Take in and use energy , do work, produce waste 3. 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. Then Sisera said to Jael, Go stand at the entrance to the tent. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. Your email address will not be published. So, what can we learn from this courageous womans story? As such, Jael shows us that God will use absolutely anybody to bring His will about. During . Her action appears to show her faithfulness to the Covenant people of Israel which, as mentioned, the Kenite clan had identification through Moses. -2 Corinthians 3:5-6. The only woman who judges, Deborah "used to sit under . The Archaeological Study Bible, NIV version, Zondervan Publishers, 2005. 5. If I asked most people to think of a warrior woman mentioned in Judges 4 and 5, I am pretty sure that most minds would go straight to Deborah. A deeper understanding of people in the Bible. During the time of the Judges There was a woman prophet named Deborah. His family was at peace with King Jabin of Hazor. Jaels people were at peace with his. Siseras army was quickly losing, so in one last ditch effort to save his life Sisera got out of his chariot and fled on foot, Jael saw Sisera and came out to meet him. Remember that as a woman, you too have the ability and the right to discern Gods Truth and will, regardless of the war and chaos surrounding you. 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. ", Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. Where he sank, there he fell dead. What character qualities, positive or negative, do we see demonstrated in Jael's life? Sometimes in spiritual warfare, we can mistake our spouse, children, friends, family, and coworkers for the enemy. For Moses, it was the staff in his hand. That would make the mountain goat literally a "benefiter of practical skill.". And if we really want to see victory, we have to really put away sin. Sisera was a warrior. While running away, he found refuge in the tent of a woman, Jael. Not only that, she likely had extensive experience putting up tents with tent pegs and so she was skilled with this tool. Moreover, she has a masculine name and Sisera addresses her using . "[13], Judges 4:17 states that there was peace between the Canaanites and Heber's clan. (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. He brought the battlefield to his allys encampment. When the Holy Spirit prompts us to act, we usually dont have long to think. Heber, Jaels husband, had a good relationship with the Caananites and thats why Sisera felt comfortable to find refuge in their camp. Jael was a Nomadic, tent dweller. The Deceptions Of Jael. The Kenites were a Nomadic tribe of people who lived near Canaan. Reference Library, Anchor Bible Publishers, 1998. Their funerary iconography indicates that (at the least) they. In those days, women made their own tents and pitched them. Heber (whose name means ally,) contracts himself out to the Canaanite army led by General Sisera for weapon-making. 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. [citation needed] According to Jack Sasson, there are reasons to doubt whether the events narrated in Judges 4 ever occurred. The Antiquities of the Jews, translated by William Whiston. Jael lived in the days of the Judges. Jael would have been remarkably adept with a tent pin and hammer, knowing how to grind a stake into the desert ground. She is materialistic and she loves power. Naomi thought her family line had ended, but God . Ephesians 6:12 puts it like this: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. She may have just been trying to delay him so that anyone pursuing him could catch up. Still, for a meaning of the name Jael, both BDB Theological Dictionary and NOBSE Study Bible Name List read Mountain Goat. He gives us certain skills and gifts for a reason, and we should always be on the lookout for ways to use them. If anyone comes by and asks you, Is anyone in there? say, No (Judges 4:20) But Jael found a tent peg and a hammer. Yes, trouble might come from these people but if that is the case, they are only instruments in the hands of the enemy. The tent peg went through the side of his head and into the ground. Barak said to Deborah, I will go and do this if you will go with me. Faith, not fear, wins. [18] Jael, along with Ehud, is an example in Judges of the contrast between marginal heroes and well-armed enemies conquered by wit and stealth. ", 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. There Barak found Sisera lying dead on the ground, with the tent peg through the side of his head, God defeated King Jabin of Canaan for the Israelites. But while she was doing that, she was very much aware of the fact that there was a battle going on. Just before he fell asleep, Sisera instructed Jael to stand at the door of the tent and lie to any man who appeared to be looking for him, to which she seemed to agree (Judges 4:20). 