Following a severe curse placed upon those who failed to help, a profound blessing is directed toward Yael for aiding the Israelites and slaying Sisera [מצודת דוד, רלב״ג, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. While the preceding curse was delivered by an angel of God, Yael receives an enduring blessing directly from Deborah, offered as a timeless prayer [רלב״ג, מצודת דוד].
The exact nature of this blessing is understood in two primary ways. One approach suggests Yael is blessed far more than other women who dwell in tents. On a basic level, this refers to ordinary women who remain at home and avoid the battlefield. Yael was also a woman of the tent, yet she distinguished herself by acting swiftly and heroically to serve God right where she was, within the confines of her own home [רד״ק, רש״י, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. A deeper layer of this interpretation connects these tent-dwelling women to the Matriarchs of the nation: Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, who were known for their modesty and presence in the tent. Yael is considered more blessed than even these founding mothers. While the Matriarchs birthed and raised the nation, without Yael's bravery, the wicked Sisera would have wiped out the Israelites entirely [רש״י, צאינה וראינה].
An alternative viewpoint understands the blessing as coming directly from other women. In this light, Yael is praised by righteous and modest women who sit in their tents [מצודת דוד], by women who teach Torah just as Deborah did [רלב״ג], or by all the women of Israel. These women offer their blessings because Yael saved their husbands from being killed by Sisera, sparing them from the pain of widowhood [אלשיך].
The circumstances of Yael's heroic act carry a deep moral complexity. Traditions note that Yael engaged intimately with Sisera in order to save Israel, acting on the principle that a sin committed with pure intentions is greater than a commandment performed for the wrong reasons [צאינה וראינה]. However, this raises a profound question. How can Yael be compared to or blessed by the holy Matriarchs, who fiercely guarded themselves against any defilement by foreign rulers, as seen with Sarah and Pharaoh or Rebecca and Abimelech? The resolution lies in Yael's pure, selfless motivation for the sake of heaven. Just as the strict boundaries and caution of the Matriarchs served as their merit, Yael's ultimate self-sacrifice stands as her unique merit. Because her intentions were entirely pure, the spirits of the Matriarchs are deeply pleased with her. From their honorable place within the tent, the Matriarchs themselves bestow their blessing upon her [אלשיך].