Barak ( or ; ;

Tiberian Hebrew Tiberian Hebrew is the canonical pronunciation of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) committed to writing by Masoretic scholars living in the Jewish community of Tiberias in ancient Galilee under the Abbasid Caliphate. They wrote in the form of Tib ...

: '' Bārāq''; "lightning") was a ruler of

Ancient Israel The history of ancient Israel and Judah spans from the Israelite highland settlement, early appearance of the Israelites in Canaan's hill country during the late second millennium BCE, to the establishment and subsequent downfall of the two ...

. As military commander in the biblical

Book of Judges The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom in the ...

, Barak, with

Deborah According to the Book of Judges, Deborah (, ''Dəḇōrā'') was a prophetess of Judaism, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel, and the only female judge mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Many scholars contend that the phrase, "a woman of Lap ...

, from the

Tribe of Ephraim According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Ephraim (, ''ʾEp̄rayim,'' in Pausa, pausa: , ''ʾEp̄rāyim'') was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The Tribe of Manasseh, together with Ephraim, formed the Tribe of Joseph. It is one of the Ten L ...

, the prophet and fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel, defeated the

Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...

ite armies led by

Sisera Sisera ( ''Sīsərāʾ'') was commander of the Canaanite army of King Jabin of Hazor, who is mentioned in of the Hebrew Bible. After being defeated by the forces of the Israelite tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali under the command of Barak and ...

Background

The son of

Abinoam Abinoam (a-bin'-o-am, ab-i-no'-am, Biblical Hebrew: ''אבינעם''), from Kedesh-naphtali, was the father of Barak who defeated Jabin's army, led by Sisera. He is mentioned only in Judges 4:6, 4:12 and 5:12. The name means "the (divine) father ...

from

Kedesh Kedesh (alternate spellings: Qedesh, Cadesh, Cydessa) was an ancient Canaanite and later Israelite settlement in Upper Galilee, mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible. Its remains are located in Tel Kedesh, northeast of the modern Kibbut ...

Naphtali According to the Book of Genesis, Naphtali (; ) was the sixth son of Jacob, the second of his two sons with Bilhah. He was the founder of the Israelite tribe of Naphtali. Some biblical commentators have suggested that the name ''Naphtali'' ma ...

, Barak's mother was from the

Tribe of Benjamin According to the Torah, the Tribe of Benjamin () was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The tribe was descended from Benjamin, the youngest son of the Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch Jacob (later given the name Israel) and his wife Rachel. In the ...

. His story is told in the

, Chapters 4 and 5.

Biblical story

The story of the Hebrews' defeat of the Canaanites led by

, under the prophetic leadership of

and the military leadership of Barak, is related in prose (Judges Chapter 4) and repeated in poetry (Chapter 5, which is known as the ''Song of Deborah''). Chapter 4 makes the chief enemy

Jabin Jabin ( ''Yāḇīn'') is a Biblical name meaning 'discerner', or 'the wise'. It may refer to: * A king of Tel Hazor, Hazor at the time of the entrance of Israel into CanaanJoshua 11:1, whose overthrow and that of the northern chiefs with whom he ...

, king of Hazor (present Tell el-Qedah, about three miles southwest of Hula Basin), though a prominent part is played by his commander-in-chief,

Harosheth-ha-goiim Harosheth Haggoyim (, lit. ''Smithy of the Nations'') is a fortress described in the Book of Judges as the fortress or cavalry base of Sisera, commander of the army of "Jabin, King of Canaan". Sisera is described as having had nine hundred iron c ...

(possibly Tell el-'Amr, approximately northwest of

Megiddo Megiddo may refer to: Places and sites in Israel * Tel Megiddo, site of an ancient city in Israel's Jezreel valley * Megiddo Airport, a domestic airport in Israel * Megiddo church (Israel) * Megiddo, Israel, a kibbutz in Israel * Megiddo Juncti ...

). Deborah summoned Barak, the son of Abinoam, from his home at Kedesh in Naphtali, and ordered him, in the name of God, to take ten thousand men to Mount Tabor. He agreed to on condition that Deborah should go with him. Here he was attacked, as Deborah had expected, by Sisera, whose forces were put to flight, and the greater part of them were slain by Barak's army."Barak", ''Jewish Encyclopedia''
/ref> Because Barak would not go to battle without Deborah, in turn she prophesied that the honor of victory would not go to him, but rather to a woman (Judges 4:9). Barak asked Deborah to go with him because of her connection with God. Some scholars see this as Barak being spineless while others might see Barak making a smart decision since Deborah was seen as a mediator between God and humans. Most authorities believe this passage refers to Jael's killing of Sisera in her tent following the battle, while others believe this refers to Deborah herself.

Defeat and death of Sisera

In the battle at Mount Tabor, a cloudburst occurred, causing the river to flood, thus limiting the maneuverability of the Canaanite chariots. Sisera fled, seeking refuge in the tent of a

Kenite According to the Hebrew Bible, the Kenites/Qenites ( or ; ) were a tribe in the ancient Levant. They settled in the towns and cities in the northeastern Negev in an area known as the "Negev of the Kenites" near Arad, and played an important ro ...

woman,

Jael Jael () or Yael (' ''Yāʿēl'') is a heroine of the Bible who aids the Israelites in their war with King Jabin of the city of Tel Hazor, Hazor in Canaan by killing Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army. This episode is depicted in Judges 4, cha ...

. Jael gave a drink of milk to Sisera, who fell asleep from weariness, then killed him by pounding a tent peg through his head. When Barak arrived, she showed him Sisera, dead in her tent.

Etymology

Barak ברק means

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

. ''Barcas,'' the surname of the famous

Hamilcar Barca Hamilcar Barca or Barcas (; – 228BC) was a Ancient Carthage, Carthaginian general and statesman, leader of the Barcid family, and father of Hannibal, Hasdrubal Barca, Hasdrubal and Mago Barca, Mago. He was also father-in-law to Hasdrubal the F ...

, is the

Punic The Punic people, usually known as the Carthaginians (and sometimes as Western Phoenicians), were a Semitic people who migrated from Phoenicia to the Western Mediterranean during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' ...

equivalent of the name.

In the New Testament

The

Epistle to the Hebrews The Epistle to the Hebrews () is one of the books of the New Testament. The text does not mention the name of its author, but was traditionally attributed to Paul the Apostle; most of the Ancient Greek manuscripts, the Old Syriac Peshitto and ...

11:32-34 praises Barak's

faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

which gave him victory.

In the Apocrypha

Barak is also made reference to in chapter 28 of 1 Meqabyan, a book considered

canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean 'according to the canon' the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, ''canonical exampl ...

in the

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...

. Barak is also used in the Ethiopian language of Amharic. Meaning " He who blesses."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barak Hebrew Bible judges 12th-century BCE Hebrew people