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. Jewish Women's Archive, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jael&oldid=1141698215, Bertie also mentions "Jael, wife of Heber" in. Thus Deborahs prophesy, that Sisera would die at the hand of a woman, was fulfilled. The Israelite army, however, had strategically no chance of success since they were sorely lacking in soldiers and weaponry. Heber made weapons. The Israelites were clearly able to see their God, Yahweh, was superior to the Canaanite god, Baal. You are not a second-class citizen, and you have the right to assert Gods will. Works by Gregorio Lazzarini and Artemisia Gentileschi are two examples of an attractive Jael, shown in the act of killing her foe. Bible Character Study on Abigail. 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. Miriam ( Mir-ym) was born in 1576 B.C. Jael was married to a Kenanite named Heber, a man descended from Jethro (Moses' father-in-law of the Midianites). These nuts claim that God ", "Maybe what happened to you was simply something going on in your mind or heart ", "Medical science has progressed tremendously in the last 200 years. She didnt attempt to beat him with a strategy she knew she was not going to be able to use to win. Sisera was in flight and Barak in pursuit. 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. She covered him with a rug to hide and comfort him. The A type of non-halakhic literary activitiy of the Rabbis for interpreting non-legal material according to special principles of interpretation (hermeneutical rules). She was married to Heber, the Kenite. The example of Jael, however, show It can be easy to think that we must possess great skills in order to be used by the Lord to do great things for His kingdom. Feeling secure once inside her tent he appears to proceed giving her orders to tell anyone asking whether there is a man within her tent to tell them no. And just like the Virgin Mary, she became an unlikely heroine of a prophecy fulfilled. Sisera died, Barak came by Jaels tent, looking for Sisera. (Matthew 23), He touched lepers even though the rules of his day said that doing so would make him unclean. She has much to teach us about the fact that God can and will use anybody as His chosen vessel. Thus, Jael is not guilty of failing to provide hospitality. We need only to skip ahead in the Bible to the life of Jesus to read more stories of rules broken. Jael, Shawna R.T. Atteberry, http://www.shawnaatteberry.com/2008/12/11/436/. Sisera was the commander of the Canaanite forces and so Barak and his men attacked Sisera. 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. Deborah, also spelled Debbora, prophet and heroine in the Old Testament (Judg. Deborah, the prophetess, was judging Israel at this time. This was the best way to secure hospitality and protection. He will step in and destroy either them or their plans for you. The text in Judges 5 is very explicit about Jael's efficiency in killing Sisera. The meaning of Jael in the Bible is wild goat or wild gazelle. The task set before her took a large amount of courage. (The Palm Tree of Deborah is between the cities of Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ep, to Barak, The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you: Go and gather 10,000 men from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun. When she didnt see anyone chasing after him, maybe that is when the decision was made. 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. 3. ScienceQuantum Mechanics and Chaos TheoryThe Passion of the Christ and the Theory of EverythingStars and fractals: the many hearts of wisdomHow the Bible relates to Homer like Ape to DogHumanitiesScience, religion and data retentionHow circumcision created the modern worldThe Cosmology of ConsciousnessThe Metaverse and the Angel of the AbyssOnline e-books (free, no tricks) Weird Patterns in History and Movies Tolkien, the Bible and Serbia, BibleBiblical namesInterlinear New TestamentLots and lots of topical articlesHebrew dictionaryGreek dictionaryMiscellaneousThe gospel of impurityThe many Hebrew roots of the Greek languageEndosymbiotic eukaryosynthesisWhy you want to study the Bible, HousekeepingCookies, Copyright & ContactPlease consider helping us financially:Through PatreonVia Paypal, Excerpted from: Abarim Publications' Biblical Dictionary, (c) Abarim Publications first published here on 2006-04-19; moved to present location on 2008-05-18; last updated on 2023-01-30, Discover the meanings of thousands of Biblical names in. Her family made and sold tools in farming, some domestic tools and weapons as well. They therefore cried out to the Lord who sent His answer via Deborah, a judge and prophetess. The only one who can help us do that is Jesus. The wife of Heber the Kenite, She quietly went to Sisera. It is believed they served customers wherever they traveled in the way of metalworkers. 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. If she did not act, she probably would have been raped by a vicious Canaanite man. 