1 Kings 21-22

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

21:5-16 - Jezebel asked Ahab why he was so depressed. Ahab told her how Naboth would not sell him his vineyard. Jezebel told him, "Do you now govern Israel? get up, eat some food, and be cheerful. I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." So Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab's name and with his seal and sent the letters to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth's city. The letter told them to declaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly, seat two scoundrels beside him and have them bring a charge against him. After they bring the charge they are to take him out and stone him. So the men in the city did as just Jezebel said. Then they sent to Jezebel saying Naboth has been stoned and is dead. Jezebel then told Ahab to go and take possession of the vineyard for Naboth is dead.
21:23 - God said that Jezebel shall be eaten by dogs.
21:25-26 - "Indeed, there was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the lord, urged on by his wife Jezebel."

22:38 - The chariot of the king of Sumaria was washed in the pool of Sumaria and the dogs licked up his blood and the prostitutes washed themselves in it.
22:42 - Jehoshaphat's mother's name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi.

My Comments

Yay Jezebel gets to actually do something, which is pretty awesome. And she really gets some stuff done. Yeah, it's not ethical or moral at all, but if Jezebel is basically a "villian" then she does it spot on. Impersonating her husband, having his rival (or whatever) murdered, and then in the end acting like she didn't even do it. Just awesomely evil villain. Seriously needs a Showtime or HBO drama. Jezebel is a woman who, at least from what's told to us, doesn't take shit from any man she disagrees with. She'll just flat out kill anyone that gets in her way. She's independent and active. She takes action when her husband Ahab will not. The Bible has been throwing "villains" at us since Genesis and this it the first time where I agree with it. Jezebel is evil to the core and a badass about it.

And I love it. :D

And to be honest I don't have anything really negative to say about her punishment. To me, being eaten by dogs seemed a fitting end to an evil badass like her. To be clear, Jezebel was punished by having dogs eat her, Ahab was punished by having his entire household cut off from him, and the rest of Ahab's people were punished that if they died in the city their bodies would be eaten by dogs as well. End the end Ahab groveled before God enough to be forgiven so that disaster would not come upon his house but upon his son's house. And you might think, "But wait, why did Ahab get a chance to atone while Jezebel was automatically thrown to the dogs? Isn't that unfair?" And I would actually say no, I don't think that was unfair. Jezebel seemed to be the master mind behind things. With Naboth she took Ahab's name and seal and ordered Naboth's death, which Ahab didn't even ask her to do. Even after Naboth was killed and Jezebel told Ahab to take his vineyard Ahab didn't know that she was the one who had ordered his death. So in this case Ahab was, more or less, the innocent party. Being the innocent party his punishment should have been less severe than Jezebel's.

Now, do I think that if Jezebel had NOT actually done anything would the punishments have still been different like they were? Yeah, probably, because that's how God rolls. But as it stands, I have no real issue with the different punishments.

Plus, how badass a way is that to go out? Seriously. But I tend to have a soft spot for really good villains and love a dramatic exit so that may just be me. The only thing that saddens me is we didn't get to read more about her evil ventures.

Wednesday: 2 Kings 1-3