Listening Carefully to the Bible : The Many Voices in Deborah

S tudents often approach the familiar stories of the Bible wondering what more they can learn from texts they have been reading since childhood.As teachers, we face the challenge of getting students to focus on the text itself, without being overly influenced by the preconceptions and interpretations that have become attached to these stories through centuries of retelling and commentary. One day, early in the history of ancient Israel, men and women gathered in the hill country of Palestine with their timbrels and harps to celebrate the victory of Yahweh over the gods of Canaan.Their voices can still be heard in the Song of Deborah (Judges 5). In Judges 4, the narrator invokes the standardized formula of disobedience and deliverance established earlier in Judges (i.e., Chapter 2:“The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord”).Then, as the pattern leads us to expect, the Israelites “cried out to the Lord” for deliverance from Jabin and his 900 chariots of iron. Out of the communal clamor, we can distinguish the voices of individuals: Deborah speaks to Barak; Barak speaks to Deborah.Their dialogue leads to other dialogues—between (1) Jael and Sisera, (2) Jael and Barak, and (3) Sisera’s mother and her wise ladies of the court.Within the story, we also find voices cited indirectly. Finally, bringing all these voices together in concert are the voices of the storyteller and the poet.