Monty's review
Jezebel: The Untold Story of the Bible's Harlot Queen by Lesley Hazleton (Goodreads author!)
Monty's review
rating:
recommended for: Anyone looking for a balanced side to what the Bible says
status: Read in December, 2007
rating:
recommended for: Anyone looking for a balanced side to what the Bible says
status: Read in December, 2007
I read this book soon after reading Mary: a flesh-and-blood biography of the virgin mother. Both books add a balance to the Bible stories by putting them into historical perspective and correcting some of the faulty translations. It turns out that Jezebel was no harlot and Elijah was a crazed fundamentalist. I'm not sure about inviting him to our next Seder table after reading this book. Towards the end of the book, the author describes how true monotheism originated, how about 150 years after Jezebel's death and when the Jews were exiled to Babylon in the 700s BC, the concept of having "no other gods before me" evolved into "there is no god but me," thus establishing the roots for modern monotheism for Judaism, Christianity and Islam. There are thirteen pages of bibliography for those who want to go to the sources the author used. Also, the auther lived in Israel for a few years and visited as many sites as possible that are cited in the book.
