As I said in my last post, my group is doing our poster presentation project on Jael. In my search for articles that could be helpful for this project, I found one on JSTOR that was rather interesting. It is called The Blessing of Jael by Edward L. Curtis.
The article starts out with the part in Jael's story where Deborah blesses her (Judges 5:24-27). It goes on to basically give reason behind the murder of Sisera. The article also discusses whether or not the murder was divinely sanctioned.
In the article the author states that "a special divine impulse was given Jael; that in good faith she received Sisera and pledged him protection; but afterwards, while she saw him sleeping, God moved her to break her word and slay him...This supposition acquits Jael of wrong."
Another possibility he came to was that Jael may have been a true believer of God, and that she felt herself obliged to kill Sisera for the good of the Israelites. He says that Jael's loyalty to God was her justification for killing Sisera.
Jael lived in a time when there was not a king in Israel and everyone did as they saw fit. From a historical standpoint, the murder of Sisera was commendable in Deborah's eyes, and that is why she blessed Jael.
After reading this article, I believe that Jael was in the right, as well. Based on the time, when there was no king, and if indeed God told her to do it, I think she was right about what she did and deserved to be blessed by Deborah.
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