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Jezebel: The Untold Story Of The Bible's Harlot Queen

Lesley Hazleton (Goodreads Author)

3.82 · Rating details · 400 ratings · 90 reviews

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 conni ...more

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Hardcover, 272 pages

Published October 16th 2007 by Doubleday (first published January 1st 2007)

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Dec 20, 2007 Jason Pettus rated it really liked it

(The full review I wrote of this book is much larger than GoodReads' word-count limitations. Find the entire essay at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)

So are you familiar already with the story of Jezebel? It appears in both the Jewish bible (Tanakh) and the Christian one (Old Testament, Books of Kings), based extremely loosely on the real woman who served as one of the queens of Israel back in ancient times. As the traditional legend goes, Jezebel was origina (The full review I wrote of this book is much larger than GoodReads' word-count limitations. Find the entire essay at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)

So are you familiar already with the story of Jezebel? It appears in both the Jewish bible (Tanakh) and the Christian one (Old Testament, Books of Kings), based extremely loosely on the real woman who served as one of the queens of Israel back in ancient times. As the traditional legend goes, Jezebel was originally a pagan Phoenician, married off by her father to Israel's King Ahab for political reasons; it was her meddling ways, according to Jewish and Christian scripture, that led the king away from worshipping the One True God (Yahweh) and to instead focus on the Phoenician "heathen" god Baal. Eventually, however, the power couple was finally confronted by one of the most important early prophets of the Jewish religion, the poverty-embracing, desert-roaming Elijah; it was he who predicted the downfall of Israel because of Jezebel's influence, he who first called her the "harlot queen." And thus, traditional lore has it, did Israel indeed fall to the Assyrians roughly around 900 BC, and thus was Jezebel's body literally eaten by dogs after her death, and thus has her name itself become synonymous over the years with the wanton heretic hussy, using her body and her wily sexual charms to ridicule everything that Good True Christians hold dear.

But there's a problem with this story, or so claims psychologist, Hebrew scholar and Middle East journalist Lesley Hazleton, which is that it simply isn't true; as she details in her new "speculative nonfiction" book Jezebel: The Untold Story of the Bible's Harlot Queen, the story itself wasn't even written until 300 years after her death, by a group of Judeans who had never even been to Israel, at a time when Judea itself was under the looming threat of extinction just like had been Israel's fate several centuries earlier. So yes, in other words, there was a political agenda attached to the writing of Kings, a plea from that generation's faithful to take heed of the pagan hoards at Judea's borders; and there was no better way to get that message across than through an alarmist retelling of the Jezebel myth, painting her as a singular creature of evil when in fact she was no particularly worse or better than any of the other Middle Eastern queens of her time. And not only that, but that the very definition of the word "harlot" has changed profoundly since ancient times, with the original authors of Kings meaning nothing sexual at all when first using it themselves. And not only that, but that the prophet Elijah was not really a savior but in actuality Judaism's (and therefore Christianity's) very first radical fundamentalist, the start of an ugly tradition in those religions that in our modern age has brought us televangelists, abortion-clinic bombers, and people obsessed with the Rapture and subsequent Apocalypse.

Yeah, I know, it's a lot of challenges to traditional Western religious thought that Hazleton is throwing out... ...more

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Nov 03, 2010 JSA Lowe rated it really liked it

I started to say that this was poorly written—it's not, it's just neither acute scholarly prose nor NYer quality profile-journalism. What it did do was, from approximately pages 70-75, severely mess with this idea which I've had—which most of us have, I think—about so-called "sacred prostitution" or "temple harlots" or whatever you want to call them. Namely, that they DID NOT EXIST, EVER, but were an Orientalised otherization on the part of Western male writers from Herotodus forward, to make th ...more

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Oct 19, 2007 Janeadams Adams added it

Janeadams's review
recommended for: everyone

Here's what I learned from JEZEBEL, Leslie Hazelton's fascinating new book!
1. My favorite Passover prophet was a fire-breathing fundamentalist - I'm not inviting him to my next Seder.

2. The authors of the Book of Kings had a political agenda in portraying Jezebel as an evil harlot bent on destroying monotheism and the ruination of Israel.

