Deborah

Deb´uh-ruh; Heb., “bee”

1 Rebekah’s nurse (Gen 35:8; Gen 24:59). 2 An Israelite judge and prophet. Though the exact duties of the judges are not clear, some appear to have exercised legal functions, while others were purely military leaders. Deborah combined these two important offices in addition to holding a third one, that of prophet (Judg 4:4). She rendered legal decisions to Israelites who came to her in the hill country of Ephraim (Judg 4:5), and she led an Israelite coalition to victory over the militarily superior Canaanite forces of Sisera in the plain of Esdraelon. Deborah’s victory is recorded in prose (Judg 4) and poetry (Judg 5). 3 The grandmother of Tobit (Tob 1:8).