JUDGES 4: BIBLICAL PROSE

As an interesting way to look at the difference between biblical prose and poetry, consider the story of the Judge Deborah found in Judges 4 and repeated in Judges 5. The first of these chapters, discussed below, is written in typical biblical prose while Chapter 5 (discussed in a separate post) retells the same story in biblical poetry.

Judges 4:1-3: The first verse sets the scene by referring to the previous judge and alluding to the repeated pattern of disobedience. Except for use of numbers as adjectives, there are no adjectives in these verses and only two adverbs ("again" and "cruelly"). It is the same in the rest of the chapter – only a few adjectives and adverbs are used. So when they are present it is usually a tip-off that the author wanted to make an important point (as above). This is true of all the prose accounts in the Bible. In biblical history the emphasis is usually on action; it is very concise, laconic. I am always surprised on re-reading familiar stories with how much is crammed into a few verses. Cain killing Abel and being sent into exile – 9 verses, Tower of Babel story – only 9 verses long, etc.

By contrast, there is a cartoon of Paul and Luke in a ship. Luke says, “Here's what I have so far, Paul. 'And as we sailed from Philippi, the rising sun shimmered in a thousand reflections on the blue waters of the Mediterranean.'” Nothing in Biblical prose even approaches the flowery language used here.

Judges 4:23-24: (spoiler alert) Let's jump to the very end of the story in Judges 4. “So on that day God subdued King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites. Then the hand of the Israelites bore harder and harder on King Jabin of Canaan, until they destroyed King Jabin of Canaan.”

This is a good example of what is called an inclusio, where similar language appears at the start (v. 2) and end of an account to act as a pair of bookends. "An inclusio functions to stamp a particular rhetorical meaning on a poem [or prose]. When it is repeated at the end of the poem, the opening line sounds both largely the same and slightly different at the same time. It sounds the same in the sense that the ideas of the phrase have not changed and are being repeated and so reemphasized. On the other hand, because of the poetry [or prose] that has intervened, the phrase sounds a little different – perhaps more sad, or more poignant, or more joyful.” (Rolf Jacobson, The Book of Psalms, p. 126)

At the start of the story Jabin is a formidable enemy oppressing the Israelites; at the end he is himself oppressed by the Israelites. Note the progression each time “King Jabin of Canaan” is repeated. First he is subdued, then oppressed, and finally destroyed by the Israelites. This reversal is stressed by repetition of the key word “hand” in each passage. Even though the account is quite concise, note that the whole phrase “King Jabin of Canaan” is repeated three times. Why? Mostly for literary effect.

Repetition of “king” may also be a subtle comment on the powerlessness of kings and God's disapproval of them. This will start to become an issue with the next judge, Gideon, because the people try to talk him into being a king over Israel. “Canaan” is also repeated three times to stress the fact that by this time in history the Jews should have conquered all of Canaan.

There is also “the rule of three,” a writing principle stating that things coming in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. Think of all the fairy tales such as Goldilocks and the Three Bears or The Three Little Pigs that have groups of three in them.

At the end of John's Gospel. Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him, Peter answers “yes” each time with increasing exasperation just as earlier he became increasingly angrier the three times he was asked if he was one of Jesus' followers. Then Jesus says, “Feed my sheep,” or the equivalent, three times to balance out the three denials.

Judges 4:4-5: Now we are introduced to one of the main characters in the story. We don't know how she came to be recognized as a leader, and this important role seems a bit surprising considering the general view of women in biblical times. And when she is called a prophetess, that should raise some red flags when we remember the only other female prophet in Israel mentioned up to this point in the Bible. It was Miriam, the sister of Moses, and she ended up rebelling against his leadership and being cursed with leprosy by God. So there is a subtle hint that perhaps Deborah will follow in Miriam's footsteps. Notice again the conciseness of the accounts. They deal with action, not adjectives. To find out more about Deborah, we will need to center in on the subsequent action and dialogue, The author wants you to reach your own conclusion regarding characters. A writer of good literature always demonstrates rather than tells.

Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice makes you wonder about the actual character of the hero, Mr. Darcy, until the very end. He appears to be cold-hearted and reserved throughout the book, but is revealed in the end by his actions to be kind and caring. The book would completely lose its power, suspense and appeal if Jane Austen had immediately told us what Darcy's innermost feelings were all along. This book spawned the whole later genre of Regency Romances, most of which are not as nearly as well written.

Here is a random quote from a more modern Regency Romance: “The truth of the matter was, although he did not completely realize it, that he did not have the emotional resilience to add yet another woman to a life already cluttered with the feminine presence. An emotional attachment of the sort that was required if he ever became involved with a woman on a long-term basis just did not appeal to him, and he had known this for years.” There are no demands put on the reader here or any subtle possibilities suggested or mysteries withheld to keep your interest since everything going on in his mind is already spelled out for you.

Judges 4:6a: Barak is now introduced. Dale Davis notes “Not much about Barak; no details about his journey to Deborah's palm; no greetings exchanged; no hint of whether he had taken ROTC at college.” That is because none of that is important for the telling of the story. And we will see that even though Barak is chosen to be the commander of the army, he will really be only a minor figure in the story. Note that Barak appears to have come the 17-mile journey without objection, which gives us a hint of Deborah's power within Israel.