3. Far from being a Harlot, Jezebel was a vulnerable, virginal teenager forced into an arranged marriage to a fore ...more

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Jan 20, 2012 Stephanie rated it really liked it

Eminently readable book that's part non-fiction, historical fiction, travelogue and rant. It has a similar agenda to Cleopatra: A Life and suffers a bit in comparison. I think the passages where Hazleton tries to get inside Jezebel's head ultimately weaken the book. How much do we know about the polytheistic religious practices of the time period? How much do we know about what female rulers acted like? Is there information on all this? As of reading this book I'm not 100% sure. I think it would ...more

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May 14, 2021 Sai Prasad Vishwanathan rated it it was amazing

Imaginative history. When you take a character’s normalized, most known perspectives and flip it 180 degrees, you are bound to either create a masterpiece or ramble away your senses. This book does the former for me.

Replace the name and you can also easily and variously see the subtle elements of Ahalya, Menaka, Surpanaka, Gandhari in the same. If you believe in the quoted lines below from the book, then know Jezebel’s history first and then read this book to get your perspective inverted :)

‘’W ...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Sheila rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: history geeks, people who like biblical history

Shelves: reviewed, history, biography, psychology, biblical-history, ancient-history, powerful-women, middle-east

Religious fundamentalism was not created in the Twentieth Century. The Fatwa is not a new declaration of war. The political smear campaign is is older than the Bible. But most importantly, Jezebel was framed. Lesley Hazleton does a thorough job of explaining how and why Queen Jezebel was depicted as she was in the context and psychology of her time. And times haven't changed that much, as many writers through the ages have built on the mythology of Jezebel the Harlot.

The real Jezebel was a Pho Religious fundamentalism was not created in the Twentieth Century. The Fatwa is not a new declaration of war. The political smear campaign is is older than the Bible. But most importantly, Jezebel was framed. Lesley Hazleton does a thorough job of explaining how and why Queen Jezebel was depicted as she was in the context and psychology of her time. And times haven't changed that much, as many writers through the ages have built on the mythology of Jezebel the Harlot.

The real Jezebel was a Phoenician princess who married King Ahab of Israel in 872 B.C. to ensure peaceful relations between the two countries. She was a 15 year old who would be crowned queen consort of the polygamous king, and the only wife who was ever mentioned in the chapter of the Bible called Kings. She was polytheistic, worshipping Baal and Astarte among others, while Ahab was a monotheist who worshipped Yahweh. That Ahab showed respect and tolerance for his Queen Consort by building a temple to Astarte and allowed her priests to follow her from the city of Tyre, seems to be the beginning of all of their trouble with the prophets Elijah and Elisha. As Hazleton reveals, not only did these prophets bring about her downfall, they also brought about the downfall of Israel.

Jezebel's real name was Itha-Baal, or "woman of The Lord" in her native language. In Hebrew in the re-telling of her story, it was changed to I-zevel, or "woman of dung," and that is what has stuck. History is written by the winners, and the history that was written greatly favors the prophets Elijah and Elisha. The original conflict centers around Jezebel and Elijah, with Elijah prophesying that Jezebel "[S]hall be eaten by dogs by the walls of Jezreel." When this conflict is broken down to its basics, it's a battle between polytheism versus monotheism, between cosmopolitanism and detente versus absolutism and confrontation. The picture painted is that Elijah and Elisha are the religious terrorists of the Ninth Century B.C. and not the benevolent figures that at they have become through hundreds of years of editing (especially Elijah).

Hazleton's research and explanations of what probably did occur at the time, and what was made up as cautionary tales and included in Kings, is fascinating. One thing that is evident is that the biblical tales concerning her were written long after the events, and that numerous changes and additions were made to the saga of Kings by later writers adding in extras that aren't logical under scrutiny. I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who wants to better understand what most likely happened to inspire the tales of the Bible and the Koran.

