Jael kills Sisera

Judges 4:21 - But Jael, Heber's wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him [Sisera] while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

Barak, a leader from Israel, was chasing the Moabite commander, Sisera, following a battle that the Moabites lost -- even though they had 900 iron chariots (think, tanks). Sisera ran to where Heber and Jael lived. I wonder if Jael was the only person in the area at the time. She's the only one mentioned when both Sisera and later Barak come to the settlement. I wonder if everyone else (How many were there?) had left the area to tend the sheep or cattle or do other duties.

Jael had probably met, or at least had seen, Sisera on another occasion. She seems to have recognized him and understood his position and circumstances. I wonder why Heber and Sisera's king were friends. In any case, it didn't help Sisera as he had hoped.

I wonder why Jael used a hammer and tent peg as a weapon. Was there nothing better available? Not that any killing is a nice thing, but this seems a rather nasty way to do it. I hope one hammer blow was enough.

I wonder if Barak was surprised. If he thought about it, he shouldn't have been, since Deborah had told him earlier that the honor for the victory would go not to him but to a woman instead.