DEBORAH
1. A prophetess, and wife of Lapidoth, judged the Israelites, and dwelt under a palm-tree between Ramah and Bethel, Judges 4:4, Judges 1:4. She sent for Barak, directed him to attack Sisera, and promised him victory. Barak, however, refused to go unless she accompanied him, which she did, but told him that the success of the expedition would be imputed to a woman and not to him. After the victory, Deborah composed a splendid triumphal song, which is preserved in Judges 1:5-31.
2. The nurse of Rebekah, whom she accompanied from Aram into Canaan, Genesis 1:24-67. At her death, near Bethel, she was buried with honorable marks of affection, Genesis 35:8. There is something very beautiful in this simple and artless record, which would scarcely find a place in our grand histories, treating only of kings, statesmen, and renowned warriors. They seldom take the trouble of erecting a memorial to obscure worth and a long life of humble usefulness.