And he said unto

6. An isolated flat-topped mountain of northern Palestine, about 10 miles southwest of the Sea of Gennesaret. Harosheth is near Lake Merom on the upper Jordan.

7. Note the dramatic force of this word.

her:—“Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty."

And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.

Again he said unto her:-"Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No."

Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him:"Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest." And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin the king of Canaan.

Then

sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day saying:-"

For that the leaders took the lead in Israel,

For that the people offered themselves willingly,

Bless ye the Lord.

8. Note the dramatic force of this simple statement of fact.

9. See Outline Study, Note 40.

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