Haftorah for January 15, 2022

Haftorah reading for B’Shallah (Exodus 3:17-17:16) is Judges 4:4-5:31.

By Irv Jacobs, M.D.

Irv Jacobs

LA JOLLA, California — These passages tell a triumphant story of Deborah, first in prose, then by a poetic version. The setting is mid-12th Century BCE, during the alleged “conquest” of the land, which became northern Israel.

The northern tribes were involved against the Northern Canaanites, who were led by their symbolic captain Sisera. The heroes of the Israelites were two women, Deborah the prophet and Jael of the Kenite tribe. Deborah and a reluctant Barak led the battle, the high point being Jael’s assassination of Sisera by driving a spike through the temples of that retreating exhausted captain.
The connection between the Haftorah and the Torah text is that both involve songs of triumph. In the Torah, the song is that of Moses and Miriam after safely crossing the Sea of Reeds, with the drowning of the Egyptian army in pursuit. In this Haftorah, the song is that of Deborah and Barak in the north region after the defeat in late 12th century BCE of the Canaanite Captain Sisera. [1]

This Haftorah is from the book of Judges, by a composite of unidentified writers. I could not confirm its veracity, as there is no other ancient record of this.

The Haftorah consists largely of prose, followed by a repeat of the same sentiments/message in Hebrew poetry.

I here use the translation and interpretations of the Haftorah by Emeritus Professor Dr. Robert Alter of the University of California Berkeley.[2]

Here are excerpts:

And the Israelites continued to do evil in the eyes of the LORD…And the LORD handed them over to Jabin, king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor, and the commander of his army was Sisera…And the Israelites cried out to the LORD—for he had nine hundred iron chariots and he had oppressed the Israelites mightily for 20 years. [3]
And Deborah…called to Barak…Go on Mount Tabor…with 10,000 men…I shall draw down to you…at the Kishon Wadi…Jabin’s army, and his chariots…I shall give him into your hand…I will…go with you…(and) the hand of a woman…will deliver Sisera…Barak came down from Mount Tabor, and 10,000 men after him (Sisera’s chariots bogged down in mud)…and fled on foot…fell.
 
Sisera…on foot…(exhausted) fled to the tent of Jael (Kenite)…thirsty…she gave him (milk)…and covered him (asleep)…Jael…took the tent peg…and drove the peg through his temple.
 
And on that day…the hand of the Israelites came down ever harder  on Jabin, king of Canaan.
Now comes the poetry version—Song of Deborah, composed c. 1100 BCE:
 

When bonds were loosed in Israel,
when the people answered the call, bless the LORD!

Hear, O kings, give ear, O chiefs—[4]
 

I to the LORD shall sing…
O LORD, the You came forth…
….the very heavens dripped rain…
Mountains melted before the LORD—
Unwalled cities ceased…
till you arose, Deborah,
till you arose, O mother of Israel…
They chose new gods,
then was there war at the gates.
No shield nor lance was seen

amidst 40,000 of Israel. [5]
 

My heart to the leaders of Israel,
who answered the call for the people, bless the LORD!…
There let them retell the LORD’s bounties,
His bounties for the unwalled cities in Israel.
Awake, awake, O Deborah,
awake, awake, O speak the song.
Arise, Barak, take your captives…!
Then the remnant of the mighty came down,
the LORD’s people came down from amidst the warriors.
Here the poem mentions 11 tribes inhabiting the Northern Kingdom, four of which (Reuben, Gilead, Dan, Asher) did not answer the call for assistance.
(Canaan’s) Kings came, did battle…

no spoil of silver did they take. [6]

From the heavens the stars did battle,

from their course they did battle with Sisera. [7]
 
The Kishon Wadi swept them off…[8]
 
The hooves of the horses hammered, [9]
 

from the gallop, the gallop of his steeds.

‘Curse, O curse its (Meroz’s) dwellers [10]…

Blessed above women Jael…above women in tents she blessed.
Water he asked for, milk did she give…
Her hand for the tent peg reached out
and her right hand for the workman’s hammer.
And she hammered Sisera, cracked his head…
Between her legs he kneeled, he fell,
where he kneeled he fell, destroyed.
Through the window she looked out, moaned,
Sisera’s mother, through the lattice:
“Why is his chariot so long in coming,

why so late the clatter of his cars?” [11]

The wisest of her ladies answer her…
‘Why, they will find and share out the spoils—

a damsel or two for every man. [12]
Spoil of dyed stuff for Sisera,’
Finally, the mandatory upbeat ending:

Thus perish all Your enemies, O LORD!
And be His friends like the sun coming out in its might.

    And the land was quiet 40 years.
 

*
As usual, the prophets castigate their people, the Israelites, for corruption. But their message is more complicated.
Sadly, our legends also contain hate and violence toward outsiders. Were there nil trends of diplomacy toward peace attributable to those times? Also, we seemed to relish the most repulsive of killing techniques on enemies.

Notably, this Haftorah acts as an introduction to the Iron Age in the Middle East. (Elsewhere, historically among multiple peoples throughout the globe, the Iron Age came at differing times.)
*

[1] Etz Hayim,The Jewish Publication Society, 2001, New York, p. 423
[2] Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, Prophets Vol. 2, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 2019, pp. 94-103
[3] Alter, Ibid. p. 94, & Wikipedia. This is hyperbole, as there was no single king of Canaan. Hazor was an important city-state, so its king likely had more influence  than others. As to Iron Age onset, it was different for different geographical regions.  Iron-working in the middle East can be dated to the mid-12th century BCE. Accordingly, it is believable that in Deborah’s story, an enemy with iron chariots and weapons existed.
[4] reminds of Mark Antony’s soliloquy opener in Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Caesar’—after Caesar’s death by multiple stabbings. Possibly, even likely, Shakespeare borrowed from the Bible!’
Also: Unlike the above prose version, in which the enemy was led by one king (Jabin), here the Canaanites are represented by an alliance of kings!
[5] hyperbole that ‘there were no defenders until Deborah’
[6] emphatic statement that the Canaanites won no spoils!
[7] a metaphor, God’s agents in heaven assisted in the battle—Good luck with that!
[8] a double metaphor: the enemy was stuck in the wadi’s mud; this also refers back to the Torah’s description of the Egyptian pursuers stuck in the mud of the Sea of Reeds.
[9] The translation attempts to reproduce the alliteration in the Hebrew.
[10]  a place whose dwellers failed to join Israel in this battle
[11] a metaphor for chariots

[12] In such a warrior culture, the prerogative of the men is to bring back fresh bedmates, even two for each!
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Irv Jacobs is a retired medical doctor who delights in Torah analysis.  He often delivers a drosh at Congregation Beth El in La Jolla, and at his chavurah.