Jael's story lets us know sometimes a girl has to slay the giants in her life, using whatever crude tools are available. Israels Judges actually had the responsibility to act as a military leader and thus when war came Deborah led the out-numbered, badly equipped Israelite troops to a miraculous victory. Jael is one of those women of the Bible who we dont get a lot of details or background on. If Jaels husband were to catch her alone with Sisera, he could accuse her of adultery and have her stoned to death. [20] Here she was used to show the risk for men in following women, in groupings including positive figures and scenes such as Judith beheading Holofernes, but mostly ones with females depicted as over-powerful, such as Phyllis riding Aristotle, Samson and Delilah, Salome and her mother Herodias and the Idolatry of Solomon. (Notice the similarity to Lot offering up his daughter in the annals of Sodom and Gomorrah: Genesis 19:4-8). Those were just about enough to bring her enemy down. For example, she gave him milk when he asked for a little water and covered him with blankets when he lay down to rest, being weary from battle (Judges 4:18-19). In fact, the events are mentioned as taking place in the "days of Jael" - an honour to have the date identified with her - and she is called " the most blessed among women " for her actions. Jael was no warrior. Her family were tinsmiths who made farming utensils, domestic items, and weapons. Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. She used the resources given to her in this situation by God. When I was 39, I became pregnant in the darkest part of our 21 years of marriage. What character qualities, positive or negative, do we see demonstrated in Jael's life? 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. She took a leave of absence, and stayed with her parents for awhile, leaving the husband to travel hundreds of miles to fetch her back. Instead, they are members of a different taxonomical genus than "true" goats. Thus, Jael was very capable of holding a tent peg in one hand and utilize the use of a hammer, or maul, in the other. 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. 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 . Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. I will make Sisera, the commander of King Jabins army, come to you. The Israelite army, however, had strategically no chance of success since they were sorely lacking in soldiers and weaponry. Deborah does accompany Barak, an Israelite general, to fight the Canaanites. Learn how your comment data is processed. 4 Ways the Parable of the Sower Encourages Spiritual Growth. L'inscription et faire des offres sont gratuits. The story of the Bethlehem woman and Lots daughters are only two among thousands of similar stories during this time. Her experience shows how God can maneuver events to fulfill prophecy. She realizes that her womanhood is actually a strength to be leveraged in her leadership, not a weakness to be discarded. Jenna Martin is a youth ministry worker and freelance writer who specializes in Bible, health, and tourism topics. While we are not sure about her faith, we are sure about her courage. Camels are used as draft and saddle animals in desert regions of Africa, Arabia, and Asia. Come in. Jael saw her opportunity to act and seized it. Incidentally, this historic ground was located in Nephtali a land set apart for fleeing inhabitants of the 12 tribes of Israel. It literally translates to "he shall ascend or go up". 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. Jael was the typical woman taking care of the daily affairs of her home. This ordinary woman does something extra-ordinary, and shows herself to be a willing, and committed, chosen instrument for God. She also knew that Sisera would be killed if captured; therefore, she would kill him and thus cement a friendship with the victor. This shows how desperate he was to not be found. Reminiscent of the Egyptians plight in the parting of the Red Sea, the Canaanites are slaughtered, with Sisera being the lone survivor. The war wasnt won by this one deed, but this was the beginning of the end of the Canaanites reign over Israel. Just before the battle had begun a downpour caused the battleground to become deep mud and Deborah took advantage of the circumstances, thus the Israelite foot soldiers were able to overtake the Canaanite iron chariots. Not a man was left, except Sisera that is, who managed to dismount his horse and run away on foot to the tent of Jael (Judges 4:17). Jael probably had her own tent separate from her husbands living quarters. Their funerary iconography indicates that (at the least) they. She stretched her hand to the tent peg; She put the tent peg to the side of Siseras head and hit it with a hammer. Where he sank, there he fell dead. God tends to bypass the people that man would think are the most qualified to manifest His word in favour of those that man would overlook. Siseras murder was a major act of treachery on Jaels part. Yet this is exactly what happened. Ehud wisely befriended the king by giving him presents and praise, and eventually made himself welcome in the kings court. 