Hebrew word · H348

אִיזֶבֶל

'izevel

Jezebel

A Phoenician personal name. The most widely accepted reconstruction is ʾî-zəbul, 'Where is the Prince?' In the Ugaritic Baal myth, while Baal is dead, the cry goes up 'ʾiy zbl bʿl arṣ', 'Where is Prince Baal, lord of the earth?' (KTU 1.6 iv). Zbl, 'prince, exalted one,' is a title of Baal (cf.

Appears 22 times in 19 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A queen of the Kingdom of Israel, living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Ki.16.31;

daughter of: Ethbaal (H0856); married to Ahab (H0256);

mother of: Ahaziah (H0274) and Joram (H3141H)

Also named: Iezabēl (Ἰεζαβήλ "Jezebel" G2403)

§ Jezebel = "Baal exalts" or "Baal is husband to" or "unchaste"

queen of Israel, wife of Ahab, daughter of Ethbaal

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Kings 16:31

Range of meaning

A Phoenician personal name. The most widely accepted reconstruction is ʾî-zəbul, 'Where is the Prince?' In the Ugaritic Baal myth, while Baal is dead, the cry goes up 'ʾiy zbl bʿl arṣ', 'Where is Prince Baal, lord of the earth?' (KTU 1.6 iv). Zbl, 'prince, exalted one,' is a title of Baal (cf. Baal-zebul).

Against the English

English 'Jezebel' has become a byword for a scheming or sexually loose woman, a sense drawn from 2 Kgs 9 and Rev 2:20. In this verse the name only introduces a Tyrian princess.

How it drifted

The later sense comes from her role in 1 Kgs 18–21 and 2 Kgs 9:22, 30, and from Revelation 2:20 using her name as a type of false teacher.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ugaritic Baal cycle (KTU 1.6). A Phoenician seal inscribed yzbl, of disputed date and authenticity, has been linked to her. The Masoretic vocalization -zevel resembles zevel/zebel, 'dung' (compare 2 Kgs 9:37, 'like dung… so that none can say, This is Jezebel').

From the study of 1 Kings 21:25

Range of meaning

The personal name of Ahab's queen, daughter of Ethbaal (Ittobaal), king of the Sidonians / Tyre (1 Kgs 16:31).

Against the English

In English 'Jezebel' has become a byword for a seductive or controlling woman. The verse itself is about her role in turning the king to Baal worship and injustice, not about her sexuality.

How it drifted

Revelation 2:20 uses 'Jezebel' as a code name for a false prophetess at Thyatira. Later English usage turned the name into an insult for a sexually immoral or manipulative woman.

Used elsewhere in the period

Many scholars connect the name with the Phoenician cry 'ay zbl, 'Where is the Prince [Baal]?', attested in Ugaritic texts mourning Baal's death (zbl b'l, 'Prince Baal'). The Hebrew vocalization may deliberately twist it toward zevel, 'dung'. This is probable but not certain.

From the study of 2 Kings 9:30

Range of meaning

The name of the Phoenician princess, daughter of Ethbaal king of Sidon (1 Kgs 16:31), wife of Ahab and mother of King Joram. By this point she is queen mother (compare 10:13, "the queen mother", gəḇîrâ).

Against the English

In English "Jezebel" became a common noun for a shameless or seductive woman. In Kings, her offences are religious and political: promoting Baal worship, killing Yahweh's prophets (1 Kgs 18:4), and judicial murder to seize Naboth's land (1 Kgs 21). They are not sexual.

How it drifted

Later use of the name, beginning with Rev 2:20 (a prophetess at Thyatira who teaches "sexual immorality", a word that in prophetic usage often means idolatry), and then English idiom, recast her as mainly a seductress.

Used elsewhere in the period

The original Phoenician name is probably related to the Ugaritic cry "'ay zbl b'l", "Where is the Prince, Baal?" (Baal Cycle, KTU 1.6 iii). Zbl, "prince", is a title of Baal (compare Baal-zebul). Many scholars think the Hebrew spelling was altered on purpose, so that it could be heard as "no prince" or as an echo of zebel, "dung". That would fit 9:37, where her corpse becomes "dung on the face of the field", though v. 37 uses a different word (dōmen). This is a likely proposal, not a certain one.

Where it appears

1 Kings · 15

  1. 1 Kings 16:31 אִיזֶ֗בֶל Jezebel

    And as if it were not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he even married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and he then proceeded to serve and worship Baal.