...more

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Jun 06, 2020 Philip Eapen rated it did not like it

A skeptic's imaginations disguised as facts to justify tolerance above righteousness. Despite post-modern attempts to erase absolutes, Truth remains. Those who glorify "tolerance" at the expense of Truth don't realize that they themselves are intolerant towards a conservative reading of the Bible. So much for their tolerance. Those who question the veracity of the Biblical account don't realize that the oral tradition in ancient Israel and Judah were very robust. Whether a story was written down ...more

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Jul 07, 2020 Kim Stokely rated it liked it

While I could appreciate the mix of fact and fiction in the book, I found the author's obvious bias against the Biblical text distasteful. It wasn't only that she elevated other cultural texts to form her opinions, it's that she disdained any Biblical interpretation. ...more

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Nov 15, 2020 Adnan Arshad rated it liked it · review of another edition

Rating: 3.5/5

Jezebel is a story of confrontation between Jezebel (Israelite Queen) and Elijah (Israelite Prophet, referred in Quran as Ilyas).
This book is fiction or non-fiction is also debatable. Although narrative of this book is based on real people and events; but author herself called it “imagined history” because it’s almost next to impossible to write biography of someone who lived almost 3,000 years ago. Author has tried to re-create the history by visiting places where events took plac Rating: 3.5/5

Jezebel is a story of confrontation between Jezebel (Israelite Queen) and Elijah (Israelite Prophet, referred in Quran as Ilyas).
This book is fiction or non-fiction is also debatable. Although narrative of this book is based on real people and events; but author herself called it “imagined history” because it’s almost next to impossible to write biography of someone who lived almost 3,000 years ago. Author has tried to re-create the history by visiting places where events took place, but I think getting clear picture of what happened would be a very difficult task.
As author points out that Jezebel name has become a sign of lewdness, obscenity and immorality in modern world. In this book, author has tried to rebuild image of Jezebel and endeavored to set the record straight that this was not in actual physical immorality but in actual it related to polytheism. I think author has tried to distort the facts in trying to present Jezebel as harmless and innocent, as she has tried to build the image of Elisha (Israelite Prophet, successor of Elijah who was given cloak of Prophet hood after Elijah) as scheming and manipulative. Incident of vineyard is also very strange because if Ahab (Israelite King) wanted to take possession of a land he could have easily done as there was no need for involvement of queen.
All the prophets were sent to spread the message of Monotheism (oneness of Allah) and fight against polytheism. Presence of polytheist queen at the palace of King was certainly not tolerable and rightly prophets were sent to stop the polytheism. Concept propagated in this book that Yahweh(God) could only exert authority over Israeli land and was not powerful in other nations land, and that was also belief of Israeli people should also be reviewed critically as it does not conform of concept of Monotheism and universal rule of Almighty.
This story tells us that things should not be completely left in hands of Generals, whenever this mistake was committed by a ruler, as a result power was usurped by that general and king was assassinated.

...more

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Feb 26, 2019 Hina Tabassum Khatri rated it liked it · review of another edition

Took me more than a month to finish this but finish it, I did.

The full review is at Hina Loves to Read ...more

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May 14, 2009 Laura D. rated it it was amazing

I really got into this book. I picked it up because I was curious about the name Jezebel. Why don't you ever meet people with this name? I thought it was a pretty name, so why wouldn't it be used? As it turns out, it is not a pretty name and there is good reason for not giving this name to little girls. As you can tell I am not a bible reader. I didn't know about King Ahab and Jezebel. All of my questions were answered in this book to my satisfaction, and better.

Lesley Hazleton looked at the st ...more

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Apr 10, 2020 Brittany Murphy rated it really liked it

This book reaffirmed for me that 1) fundamentalists are nuts no matter what century they are in, 2) I need to learn more ancient Israel history from people who know what they're talking about, 3) that translation is tricky business 😉 and 4) the most maligned woman in the Bible - aside from Eve who most likely didn't exist, but I digress - was deeply sympathetic.

The more I read, the more I dreaded the outcome, because I began to feel for her. She was a victim of unwilling to compromise zealots, ...more

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Jan 28, 2019 Lynne Thompson rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, biblical-studies

I came to this book unfamiliar with the Books of Kings. Oh sure, I knew some bible stories, such as David's final days when a virgin was placed in bed with him to keep him warm (and she remained a virgin, as the Bible curtly informs us); Solomon's near dividing in half an infant claimed by two mothers; and Jezebel. We all know about the whore who was hurled from a great height and devoured by dogs. What I learned from reading this book is that Kings has an important place in western history: thi I came to this book unfamiliar with the Books of Kings. Oh sure, I knew some bible stories, such as David's final days when a virgin was placed in bed with him to keep him warm (and she remained a virgin, as the Bible curtly informs us); Solomon's near dividing in half an infant claimed by two mothers; and Jezebel. We all know about the whore who was hurled from a great height and devoured by dogs. What I learned from reading this book is that Kings has an important place in western history: this is where the shift towards total and absolute monotheism begins in earnest, and Jezebel was an important part of that story.

