CLAIM: Jael drove a tent peg into the skull of Sisera, while he was sleeping. Does the Bible approve of gruesome assassinations like this?

RESPONSE: When Sisera showed up to Jael’s tent, it wasn’t as though she could lock the door and call the cops. She had no way to defend herself against this powerful warlord, who was the commander of the Canaanite army (Judg. 4:2). There is no sign from the text that Sisera was repentant. If Sisera survived, he would have lived to oppress or kill more of the Jews, and he had already oppressed them for twenty years (Judg. 4:3). Therefore, if Jael allowed Sisera to live, she would have been culpable for any future pain and suffering that this man would surely inflict.