Jael's Story [Large Print]

I've always been fasinated by the little snippets of information contained in the Bible about ordinary people, especially the women, who have done something important enough to be remembered and recorded in the most read and published book in history. What were they like? What were their lives like? What was the rest of the story behind the few sentences we have? Ann Burton has done a wonderful job of creating a very plausible history for Jael, the contemporary of Deborah and heroine of the Israeli/Canannite conflict of that time. I was able to feel her fear, her pain, and her hopelessness, as well as her joy, friendships, and dreams. It is a story of honesty, faithfulness, courage, and a touch of sweet romance. I'll be reading Ms. Burton's other books in this series.

Another wonderful book by Ann Burton. This on is Jael's story who's about to marry a man arranged by her parents. She like every other bride hopes for happiness and love. Instead her husband is far worse then she could imagine and she's the third wife. Jael becomes good friends with the two other wives and the coucumbine who shows up a little later. In order to stay alive in her marriage Jael must have sons yet through the other wives Jael learns the only way to do so is by committing adultery. Jael finds that troubling to say the least. Through the cocumbine Jael slowly starts following her God. Her killing of Sisera really surprised even though it happened in the Bible. It was very brave and yet still surprised me. I liked the arrival Deborah and look forward to reading her story.

Jael's Story by Ann Burton is the Old Testament story from the book of Judges about a Kenite woman who uses a mallet and tent peg to kill Sisera the captain of the Canaanite charioteers. That's really all we know about Jael from the Bible. The story is told twice, once in prose, once in Deborah's song as poetry. The story of Jael has always fascinated me, so as soon as I heard about this book, I had to read it. Burton does a great job of describing life in a tent community using authentic language to add to the atmosphere. In Burton's book, Jael is a young Canaanite woman married to a brutish Kenite with another wife and concubine. One thing that really stands out about the book is that Burton does not portray the Canaanites as evil or immoral as often happens in Biblical fiction. All of the characters (except perhaps Heber and Sisera) are portrayed as true people with merits and flaws. The only time the book didn't flow well was during the one scene that we have the most information about. When Jael picks up the mallet and tent peg to strike Sisera, the story kind of jerks along until the scene is over and then flows back into a smooth narrative. So the one thing we know to be true about Jael is the one thing that doesn't fit into Burton's story, and the mystery of Jael continues.