The Song of Deborah

The Song of Deborah is, then, commonly judged -and on good grounds-to be contemporary with the event which it celebrates. At moments of intense feeling, poetry not too burdened by rules, far from being an artificial, is, on the contrary, a most natural form of expression ; certainly at such times it comes readily to the lips of spontaneous peoples such as the Semites. As the occasion, so is the form ; David's grief, for example, over the death of Saul and Jonathan produces his poetical lament as given in 2 Samuel 1. 19 ff. A most interesting parallel to the occasion and form of the Song of Deborah is provided by an incident which occurred only some thirty years ago at Madaba, a village a few miles east of the Dead Sea. The Arab tribe of the 'Azeizât which had settled at Madaba was attacked by another Arab tribe, the Beni Sakher. The 'Azeizât had hardly succeeded in repelling the attack before their women had composed odes to honour those who had braved, and to stigmatize those who had shirked, the perils of the fight.It is something of that kind that we have here. It is not an epic poem depicting the exploits of bygone heroes, nor simply a song of thanksgiving for some former striking divine intervention. The poet praises and blames, blesses and curses, and he does so because the objects of his blessings and of his cursings are there before him acting on him ; he sings because he must

Citation · Library science · Christian Theology and Mission · Computer Science · Pentecostalism and Christianity Studies

• Who Is a Canaanite? A Review of the Textual Evidence

  Anson F Rainey•Bulletin of the American Schools…•1996

  Add to list