Then she tucked him into bed like a baby. Josephus, Flavius. Eglon was another king who brutally treated the Israelites for 18 years, again a punishment handed down by God because of Israels unfaithfulness and idolatry. She would have had no settled home, moving from place to place as a way of obtaining food, finding pasture for livestock, or otherwise making a living. Her right hand to the workmens hammer; Yet this is exactly what happened. He was willing to give up his daughters than hand over his guests to the men of Sodom. These are tools she knew how to use well because she made tents. She is confident. In the Hebrew Bible, Judges 4-5 tells the lurid story of the heroic figure of Jael, the formidable woman who saves Israel from the Canaanite army by seducing their general, Sisera, and then nailing his head to the ground with a tent-peg. Learn how your comment data is processed. But Jael also knows that her faithful God will break the bonds of slavery as long as the Israelites humble themselves, and turn back to the One True God of their nation. Barak said to her, If you will go withme, I will go. There was a woman prophet named Deborah. So the Israelites became stronger and stronger until they defeated King Jabin of Canaan. Her action appears to show her faithfulness to the Covenant people of Israel which, as mentioned, the Kenite clan had identification through Moses. He made requests of his hostessbad manners for a guest. Heber, Jaels husband, was a Kenite. In God's good design, men are rulers and fighters; they bear the responsibility of providing . Heber and his household were at peace with Jabin, the king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Tweet. Israel was at war with the Canaanites. 5:2426) recounts: Extolled above women be Jael, They lived in tents and moved about in order to find work. Jal was an ally by blood of the Israelitish nation; [Sisera, the general of] their chief oppressor, who had mightily oppressed them for the space of twenty years, now lay defenseless before her; and he was, moreover, one of those whom Israel was bound by the command of Jehovah to extirpate. The name Delilah in Hebrew means "weak; poor.". This is not a story about physical strength but about strength of commitment to God. Her right hand to the workman's hammer, Ironically her life in a tent, and the skills this entailed, would serve as apt training for General Siseras betrayal and execution. At that time, Deborah was the ruling judge in Israel. The A type of non-halakhic literary activitiy of the Rabbis for interpreting non-legal material according to special principles of interpretation (hermeneutical rules). Bible Character Study on Abigail. Ezra Glenn's song "Sisera Sleeps" from 2020's "Two-Heel Sandwich" refers to Jael's actions. And just like the Virgin Mary, she became an unlikely heroine of a prophecy fulfilled. But when trouble came knocking, she used what she had. It could just mean that their lives will take turns they didnt see coming. Yes, trouble might come from these people but if that is the case, they are only instruments in the hands of the enemy. She drove a tent peg through his temple. Deborah was the first. She was discerning in confronting David and kept him out of sin. Blessed is she among women. A distinctive honor not just given to the Virgin Mary, but also to a little-known nomadic warrior who descended from a priestly clan in 1125 B.C. However, she is not the only woman of valour detailed in this particular part of the Bible. Only an act of God would make this plan work. Lead them to Mount Tabor. Jael was the wife of Heber who was a Kenite, the same ethnic group that Moses' father-in-law (Jethro) had been from ( Judges 4:11 ). She was described as a prophetess, and, in fact, is one of the seven major female prophets in the Bible. If she did not act, Deborahs prophecy from God would not have been fulfilled. Have you ever read any of Davids prayers? There is no way that she could win a physical fight with him. She realizes that her womanhood is actually a strength to be leveraged in her leadership, not a weakness to be discarded. Unfortunately, Heber falls into the same trap as did the nation of Israel, and enjoys the riches and spoils of the land, compromising his integrity and beliefs to do so. