Jezebel: The Untold Story Of The Bible's Harlot Queen
There is no woman with a worse reputation than Jezebel, the ancient queen who corrupted a nation and met one of the most gruesome fates in the Bible. Her name alone speaks of sexual decadence and promiscuity. But what if this version of her story, handed down to us through the ages, is merely the one her enemies wanted us to believe?
What if Jezebel, far from being a conniving harlot, was, in fact, framed?In this remarkable new biography, Lesley Hazleton shows exactly how the proud and courageous queen of Israel was vilified and made into the very embodiment of wanton wickedness by her political and religious enemies. Jezebel brings readers back to the source of the biblical story, a rich and dramatic saga featuring evil schemes and underhanded plots, war and treason, false gods and falser humans, and all with the fate of entire nations at stake. At its center are just one woman and one man--the sophisticated Queen Jezebel and the stark prophet Elijah.
Their epic and ultimately tragic confrontation pits tolerance against righteousness, pragmatism against divine dictates, and liberalism against conservatism. It is, in other words, the original story of the unholy marriage of sex, politics, and religion, and it ends in one of the most chillingly brutal scenes in the entire Bible.Here at last is the real story of the rise and fall of this legendary woman--a radically different portrait with startling contemporary resonance in a world mired once again in religious wars.
- ISBN
- 9780385516143
Shelved by 1 Litcadian
Reviews
Started March 2, 2026 · Finished March 2, 2026
First off I really didn't think all the metaphors about Islam were appropriate; all of this happened hundreds or thousands of years before Mohammed, so I don't think putting anti Islamic words in front of the reader while talking about something completely different is helpful or a neutral act. (I'm especially annoyed about the constant goings on about a 'fatwa'. If there were similar things in ancient Israel, the historically relevant term should be used, and if not, why are we talking about it?) Also, while the book is presented as the 'real' story of Jezebel it does not satisfy my initial question of whether any of this happened at all. It's mostly a non supernatural retelling of the events described in Kings and Chronicles, but really doesn't present much actual supporting evidence. For example, in the duel of the gods at Carmel, the author goes to the site and considers 'what really happened here' without adequately giving space for the answer to be 'nothing', which does not seem unlikely! There are nods to myth and proaganda being involved, but 'Jezebel actually existed and did most of this' is still largely just assumed. Since the level of evidence of anything at all is so unclear, I also didn't really buy the premise that this was a front in some great war between polytheism and monotheism. (Archaeologically I think as far as is supported is 'Ahab probably had a Phoenician queen who may have been the daughter of Ith-Baal and there was some level of to-do about polytheism possibly around the same time' and pretty much anything beyond that is entirely from the biblical account. Of course I am not a credentialed archaeologist or historian, but neither was the author.) In comparison with Emma Southon's Agrippina, the gold standard of how to write about a villainized woman from limited and biased historical accounts, I was very disappointed. There is some good political analysis of the specific biblical events as presented in the text, and it's good to see someone try to present Jezebel as a rationally motivated political figure, but that's the most I can say for it.