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. Deborah started the battle to defeat the enemy of Israel and Jael finished it. ", And Jael said to him, "Go, boast before your father in hell and tell him that you have fallen into the hands of a woman. He asserted that we should not be content to see our sins simply fleeing from us; we should be ready to pursue them and then to drive them into the grounddeadwith a nail, the way Jael did. It could just mean that their lives will take turns they didnt see coming. When she didnt see anyone chasing after him, maybe that is when the decision was made. The other primary female character, Jael, has not been viewed so positively. A deeper understanding of people in the Bible. Jael is perceptive enough to understand why this is happening: she equates the suffocating oppression her people are enduring due to Israel's lack of faith and worship. Dont get me wrongJesus never broke rules to be rude or needlessly provoke people. So when Sisera approached her tent, she knew exactly who he was and what she needed to do. And eating and drinking are pretty small, insignificant things. We dont know if Jael originally intended to kill Sisera. They therefore cried out to the Lord who sent His answer via Deborah, a judge and prophetess. After this victory, Israel enjoyed peace for forty years. And when it comes to slaying spiritual dragons, this is the kind of courage that God wants us to have. (Matthew 8:3), He healed on the Sabbath even though no work was supposed to be done. There is no doubt that he was bigger and very much stronger than Jael. The earliest known depiction of biblical heroines Jael and Deborah was discovered at an ancient synagogue in Israel, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced last week. Jael appears bound to the Israelites because of her husbands kinship through the Midianites. Jael is one of those women of the Bible who we don't get a lot of details or background on. Dont be afraid. So Sisera went into Jaels tent, and she covered him with a blanket (Judges 4:18) and Sisera thought he would be safe there after his Canaanite forces had been defeated since Not one of Siseras men was left alive (Judges 4:16b). Jael, said Graybill, is a "highly unusual biblical heroine." The text identifies her as a "wife," but she has no husband. Llanera, Daniel Kevin and Wilmington, Rebekah and Shoo, Haika and Lisboa, Paulo and Jarman, Ian and Wong, Stephanie and Nizza, Jael and Sharma, Dushyant and Kalathil, Dhanya and Rajeev, Surya and Williams, Scott and Yadav, Rahul and Qureshi, Zubair and Narayanan, Ram Prakash and Furlong, Niall and Westall, Sam and Nair, Sunil, Clinical Characteristics of COVID-19 Patients in a Regional . [17] Parallels between the details of Jael's actions and Ehud's assassination of Eglon have led van Wijk-Bos to propose Jael as killing Sisera in a manner similar to his conquering army's use of rape. The Canaanite army was strong. Sisera was pursued by the people of Israel at the request of Deborah the Judge. And her expression is placid - almost sweet - as she methodically sets about her task. She did not need to have her trust in God confirmed by the responses of others. His family was at peace with King Jabin of Hazor. Jael (whose tent would have been separate from Heber's) [8] welcomed Sisera into her tent and covered him with a blanket. He entered the tent of a married woman. We have to be vigilant and calculated in killing it. This event in Jaels life reveals a series of lessons, the first of which is that God will always fulfil His word. Trust in God's Word Deborah trusted in the word of God. The only woman who judges, Deborah "used to sit under . Jael could offer to help a fleeing enemy, as she did, but was not obligated to the ritual hospitality law. Still, for a meaning of the name Jael, both BDB Theological Dictionary and NOBSE Study Bible Name List read Mountain Goat. The story of Jael in the Bible is short but it is power-packed with lessons about spiritual warfare. Obedient: one of the main characteristics of Esther in the Bible is her biddability. Newsom and Ringe consider her a survivor caught up in her husband's politics. The name itself signifies a wild mountain goat - apropos for a Bedouin's wife whose feet and character stay sturdy amongst the harsh crevices, rocks and unforgiving surroundings of her society. Warrior, Dancer, Seductress, Queen: Women in Judges and Biblical Israel, Susan Ackerman, Anchor Bible Common jackals are a little smaller than wolves and are recognizable by their bushy tails. She understood that God alone is able to do what he says he will do. Folktales are thus . [citation needed] According to Jack Sasson, there are reasons to doubt whether the events narrated in Judges 4 ever occurred. ", Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. 4:2). 