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. The woman lost her will to live due to her insurmountable shame. Satan (the Devil). The Kenites, being Nomadic, lived near Jericho but moved south to the region of Negev. She also assured him that God would defeat Sisera through him however Barak refused to go to battle without her (Judges 4:6-8). Sisera was in flight and Barak in pursuit. Jael was the wife of Heber - "Now, Heber the Kenite, a descendant of Moses' brother-in-law, Hobab, had moved away from the other members of his tribe and pitched his tent by the oak of Zaanannim near Kedesh." (4:11) "Meanwhile, Sisera ran to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because Heber's family was on friendly terms . Warrior, Dancer, Seductress, Queen: Women in Judges and Biblical Israel, Susan Ackerman, Anchor Bible Running to a womans tent and laying under a rug suggests he felt the need to hide either from Jabin because he lost the battle or from the Israelites, his enemy. In any case, it would still be disastrous for Jaels reputation for Sisera to be alone with her. She only gets a few lines of Scripture, but we have so much to learn from her. (Joshua 20:1-7) Sisera ultimately chooses this tent, this family, this land of protection to flee to for safety after the Canaanites disasterous defeat. We cannot and must not be passive in our struggle against our enemy and, more importantly, the enemy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. She understood that God alone is able to do what he says he will do. Jael saw an opportunity to help Gods people. We dont know if Jael originally intended to kill Sisera. She loves to hang around men with money, power, influence and positions. One day, I was sobbing and crying out to God that I wouldnt have a boy. According to Jewish tradition, Deborah, Barak, Jael, and Heber are buried near the spring beneath the town of Kedesh. Sisera arrived on foot at the tent of Heber on the plain of Zaanaim. This ordinary woman does something extra-ordinary, and shows herself to be a willing, and committed, chosen instrument for God. With no one else around, Ehud tells the king of a private dream he wanted to share, and whispered for the king to come close. I too have one of the sweetest little granddaughters on the planetshes almost 6 & wants to know more about this Jael ( her name is Jaela but she is a namesake) .thanks for the info, I will definitely pass it all on to her!!!! To take a refugee into her tent, show him hospitality and make him feel safe, and then kill him was an act of gruesome treachery. Because God has a million ways to solve one problem. "Jael: Bible." She commanded Barak to fight against Jabin's army in the Valley of Jezreel along the Kishon River. Jael is the heroine who kills Sisera after the battle of Jabin, king of Hazor, against Israel under Deborah and Barak (Judges 4:17). Note that although the character Jael is feminine, the name Jael is the same as the masculine word for mountain goat, whereas the feminine version of it, Jaalah, belongs to a male character. Hever the Kenite (.mw-parser-output .script-hebrew,.mw-parser-output .script-Hebr{font-family:"SBL Hebrew","SBL BibLit","Taamey Ashkenaz","Taamey Frank CLM","Frank Ruehl CLM","Ezra SIL","Ezra SIL SR","Keter Aram Tsova","Taamey David CLM","Keter YG","Shofar","David CLM","Hadasim CLM","Simple CLM","Nachlieli",Cardo,Alef,"Noto Serif Hebrew","Noto Sans Hebrew","David Libre",David,"Times New Roman",Gisha,Arial,FreeSerif,FreeSans} ) was, according to the Book of Judges in the Bible, a descendant of Reuel the Midianite, the father-in-law of Moses. midrash praises Yael, wife of Heber the Kenite, and includes her among the devout women converts, together with Hagar, Asenath, Zipporah, Shiphrah, Puah, the daughter of Pharaoh, Rahab, and Ruth (Yalkut Shimoni on Joshua, para . Mountain Goat. Eve and Adam, painting by Tamara de Lempicka, 1932. Miriam ( Mir-ym) was born in 1576 B.C. Take in and use energy , do work, produce waste 3. Characteristics Of Esther In The Bible . Faith, not fear, wins. There Barak found Sisera lying dead on the ground, with the tent peg through the side of his head (Judges 4:22). We do not know if Jael was concerned for her safety once Sisera awoke from his sleep, or if she was just doing the will of God with the action she took. His family was at peace with King Jabin of Hazor. After Barak demurs at the behest of the prophetess Deborah, God turns Sisera over to Jael, killing him by driving a tent peg through his skull after he enters her tent near the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh. Scholars[10] have long recognized that the Song of Deborah, on the basis of linguistic evidence (archaic biblical Hebrew), is one of the oldest parts of the Bible, dating back to the 12th century BCE.[11]. She was married to Heber, the Kenite. Two stations were monitored between July 1996 and April 1998 to study temporal variation in species diversity and abundance of the epi- and endo-benthos. Jaels primary job, though, was to pitch tents, and she had become an expert in all phases of making, pitching, and striking such dwellings. She had to ignore all the fear, all the what-ifs.. Technically speaking, Yal is a female name, borne from the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old . They traveled whenever they could find work. She disarmed him with her words of reassurance. 