Footnote 2 – The Song of Deborah—Why Some Tribes Answered the Call and Others Did Not
While nearly every great Biblical scholar of this century and the last has pondered over the difficult language of this poem in Semitic literature, no one has succeeded in understanding its overall meaning and significance for the social history of premonarchic Israel as well as George F. Moore (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Judges, 1985) and Max Weber (Ancient Judaism, 1917–1919, reprinted 1952). The legacy of both will be apparent throughout my discussion. Michael Coogan has provided a very valuable stylistic analysis and felicitous translation of the Song.