Queen Jezebel is a major antagonist in The Bible, serving as the main antagonist of 1 Kings and the overarching antagonist of 2 Kings. She is the daughter of a priest of Astarte and one of the most infamous villains in the Bible.
What Makes Her Pure Evil?[]
- She orders the genocide of almost all of God's prophets in order to put an end to spiritual Hebrew practices and reverence of a deity who is shown to (in the Bible) be objectively real numerous times, and hence establish Baal worship into the land of Israel, essentially indirectly becoming a cult leader with completely unchecked power over the people.
- When Ahab tells Jezebel that Elijah proved the previous point about Yahweh objectively being a real deity in a fair contest, she has a horrified and extremely angry reaction, proving she never sincerely believed in Baal's legitimacy, not even a little bit.
- And to add insult to injury, one of the slaughtered prophets' deaths directly left a widowed woman in debt with her two sons, and if it had not been for Elisha (Elijah's successor) helping the widow with the iconic miracle of the oil in the jar, the creditor would have taken the widow's children as slaves.
- Tells her guards to kill Elijah after he vandalizes two idol statues (which he did for a justified reason), resulting in him spending months in the wilderness.
- It's also heavily implied she would have declared war and committed mass murder upon any kingdom which took him in, considering that multiple kings fearfully signed declarations of intent promising they weren't doing that.
- Orders for the death of Elijah for killing her prophets, causing him to flee from her wrath, even though she herself doesn't care for them.
- In order to help her husband steal Naboth's vineyard, she wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal and sent them off to the elders and leaders of Naboth's town so that he will be accused of blaspheming God and stoned to death. She even went further by killing Naboth's sons so that the latter would not inherit the vineyard.
- This action caused Ahab's family to be cursed with the downfall of their dynasty and Ahab's death in the battle of Ramoth-Gilead.
- She was the one who influenced Ahab's actions, although he was already an immoral ruler who exceeded his predecessors, he was empowered to do more evil because she incited him as well. And while he genuinely respects her and naively thinks she showed him how sweet life could be, there's no indication she shows him any real love at all.
- Tries to manipulate her son into allowing Baal worship, showing she doesn't love him either.
- She does not show any remorse for her actions in her final moments.
- Despite the high heinous standards of the Bible, she still stands out for viciously undermining what is (in her universe) objectively the one legitimate faith.
- And although the Antichrist commits far more horrific sins, he has more resources, so it is very unfair to compare Jezebel to him.
- Although being thrown out a window, trampled by horses, and devoured by dogs was a very brutal way to die, she absolutely deserved it, so she can never be a scapegoat.
- While the Old Testament is written by Elijah, there is no indication that her sinfulness is being exaggerated by him.
Trivia[]
- Her father was Ithobaal I, a former devout priest of Astarte, who assassinated Phelles to acquire the throne. Being exposed to such actions (presumably as a child), this probably explained why Jezebel behaved the way she did in the Bible, according to Menander of Ephesus. If it was ever confirmed she was taught to be wicked a long time ago and was Minor Tragic for that reason, then it may strip her from her Pure Evil status.
- She is one of the two Pure Evil villains in The Bible so far, along with Haman the Agagite.
External Links[]
- Jezebel on the Villains Wiki
- Jezebel on the Wikipedia
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