יָעֵל Yael
Often spelled Jael in English. Every verse in which this name stands — 6 places, in canonical order, first appearance to last. These are the occurrences our own corpus tags as this name, counting every form the text writes it in, which is the number on the list.
Wife of Chever the Kenite, who gave the fleeing Canaanite commander Sisra shelter and then killed him by driving a tent peg through his temple as he slept, fulfilling Devorah's word that a woman would receive the honor (Judges 4-5). Her name is also the Hebrew word for a mountain goat, so the count includes both uses.
וְסִֽיסְרָא נָס בְּרַגְלָיו אֶל־אֹהֶל יָעֵל אֵשֶּׁת חֶבֶר הַקֵּינִי כִּי שָׁלוֹם בֵּין יָבִין מֶֽלֶךְ־חָצוֹר וּבֵין בֵּית חֶבֶר הַקֵּינִֽי
Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite; for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
וַתֵּצֵא יָעֵל לִקְרַאת סִֽיסְרָא וַתֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו סוּרָה אֲדֹנִי סוּרָה אֵלַי אַל־תִּירָא וַיָּסַר אֵלֶיהָ הָאֹהֱלָה וַתְּכַסֵּהוּ בַּשְּׂמִיכָֽה
And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him: ‘Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not.’ And he turned in unto her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.
וַתִּקַּח יָעֵל אֵֽשֶׁת־חֶבֶר אֶת־יְתַד הָאֹהֶל וַתָּשֶׂם אֶת־הַמַּקֶּבֶת בְּיָדָהּ וַתָּבוֹא אֵלָיו בַּלָּאט וַתִּתְקַע אֶת־הַיָּתֵד בְּרַקָּתוֹ וַתִּצְנַח בָּאָרֶץ וְהֽוּא־נִרְדָּם וַיָּעַף וַיָּמֹֽת
Then Jael Heber’s wife took a tent-pin, and took a hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the pin into his temples, and it pierced through into the ground; for he was in a deep sleep; so he swooned and died.
וְהִנֵּה בָרָק רֹדֵף אֶת־סִֽיסְרָא וַתֵּצֵא יָעֵל לִקְרָאתוֹ וַתֹּאמֶר לוֹ לֵךְ וְאַרְאֶךָּ אֶת־הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר־אַתָּה מְבַקֵּשׁ וַיָּבֹא אֵלֶיהָ וְהִנֵּה סִֽיסְרָא נֹפֵל מֵת וְהַיָּתֵד בְּרַקָּתֽוֹ
And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him: ‘Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest.’ And he came unto her; and, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the tent-pin was in his temples.
בִּימֵי שַׁמְגַּר בֶּן־עֲנָת בִּימֵי יָעֵל חָדְלוּ אֳרָחוֹת וְהֹלְכֵי נְתִיבוֹת יֵלְכוּ אֳרָחוֹת עֲקַלְקַלּֽוֹת
In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, In the days of Jael, the highways ceased, And the travellers walked through byways.
תְּבֹרַךְ מִנָּשִׁים יָעֵל אֵשֶׁת חֶבֶר הַקֵּינִי מִנָּשִׁים בָּאֹהֶל תְּבֹרָֽךְ
Blessed above women shall Jael be, The wife of Heber the Kenite, Above women in the tent shall she be blessed.
Quick answers
What is the gematria of Yael?
Yael (Jael) — יעל in Hebrew — has a gematria of 110 in the standard method.
How many times is Yael named in the Tanakh?
6 times, first at Judges 4:17.
A spelling is not a name. The written word יעל stands 8 times in the corpus, which is a different question and often a different number: the same letters can spell another name or an ordinary word, and a name written with a particle attached is a word that search never returns. It is here, as itself.
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