Bible in art · Judges

Jael Killing Sisera

Rembrandt · c. 1658–1659
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

A late drawing, made about 1658–1659 in broad brown pen strokes. Rembrandt shows the moment before the blow, not the death.

Jael kneels beside the sleeping Sisera and lifts the mallet high, the peg already set against his head. He lies face down, worn out, his arm under his cheek.

From the text

Sisera fleeing to Jael’s tent and falling asleep (Judges 4:17–21)
Jael with a tent peg and a hammer (Judges 4:21)

The artist’s own

Jael in a plain cap and apron, like a Dutch housewife
Sisera on a low bed rather than on the ground

Details

The hammer

Jael lifts a heavy mallet over her head.

The peg

In her other hand the peg, set against his head.

Asleep

Sisera lies face down, his arm under his cheek.

Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch, 1606–1669. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Gift of C. Hofstede de Groot, The Hague; RP-T-1930-8) · Pen and brown ink, with opaque white; framing lines in black ink over brown ink · Image: "Public Domain" (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/); object metadata: CC0 1.0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) — Rijksmuseum Linked Art record.

The verses

Judg 4:17–21Meanwhile, Sisera had fled on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there was peace between Jabin king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. Jael went out to greet Sisera and said to him, “Come in, my lord. Come in with me. Do not be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she covered him with a blanket. Sisera said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a container of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him again. “Stand at the entrance to the tent,” he said, “and if anyone comes and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’” But as he lay sleeping from exhaustion, Heber’s wife Jael took a tent peg, grabbed a hammer, and went silently to Sisera. She drove the peg through his temple and into the ground, and he died.

See it at the museum’s site