Judges 4:8

8 Then Barak said to Deborah, "I will go if you will go with me, but if you won't go with me, I won't go."

Judges 4:8 Meaning and Commentary

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 emergency, she being as the oracle God; and whereby he testified his regard to the Lord, and to his presence, which he concluded he should have, the prophetess being with him; and more especially his reason for insisting on her going with him might be to prevail upon the inhabitants of Naphtali and Zebulun to go with him, who he might fear would not believe him, or pay any regard to his words, and be in dread of engaging with the enemy, unless she was present; which he supposed would satisfy them as to the mind of God in it, and animate them, and give them heart and spirit.

Judges 4:8 In-Context

6 Deborah sent a message to Barak son of Abinoam. Barak lived in the city of Kedesh, which is in the area of Naphtali. Deborah said to Barak, "The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: 'Go and gather ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them to Mount Tabor.

7 I will make Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, and his chariots, and his army meet you at the Kishon River. I will hand Sisera over to you.'"

8 Then Barak said to Deborah, "I will go if you will go with me, but if you won't go with me, I won't go."

9 "Of course I will go with you," Deborah answered, "but you will not get credit for the victory. The Lord will let a woman defeat Sisera." So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh.

10 At Kedesh, Barak called the people of Zebulun and Naphtali together. From them, he gathered ten thousand men to follow him, and Deborah went with him also.