Barak

Barak (meaning lightning) was the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, the military commander who led Israel's forces against the Canaanite general Sisera under the direction of the prophetess Deborah. When Deborah summoned Barak and delivered the divine command to assemble ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun at Mount Tabor, Barak agreed to go only on condition that Deborah accompany him — a condition she accepted while prophesying that the honor of the victory would go to a woman rather than to him (Judges 4:8–9). At Deborah's signal, Barak led his forces down from Tabor and routed Sisera's nine hundred iron chariots in the Kishon valley.

Sisera fled on foot and was killed by Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, fulfilling Deborah's prophecy. The victory is celebrated in the Song of Deborah (Judges 5), one of the oldest and most poetically complex passages in the Old Testament. Despite the qualification attached to his initial response, Barak is listed in Hebrews 11:32 among the heroes of faith whose deeds of valor and military leadership were accomplished through trust in God.