Judges 4:6b:Deborah gives Barak his marching orders. Jumping ahead a little to verse 10, we see this same order is executed exactly by him, but the elements are given in reverse order to form another inclusio.

10,000

    Naphtali

        Zebulun

---------

        Zebulun

    Naphtali

10,000

There are other reasons for this repetition of detail: “10,000 warriors” is actually mentioned three times: in verses 6, 10 and 14. Without getting into the technical issue of whether this should really be translated as ten squads of soldiers instead, this specific number should remind us of another army of 10,000 that was defeated at the end of the previous chapter (Judges 3:29). This is an example of purposeful misdirection and suspense that causes you to subliminally wonder whether Barak's army of 10,000 will be the next one of that size to fall. Then there is the repeated mention of only two tribes, Zebulun and Naphtali. Why only two? Is it because they were geographically the closest to the enemy in question, or is there another reason? We will have to wait for the next chapter to find out.

There are other reasons that phrases are sometimes repeated within a story, as illustrated by looking at the familiar story of the three Jewish boys cast into the fiery furnace, found in Daniel 3.

The repeated phrase “peoples, nations, and languages” stresses the great peer pressure present in verses 4 (edict given), 7 (edict obeyed), and 29 (new edict given).

The list of eight types of officials – “satraps, prefects, governors, counselors, treasurers, justices, magistrates, the officials of the provinces” (verses 2-3) – dwindles to only four types after the miracle occurs (v. 27).

The motley band of instruments in verses 4,7,10,15 – “horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, drum and the entire musical ensemble” – becomes more silly with each reading. There is humor elsewhere in the story: King Nebuchanezzar issues an edict in order to control his whole kingdom and yet he can't even control his own temper. There is even a subtle comparison between the oven being heated super hot and the king turning red in the face.

Thirteen times the Babylonian names of three men “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego” are used rather than their Jewish names, perhaps to stress their predicament of being caught between two cultures and to build up the suspense as to whether they will finally give in.

But enough digressions.

Judges 4:8: What is Barak's response to Deborah's rather imperious command? “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”

We are not informed of Barak's reason for setting out this demand. I can think of at least three possibilities: he is a total coward who hopes she will refuse to go and give him an out, he is testing her to see if she is a false or true prophet (Put your money where your mouth is), or in his mind she represents the presence and power of God, which he knows is needed for success in battle (much like the battles where the high priest or ark of the covenant accompanied the army or a prophet like Samuel blessed the troops beforehand). When she doesn't hesitate to go with him, all his doubts are removed and he promptly follows her orders to the letter, as we see in verse 10. So from his actions we can deduce that at least he is not a coward.

Judges 4:9: Deborah's prophetic reply to Barak is interesting. Often biblical narratives don't comment directly on the right or wrong of a character's actions. We sometimes have to wait for subsequent events to see if God blesses or curses them. In this case, we can see that Barak is going to suffer the loss of honor because of his reply to Deborah, which is probably due to his lack of faith in her words. And we also assume that his loss of honor will be because Deborah will get the glory for the victory. This is another classic case of misdirection since it is another woman altogether to whom Deborah is referring.

Judges 4:11: And now we have a strange flashback to an earlier time. Sometimes in telling a story, it is necessary to set the stage at some point by explaining to the reader some details that will become important later on. Here, the most we can make of this digression is that the people involved live near the chosen battle site. But we are left in suspense as to whether they will be allies (they are related to Moses) or enemies (they have separated themselves from the Jews). The author specifically points out both of these conflicting facts to keep us wondering.

Judges 4:15-16: Often in narratives it is mentioned that God did or said something, and we would like to know exactly how this was done. Again, this detail is withheld from us until the next chapter when the parallel narrative is given.

Judges 4:17-18:  Now we see why the detail regarding the Kenites was given earlier and we find out that they are actually allies of Israel's enemy. So, again by misdirection, we are led to believe that she will help Sisera. Sisera must have looked pretty pathetic and panicky from the comment Jael makes, “Don't be afraid.”

Judges 4:19-21: Here we have a dramatic change of expectations at the end of the story. We suspected earlier that it was Barak who was hiding behind a woman's skirts, but now we find out it is Sisera instead. We thought that Deborah was the one who would steal glory from Barak, but it was Jael instead. We don't suspect her because she treats Sisera with such hospitality that she gives him more than he asks. And then more than he expects.

Judges 4:22-23: The phrase "Jael went out to meet him and said to him" is identical to the words used when she greeted Sisera; the same woman has now humbled two men, not one. Also, there is a similarity in the scene here, where a man comes into a tent and discovers a dead body on the ground who has been killed by a lone woman, and the previous chapter involving a left-handed assassin Ehud in which the guards discover the dead body of their king on the floor. The similarity implies that God can use supposed weaknesses in each case to accomplish his will.

Before we get into Chapter 5 which will retell the same story, people often ask why it needs to be repeated. For example, why do we need four gospels? Comments?