From my Yahoo Answers question here:
"The bible says of Deborah:
"Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 She used to sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the sons of Israel came up to her for judgment." - Judges 4:4,5 NASB
The text explicitly shows that Deborah the prophetess was a judge. But note what the Watchtower publication 'Insight on the Scriptures vol. 2' page 135 says as part of its summary of the contents of the bible book of Judges:
"The section running from chapter 3, verse 7, to the end of chapter 16 is, basically, in chronological order and relates the activities of 12 judges (not including Deborah), starting with Othniel and concluding with Samson."
Watchtower makes it a point to say, in parentheses, that Deborah is not included or not to be included in the list of judges. Watchtower also says this:
"In the days of Israel's judges, one woman who had God's backing was the prophetess Deborah. She encouraged Judge Barak and played a part in helping the Israelites to rid themselves of oppression, ..." - The Watchtower, August 15. 2014 page 8 par. 12
Why is Watchtower stealing Deborah's title as a judge of Israel and giving it to Barak when the bible never calls Barak a judge? Barak was a warrior who was sent for by Judge Deborah - he was Judge Deborah's instrument, not the other way around!
Why is Watchtower contradicting the bible?All JW sisters: when you have your Watchtower study this week (week of September 29 - October 5, 2014) are you going to bravely raise your hand when paragraph 12 is being discussed and mention that Deborah was actually a Judge according to what Judges 4:4,5 says? Or are you going to cowardly keep quiet and give tacit support to the unscriptural and sexist Watchtower view that Deborah was not a judge?