BIBLE BAD WOMEN - Bad to the bone?             BIBLE  MURDERS - Jezebel and the royal children

          JEZEBEL

            DON'T MESS WITH ME.......

  PEOPLE IN THE STORY

  FAMOUS QUOTES

  BIBLE REFERENCE

  INTERESTING SITES

  ACTIVITIES/QUESTIONS

THE PRINCESS
Jezebel was a princess from the rich coastal city of Sidon, where her father was king. He had usurped the throne, and was a force to be reckoned with. Strong men often have strong, ambitious daughters, and Jezebel proved to be just that.

She married Ahab, son of a famous warrior king of Israel called Omri, who had also usurped the throne, and was one of the great warriors and builders of the ancient world.

JEZEBEL'S RELIGION
When she moved to Israel Jezebel kept on worshipping her own gods, the gods of agriculture and weather. She believed ardently in them, and was probably a High Priestess in the worship of Baal, her most loved god. He was god of storms, rivers and water, but she probably also worshipped his divine wife Asherah, who personified the fertility of all females and was a fierce champion of the family. When she presided over worship and sacrifices, she would have worn the ritual make-up and clothing of a priestess - the heavy make-up of Egyptian Pharaohs and their queens give some idea of what this looked like.

Monotheism was still in its infancy, and most people in the ancient world venerated a number of gods. The people of Israel wavered between Jahweh and Baal, and there was mutual hatred between the priests of Jahweh and Baal. Each side was more than happy to murder their opponents. 

SHE ENCOUNTERS ELIJAH
Jezebel championed the priests of Baal, and she found herself confronting the Israelite prophet (or as she would have seen him, political agitator) Elijah. In a dramatic showdown on Mount Carmel, hundreds of her priests were slaughtered by the Jahwist devotees led by Elijah. Jezebel swore revenge, and Elijah went into hiding for a time. 

Despite her reputation as a floozy, Jezebel seems to have been fiercely loyal to her husband Ahab. He was almost constantly engaged in leading the army and fighting battles, and Jezebel would often have been in charge of keeping government on track while he was away at the battlefield. She grew used to exercising power.

Jezebel's father in Sidon was an absolute monarch, and she believed that a king's word was law. But this was not the Israelite view. Many of the tribal groups were still reluctant to accept centralized government, and thought their king had altogether too much power already.

JEZEBEL KILLS NABOTH
In one incident, Jezebel's husband Ahab needed a plot of land to serve the palace at Jezreel. The owner of the land, Naboth, would not sell. He wanted to resist the creeping change that was occurring in Israel at the time, as the rich (in the form of landed estates) grew richer and the poor (in the form of the general populace) grew poorer.

'Afterwards, Jehu remembered that her body was still lying in the courtyard of the palace, and ordered that it be buried. She was, after all, a queen. But the palace dogs had got to it first, and all that remained of this royal woman was her head and her hands.'

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 In this impasses, Ahab fell into some sort of black depression - though a great warrior himself, he always lived in the shadow of his famous father.

Jezebel decided to act. She ruthlessly arranged the judicial murder of Naboth, and took over the land that was necessary for palace expansion. She thought she was within her rights; many people disagreed.
 
HER SON BECOMES KING
Her husband died a noble death in battle, and her son Ahaziah succeeded to the throne. Two years later he died in an 'accident', falling from a high balcony in the palace. The details are unclear, but it is obvious there had been some sort of attempted palace coup. Her second son Joram became king, but after some years he was attacked and murdered by Jehu, a sinister man who had once served in Joram's own army. Jezebel saw her son die, shot in the heart by Jehu.

JEZEBEL IS MURDERED BY JEHU
In the ensuing violence Jezebel was killed as well, flung by her own eunuchs from a high balcony. She died as a queen should, magnificent and defiant, hurling insults at her murderers to her last breath. She had dressed herself in royal regalia, and applied make-up to her eyes and face, and put on her royal crown - it is from this that we get the expression 'painted like a Jezebel'.

When she was thrown down from the balcony she fell onto the pavement of the palace's central courtyard, and the usurper, Jehu, ran his iron-wheeled chariot back and forth over her dying body. Then he went into the palace for a celebratory dinner. 

Afterwards, Jehu remembered that her body was still lying in the courtyard of the palace, and ordered that it be buried. She was, after all, a queen. But the palace dogs had got to it first, and all that remained of this royal woman was her head and her hands.

