Many wonder whether Jezebel’s actions of makeup and fine clothing were meant to either seduce Jehu or as a stand against her murderer, but either way, Jezebel’s stand before death doesn’t drift too far from the command of attention and control that she expressed throughout her reign as queen. This site is a proud member of the Salem Web Network, a subsidiary of, Copyright © 2021, Crosswalk.com. where is jezebel in the bible Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”, The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”. The word “Jezebel” is coming from the OT story of Queen Jezebel back in the days of Elijah. It is said in 2 Kings 9:30 that Jezebel, knowing that Jehu was coming to kill her, adorned herself with fine clothing and makeup and waited for him by looking out her bedroom window. Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. 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God is sovereign and though punishment may not be immediate for wrongdoers like Jezebel, punishment is inevitable for those who remain outside of God’s family. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. And now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’ He will kill me!”, Elijah said, “As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.”. And he went up and looked. So the young prophet went to Ramoth Gilead. 2 Kings 9:30-37 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful. The whole house of Ahab will perish. Jehu went in and ate and drank. I will cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. The idolatry, too, was of the most debased and sensual kind.". She married Northern Israel's King Ahab, and the couple was established in the northern capital of Samaria . “For which of us?” asked Jehu. Jehu chased him, shouting, “Kill him too!” They wounded him in his chariot on the way up to Gur near Ibleam, but he escaped to Megiddo and died there. Jezebel’s story is found in 1 and 2 Kings. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”. They met him at the plot of ground that had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Wearing makeup or not is a Christian liberty, meaning the Bible never says “Do not wear makeup” or “you must wear makeup.” They went back and told Jehu, who said, “This is the word of the LORD that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel’s flesh. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. Hometown: Jezebel came from Sidon, a Phoenician seacoast city. She not only served as a thorn in the side of the prophet Elijah, but she also led Israel astray in their foreign worship of idols ( 1 Kings 18 ). When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there. Upcoming Courses. When Jezebel heard about it, she put on eye makeup, arranged her hair and looked out of a window. Anticipating him, she decorated herself in fancy clothing for the occasion. So infamous is her name that, to this day, no one names their baby daughter “Jezebel.” To call a woman a “Jezebel” is the greatest insult imaginable. All rights reserved. At length, she came to an untimely end. The Books argue that Israel was destroyed because it tolerated gods like Baal, a fertility god promoted by Queen Jezebel and her warrior husband Ahab (see Great Warriors of the Bible). Their kingdom worshipped the nature god Baal, among other gods, which would later be a point of contention within her next kingdom. Elijah later had the Baal priests killed after they had failed in a contest with him to see which God would answer their prayers to inflame a bull offering, Baal or Yahweh. As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, you Zimri, you murderer of your master?” He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? 3:10-16), instead of being a woman who sought success through dangerous, murderous actions. “Tell us.” Jehu said, “Here is what he told me: ‘This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.’ ”, They quickly took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Jezebel, also spelled Jezabel, (died c. 843 bce), in the Bible (books of Kings), the wife of King Ahab, who ruled the kingdom of Israel. Her body's desecration reflected Elijah's earlier prophecy (1 Kings 21:23) that dogs lick the blood of Ahab and tear the flesh of Jezebel. He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Jezebel wasn’t a figment of people’s imaginations, but a real woman who was possibly one of the first feminists in our history. Jezebel’s death isn’t recorded until the book of 2 Kings 9:30-37, where the newly anointed king, Jehu, after King Ahab (who died in battle), was named. Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, “Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Then take him out and stone him to death.”. “Take care of that cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was a king’s daughter.”. And when it was hitched up, Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah rode out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Article Images Copyright ©, Jezebel in the Bible - What We Can Learn from Her Story. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the LORD’s servants shed by Jezebel. Then he got into his chariot and rode to Jezreel, because Joram was resting there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to see him. What Can We Learn about God’s Providence from Esther’s Life? Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”. Jehu went in and ate and drank. When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?” “How can there be peace,” Jehu replied, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?” Joram turned about and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!” Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.”. The story of Jezebel, the Phoenician wife of King Ahab of Israel, is recounted in several brief passages scattered throughout the Books of Kings. 1 Kings 19:2 | View whole chapter | See verse in context Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. She encouraged those who attended the church to engage in sexual sin and to worship other gods. The treason committed by King Ahab and Jezebel had encouraged the drought created by God, and Elijah voiced God’s proclamation that Jezebel’s murder of His prophets and Naboth (with King Ahab’s passive assistance) meant their deaths were imminent as well. Excerpt from Easton's Bible Dictionary. