1. Judges 4:6 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does "Barak" mean?

Judges 4:6 (ESV)

6 She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the LORD, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun.

Barak means lightning. There is some irony in this, since this man blinks in doubt and flickers in fear. He was far from being a flashing bolt of power responding with alacrity to divine directives.1