Salomon de Bray 1597 – 1664

Jael, Deborah and Barak

oil on panel (87 × 72 cm) — 1635 Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht

Salomon de Bray biography

This work is linked to Judges 5:24

Jael had managed to kill the enemy warlord Sisera, by nailing a peg into his head while he was asleep in her tent. Sisera was the leader of the Canaanites.

De Bray does not show the moment supreme. Instead he shows Jael, with hammer and pin, next to the prophetess and judge Deborah and Jewish warlord Barak. Barak and Deborah together fought the Canaanites. Deborah had predicted that Sisera would die at the hand of a woman.

In Judges 5 Jael is praised, even though she acted without the consent of her husband.

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