Yael

The story of Yael is told in the Biblical Book of Judges, where Yael is described as the righteous wife of Heber the Kenite. When Sisera, leader of the army fighting the Israelites, approached her home, Yael invited him into her tent and promised to conceal him from his enemies. She fed him milk, and, when he fell into a deep sleep, she killed him by driving a tent-peg through his temples. Once he was dead, the Israelites defeated Sisera’s army, a victory for which Yael is given much credit.

Yael is praised by the prophetess and leader Deborah in her victory song as: “Blessed above women shall Yael be, the wife of Heber the Kenite, above women in the tent shall she be blessed. He asked for water, she gave him milk… At her feet he sank, he fell, he lay; at her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell dead… ”

According to Jewish tradition, Yael was a descendant of Jethro, the convert to Judaism who became the father-in-law of Moses.

<–Back to Index of Biblical Personalities K to Z