Name: Jael
Meaning: Mountain Goat
Her Character: Jael has been described as “quick, clever, and fearless.”
Her Sorrow: Her husband was an ally of the Canaanite king.
Her Triumph: Jael killed the Canaanite commander, Sisera, who was oppressive to Israelites. She was honored in a Song of Deborah as being most blessed among women.
Key Scriptures: Judges 4 and 5
After the death of Ehud, the Israelites did evil in the sight of God, and God turned them over to a Canaanite king. The commander of the king’s army, Sisera, was ruthless in his oppression of the Israelites for twenty years, and the Israelites at last called out to God for help.
Deborah, who was a Judge of Israel and a prophetess, called on Barak to lead warriors into battle against Sisera. In the course of their conversation, she told Barak that God’s victory over Sisera would be at the hands of a woman. As Deborah commanded, Barak went to war against Sisera. Barak defeated Sisera’s warriors in battle, but Sisera escaped by foot and ran to the tent of Jael.
Jael was married to Heber who was a Kenite. The Kenites were descendants of Moses’ brother-in-law (or father-in-law) and were Midianites, not Israelites. They lived at the foot of Mount Tabor. Jael came from a tribe of metal smiths. Because they were metal smiths, her family may have been the makers of some of the Canaanite king’s 900 chariots of iron. Because of this, Heber’s family was on friendly terms with the Canaanite king or at least neutral. This neutrality probably made Sisera feel he would be safe in Jael’s tent. Plus social rules would cause people not to think to look in the tent of a woman.
When Sisera arrived, Jael greeted him and invited him into her tent. She covered him with a blanket. When he asked for water because he was thirsty, she gave him milk. When Sisera fell asleep, Jael drove a tent peg through his temple with a hammer. When Barak came looking for Sisera, Jael led him to Sisera’s body.
Deborah (and perhaps Barak) set the story of the great victory to music. The song proclaimed God’s greatness, and it gave Him credit for the victory. Jael is mentioned several times in this Song of Deborah. In Judges 5:24, the song refers to her as most blessed among women and asks for her to be blessed among those who lived in tents.
Although Jael’s actions violate the code of hospitality as we know it, it is not clear if her actions happened before or after such hospitality laws had been established. We know that Jael is commended by Deborah in the victory song. The song is one of the oldest Hebrew songs of victory on record, perhaps only antedated by Miriam’s Song of Triumph.
In today’s world, we certainly would not condone the taking of another’s life, but we cannot judge her actions through our own lenses or sense of what is right or wrong. Jael’s actions were brave, precise, and decisive. She acted purposefully in her actions to defeat her enemy. As we engage in our own battles, we too need to be brave, precise, decisive, and purposeful.
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