Jdg 4:17-22; 5:24
Jael (Heb. Yâêl, “mountain goat”). She wife of Heber the Kenite (Jdg 4:17). Sisera, general of 602 Jabin, king of Hazor, fleeing from Barak’s forces, found refuge in her home. At that time there was peace between the clan of Heber and the kingdom of Hazor. Thoroughly exhausted, Sisera fell asleep, at which point Jael killed him by driving a tent peg through his temple with a hammer. For this fact she was praised by Deborah and Barak in their song of triumph (vs 11-22; 5:6, 24-27).
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
(Heb., ya†™el, mountain goat). The wife of Heber the Kenite (Jdg 4:17). Sisera fled to Eber’s tent when Barak defeated him (Jdg 4:15, Jdg 4:17). Jael killed him with a stake, and was later praised for this deed (Jdg 4:21; Jdg 5:24).
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
(Mountain goat). Name of people from the OT.
1. Character mentioned in the song of †¢Deborah whose biographical data is not known. In his time, which were the same as in †¢Samgar, in the period between the judges †¢Ehud and Deborah, there was much insecurity in Israel, †œthe roads were abandoned and those who walked the paths turned aside along crooked paths† (Judg. 5:6).
. †œWoman of Heber ceneo† . When the Israelites defeated † ¢ Jabin’s army, their captain † ¢ Sisera came fleeing to J’s tent. Since “there was peace” between King Jabin and the house of Eber the Kenite, he thought to take refuge there. J. instilled confidence in him, “covering him with a blanket” and giving him milk to drink. But when Sisera fell asleep J. killed him “with a tent peg” (Jdg 4:17-22). For this action in Deborah’s song it is said of her: “Blessed be J. among women” (Jg 5:24). Heber the Kenite was a descendant of Moses’ father-in-law (Judges 4:11) and had made an alliance with Jabin. The fact that J., wife of Eber, killed Sisera is interpreted as a change of alliances of her family, that she thus returned to friendship with Israel.
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
tip, BIOG WOMAN MUAT
vet, = “wild goat”. She is the wife of Heber a Kenite (Judges 4:17). In his flight from Barak, Sisera, the general of the Canaanite king Jabin, trusting in the peace that existed between his king and Eber, went towards Jael’s tent. Jael ushered him in and gave him milk to quench his thirst. When Sisera was fast asleep, he put a stake through his temples (Judges 4:11-22). Deborah praised this deed of Jael (Judges 5:6, 24-27). Sisera was an enemy of God’s people, and had been an instrument of grievous oppression for many years. But, on the other hand, Jael violated her word and sacred hospitality. Joshua himself was bound by his treaty with the Gibeonites, even though he had been deceived by them (Josh. 9:3-27). God had prophesied that the Lord would sell Sisera into the hands of a woman. In his sovereignty, God used Jael’s treacherous scheme to shatter Jabin’s might with the death of his cruel general. This is a case like others in which the end is according to God’s will, but not the way it is carried out. In this way, the children of Israel had forty years of relief.
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
“Blessed be Jael among women, wife of Heberceneus; among women who dwell in tents, blessed be she” (Judges 5:24).
Read: Judges 4:17-24; 5:24-31. Jael reminds us of Judith of Bethulia, who plunged a sword into Olofernes’s neck while he was sleeping.
Jael was the wife of Heber, a Kenite. The Kenites were not true Israelites, but the descendants of the wife of Moses. Since they were a nomadic people, they lived in tents. In the days of Deborah they were encamped at the foot of Mount Tabor. These tents were located near the place where Barak and Deborah had destroyed Jabin’s army with their nine hundred iron chariots. Jabin had allowed the Kenites to settle in his territory because he hoped that they would become his allies against the Israelites. But Jabin was wrong, because the Kenites sided with Israel.
Jael was also considered an ally of Israel. She rejoiced when she learned that Barak had defeated Sisera. Jael claimed for herself the honor that Barak would have desired for himself. By his own hand, as a judgment from God, Sisera, the cruel oppressor of Israel, was nailed to the ground by a stake through his temples. We have read in Judges 4:9 that Deborah had already told Barak: “The glory of the journey you undertake will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hand of a woman.” For this reason, Deborah in her song sings praises to Jael: “Blessed be she among the women who live in tents, blessed be she.”
