Jael or Yael ( Yāʿēl) is a heroine in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Judges who delivers Israel from the army of King Jabin of Canaan. After Barak demurs at the behest of the prophetess Deborah, God turns Sisera over to Jael, killing him by driving a tent peg through his skull after he enters her tent near the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh. Name The Hebrew ya'el means ibex, a nimble, sure-footed mountain goat native to that region. It literally translates to "he shall ascend or go up". As of 2016, Yael was one of the most common female first names in contemporary Israel. Family Jael has often been understood to be the wife of Heber the Kenite. However, the Hebrew phrase translated this way could also mean "a woman of the group of the Kenites". The Kenites were a nomadic tribe, some of whom lived in close proximity to the Israelites. The Bible records a number of cases of intermarriage; the father-in-law of Moses was apparently a Kenite, but it is not clear whether this was Jethro. The Kenites may have been a part of the Midianite group. Hever the Kenite Hever the Kenite () was, according to the Book of Judges in the Bible, a descendant of Reuel the Midianite, the father-in-law of Moses. He had separated himself and his wife Jael from the other Kenites and pitched their tent in the plain of Zaanaim, which is near Kedesh in the tribal territory of Naphtali. Heber lived approximately during the 12th century BC in the Hula Valley (anciently known as Zaanaim) of northern Israel during the time of the Israelite judges. According to Jack Sasson, there are reasons to doubt whether the events narrated in Judges 4 ever occurred. Yael in the Book of Judges Deborah, a prophetess and judge, advised Barak to mobilize the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon on Mount Tabor to do battle against King Jabin of Canaan. Barak demurred, saying he would go, provided she would also. Deborah agreed, but prophesied that the honor of defeating Jabin's army would then go to a woman. Jabin's army was led by Sisera (Judg. 4:2). The armies met on the plain of Esdraelon, where Sisera's iron-bound chariots became hampered by the mud caused by a downpour during the night that caused the Wadi Kishon to overflow its banks. The Canaanites were defeated, and Sisera fled