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- Queen Jezebel:
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- "Daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, and queen of Ahab, king of Israel (c. 874-853 B.C.). She had been brought up a zealous worshiper of Baal, and as the wife of Ahab she not only continued her ancestral religion but tried to impose it on the people of Israel. To please her, Ahab built a temple and an altar to Baal in Samaria (1 Kings 16:32), and 450 prophets of Baal ate at her table (18:19). She killed all the prophets of the Lord on whom she could lay her hands (18:4-13). When she was told of the slaughter of the prophets of Baal by Elijah, she threatened Elijah's life, and he was obliged to flee. The killing of Ahab's family was a punishment for the persecution of the prophets of the Lord by Jezebel (2 Kings 9:7). Later she secured Naboth's vineyard for Ahab by having its owner unjustly executed (1 Kings 21). When Elijah heard of this crime, he told Ahab that God's vengeance would fall on him and that dogs would eat Jezebel's body by the wall of Jezreel. The prophecy was fulfilled (2 Kings 9:7, 30-37)." (THE NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE, © 1987 Zondervan, p. 527)