Incidentally, commentators agree that Jael killed Sisera not out of personal impulse, but because zeal for Jehovah moved her hand. This does not mean that his action can be compared to that of David when he killed Goliath, since Goliath did so by facing up. God helped David. Jael could not trust God in the same way. Although she felt compelled to eliminate a recognized enemy of God and her people, she lacked the faith that God would help her and so she treacherously attacked Sisera.
The story of Judges tells us that after having spoken to him offering him security in his tent, he covered him with a blanket, gave him milk to drink and agreed to watch the door of the tent to mislead those who might inquire about Sisera. Instead he took a stake from The Tent and with a mallet quietly approached Sisera and drove the stake through his temples and pinned him to the ground.
Jael killed Sisera as a murderer would kill his victim, not as a champion of the Lord would destroy enemies. It is good to be zealous for God, but it is not possible to praise the means used by Jael.
Suggested Questions for Study and Discussion:
1 How was Jael related to the people of Israel?
2 Can we consider Jael’s act noble?
3 If you had been in Jael’s place, would you have gone so far as to kill this king?
4 Did Jael’s fame endure among the people of Israel as a result of this fact?
Source: Women of the Bible
(Mountain goat).
The wife of Eber the Kenite (not an Israelite); she killed Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army.
Jael lived with her husband in a tent near Kedesh, and Eber was at peace with the Canaanite oppressors. (Jg 4:10, 11, 17, 21; see KHEDES No. 3.) When Israel defeated Sisera, he fled to Eber’s neutral camp, where Jael invited him into his tent. “Later she covered him with a blanket.” After a while he asked her for water, and she served him curds in a bowl. After she covered him up again, he asked her to stand at the entrance of the store keeping watch. Believing himself safe as his guest, Sisera, exhausted, soon fell into a deep sleep. Then Jael approached her silently, armed with a hammer and a tent peg, which she as a tent dweller would be accustomed to using, and she rammed it into her head until she sank into the ground. When Barak, her pursuer, arrived, Jael showed her the chief of the army slain by “the hand of a woman,” as Deborah had predicted. (Jg 4:9, 17-22) In Deborah and Barak’s song of victory, Jael’s valiant deed against Jehovah’s enemy is praised, and Jael is also pronounced “very blessed among women.” (Jg 5:6, 24-27.)
Source: Dictionary of the Bible
(heb. yā˓ēl, ‘wild goat’). The wife of Heber the Kenite, the one who murdered Sisera (Judg. 4.17–21). At that time the Canaanites, led by Jabin, king of Hazor, and Sisera dominated Israel. In an explanatory note (Judges 4.11) the presence of the Kenites is explained in a region as far north as Alon-saananim, on the border of Naphtali (Jos. 19.33); they were normally associated with the tribe of Judah. Their metalworking skills surely made them useful allies of the Canaanites (Judges 4:17).
After the Israelites, led by Deborah and Barak, inflicted a decisive defeat on the Canaanites, most of the defeated army fled W. Sisera, however, evidently having abandoned his command, headed N, probably in order to seek asylum in Hazor. Appreciating his vital importance (cf. Judges 4.22), Jael offered him hospitality, which, according to the custom of the time, guaranteed him protection. His eagerness to convey a sense of security further highlighted his betrayal (Judges 4:18). Since pitching tents was a women’s job, Jael was able to effectively kill Sisera by driving a stake through his temple. Being killed by a woman was considered a shame (cf. Judges 9.54). Thus the prophecy of Deborah was fulfilled, that the main honor of killing Sisera would correspond to a woman (Judg. 4.9).
This victory permanently freed Israel from Canaanite oppression, and allowed it to control the strategic Valley of Esdraelon. She is immortalized in the song of Deborah (Judges 5), which is considered contemporary, and which shows a savage delight in Jael’s devious act (Judges 5.24–27). But, even if it is not approved, the natural human reaction of the Israelites, after a long period of oppression, before the death of their archenemy cannot be dismissed.
Various unconvincing emendations have been suggested to remove the startling reference to Jael in Jue. 5.6. Probably the argument put forward is that although Shamgar and Jael lived at the time Israel was persecuted, neither was able to deliver it. Débora receives all the credit for this liberating action.
Bibliography. JD Crossan, “Judges”, “St. Jerome” Biblical Commentary, 1971, t
AE Cundall, Judges and Ruth, 1968, pp. 81–101.
AEC
Douglas, J. (2000). New Biblical Dictionary: First Edition. Miami: United Bible Societies.
Source: New Bible Dictionary