Not that she planned it that way. She was a foreigner when she was married to King Ahab, and along with her foreign gods, she helped bring peace, wealth and trade to Samaria and Israel. She was not the first foreigner wed to a follower of Yahweh (Solomon had plenty of foreign wives and he built temples to their gods for them), but she has become the most notorious. Jezebel knew what her job was and, apparently, she was good at it. Why we know her at all is because of her conflicts with two of Israel's most confrontational prophets: Elijah and Elisha. These prophets are absolutists: there is no god but Yahweh, and this polytheistic foreigner is an abomination. This is where the word "harlot" comes into play; it isn't just about the sex.

If you believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, or if you allow that humans wrote it but God's hand was guiding them, this is not the story for you. If you are willing to include various secular viewpoints into your bible study, Lesley Hazleton's Jezebel might be a fascinating eyeopener. The author is a journalist, fluent in Hebrew. Her direct translations of bible verses (often neutered in translation) are worth a read for that alone. It's a fast-paced, exciting read. Who knew Kings was that interesting?

Reviewers have quibbled about the created POV dialog and thought processes given to Jezebel; some have even listed the book as historical fiction because of it. In my opinion, what Hazleton has done is no different from the staged scenes in historical documentaries seen on your local PBS station. We don't know if this is literally what happened, but it gives us a better sense of who these people were. There is an excellent bibliography at the end of the book if you care to follow up.

Whether we care to admit it or not, the Bible has had a powerful cultural influence on western society and it's as strong now as it has ever been. If you want to learn more about the fundamentalist ur-story, this is a good place to begin. Plus it's a cracking good tale. ...more

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Sep 12, 2018 Justin Daniel rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, christian-theology, biography

I first discovered Lesley Hazelton from the book "After the Prophet," which discusses the Sunni-Shi'a split in post-Muhammad Islam. I couldn't help but to read this book after enjoying "Prophet" so much.

Jezebel was the Queen married to Ahab in ancient Israel where the Bible tells us a significant amount. She was foreign and not a Jew, a sin Ahab would pay dearly for. The Bible tells us she also had to deal with the pesky prophets Elijah and Elisha. With this information, Hazelton tries to convin ...more

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Nov 02, 2020 Angela Gyurko rated it it was amazing

From Ithabaal, which meant woman of God in her native language to I-zevel (aka Jezebel) in Hebrew, she literally goes from Woman of God to Woman of Dung. Hazelton calls this the first recorded political hit job, one written long after the fact about a woman who ruled for 30 years. But because, as they say, she “prostituted herself” before false gods, she came into history as a harlot rather than a sophisticated woman who brought lessons of trade and diplomacy to her warrior husband, King Ahab. T ...more

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Feb 27, 2019 Patty rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2019, nonfiction, historical-nonfiction, archaeology

A nonfiction account of, well, look at the title. Hazelton draws in a number of sources to flesh out Jezebel’s story: the original Hebrew of the Book of Kings, archaeological excavations, writings from Phoenician, Assyrian, and Babylonian contemporaries, visits to the real-life places mentioned in the text, and so on. She does an excellent job of turning Jezebel into a sympathetic figure and fleshing out her world, making it a real, complex place to live. If you have any interest in the history ...more

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Jul 05, 2017 Shubhang rated it liked it

Interested in the book having read the Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho a few years back. That outlines the story of Elijah, exiled from Israel by the polytheist queen Jezbel. That story focused on the exile a prophet had to bear because of the harlot queen, how he carries a part of his mission and fails God. A moving tale no doubt.

This book, far from fiction, finds itself ground in facts. The historical and political reality of the times and attempts to redraw the woman for us who has been wronge ...more

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Apr 18, 2019 Cecilia rated it liked it

The story (sort of) of Jezebel, the famous harlot of the old testament. Although Jezebel is mentioned throughout the book, and the author takes great efforts to explain her behavior and diminish the evil and wanton reputation attributed to her by the account in the Kings book of the old testament, the book is really about the Book of Kings authors and their interpretation and often fabrication of the events involving Jezebel and Elijah.