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. "[14][15] According to Herbert Lockyer she may have acted out of practical necessity. But this is not realistic. By Jaels one act, she saves Israel from oppression, reverses the traitorious bedmates of Israel with Canaan, demolishes the law of rape under the guise of hospitality, saves her own reputation, becomes a woman warrior in her own right, and fulfills Deborahs prophecy. The word folk comes from the German word volk, which means people. The Pharaohs Daughter Moses Adoptive Mother, https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Jael, http://www.biblefellowshipunion.co.uk/2006/Jul_Aug/JaelSisa.htm, http://www.angelfire.com/ok/bibleteaching/judges2.html, http://www.womeninthebible.net/1.8.Deborah_Jael.htm, http://claudemariottini.com/2009/07/06/deborah-and-jael/, http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9279-kenites, http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/jael-bible, http://www.offthegridnews.com/2012/05/06/jael-blessed-among-women-or-bible-bad-girl/, http://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/jael.html, http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/jael-wife-of-heber-kenite-midrash-and-aggadah, http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0012_0_11033.html, http://www.shawnaatteberry.com/2008/12/11/436/. Then, however, another XYZ Burgers franchise opened just down the street from Jael's restaurant. But who would have thought that these tent-making tools could become such terrible murder weapons? It went against everything she knew about hospitality, something hugely important to her culture at the time. She also assured him that God would defeat Sisera through him however Barak refused to go to battle without her (Judges 4:6-8). She put the tent peg to the side of Siseras head and hit it with a hammer. Israel was at war with the Canaanites. Appearance of Other Varieties 1 Characteristics of Mary, Mother of Jesus. Josephus, Flavius. Sisera asked Jael for a drink of water; she gave him milk instead. They did not know what to do. Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Massachussets, Hendrickson Publishers, 1987. Be our patron for as little as one dollar a month: https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Jael.html, The Passion of the Christ and the Theory of Everything, Stars and fractals: the many hearts of wisdom, How the Bible relates to Homer like Ape to Dog, How circumcision created the modern world, The many Hebrew roots of the Greek language. 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. There is no doubt that he was bigger and very much stronger than Jael. I could not believe that such violence was in the Bible. We'll get deeper into three of her weaknesses, and how they apply to us in our modern, 21st century lives as Christians. Jael had a front row seat to the vicious cycle of idolatry and judgment upon the nation of Israel namely the destruction of the lands and the assimilation of pagan practices. Feminine hospitality is a powerful thing to a man. Pseudo-Philo refers to Jael in the book, Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum: Now Jael took a stake in her left hand and approached him, saying, "If God will work this sign with me, I know that Sisera will fall into my hands. If General Barak were to catch her, she could be accused of conspiracy, harboring a fugitive, and summarily executed. You will need to know the difference. [4] The Kenites were a nomadic tribe, some of whom lived in close proximity to the Israelites. No one would expect it, and no one would find him there. Reminiscent of the Egyptians plight in the parting of the Red Sea, the Canaanites are slaughtered, with Sisera being the lone survivor. And Sisera had no reason to be. In spiritual battles, the enemy often comes disguised. 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. With great distress, she went straight to Elisha for help, not even mentioning it to her husband. She was described as a prophetess, and, in fact, is one of the seven major female prophets in the Bible. Together, Heber and Jael live under the rich umbrella of safety and wealth afforded under a ratified peace treaty between themselves and General Sisera. Due to Jaels actions, the children of Israel won their battle for freedom against King Jabin and had rest [in their land] for forty years. When Sisera asked for water, she gave him milk. Shortly after Deborah and Baraks exchange, Baraks army met Siseras in the battle in which Sisera would be delivered into the hand of the Israelites. She is passionate about helping Christian women to grow in Christ, improve their marriages and creatively worship. Second, Sisera went to the tent of a woman. A mighty warrior, judge, prophetess, and minstrel. The tent peg went through the side of his head and into the ground. Cultivate gratitude to God first and foremost. Who was Melchizedek and Why was He so Important?The Bible Story of Queen EstherThe Life of Ruth - 5 Essential Faith Lessons3 Things You Didnt Know About Mary (Mother of Jesus). After all, a sleeping man cannot defend himself. A woman whose physical strength, faithfulness, patience, and discernment were praised in the very first poem of the Hebrew Bible: The Song of Deborah.. 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. He dealt with the wife rather than her husband. Sisera died (Judges 4:21). They had the latest technology in the form of 900 iron chariots. Martin Luther was particularly fond of Judith and held her up as an example of virtue and godly living. He is able to use any of us, even those who feel insignificant or powerless, for His greater good. 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