5. Step 4 multiply values of x & y. These things were made from metal. She crashed through and transfixed his temples. I heard the Lord say, your little girls name is Jael, she will be a symbol of the bondage I will break in your marriage. Thank-you for such detail on the story of Jael. While running away, he found refuge in the tent of a woman, Jael. Brave: we often think that bravery is the absence of fear. She was the wife of a man named Lappidoth. In Renaissance works the subject is one of the most commonly shown in the Power of Women topos, with other biblical women who triumphed over men, such as Judith or Delilah. 2. Jabin's army was led by Sisera (Judg. And understandably, her virtue is at risk of being violated. Copyright 2022 Nina Dafe. As Barak was passing by the tent of Jael, in pursuit of Sisera, she shows him the corpse of the dead Canaanite general inside her tent. Jael was a woman who understood this. Showtime Original Series WEEDS featured character Yael Hoffman (Meital Dohan) in 2006. Deborah therefore agreed to go along with him but prophesied that there would be no glory for [Barak] in the journey [that he was] taking, for the Lord [would] sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Jael took Sisera and pushed him onto the ground from the bed. Her grieving husband cuts her body up into twelve pieces, and sends it out to the 12 tribes of Israel as a stark reminder of the lust and violence that were the Canaanites, and to severely warn them against co-habiting with such mongrels. If you are in a spiritual battle, what do you already have that you can use? C.E. Judges 4:6 tells us that she summoned a man named Barak, who God chose to be the leader of Israels army against Jabins forces. Jael knew who the real enemy was in the fight and she also knew that battles can be very unpredictable. The Song of Deborah recounts: Deborah agrees to go, but tells Barak that because of the way he responded to Gods call there would be no glory for him in Siseras defeat. So when Sisera approached her tent, she knew exactly who he was and what she needed to do. [5] Heber lived approximately during the 12th century BC in the Hula Valley (anciently known as Zaanaim) of northern Israel during the time of the Israelite judges. He was a descendant of Jethro, the father of Zipporah and the father in law of Moses. Eve means 'life-bearer'. She pulled down and packed the tents when they traveled to another place. And the hand of the children of Israel grew stronger and stronger against Jabin king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.. In spiritual battles, the enemy often comes disguised. It went against everything she knew about hospitality, something hugely important to her culture at the time. Sisera was a warrior. Her campsite must have been close to the battlefield because her family was making and supplying weapons for the army. Her family made and sold tools in farming, some domestic tools and weapons as well. A woman who, without her remarkably courageous deed, the descendants of Israel would have been lost. Jael or Yael (Hebrew: Yl) is a heroine in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Judges who delivers Israel from the army of King Jabin of Canaan. "[13], Judges 4:17 states that there was peace between the Canaanites and Heber's clan. Women of the Bible, Jean E. Syswerda, Zondervan Publishers, 1999. Ch.1.4: CHARACTERISTICS OF LIFE. Finally, Jaels husband very likely had a good relationship with Sisera. It is believed they served customers wherever they traveled in the way of metalworkers. A Character Study. Lessons from Deborah in the Bible (characteristics and leadership qualities), 20 Free Christian Coloring Pages printables for adults and children . When Moses fled Egypt and went to Midian he met Jethro and eventually married his daughter Zipporah, thus marrying into the tribe of Kenite. Change). Others propose that physical ascension requires finding literal footing, whereas figurative ascension (in prosperity and cultural diversity) is fundamentally based on the mastery of practical and useful skills. On hearing Gods word, she sent for a man named Barak and told him that the Lord wanted him to gather ten thousand men and go to war against Sisera, the commander of Jabins army. Jael showed Sisera great hospitality. God gave the Israelites a seemingly impossible defeat against the superior Canaanite army thus giving them access to the fertile plains of Jezreel and Esdraelon. No matter how difficult or threatening the situation, God's power within us is greater than we can ever fully see or comprehend. (LogOut/ But while she was doing that, she was very much aware of the fact that there was a battle going on. She has much to teach us about the fact that God can and will use anybody as His chosen vessel. Made of cells , at least one 2. When the Israelites came at Sisera with 10,000 men, Sisera fled. Once separated from its original theological context, the Jael and Sisera tradition transforms into a story about gender identity and conflict between the sexes. 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