Barak said to her, If you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.
Deborah lived in the hill country of Ephraim (Judges 4:5). Her name means "Bee," and she did what often marks a bee. She stung the enemy, and she brought sweet refreshment to her people. However, her name also suggests her prophetic role as she spoke to Barak, since the consonants in her name are the same as those in the Hebrew word translated "speak" and "word." The writer may have referred to her palm tree, another source of sweetness, to contrast it with the oak of Zaanannim under which the compromising Heber worked (Judges 4:11).