Deborah ( ''Deborah'') appears in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' wet nurse A wet nurse is a woman who breastfeeding, breastfeeds and cares for another's child. Wet nurses are employed if the mother dies, if she is unable to nurse the child herself sufficiently or chooses not to do so. Wet-nursed children may be known a ...

Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...

(Genesis 35:8). She is first mentioned by name in the

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

when she dies in a place called '' Allon Bachuth'' (אלון בכות), "Tree of Weepings" ( Genesis 35:8), and is buried by

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

, who is returning with his large family to

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 ...

. According to

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi (). Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...

, Deborah was sent by Laban to care for his sister Rebecca when the latter went to marry

Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

( Genesis 24:59). After Rebecca's son Jacob had been away from home for 22 years, Rebecca dispatched her loyal nurse to tell Jacob that it was safe for him to return home. The elderly nurse delivered her message and died on the return journey.

In the Book of Jasher

According to the Book of Jasher, Deborah was the daughter of Uz, who was the first son of Milcah and Nahor. Deborah joined Rebecca, her cousin, on her journey to marry Isaac. Rebecca later sent Deborah with two of Isaac's servants to

Haran Haran or Aran ( ''Hārān'') is a man in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. He was a son of Terah, brother of Abraham, and father of son Lot and daughters Milcah and Iscah. He died in Ur of the Chaldees. Through Lot, Haran was the ance ...

to find

and ask him to return to his father's house in the land of

. She remained in Haran with Jacob and stayed to tend to his wives and children, while the other servants returned. Later, God told Jacob to move to

Bethel Bethel (, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; ; ) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Bet ...

and make an altar, and Deborah died there and was buried under an oak.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Book of Genesis people Women in the Hebrew Bible Wet nurses