Women in the Bible: Jezebel
If there ever was a name likely never to be found on a list compiled by expectant parents, it would be Jezebel.
The name has, in fact, become an archetype — a “painted Jezebel” is a headstrong woman who uses her beauty and wiles to influence a man’s actions, presumably, to no good end. The phrase itself, “painted jezebel” draws from a prominent event in the Bible — the queen Jezebel, hearing of her approaching death, “painted her eyes and adorned her head, and looked out of the window” (2 Kings 9: 30) to challenge her executioner. Jezebel’s death is a spectacle in itself — one that had been foretold by the prophet Elijah to her husband. “The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the bounds of Jezreel”, he had said to King Ahab. (1 Kings 21:23)
But what did Jezebel do to deserve such a gruesome death — and such a despicable reputation?
Jezebel’s story begins with her marriage to Ahab, king of Israel. The daughter of Ethbaal, the Phoenician king (whose very name meant “Man of Baal”), Jezebel introduced into Israel the worship of the Phoenician storm god, Baal. Soon, King Ahab erected an altar for Baal, building a temple and sacred pole in Samaria dedicated to the pagan god, with close to a thousand priests. These priests were under the direct patronage of Jezebel and ate at her table. And as if this were not enough, Jezebel ordered the systematic slaughter of the prophets of Yahweh.
This ambitious attempt to not only promote the worship of Baal, but to eradicate that of Yahweh, is what essentially gives rise to the arrival of the prophet Elijah on the scene. Elijah predicts an indefinite drought to show the Israelites that supplication to Baal, the storm god, is useless. At the end of a dry three years, a ‘face-off’ of the prophets ultimately ensues, with Elijah, standing as a lone prophet of Yahweh against the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal. On Elijah’s instructions (as conveyed by Yahweh), two altars are constructed and a sacrifice offered by each side to their respective deity. In a glorious display of power, the sacrifice offered to Yahweh is consumed totally by the fire of the Lord, while that offered to Baal remains untouched. The Israelites’ eyes are opened and they accept that Yahweh is the one true God, seizing the prophets of Baal and, with Elijah, executing them.
Jezebel, of course, is incensed; not impressed.
Her death threat to Elijah succeeds in unsettling even the prophet, who flees from her, to return much later. The role of the Prophet is to call out idolatry and injustice, and Jezebel was soon to become a symbol of both. While God uses other prophets to reveal Himself to Ahab, Elijah is only summoned again to confront the king when an act of gross injustice occurs — enacted by Jezebel.
The incident in question is the deliberate murder of Naboth, a neighbour of King Ahab. The king offers to buy Naboth’s vineyard to make it his own vegetable garden, but the commoner rejects the proposal since the vineyard was his ancestral inheritance. Ahab chooses to respond to this rejection in a manner that a child might — “He lay down on his bed, turned away his face and would not eat” (1 Kings 21: 4) His wife, Jezebel, responds aptly to this behaviour as a “Mama Fixit” and assures him, “Get up, eat some food and be cheerful. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” (1 Kings 21:7)
Jezebel then proceeds to put out orders in the name of Ahab himself, seals the letters with the king’s seal and sets about events that will lead to the unjust execution of Naboth. When the dastardly deed is done, Jezebel informs Ahab that Naboth is dead and the vineyard, ready for possession.
It is here that Elijah reappears to pronounce God’s sentence on Ahab and Jezebel. Ahab dies some time after this, in accordance with the prophesy and a few years later, the prophesy regarding Jezebel’s death is fulfilled. She is thrown out of the very window that she looks defiantly out of, betrayed by her own servants — her blood spatters on the wall and on the horses, who trample on her. She is eaten by the dogs and her skull, feet and the palms of her hands are all that remain of Jezebel.
In the modern context, some believe Jezebel to be only a queen much maligned for her ambition. They might believe that, clever enough to know what she wanted, and like any career woman, she was willing to act in order to achieve it. But Jezebel’s downfall was caused not by simple ambition or pride, but what the ancient Greeks would call hubris. Hubris is the excessive pride that comes from assuming a sense of superiority over God. A closer study of Jezebel’s story reveals that it was this that motivated her actions. While the rest of Israel accepts Yahweh’s supremacy and the public failure of Baal, Jezebel threatens Elijah, the very prophet who is able to defeat all of Baal’s. If this were not enough to incriminate her, Jezebel’s conspiracy against Naboth, falsely accusing him of blasphemy against God and the king, shows a blatant disregard for Yahweh’s justice. She also doesn’t simply tell Ahab how to go about getting the vineyard for himself, but forges the orders herself, so that she can be the one to grant a king his wish — much like a god.
LESSONS TO LEARN:
The story of Jezebel is a lesson in what could have been. With the kind of influence that Jezebel held over King Ahab, she could have, if she so wished, instituted practices that would have been beneficial to the people of Israel. She could have, if she so wished, used her wit and position in the court to counsel Ahab to rule justly and wisely. If Jezebel had chosen to use her “powers” (of persuasion and foresight) for the glory of God, instead of herself, she could have been, upto the present, the namesake of little girls around the world, praised for her virtue and kindness.