    Here: A Phoenician royal name, most likely built on a cry from Baal worship: 'Where is the Prince?' (see studies). The Hebrew spelling may twist it to suggest 'dung.' Here she is introduced simply as a foreign princess.

  2. 1 Kings 18:4 אִיזֶ֔בֶל Jezebel

    for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)

    Here: The Phoenician queen, daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians (16:31). She is the subject of the purge. Ahab is not named as doing it.

  3. 1 Kings 18:13 אִיזֶ֔בֶל Jezebel

    Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD, fifty men per cave, and I provided them with food and water.

  4. 1 Kings 18:19 אִיזָֽבֶל׃ Jezebel

    Now summon all Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

    Here: Ahab's Phoenician queen, daughter of Ethbaal king of Sidon (16:31). Naming her as the one who feeds them shows whose religious programme this is, and who is the real power behind it.

  5. 1 Kings 19:1 לְאִיזֶ֔בֶל to Jezebel

    Now Ahab told Jezebel everything that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.

  6. 1 Kings 19:2 אִיזֶ֙בֶל֙ Jezebel

    So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I have not made your life like the lives of those you killed!”

    Here: The Phoenician queen, daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians (16:31). Her name most likely began as a Baal-worship cry, "Where is the Prince?", and she now speaks for Baal's side after his defeat.

  7. 1 Kings 21:5 אִיזֶ֣בֶל Jezebel

    Soon his wife Jezebel came in and asked, “Why are you so sullen that you refuse to eat?”

  8. 1 Kings 21:7 אִיזֶ֣בֶל Jezebel

    But his wife Jezebel said to him, “Do you not reign over Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful, for I will get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

  9. 1 Kings 21:11 אִיזָ֑בֶל Jezebel

    So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel had instructed in the letters she had written to them.

    Here: Jezebel, the Phoenician queen. Her name comes last in its clause and carries the main pause of the verse, so the narrator lands on who was really giving the orders.

  10. 1 Kings 21:14 אִיזֶ֣בֶל Jezebel

    Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.”

  11. 1 Kings 21:15 אִיזֶ֔בֶל אִיזֶ֜בֶל Jezebel

    When 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, who refused to give it to you for silver. For Naboth is no longer alive, but dead.”

  12. 1 Kings 21:23 לְאִיזֶ֔בֶל אִיזֶ֖בֶל of Jezebel, Jezebel

    And the LORD also speaks concerning Jezebel: ‘The dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.’

  13. 1 Kings 21:25 אִיזֶ֥בֶל Jezebel

    (Surely there was never one like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, incited by his wife Jezebel.

    Here: The Phoenician princess, daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians (16:31). Her name probably goes back to a cry used in Baal worship. The Hebrew spelling may be a mocking twist on it.

2 Kings · 7

  1. 2 Kings 9:7 אִיזָֽבֶל׃ Jezebel

    And you are to strike down the house of your master Ahab, so that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets and the blood of all the servants of the LORD shed by the hand of Jezebel.

    Here: Ahab's queen, daughter of Ethbaal king of Sidon (1 Kgs 16:31) and patron of Baal worship in Israel. Her name, held back to the very end of the verse, singles her out as the one chiefly responsible.

  2. 2 Kings 9:10 אִיזֶ֜בֶל Jezebel

    And on the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour Jezebel, and there will be no one to bury her.’” Then the young prophet opened the door and ran.

  3. 2 Kings 9:22 אִיזֶ֧בֶל Jezebel

    When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?” “How can there be peace,” he replied, “as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”

    Here: The Phoenician princess, daughter of Ethbaal king of Sidon, who married Ahab (1 Kings 16:31). She supported Baal's prophets, killed YHWH's prophets, and arranged Naboth's murder (1 Kings 18–21). The original Phoenician name probably contained the element "Baal" (something like "Where is the Prince [Baal]?"). The Hebrew spelling may be a deliberate mocking distortion.

  4. 2 Kings 9:30 וְאִיזֶ֣בֶל and Jezebel

    Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window.

    Here: "And Jezebel." Her name comes before the verb, which breaks the run of the story. The camera cuts from Jehu at the gate to the queen inside the palace.

  5. 2 Kings 9:36 אִיזָֽבֶל׃ Jezebel

    So they went back and told Jehu, who replied, “This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour the flesh of Jezebel.

  6. 2 Kings 9:37 אִיזֶ֗בֶל אִיזָֽבֶל׃ פ Jezebel, [is] Jezebel

    And Jezebel’s body will lie like dung in the field on the plot of ground at Jezreel, so that no one can say: This is Jezebel.’”

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.