{"id":20362,"date":"2025-09-18T07:00:01","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T11:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/?p=20362"},"modified":"2025-09-17T08:50:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T12:50:29","slug":"how-bad-was-jezebel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblicalarchaeology.org\/daily\/people-cultures-in-the-bible\/people-in-the-bible\/how-bad-was-jezebel\/","title":{"rendered":"How Bad Was Jezebel?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who Was Jezebel?<\/h4>\n
\"How<\/a>

Israel\u2019s most accursed queen carefully fixes a pink rose in her red locks in John Byam Liston Shaw\u2019s \u201cJezebel\u201d from 1896. Jezebel\u2019s reputation as the most dangerous seductress in the Bible stems from her final appearance: her husband King Ahab is dead; her son has been murdered by Jehu. As Jehu\u2019s chariot races toward the palace to kill Jezebel, she \u201cpainted her eyes with kohl and dressed her hair, and she looked out of the window\u201d (2 Kings 9:30). Image: Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Bournemouth, UK\/Bridgeman Art Library.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

For more than two thousand years, Jezebel has been saddled with a reputation as the bad girl of the Bible, the wickedest of women. This ancient queen<\/a> has been denounced as a murderer, prostitute and enemy of God, and her name has been adopted for lingerie lines and World War II missiles alike. But just how depraved was Jezebel?<\/p>\n

In recent years, scholars have tried to reclaim the shadowy female figures whose tales are often only partially told in the Bible. Rehabilitating Jezebel\u2019s stained reputation is an arduous task, however, for she is a difficult woman to like. She is not a heroic fighter like Deborah<\/a>, a devoted sister like Miriam<\/a> or a cherished wife like Ruth<\/a>. Jezebel cannot even be compared with the Bible\u2019s other bad girls<\/a>\u2014Potiphar\u2019s wife and Delilah<\/a>\u2014for no good comes from Jezebel\u2019s deeds. These other women may be bad, but Jezebel is the worst.1<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Yet there is more to this complex ruler than the standard interpretation would allow. To attain a more positive assessment of Jezebel\u2019s troubled reign and a deeper understanding of her role, we must evaluate the motives of the Biblical authors who condemn the queen. Furthermore, we must reread the narrative from the queen\u2019s vantage point. As we piece together the world in which Jezebel lived, a fuller picture of this fascinating woman begins to emerge. The story is not a pretty one, and some\u2014perhaps most\u2014readers will remain disturbed by Jezebel\u2019s actions. But her character might not be as dark as we are accustomed to thinking. Her evilness is not always as obvious, undisputed and unrivaled as the Biblical writer wants it to appear.<\/p>\n

Ahab and Jezebel in the Bible<\/h4>\n

The story of Jezebel, the Phoenician wife of King Ahab of Israel<\/a>, is recounted in several brief passages scattered throughout the Books of Kings. Scholars generally identify 1 and 2 Kings as part of the Deuteronomistic History, attributed either to a single author or to a group of authors and editors collectively known as the Deuteronomist. One of the main purposes of the entire Deuteronomistic History, which includes the seven books from Deuteronomy through 2 Kings, is to explain Israel\u2019s fate in terms of its apostasy<\/a>. As the Israelites settle into the Promised Land, establish a monarchy and separate into a northern and a southern kingdom after the reign of Solomon, God\u2019s chosen people continually go astray. They sin against Yahweh in many ways, the worst of which is by worshiping alien deities. The first commandments from Sinai demand monotheism<\/a>, but the people are attracted to foreign gods and goddesses. When Jezebel enters the scene in the ninth century B.C.E., she provides a perfect opportunity for the Bible writer to teach a moral lesson about the evil outcomes of idolatry<\/a>, for she is a foreign idol worshiper who seems to be the power behind her husband. From the Deuteronomist\u2019s viewpoint, Jezebel embodies everything that must be eliminated from Israel so that the purity of the cult of Yahweh will not be further contaminated.<\/p>\n

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