According to the author she is a proud and courageous queen ...more

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Oct 05, 2019 Grace rated it it was amazing

Amazing at synthesizing historical fact, biblical analysis, bibical accounts, and her own travel. Hazleton supports all her "in the eyes of Jezebel" sections with such clear foundation that I trust her fictional recountings, not just because I trust the author but because she includes the supporting evidence. I really do recommend this book! Currenty crying happy tears. ...more

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Dec 27, 2019 Rhea.larissa rated it really liked it

I have had read the book Muhammad, the First Muslim, it was an eye opener from some one outside the realm so is Jezebel.
A female belonging to that era, with such egalitarian and compassion towards her people , the clash of the sects, defacing the name Jezebel but she shone through all the time , the scripts.

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May 11, 2020 Munaza Kazmi rated it liked it

You've putted a lot of research & peril in writing this piece of literature but I was thinking if Jezebel was your great grandmother because you really wanted to inflict the reader about changing their views, & after reading this am feeling more & more respect of my prophet Muhammad pbuh, how meriful & how kind & forgiving he was, thank full to Almighty for making me from his family. ...more

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Aug 04, 2020 Alle Taylor rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Excellent, I loved how much life she infused into a story I have known and overlooked most of my life. Jezebel‘s story really resonates in our current climate. Highly recommend, especially to women who grew up in the fundamentalist Christian Church being hit over the head with Jezebel. It reveals her to be a woman ahead of her time.

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Jan 08, 2021 Faith_ rated it liked it

Jezebel is synonymous with harlots and prostitutes as a result of the great character destruction the writers of King conducted. Jezebel was a Queen of Ahab kingdom - far from what modern day Christians describe her as. This book was thought provoking and changed my entire perspective of the book of Kings.

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Aug 16, 2017 Farhan rated it really liked it

As good a book as we've come to expect from Lesley Hazleton. Superbly researched, and reads like an excellent piece of fiction. Tells us very clearly who Jezebel was, in a way that most sources don't. ...more

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Oct 02, 2017 Wendy rated it it was amazing

"Courageous, unbowed, and magnificent, Jezebel lives." If the biblical persona or horrid harlot associations ring any bells for you, do yourself a favor and read this book immediately; let the historical narrative be corrected. The world has always had a problem with powerful women. ...more

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Mar 01, 2018 Jacqueline Hankinson rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A non fictional book on the history of Israel 3000 years ago. It explains people and sets it in place that is enjoyable as also educational. If my college history books were more like this book I would really love learning history. Well done!

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Jul 18, 2018 Cam rated it really liked it

Fascinating look at one of the most compelling women in the Bible and how misogyny and orientalism have influenced her place in the popular imagination over centuries. Readable, insightful look at the politics of the time, the role of queen and prophet, and how fanaticism can undo itself.

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Jan 17, 2020 Alycia rated it it was amazing

I absolutely loved this book. This book really opened my mind to the biased that is presented in the Bible, and how the Bible is an unfair propaganda piece. It is written in a unique way that can be difficult at first to sort out, but once you get into the swing of the writing it is fantastic.

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Jun 10, 2021 Emee Ribeiro rated it really liked it

Shelves: history-and-biographies

Although the book can be monotonous at times, "Jezebel" is incredibly well researched, has interesting connections and a unique perspective. A must-read for anyone interested in not only in the Bible but Phoenician customs and history as well.
...more

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Nov 11, 2018 Sharolyn Stauffer rated it really liked it

Fascinating, even though Hazelton did use quite a bit of historical imagination. I think her argument is compelling about looking at Jezebel differently.

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About Lesley Hazleton

Lesley Hazleton

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1. My new book 'Jezebel: the untold story of the bible's harlot queen' is just out (Doubleday). Yes, she was framed. No, she was no harlot. Yes, she was magnificent.

2. Won't bore you with the whole bio -- it's in the 'About the Author' page on www.jezebelbook.com. For now: British-born, lived for a long time in the Middle East, now live in the very Pacific Northwest.

3. Favorite drink is grappa.
...more