Story · 24 · The Other
Jael's weapons: milk, a tent peg, a hammer
After Israel's victory, the enemy general Sisera fled to the tent of Jael, a Kenite woman. She gave him warm milk, and when he slept, drove a tent peg through his temple.
The greatest feat went to an outsider woman.
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Jael defied her husband's alliance with the Canaanites. Her weapons reflect Kenite life: herding, nomadism, metalworking. Like the Shaw Memorial in Boston honoring Black Civil War soldiers, her story claimed honor for a marginal group.
Bible reference: Judges 4:17–21; 5:24–27
Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 385–386
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