Who Was Jezebel in the Bible?

Jezebel's narrative runs through 1 Kings 16-21 and 2 Kings 9, primarily in the context of the prophet Elijah's confrontations with Israel's royal house.

As queen, Jezebel actively promoted the worship of Baal, a Canaanite deity, reportedly killing prophets of Yahweh who opposed her (1 Kings 18:4). Her most famous confrontation with Elijah follows his victory over her prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18) — rather than reconsidering, Jezebel threatens Elijah's life, sending him fleeing into the wilderness in one of the Old Testament's more human, vulnerable moments for a major prophet.

She's also central to the story of Naboth's vineyard (1 Kings 21), where she arranges false charges against a man who refuses to sell his family's land to King Ahab, resulting in his execution — an episode often cited as a clear biblical example of abuse of royal power.

Her death, prophesied by Elijah, is described in 2 Kings 9:30-37 in graphic terms, framed in the text as direct consequence for her actions.

Jezebel has become a cultural shorthand — "a Jezebel" is still used in English to describe a scheming or seductive woman — which is a striking legacy for a figure whose actual biblical narrative is more specifically about state-sponsored idolatry and abuse of power than about personal immorality in the way the name is popularly used today.

Related: women of the Bible and who wrote the Bible.