“Jael and Sisera” by Artemisia Gentileschi (ca. 1620)
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament.
The Book of Judges in the works by Agatha Christie[]
It is referenced in the short story The Wife of the Kenite and the radio play Butter in a Lordly Dish. Both of the stories uses the theme of Jael and Sisera, found in The Song of Deborah. This story is also mentioned in Hallowe'en Party.
The "Song of Deborah" (Judg. 5:24-26) recounts:
- Extolled above women be Jael,
- Extolled above women in the tent.
- He asked for water, she gave him milk;
- She brought him cream in a lordly dish.
- She stretched forth her hand to the nail,
- Her right hand to the workman's hammer,
- And she smote Sisera; she crushed his head,
- She crashed through and transfixed his temples.
The Book of Judges in adaptations[]
In the Miss Marple episode A Murder is Announced, the vicarage cat Tiglath Pileser is renamed Delilah and is said to have the same moral standard as her Biblical counterpart.