Delilah is a woman mentioned in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. She is loved by Samson, a Nazirite who possesses great strength and serves as the final Judge of Israel. Delilah is bribed by the lords of the Philistines to discover the source of his strength. After three failed attempts at doing so, she finally goads Samson into telling her that his vigor is derived from his hair. As he sleeps, Delilah cuts Samson's hair, thereby enabling her to turn him over to the Philistines.
Delilah from the Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum
Max Liebermann's Samson and Delilah (1902)
Josef Worlicek's Samson and Delilah (1844)
Jael or Yael is a heroine of the Battle of Mount Tabor, described in chapters 4 and 5 of the Book of Judges. In the account, she delivers the Israelites from the army of King Jabin of the city of Hazor in Canaan. After Barak demurs at the behest of the prophetess Deborah, God turns Sisera over to Jael, who kills him by driving a tent peg through his skull after he enters her tent near the great tree in Zaanaim near Kedesh.
Jacopo Amigoni, Jael and Sisera, 1739
Jael shows Sisera lying dead to Barak, James Tissot, 1896–1902
Limoges enamel plaque, 1550–75
Jan Saenredam engraving picturing Jael killing Sisera