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. “That’s not true!” they said. Jezebel’s body will be like dung on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, ‘This is Jezebel.’. Then the prophet poured the oil on Jehu’s head and declared, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anoint you king over the LORD’s people Israel. “Throw her down!” Jehu said. Jezebel in the royal harem of Israel. But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands. Tools. They went back and told Jehu, who said, “This is the word of the LORD that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel’s flesh. Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.”, As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. Jezebel’s body will be like dung on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, ‘This is Jezebel.’ ”. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot. Jezebel’s wrath of murder didn’t just end there, it continued when the king wanted to take a vineyard from Naboth the Jezreelite that was located next to the palace. … Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, “Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. Salem Media Group. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”. Go to him, get him away from his companions and take him into an inner room. When the lookout standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troops approaching, he called out, “I see some troops coming.” “Get a horseman,” Joram ordered. There are one or two women named Jezebel in the Bible. “Shout louder!” he said. I will cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. After marrying Ahab, Jezebel now sits on the throne of Israel, and one of her first acts was “when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water” (1st Kings 18:4). When King Ahab heard this proclamation, he immediately began fasting and mourning, repenting of what he did to the Lord. So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot. The whole house of Ahab will perish. By opposing the worship of the Hebrew god Yahweh, neglecting the rights and well-being of her subjects, and challenging the great prophets Elijah and Elisha, she prompted the internal conflict that plagued Israel for decades. Meaning: chaste . What is now present-day Lebanon once comprised the coastal towns of Tyre and Sidon that King Ethball (or Ethbaal) ruled. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. Jezebel, like the foreign wives of Solomon, required facilities to carry on her pagan worship. It is described as a massacre in 1 Kings 18:4, enough to where Obadiah, the lead prophet within King Ahab’s palace, had to hide a hundred prophets in caves to avoid their deaths at the hands of Jezebel. Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the LORD? The whole house of Ahab will perish. Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Jezebel threatened to kill the prophet Elijah (1 Kings 19:2). He anointed a militant leader named Jehu to be king of Israel, an order that prompted civil war as Jehoram, Jezebel’s son, then ruled. 2 Kings 3:2 - And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: … Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. This was the "first time that a king of Israel had allied himself by marriage with a heathen princess; and the alliance was in this case of a peculiarly disastrous kind. Copyright © 2021, Bible Study Tools. The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take this flask of olive oil with you and go to Ramoth Gilead. “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The LORD—he is God! Jezebel lived during the 9th century BCE, and in 1 Kings 16:31 she's named as the daughter of Ethba'al, the king of Phoenicia/Sidon (modern-day Lebanon), making her a Phoenician princess. So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat. Some years after, Ahab died in fighting with the Syrians and Jezebel continued on for nearly another ten years. At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. At the time of 922 BC, Israel was a divided nation (Israel to the north and Judah to the south) and Phoenicia (located to the north of Israel) was considered a city that couldn’t care less about following the traditions and beliefs of Yahweh, the true God. Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. Why did this maniac come to you?” “You know the man and the sort of things he says,” Jehu replied. As for Jezebel, dogs will devour her on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.’”, When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?” “How can there be peace,” Jehu replied, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”, Joram turned about and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!”. accuse Naboth of blaspheming God and the king, either seduce Jehu or as a stand against her murderer, California - Do Not Sell My Personal Information. Here, Jezebel is described as a prophetess, a false teacher, an immoral woman and idol worshipper. Jezebel first appears in the Bible in 1 Kings 16:31, stated as a daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians instead of Phoenicians. It was owned by a civilian, Naboth of Jezreel. Jehu said, “If you desire to make me king, don’t let anyone slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.”. The Jezebel spirit also teaches the believer to be aware of the spirit of revenge. I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. She was immediately consumed by the dogs of the street (2 Kings 9:7-37), according to the word of Elijah the Tishbite (1 Kings 21:19). By opposing the worship of the Hebrew god Yahweh, neglecting the rights and well-being of her subjects, and challenging the great prophets Elijah and Elisha, she prompted the internal conflict that plagued Israel for decades. Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. The driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi—he drives like a maniac.”. “Fall in behind me.” The lookout reported, “The messenger has reached them, but he isn’t coming back.”, So the king sent out a second horseman. You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the LORD’s servants shed by Jezebel. This influence led to the promotion of false gods among the people of Israel. She was wife to Ahab, a king of Israel in the latter half of the tenth-century B.C.E.