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Summary
- Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and the wife of Ahab, king of Israel (1 Kings 16:31); Josephus, quoting Menander, calls Ethbaal a priest of Astarte.
- She promoted the worship of Baal, kept 450 prophets of Baal and 400 of Asherah at her table, killed the Lord’s prophets and swore to kill Elijah (1 Kings 18–19).
- She had Naboth stoned on false charges of blasphemy so Ahab could take his vineyard, and Naboth’s sons were killed as well (1 Kings 21; 2 Kings 9:26).
- Jehu had her thrown from a window at Jezreel, and dogs ate her body, as Elijah had prophesied (2 Kings 9:30–37).
- The name is usually explained as “Where is the Prince?”, a cry for the god Baal; Revelation 2:20 uses it for a false prophetess at Thyatira, a different woman.
- The Bible does not name a “Jezebel spirit”; the idea comes from modern popular books, and a 2009 scholarly study judged it a misreading of Kings.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (Exodus 20:3; Leviticus 24:16; 25:23; Deuteronomy 17:6; 1 Kings 16:8–33; 18:3–40; 19:1–8; 21:1–29; 22:34–38, 51–52; 2 Kings 3:1; 8:18, 26; 9:1–37; 10:11–28; Hosea 1:2; Luke 1:17; Acts 16:14; Revelation 1:11; 2:6, 15, 18–24). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- Brenton, Lancelot C. L., trans. The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, 3 Kingdoms 19:2. eBible.org. https://ebible.org/eng-Brenton/1KI19.htm
- Josephus, Flavius. Antiquities of the Jews, book 8, chapter 13, and Against Apion, book 1, section 18. Translated by William Whiston. Project Gutenberg eBooks nos. 2848 and 2849. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2848 ; https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2849
- Britannica Editors. “Jezebel.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jezebel-queen-of-Israel
- Britannica Editors. “Baal.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baal-ancient-deity
- Britannica Editors. “Revelation to John.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Revelation-to-John
- Quine, Cat. “Jezebel.” Bible Odyssey, Society of Biblical Literature, 2020. https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/jezebel/
- Brenner, Athalya. “Jezebel: Bible.” Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. Jewish Women’s Archive, 2009. https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/jezebel-bible
- Hirsch, Emil G., and Ira Maurice Price. “Jezebel.” The Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 7 (1906). https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8675-jezebel
- Gaines, Janet Howe. “How Bad Was Jezebel?” Bible Review, October 2000; republished in Bible History Daily, Biblical Archaeology Society. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/people-in-the-bible/how-bad-was-jezebel/
- Byrne, Ryan. “Where Is Jezebel?” Bible History Daily, Biblical Archaeology Society, 1 May 2008 (on the YZBL seal; cites N. Avigad, “The Seal of Jezebel,” Israel Exploration Journal 14, 1964, and M. C. A. Korpel, “Seals of Jezebel and Other Women in Authority,” Journal for Semitics 15, 2006). https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/inscriptions/where-is-jezebel/
- Tertullian. On Modesty, chapter 19. In Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 4. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0407.htm
- “Desire and Spiritual Formation in Ambrose of Milan’s On Naboth,” New Humanity Institute. http://www.newhumanityinstitute.org/pdfs/article-ambrose-of-milan-on-naboth.pdf
- Budge, E. A. Wallis, trans. “Encomium on Elijah the Tishbite” (Coptic, attributed to John Chrysostom). Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology 8 (1885–86) and Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology 9 (1893). https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/chrysostom_encomium_on_elijah.htm
- Stark, Trudie, and Hans J. M. van Deventer. “The ‘Jezebel spirit’: A scholarly inquiry.” Verbum et Ecclesia 30, no. 2 (2009), art. 301. https://doi.org/10.4102/ve.v30i2.301
- “Jezebel.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Jezebel
- Pilgrim, David. “The Jezebel Stereotype.” Jim Crow Museum, Ferris State University, 2002, edited 2024. https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/jezebel/index.htm
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