p. 422 | The Character of Jezebel

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 16, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 27.

The Character of Jezebel

The name Jezebel became, and is to this day, the synonym for female wickedness, especially that of a ferocious type. The marriage of Ahab and Jezebel took place before he ascended the throne, and was probably the work of Omri. Rawlinson reminds us that Jezebel was great aunt to Pygmalion and Dido. This statement helps to explain Jezebel's fierce and sanguinary character, and at the same time accounts for her great devotion to the gods of her country, and for her determined efforts to establish their impure rites in her husband's kingdom. In Jezebel we vainly look for one womanly relenting, one gentle weakness, to soften the hard lines of more than masculine firmness.