BARAK (Hebr. bārāq = lightning). – Collaborator of Deborah (q.v.), son of Abinoam, born at Kadesh of Naphtali (Jgs 4:5). Called by Deborah in the name of Yahweh to free the Israelites of the plain of Esdraelon from the yoke of the Canaanites, Barak, who had personally suffered at their hands (Jgs 5:12), accepts on condition, however, that she accompany and assist him in the battle.
Deborah goes with Barak; at their summons, besides Naphtali and Zebulun, more directly involved, Ephraim, Benjamin, Issachar, and Machir, an important clan of Manasseh, respond in all about 40,000 men (Jgs 5:8), though poorly armed. Of these, 10,000 are with Deborah and Barak on Mount Tabor (Jgs 4:10), the others are stationed on the hills of Ephraim that surround the plain. Sisera, general of the Canaanites, gathers his 900 chariots and infantry between Megiddo and Taanach along the Kishon. Perhaps by night (Jgs 5:20), Barak attacks him by surprise, while the Lord sends a great storm that swells the torrent.
The Galileo before the Inquisition, in the Celesia palace; the Columbus at Salamanca, in the Orsini palace; the Glorification of the Superb, in the municipal palace of Genoa; the Glory of St. Andrew, in the ceiling.