Jael: A Woman of Agency in a Man’s World
Jael’s story in Judges 4–5 is one of the most striking examples of a woman exercising bodily autonomy and independence within a patriarchal society. She isn’t a warrior queen or a prophetess, but she holds power in a moment that changes the course of Israel’s history.
When Sisera, the Canaanite general, flees to her tent seeking refuge, Jael doesn’t hesitate. She literally takes matters into her own hands. With a tent peg and a hammer, she executes him, ensuring Israel’s victory. In a world where women were expected to remain within the domestic sphere, Jael turns that very space into a site of military action.
Was she fulfilling divine will? Acting on her own initiative? The text leaves that open to interpretation. Jael was not a passive bystander. She made a choice, used her body and intellect, and reshaped Israel’s poltical history!
Jael is one of the few biblical women who has agency and the only woman within the biblical canon that seems to have taken military action!
Yet, she remains one of the Bible’s most ignored figures!
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