Yael
Encyclopedia
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
Ya'el, יעל, the Hebrew name of the Nubian Ibex
Nubian Ibex
The Nubian ibex is a desert-dwelling goat species found in mountainous areas of Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Egypt, Ethiopia, Yemen, Sudan, and Pakistan. It is generally considered to be a subspecies of Alpine ibex, but is sometimes considered specifically distinct...
) is a character mentioned in the Book of Judges
Book of Judges
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...
in the Hebrew Bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
, as the heroine who killed Sisera
Sisera
Sisera was commander of the Canaanite army of King Jabin of Hazor mentioned in the of the Hebrew Bible. After being defeated by Barak, Sisera was killed by Jael, who hammered a tent peg into his temple....
to deliver Israel from the troops of king Jabin
Jabin
Jabin is a Biblical name meaning 'discerner', or 'the wise'. It may refer to:* A king of Hazor, at the time of the entrance of Israel into Canaan , whose overthrow and that of the northern chief with whom he had entered into a confederacy against Joshua was the crowning act in the conquest of the...
. She was the wife of Heber the Kenite
Heber the Kenite
Heber the Kenite is a man in the Book of Judges in the Tanakh and the Holy Bible. He is a descendant of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. Heber had separated himself and his wife Jael from the other Kenites; he pitched their tent in the plain of Zaanaim, which is near Kedesh.According to Judges...
.
Yael in the book of Judges
God told DeborahDeborah
Deborah was a prophetess of Yahweh the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel, counselor, warrior, and the wife of Lapidoth according to the Book of Judges chapters 4 and 5....
(a prophetess and leader) that she would deliver Israel from Jabin. Deborah called Barak
Barak
Barak , Al-Burāq the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, was a military general in the Book of Judges in the Bible. He was the commander of the army of Deborah, the prophetess and heroine of the Hebrew Bible...
to make up an army to lead into battle against Jabin on the plain of Esdraelon. But Barak demanded that Deborah would accompany him into the battle. Deborah agreed but prophesied that the honour of the killing of the other army's captain would be given to a woman. Jabin's army was led by Sisera (Judg. 4:2), who fled the battle after all was lost.
Yael received the fleeing Sisera at the settlement of Heber
Heber the Kenite
Heber the Kenite is a man in the Book of Judges in the Tanakh and the Holy Bible. He is a descendant of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. Heber had separated himself and his wife Jael from the other Kenites; he pitched their tent in the plain of Zaanaim, which is near Kedesh.According to Judges...
on the plain of Zaanaim
Zaanaim
Zaanaim is a place in northwest of Lake Merom, near Kedesh, in Naphtali; currently sited in Hulah Valley, Israel. Here Sisera was slain by Jael, "the wife of Heber the Kenite," who had pitched his tent in the "plain [R.V., 'as far as the oak'] of Zaanaim" ....
. Yael welcomed him into her tent with apparent hospitality. She 'gave him milk' 'in a lordly dish'. Having drunk the refreshing beverage, he lay down and soon sank into the sleep of the weary. While he lay asleep Yael crept stealthily up to him, holding a tent peg and a mallet. She drove it through his temples with such force that it entered into the ground below. And 'at her feet he bowed, he fell; where he bowed, there he fell down dead'.
As a result of the killing of Sisera, God gave the victory to Israel. Yael is considered "blessed", according to the text, because of her action. Deborah's song (Judg. 5:23-27) that refers to the death of Sisera:
-
- "Extolled above women be Jael,
- The wife of Heber the Kenite,
- Extolled above women in the tent.
- He asked for water, she gave him milk;
- She brought him cream in a lordly dish.
- She stretched forth her hand to the nail,
- Her right hand to the workman's hammer,
- And she smote Sisera; she crushed his head,
- She crashed through and transfixed his temples.
- At her feet he curled himself, he fell, he lay still;
- At her feet he curled himself, he fell;
- And where he curled himself, let it be, there he fell dead."
Scholars have long recognised that the Song of Deborah, on the basis of linguistic evidence (archaic biblical Hebrew), is one of the oldest parts of the Bible. A similar story is explored in the deuterocanonical
Deuterocanonical books
Deuterocanonical books is a term used since the sixteenth century in the Catholic Church and Eastern Christianity to describe certain books and passages of the Christian Old Testament that are not part of the Hebrew Bible. The term is used in contrast to the protocanonical books, which are...
Book of Judith.
"Yael" as a given name was not common among Jews prior to the advent of Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
; in contemporary Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, however, it is among the most common female given names (see Yael (name)
Yael (name)
Yael is the Hebrew name of the Nubian Ibex, and a given name.Yael may refer to:* Jaël, Swiss singer/songwriter* Jael, US fantasy artist* Jael Strauss, a contestant on America's Next Top Model, Cycle 8* Yael, Hebrew Biblical figure...
).
Extra-biblical references
Pseudo-Philo
Pseudo-Philo is the name commonly used for a Jewish pseudepigraphical work in Latin, so called because it was transmitted along with Latin translations of the works of Philo of Alexandria but is very obviously not written by Philo...
refers to Yael 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. Behold I will throw him down on the ground from the bed on which he sleeps; and if he does not feel it, I know that he has been handed over.” And Jael took Sisera and pushed him onto the ground from the bed. But he did not feel it, because he was very groggy.
And Jael said, “Strengthen in me today, Lord, my arm on account of you and your people and those who hope in you.” And Jael took the stake and put it on his temple and struck it with a hammer.
And while he was dying, Sisera said to Jael, “Behold pain has taken hold of me, Jael, and I die like a woman.”
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.”
In popular culture
- Yael is portrayed in the French silent film Jaël et Sisera (1911), directed by Henri Andréani.
See also
- AssassinationAssassinationTo carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
- ShamgarShamgarShamgar, son of Anath is the name of one or possibly two individuals named in the Book of Judges. The name occurs twice; at the first mention Shamgar is identified as a Biblical Judge, who repelled Philistine incursions into Israelite regions, and slaughtered 600 of the invaders with an ox goad,...
contemporary with Deborah. - Animal names as first names in HebrewAnimal names as first names in HebrewThe Hebrew Language has many given names which are animal names, some of which are derived from the Bible, while others are more modern.-Biblical names:Many characters in the Bible have animal names, most of them of smaller animals and herbivores...