Jael (fl. c. 1125 BCE)

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Jael (fl. c. 1125 bce)

Biblical woman. Name variations: Jahel; Yael. Fl. around 1125 bce; wife of Heber the Kenite (Judg. 4:17–22).

A Kenite woman, welcomed Israel's enemy Sisera into her tent with an offer of milk and a promise to guard against intruders while he slept; when he fell asleep, killed him by driving a tent nail into his temple with a mallet; was later honored in the song of Deborah as "most blessed above women."