3. Not only that, she likely had extensive experience putting up tents with tent pegs and so she was skilled with this tool. He is able to use any of us, even those who feel insignificant or powerless, for His greater good. These things were made from metal. Therefore, the prospect of a woman being able to kill an experienced commander of an army was a strange one. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon. 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 is the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the sister of Moses and Aaron. She managed to lead the enemys iron-wheeled chariots onto the marshy land where they became bogged down, useless and helpless. One day Deborah was sitting under the Palm Tree of Deborah, and the Israelites came up to her to ask what to do about Sisera. That required skillful use of a mallet and tent peg. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This is perhaps why he felt safe and comfortable in her camp. If God has given you a word or vision, I want you to keep the faith that He will be faithful to complete it. The name Jael is pronounced the same as the word for mountain goat, but distinctions in pronunciation were added many centuries after this text was written. [7] Jael, however, sympathized with the Israelites because of the twenty-year period of harsh oppression inflicted on them by Jabin, his commander Sisera, and his nine hundred iron chariots. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. While the Bible doesnt expressly tell us about Jaels motives for killing Sisera, she must have had a motive that was more important to her than an earthly alliance, and that motive must have been honoring God. And her ambitions can make her ruthless, greedy, and insensitive. Barak and his men defeated Siseras army, but Sisera left his chariot and ran away on foot (Judges 4:15) but Sisera got away ran away to the tent where a woman named Jael lived. Deborah prophesied that because of his weak faith, God would give victory through the hand of a woman. You could even say the fight wasnt fair. I was 2 months pregnant sitting in Gods presence when I heard the him say, You are having a girl. As he drew near, Jael invited him to enter her tent. 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. He denounced religious rulers for heaping impossible burdens on the people listening to them. Despite this, once Jael saw that he was in a deep sleep, she took a tent peg and hammer, crept over to Sisera and drove the peg into his temple- so far that it went down into the ground. She Was a Reincarnation of Eve and Yael Through feeding her husband the forbidden fruit, Eve introduced death into the world. But if you will not go withme, I will not go. I will go with you,she said, but you will receive nohonor on the road you are aboutto take, because the Lord willsell Sisera into a womans hand.Judges 4:8, 9. The wife of Heber the Kenite, Through her husband Heber, Jael had kinship ties with the Israelites. We need only to skip ahead in the Bible to the life of Jesus to read more stories of rules broken. "[12], There is also a reference to the story of Jael in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Quite the opportunist, Heber travels north from Judah to Canaan, taking Jael with him. Women were also considered second class citizens and incapable of many things compared to men; so there would not have been many (if any) trained in combat. Step 6 print z. Jal (aka Jal Malli; born Rahel Krebs; 19 August 1979 in Bern, Switzerland) is a Swiss musician who was the frontwoman and lead singer of the band Lunik from 1998 to 2013.. She worked several times with Delerium, co-writing, and singing "After All" on their album Chimera, "Lost and Found" on their album Nuages du Monde, and "Light Your Light" on their 2012 album Music Box Opera. The Israelites finally destroyed him, Jael was the wife of Heber the Kenite. Jael was the wife of Heber the Kenite. And then, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said to him, Come, I will show you the man whom you seek. And when he went into her tent, there lay Sisera, dead with the peg in his temple. (Judges 4:21-22). Jael, however, offered refuge to a fleeing enemy general, NOT ritual hospitality. Copyright 2022 Nina Dafe. Chapter 14--Jael Her Name Means "A Wild or Mountain Goat" Her Character: Decisive and courageous, she seized the opportunity to slay an enemy of God's people. He had separated himself and his wife Jael from the other Kenites and pitched their tent in the plain of Zaanaim, which is near Kedesh in the tribal territory of Naphtali. 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 . Zondervan Publishers, 1967. And this might not mean that they die. If anyone comes by and asks you, Is anyone in there? say, No, But Jael found a tent peg and a hammer. We should be constantly ready to run to him, confess our sins, and then bask in the victory of the cross. Respond to their environment 4. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. Instead she used things like the fact that he would trust a woman easily. 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