Catholics
pray “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord’s is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus . . .”
Did you know
that “Blessed art thou among women” was a Jewish
reference to two women of the Old Testament? The Jews admired Jael
(or Yael – Judges 5,24) and Judith (Judith 13,1), two warrior women who strove
to save Israel from its enemies But, who are Jael and Judith?
Their stories are rather brutal from our modern day perspective. Today,
we might call them murderers.
Jael (or
Yael)
During the
period of the Israelite Judges, Sisera commanded nine hundred
iron chariots and oppressed the Israelites
for twenty years. After the prophetess Deborah persuaded
Barak to face
Sisera in battle, Barak, with an Israelite force of ten thousand, defeated
Sisera at the Battle of Mount Tabor. After
losing the battle, Sisera fled to the settlement of Heber
the Kenite, where he was received by Jael, Heber's wife.
Jael received him into her tent with apparent hospitality
and "gave him milk...in a lordly dish." Jael promised to hide Sisera
and covered him with a rug, but after he fell asleep, Jael drove a tent peg
through his temple with a mallet. The blow was so forceful that the peg pinned
his head to the ground.
Here is
Artemesia’s painting “Jael and Sisera:” It is always interesting to
see Artemesia’s portrayal of scenes more commonly painted by men. You can
see the cool, peaceful way in which Jael hammers the spike through the enemy’s
head as he sleeps.
Judith
The story revolves around Judith, a daring and beautiful
widow, who is upset with her Jewish countrymen for not trusting God to deliver
them from their foreign conquerors. She goes with her loyal maid to the camp of
the enemy general, Holofernes with whom she slowly ingratiates
herself, promising him information on the Israelites. Gaining his trust, she is
allowed access to his tent one night as he lies in a drunken stupor. She
decapitates him, then takes his head back to her fearful countrymen. The
Assyrians, having lost their leader, disperse, and Israel is saved.
A detail
from Artemesia’s painting “Judith.” Workman-like, getting the job done.
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