St. Paul’s Adult Forum
Spring 2008
Women of the Bible
Deborah and Delilah - April 13
Judges 4-5; 14-16
The period of the Judges occurred right after the Israelites entered the land of Canaan. They divided up the land according to the twelve tribes, and the tribes tended to operate fairly independently. There were some “judges” who are described as being leaders who sometimes crossed these tribal boundaries, often acting primarily as military leaders to help protect the Israelites from their enemies. During the period of the judges, the Philistines were a major threat, along with other Canaanite groups. At this point in Israel’s history, they did not really have full control of the land even though the had “conquered” it to some degree. In the book of Judges, there is a cycle that is repeated numerous times: the Israelites begin to disobey God and therefore they suffer at the hands of their enemies; they cry to God for help; God sends a judge to help protect them from enemies and lead them back to obedience; and then they begin to slip and the cycle starts again.
Deborah: Judges 4 - 5
Deborah is the only female judge, and she is presented in a very positive light as both as wise judge and a strong military leader. Barak is her military commander, and the leader of their enemy at the time is Sisera.
 | What is the relationship between Deborah and Barak like? |
| How would you describe Deborah’s character? |
| What is Jael’s role in the story? What do you think is her motivation? |
| How are Jael and Deborah similar? Different? |
The Song of Deborah in Judges 5 is considered one of the oldest poems in the Hebrew Bible. Three women provide the focus for the poem: Deborah, Jael and Sisera’s mother. What do you think the poem is trying to get across?
Delilah: Judges 14 - 16
Delilah is a very different character from Deborah with quite different status in society. She is only known because of her relationship with Samson, one of the judges.
| As a judge and as a person, what do you think of Samson? |
| How does Samson treat his first wife? |
| Delilah is often seen as a temptress--is this the impression you got when you read the story? |
| What do you think the text wants us to think of these characters? |
| What choices do the women in this story have? |
FOR NEXT WEEK: RUTH; 2SAMUEL 13 & HANDOUT
Think about modern concerns faced by both women and men that these stories offer a perspective on.