Jael

Jael is a figure in the Hebrew Bible’s book of Judges. She was the wife of Heber the Kenite (Heber was a Midianite, a descendant of Hobab, Moses’s father-in-law) and the heroic woman who killed Sisera, the commander of King Jabin’s army.

Although she was a foreign woman, she had a strong faith and knowledge of God and understood that Sisera, who was persecuting God’s chosen people, should not be allowed to live. Sisera was the general of King Jabin of Hazor, a Canaanite king. He was defeated by the Israelites, who were led by the female judge Deborah and Barak on Mount Tabor, near Kedesh. Sisera’s entire army was put to the sword. Only Sisera fled on foot and sought refuge in Jael’s tent. This unarmed woman faced a seasoned general who had a reputation for killing, yet she showed no fear.

Jael was also courageous and shrewd. She understood the power imbalance and knew it would be impossible for her, a woman, to defeat a fierce general by force, so she outwitted him. She first covered him with a blanket as he requested, making him feel safe. When Sisera asked for water, she gave him sour milk, which was more valuable and delicious than water, to win his trust. Exhausted and at ease, Sisera fell into a deep sleep under the warm blanket. Jael knew it was time. She quietly took a tent peg and a hammer, drove the peg into Sisera’s temple, and pinned him to the ground. Sisera died in his sleep at the hands of a woman who was no match for him in strength. When Barak arrived and saw Sisera’s corpse in Jael’s tent, it fulfilled Deborah’s prophecy: “the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman” (Judges 4:9).