JAEL jā’ əl (יָעֵל׃֮, wild or mountain goat). The wife of Heber the Kenite and slayer of Sisera, a Canaanite commander. The Canaanites under the king Jabin of Hazor oppressed Israel for twenty years. The Canaanites had a formidable force of 900 chariots. The Kenites were their friends, and, because of the Kenite skill in metal-working, were doubtless useful to the Canaanites. Heber, however, lived apart from the other Kenites (Judg 4:11). Under the inspiration of Deborah, Barak formed a large force of Israelites at Mt. Tabor to fight the Canaanite army, led by Sisera their general, along the River Kishon. The Israelite assault, prob. aided by a storm (Judg 5:20, 21), routed the Canaanites. Sisera ran away on foot and came to the tent of Jael who extended him hospitality. She covered him with a rug, and in response to his request for water gave him milk. Then, as Sisera slept, Jael murdered him by hammering a tent peg through his temple into the ground (Judg 4:17-22). Jael’s act is celebrated in the ancient Song of Deborah (Judg 5:24-31).