Judges 4:8

And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Barak	בָּרָ֔ק ba.Rak	H1301	Barak · proper noun, a man's name
said	וַיֹּ֤אמֶר vai.Yo.mer	H559	to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
go	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
go	תֵּלְכִ֥י te.le.Khi	H1980	to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person feminine singular
go	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
go	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Exodus 4:10-14 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow o…
Matthew 14:30-31 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 4:4-9

The year of the redeemed at length came, when Israel was to be delivered out of the hands of Jabin, and restored again to their liberty, which we may suppose the northern tribes, that lay nearest to the oppressors and felt most the effects of his fury, did in a particular manner cry to God for. For the oppression of the poor, and the sighing of the needy, now will God arise. Now here we have, I. The preparation of the people for their deliverance, by the prophetic conduct and government of Deborah, Jdg 4:4, Jdg 4:5. Her name signifies a bee; and she answered her name by her industry, sagacity, and great usefulness to the public, her sweetness to her friends and sharpness to her enemies. She…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 4:8

Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go--His somewhat singular request to be accompanied by Deborah was not altogether the result of weakness. The Orientals always take what is dearest to the battlefield along with them; they think it makes them fight better. The policy of Barak, then, to have the presence of the prophetess is perfectly intelligible as it would no less stimulate the valor of the troops, than sanction, in the eyes of Israel, the uprising against an oppressor so powerful as Jabin.

John Gill on Judges 4:8

And Barak said unto her,.... To Deborah, after she had delivered the words of the Lord unto him: if thou wilt go with me, then I will go; which showed faith hi the word of the Lord, for which he is commended, and a readiness to do the will of God, and courage to engage in such a work with a powerful adversary, and is therefore reckoned among the heroes for faith, Hebrews 11:32, but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go; which though it might discover some weakness in him, yet showed the high opinion he had of Deborah as a judge of Israel, and prophetess of the Lord; being desirous that he might have her with him to pray to God for him, to give him advice and counsel on any emerge…

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The Church Fathers

What does it mean that Baraq responds to Deborah, saying: If you go, I will go, and if you do not go with me, I will not go, because I do not know the day when the Lord favors the angel with me, as if I could not hear the day from the prophetess? She did not indicate the day, but went with him. And what does it mean: The Lord favors the angel? Is it possible to show here that the acts of the angels are also favored, that is, does the Lord help them to obtain a happy result? Or does it favor the angel with me is it a peculiar expression that means that it does with me favorable things through the angel?
— Augustine of Hippo, QUESTIONS ON JUDGES, Q. 26 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

And lastly, her son Barak shows the chief part of the victory was in the hands of a woman when he said, "If you will not go with me I will not go, because I do not know on what day the Lord will send his angel with me." How great, then, was the might of that woman to whom the leader of the army says, "If you will not go I will not go." How great, I say, the fortitude of the widow who does not protect her son from dangers through motherly affection but rather with the zeal of a mother exhorts her son to go forth to victory, while saying that the decisive point of that victory is in the hand of a woman!
— Ambrose of Milan, Concerning Widows 8.43-46

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Barak — Lightning, the son of Abinoam (Judg. 4:6). At the summons of Deborah he made war against Jabin. She accompanied him into the battle, and gave the signal for the little army to make the attack; in…
Harosheth of the Gentiles — (Judg. 4:2) or nations, a city near Hazor in Galilee of the Gentiles, or Upper Galilee, in the north of Palestine. It was here that Jabin’s great army was marshalled before it went forth into the…
Kishon — Winding, a winter torrent of Central Palestine, which rises about the roots of Tabor and Gilboa, and passing in a northerly direction through the plains of Esdraelon and Acre, falls into the…
Tabor — A height. (1.) Now Jebel et-Tur, a cone-like prominent mountain, 11 miles west of the Sea of Galilee. It is about 1,843 feet high. The view from the summit of it is said to be singularly extensive…
Canaanites · General references — General references
Deborah · .Inspires Barak to — .Inspires Barak to
Samaria · General references — General references

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Judges 4:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 4:4-9

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 4:8

John Gill on Judges 4:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Judges 4:8

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Judges 4:4-9

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Judges 4:8

John Gill on Judges 4:8

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 4:8-11

Rashi on Judges 4:6