ABSTRACT
As Judges 11 appears to rework Euripides’ two Iphigenia plays, so Judges 4–5’s depiction of Jael refigures key elements from Euripides’ Hecuba, one of the most popular of all Greek tragedies. From their mentions of a sacred, oracular palm tree, to the women’s forming agreements with foreign generals, from how each lures their unsuspecting victim into their tents, to their incapacitating him with an implement from daily life, in shocking violations of hospitality, the two narratives feature the same motifs but for different larger purposes. Jael serves as a potential role model for individual rebellion against foreign hegemony, a model to maintain independence of belief against foreign domination with overwhelming military superiority.
