Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
Then Jael, Heber's wife, took a tent peg and a hammer in her hand. She quietly approached him and drove the peg through his temple, pinning it to the ground. He was sound asleep and exhausted, so he died.
This verse describes how Jael killed the enemy commander Sisera while he slept in her tent, fulfilling God's plan to deliver Israel through a woman's hand.
📚 Historical Context
This event occurred during the time of the judges when Israel was oppressed by the Canaanite king Jabin and his military commander Sisera. Jael was the wife of Heber the Kenite, whose people were neutral in the conflict but had traditional ties to Israel through Moses' father-in-law. The prophetess Deborah had prophesied that God would deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman.
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