Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Mountain-goat, the wife of Heber the Kenite (Judg. 4:17-22). When the Canaanites were defeated by Barak, Sisera, the captain of Jabin’s army, fled and sought refuge with the friendly tribe of Heber, beneath the oaks of Zaanaim. As he drew near, Jael invited him to enter her tent. He did so, and as he lay wearied on the floor he fell into a deep sleep.
She then took in her left hand one of the great wooden pins (“nail”) which fastened down the cords of the tent, and in her right hand the mallet, or “hammer,” used for driving it into the ground, and stealthily approaching her sleeping guest, with one well-directed blow drove the nail through his temples into the earth (Judg. 5:27). She then led Barak, who was in pursuit, into her tent, and boastfully showed him what she had done.
Smith's Bible Dictionary (1863)
(mountain goat), the wife of Heber the Kenite. ) In the headlong rout which followed the defeat of the Canaanites by Barak, at Megiddo on the plain of Esdraelon, Sisera, their general, fled to the tent of the Kenite chieftainess, at Kedesh in Naphtali, four miles northwest of Lake Merom. He accepted Jael’s invitation to enter, and she flung a mantle over him as he lay wearily on the floor. When thirst prevented sleep, and he asked for water, she brought him buttermilk in her choicest vessel. At last, with a feeling of perfect security, he feel into a deep sleep.
Then it was that Jael took one of the great wooden pins which fastened down the cords of the tent, and with one terrible blow with a mallet dashed it through Sisera’s temples deep into the earth. (Judges 5:27) She then waited to meet the pursuing Barak, and led him into her tent that she might in his presence claim the glory of the deed! Many have supposed that by this act she fulfilled the saying of Deborah, (Judges 4:9) and hence they have supposed that Jael was actuated by some divine and hidden influence. But the Bible gives no hint of such an inspiration.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898) & Schaff's Bible Dictionary
JA'EL (mountain-goat), the wife of Heber the Kenite. Jud 4:17. After the defeat of Jabin's army by Deborah and Barak, Sisera, the general, fled toward her tent, because Heber and Jabin were at peace. It was not unusual for the women to have a tent separate from the men, as in Sarah's case, Gen 24:67, and Leah's. Gen 31:33. This was a place of security, for then as now among the Arabs a stranger would not venture into the women's tent unasked. Jael invited him in, and concealed him. Fatigued and thirsty, he asked for water, and she gave him buttermilk, which greatly refreshed him.
After instructing Jael to stand at the door of the tent, and to deny that he was within if any one should inquire for him, he fell into a sound sleep. She then took a tent-pin, and with a hammer drove it through his temples into the ground. Jud 4:21. Her act was treacherous, cowardly, and inhuman. It causes only a momentary perplexity, as we have no warrant for supposing her divinely commissioned. Hence, although Deborah appears to praise her in her song, Jud 5:24-27, she does not express any approval of the act upon moral grounds.
Jael was a murderess from the Christian standpoint, and at best we can only justify her act by emphasizing the barbarity of her time and the usage of warfare, which is organized cruelty.
Hitchcock's Bible Names (1869)
he that ascends; a kid