Bible Strands
Judges 4:14
Then Deborah said to Barak, “Arise, for this is the day that the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone before you?” So Barak came down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Deborah addresses Barak on Mount Tabor as Sisera’s army mobilizes from Harosheth-hagoyim to the River Kishon. She commands him to descend immediately with ten thousand men to confront the advancing force.
The words — ק֗וּם (qum) functions as an urgent imperative meaning "arise," while כִּ֣י (ki) introduces the causal clause "for." Together they frame the moment as a divinely appointed deadline requiring immediate obedience.
The thread — The motif of Yahweh marching ahead appears in Deuteronomy 9:3, 2 Samuel 5:24, and Isaiah 52:12, where divine presence dictates the timing and execution of Israel’s campaigns.
Why it lands — The text commands Barak to act on the certainty of God’s prior movement, requiring readers to align human initiative with confirmed divine action rather than waiting for further signs.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Deborah said unto Barak, Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the Lord gone out before thee? So Barak went down from mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after him.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 5:24 As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because this will mean that the LORD has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.”
- Deuteronomy 9:3 But understand that today the LORD your God goes across ahead of you as a consuming fire; He will destroy them and subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them swiftly, as the LORD has promised you.
- Isaiah 52:12 For you will not leave in a hurry nor flee in haste, for the LORD goes before you, and the God of Israel is your rear guard.
- Psalms 68:7 O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wasteland, Selah
- Genesis 44:4 They had not gone far from the city when Joseph told his steward, “Pursue the men at once, and when you overtake them, ask, ‘Why have you repaid good with evil?
- 1 Samuel 9:26 They got up early in the morning, and just before dawn Samuel called to Saul on the roof, “Get ready, and I will send you on your way!” So Saul got ready, and both he and Samuel went outside together.
- Micah 2:13 One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate, and go out by it. Their King will pass through before them, the LORD as their leader.
- Genesis 19:14 So Lot went out and spoke to the sons-in-law who were pledged in marriage to his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
- Joshua 7:13 Get up and consecrate the people, saying, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Among you, O Israel, there are things devoted to destruction. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.
- Judges 19:28 “Get up,” he told her. “Let us go.” But there was no response. So the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.