Person

Jael

Female

Mountain-goat, the wife of Heber the Kenite (Judg. 4:17-22). When the Canaanites were defeated by Barak, Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, fled and sought refuge with the friendly tribe of Heber, beneath the oaks of Zaanaim. As he drew near, Jael invited him to enter her tent. He did so, and as he lay wearied on the floor he fell into a deep sleep. She then took in her left hand one of the great wooden pins (“nail”) which fastened down the cords of the tent, and in her right hand the mallet, or “hammer,” used for driving it into the ground, and stealthily approaching her sleeping guest, with one well-directed blow drove the nail through his temples into the earth (Judg. 5:27). She then led Barak, who was in pursuit, into her tent, and boastfully showed him what she had done.

Relationships

Partners Heber

Appears in Judges

Key verses

Judges 5:24

“Jael shall be blessed above women, the wife of Heber the Kenite; blessed shall she be above women in the tent.

Judges 5:6

“In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied. The travelers walked through byways.

Judges 4:17

However Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

Judges 4:21

Then Jael Heber’s wife took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly to him, and struck the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he swooned and died.

Judges 4:22

Behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you seek.” He came to her; and behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent peg was in his temples.

Judges 4:18

Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; don’t be afraid.” He came in to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.