person · P0056
Devorah דבורה הנביאה
Prophetess and judge — "a mother in Israel" — who judged the people under her palm tree between Ramah and Beit El, summoned Barak against Sisera's army, and sang the great victory song. The Gemara counts her among the seven prophetesses of Israel. She belongs to the era of the Elders and Judges, alongside the formal chain of transmission rather than within Rambam's enumerated links.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- דבורה הנביאה
- Also known as
- Devorah HaNeviah, Deborah
- Era
- bible
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 2654–2694 AM (era of the Shoftim)
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈40 years
- Precision
- approximate
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Devorah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidot — she judged Israel at that time."
Confidence is for what the biblical text states. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| The Gemara counts Devorah among the seven prophetesses who prophesied for Israel. | rabbinic | ★★★★☆ | |
| She sat beneath the Palm of Devorah between Ramah and Beit El in the hill country of Ephraim, and Israelites came to her for judgment. | biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| She summoned Barak ben Avinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and accompanied him when he mobilized against Sisera. | biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| After the victory, Devorah and Barak sang the poem preserved in Shoftim 5. | biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Traditional placement c. 2654–2694 AM within the Shoftim chronology; the internal arithmetic of the book of Shoftim is schematic and traditional charts differ by decades.
Schematic traditional dating. |
tradition reconstruction | ★☆☆☆☆ |