Board index ‹ Specific Bible verses, texts, and passages ‹ Judges

[Kata Plasma]

Is the battle of mount Tabor referenced anywhere outside Judges 4 and 5, whether biblical or extrabibilical?

[jimwalton]

I'm not aware of any reference, either biblical or extrabiblical.

The strategy of the battle as told in the narrative makes perfect sense, leaning towards its credibility. Against its historicity is the excavations of Hazor by Yigael Yadin and later by Christa Schafer-Lichtenberger interpreted by a 19th-Dynasty model. An 18th-Dynasty model offers a stronger case for Jabin's Hazor. In Amarna letter 256b, Ajab complained of Hazor's control of the region, showing in that model the possibility of being the kind of city that could oppress Israel and oppose Deborah.

Some other historical aspects of the narrative:

• The 900 iron chariots could have come from the Hittites, who are known to have had upwards of 2500 chariots in one battle (against Ramesses II).
• Deborah "held court" (Judg. 4.5), similar to the Epic of Aqhat description of king Danil
• "The Palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim" is a well-marked travel route that would be a likely place for a judge or prophet to sit and hold court.
• "Kedesh" appears elsewhere in the biblical record.
• Mt. Tabor would be a perfect position for a military rallying point
• The Kishon River would be an appropriate location for a military confrontation.
• The Kenites (4.11) were one of several tribes on clans in the region at the time.

Despite the lack of corroborating evidence, there is nothing about the story that smacks of fiction or myth.