User:Catherder88/sandbox

= Jael =

Family
Jael was the wife of Heber the Kenite,

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though the Hebrew phrase translated this way could also mean "a woman of the group of the Kenites"

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The name Jael means "Ibex," a nimble, sure footed mountain goat native to that region. The Hebrew words Ja'el literally translate to "he shall ascend or go up."

Jael in the Book of Judges
As he was thirsty, she gave him a jug of milk.

CHANGE TO: Sisera asks Jael for a drink of water; she gave him milk instead.

ADD: He commands Jael to watch over the tent and tell any inquirers that no one is there.

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Exhausted, Sisera lay down and soon fell asleep. While he was sleeping, Jael took a mallet and drove a tent peg into his temple, killing him instantly.

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Quietly, Jael took a mallet and drove a tent peg through Sisera's temple into the ground while he was sleeping, killing him instantly.

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Jael is then the woman with the honor of defeating Jabin's army, as prophdsied by Deborah, and she shows Barak Sisera's dead body in her tent.

Commentary
Judges 4:17 states that there was peace between the Canaanites and Heber's clan. They were familiar to the Israelites through the connection of Jethro to Moses, and their skill as metalworkers was welcomed wherever they camped. Both sides in the conflict would have considered the Kenites a neutral party. C.E. Schenk notes that Sisera was Jael's guest, "was in the sanctuary of her home, and protected by the laws of hospitality." According to Herbert Lockyer she may have acted out of practical necessity. Sisera was in flight and Barak in pursuit. It would not have been wise to allow Barak to find Sisera in her tent. She also knew that Sisera would be killed if captured, therefore she would kill him and thus cement a friendship with the victor. Biblical commentaries have viewed Jael as either a heroine or someone much less so. Newsom and Ringe consider her a survivor caught up in her husband's politics. 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.

ADD: Jael is another example in Judges of the contrast between marginal heroes and well-armed enemies conquered by wit and stealth.

ADD: Noting the maternal and erotic undertones of the text and some commentators' qualms about Jael's seductive and violent act, Bachmann points out that the Bible itself has nothing but praise for Jael, called most blessed of women.

Christian moral theorists during the Renaissance extensively referred to Jael as * example of tyrannicide.[citation needed]

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