Judges 4:8

8 Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I'll go. But if you don'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 for Barak. He was the son of Abinoam. Barak was from Kedesh in the land of Naphtali. Deborah said to Barak, "The Lord, the God of Israel, is giving you a command. He says, 'Go! Take 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun with you. Then lead the way to Mount Tabor.

7 I will draw Sisera into a trap. He is the commander of Jabin's army. I will bring him, his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River. There I will hand him over to you.' "

8 Barak said to her, "If you go with me, I'll go. But if you don't go with me, I won't go."

9 "All right," Deborah said. "I'll go with you. But because of the way you are doing this, you won't receive any honor. The LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman." So Deborah went to Kedesh with Barak.

10 There he sent for Zebulun and Naphtali. And 10,000 men followed him. Deborah also went with him.