Judges 4:8

“And Barak said unto her, etc.] 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, (<581132>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…”

“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.”

“Barak, like Gideon Judges 6:15, Judges 6:36, Judges 6:40, and Abraham Genesis 15:2-3; Genesis 17:18, and Moses Exodus 4:10, Exodus 4:13, and Peter Matthew 14:30-31, exhibited some weakness of faith at first. But this only makes his example more profitable for our encouragement, though he himself suffered some lost by his weakness Judges 4:9. return to 'Top of Page'”

“I will not go - His offer to go with her, shews the truth of his faith, for which he is praised, Heb 11:32, but his refusal to go without her, shews the weakness of his faith, that he could not trust God's bare word, as he ought to have done, without the pledge of the presence of his prophetess. Judges 4:10”

“Exo 4:10-14; Mat 14:30, Mat 14:31 Judges 4:9”

“Barak replied that he would not go unless she would go with him - certainly not for the reason suggested by Bertheau, viz., that he distrusted the divine promise given to him by Deborah, but because his mistrust of his own strength was such that he felt too weak to carry out the command of God. He wanted divine enthusiasm for the conflict, and this the presence of the prophetess was to infuse into both Barak and the army that was to be gathered round him. Deborah promised to accompany him, but announced to him as the punishment for this want of confidence in the success of his undertaking, that the prize of victory - namely, the defeat of the hostile general - should be taken out of his…”