THE ROYAL CHILDREN ARE MURDERED
After this, Jehu ordered the murder all of the young men and boys of the royal family, about seventy in all. They were hunted down one by one, and killed by the people who had been entrusted with their care. Their head were sent to Jehu in baskets - he ordered they be displayed at the city gates. Then he ordered the deaths of all those who had killed the boys - it was too dangerous, thought Jehu, to let them live. 

Thus Jezebel, her family, and all her followers died.

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BIBLE REFERENCE
1 Kings 16:29-34, 18:17-40, 19:1-3, 21:1-16, 22:29-40, 2 Kings 9:21-28, 9:30-37

PEOPLE IN THE STORY
Jezebel, daughter of a king, wife of a king, and mother to two kings
Ahab, her husband, an able military leader and a brave soldier
Elijah, the leader of the Jahwist priesthood and Jezebel's sworn enemy
Jehu, protegee of the Jahwist party, leader of the coup d'etat that overthrew the ruling family in Israel

FAMOUS QUOTES
'she painted her eyes and adorned her head, and looked out of the window' (2 Kings 9:30)
'Is that you, Zimri, murderer of your master?' (9:31)

INTERESTING WEBSITES - stories, pictures, information

Jezebel - one of the Bible's Top Ten Bad Women
BIBLE TOP TEN BAD WOMEN: JEZEBEL

Study guide, historical information, new ideas - not as boring as it sounds
BIBLE WOMEN: JEZEBEL

Sophisticated jewelry worn by high-ranking women like Jezebel 
BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY: JEWELRY

Archaeological finds linked with ancient religions
BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY: ANCIENT RELIGIONS

Jezebel's palace, the 'Ivory House' at Samaria
BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY: PALACES

Ruins of Jezreel, the city where Jezebel met her grisly death
BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY: CITIES

Omri and Ahab, among the Bible's Top Ten Warriors
BIBLE TOP TEN WARRIORS

Jehu murders Jezebel and the royal children
BIBLE TOP TEN MURDERS

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ACTIVITIES AND FOCUS QUESTIONS

Jezebel
Conduct a mock trial of Jezebel. You will need a panel of judges, a prosecution and defense lawyer and their assistants, and gatherers of evidence.
·     Divide into two groups, one for the defense and one for the prosecution.
·     Have each group decide on points for their argument, and imagine points that the other side may raise.
·     Choose a member of the group who will speak as a lawyer for its side, and his/her assistants.
·     Nominate a panel of judges, and decide on their role.
·     Conduct the trial, with an opening address, arguments for both sides, and summary.
·     Listen to feedback from the panel of judges.

Courage in today’s world
Discuss instances in your own life when you have needed great courage. Describe one incident, then answer the following questions:
·     What helped you in this situation?
·     Whom did you rely on?
·     What were the results for your own self-confidence?

Debate
Topic: That more can be achieved by a benevolent dictatorship than by a democracy.
·     Divide into two groups, one to take the affirmative side and one the negative side.
·     Have each group decide on points for their own side, and consider points that the other side might raise.
·     Choose the speakers for each group.
·     Nominate the chairperson and explain that role.
·     Make sure everyone understands the debating rules.
·     Choose the judging panel.
·     Debate the issue.
·     Listen to feedback from the panel.
·     Discuss reactions to the debate.

In depth study of one person's story
Choose one of the people whose stories are told on this site and develop a PowerPoint presentation about them.
The presentation must be at least 10 slides long and should include 
 *  a supporting image/picture/painting of each person 
 *  a map of Israel showing the cities and areas where the story took place.  
You may call up other websites to support your ideas.

In your presentation (approximately 10 minutes), answer the following questions:

1. What are the main events of the person's life? Tell the story.

2. What were their main qualities? What made them stand out from the crowd?

3. What obstacles did they face? Did they overcome them, or go with the flow? Explain.

4. How did they use their abilities to do God’s work?  

5. Which part of their story appeals to you most? Why?

You must include three short quotations from the Bible texts to illustrate the points you are making. 

Focus Questions
1. What are the most interesting moments in Jezebel's story? 
2. In the story, who speaks and who listens? Who acts? Who gets what they want? If you were in the story, which person would you want to be friends with? Which person would you want to avoid?
3. What is God's interaction with the main characters? What does this tell you about the narrator's image of God? Do you agree with this image?
4. What is happening on either side of the story, in the chapters before and after it? Does this help you understand what is happening?
5. The narrator/editor has chosen to tell some things and leave other things out. What has been left out of the story that you would like to know?
6. Are the characteristics and actions of the people in the story still present in the world? How is the story relevant to modern life, especially your own?  

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Bible Stories: People of the Old Testament: Jezebel, Elijah, Naboth and Ahab
Bible Study Resource