Girl Old & New Testament Known
Jezebel
chaste
אִיזֶבֶל Ἰεζαβήλ i.ze.vel
Jezebel (Hebrew: אִיזֶבֶל, i.ze.vel) means “chaste”, by traditional interpretation. Two women in scripture bear the name; the best attested is a king. In 2025 it was given to 9 children in the United States. Use is falling away. Appears in the same passages as Abiram.
Which Jezebel?
Two women in scripture bear this name. Here is each of them.
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Jezebel
spouse of King Ahab; son of Ethbaal
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Jezebel
Scripture against society
The two measures, side by side
At a glance
- Verses
- 20 across 3 books
- Bearers
- 2 distinct people in scripture
- Testament
- Both
- Era
- Divided Kingdom
Using it today
Based on 2025 births across the United States.
| Measure | Value | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Given in 2025 | 9 | Falling |
| All-time total | 787 | Since records begin in 1880 |
| Peak | 47 in 2007 | Its highest year on record |
| Strongest state | CA | Highest share relative to births |
In scripture
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First appears | 1 Kings 16:31 |
| Last appears | Revelation 2:20 |
| Cross-references | 521 linked passages |
Names connected to this one
- Ethbaal co-occurrence Appears with Ethbaal in 1 Kings 16.
- Naboth co-occurrence Appears with Naboth in 1 Kings 21.
- Obadiah co-occurrence Appears with Obadiah in 1 Kings 18.
- Ahab co-occurrence Appears with Ahab in 1 Kings 21.
- Elijah co-occurrence Appears with Elijah in 1 Kings 19.
- Nebat co-occurrence Appears with Nebat in 1 Kings 16.
- Jehu co-occurrence Appears with Jehu in 2 Kings 9.
- Antipas co-occurrence Appears in the same passages as Antipas.
Origin & meaning
A queen of the Kingdom of Israel, living at the time of Divided Monarchy, first mentioned at 1Ki.16.31;
daughter of: Ethbaal (H0856); married to Ahab (H0256);
mother of: Ahaziah (H0274) and Joram (H3141H)
Also named: Iezabēl (Ἰεζαβήλ "Jezebel" G2403)
§ Jezebel = "Baal exalts" or "Baal is husband to" or "unchaste"
queen of Israel, wife of Ahab, daughter of Ethbaal
Queen Jezebel, the Phoenician wife of King Ahab, promoted Baal worship and persecuted the prophets of God.
The biblical story
Jezebel was the Phoenician princess who became the wife of King Ahab of Israel (1Ki.16.31). She zealously promoted the worship of the Canaanite god Baal and persecuted the prophets of the Lord (1Ki.18.4,13,19). Her conflict with the prophet Elijah is notably recorded in 1 Kings 18-19, where Elijah confronts the prophets of Baal and Jezebel threatens Elijah's life.
Jezebel's wickedness is further demonstrated in her plot to have Naboth killed so that Ahab could seize his vineyard (1Ki.21). Her actions led to divine judgment, as pronounced by Elijah (1Ki.21.23).
Years later, during the reign of Ahab's son Joram, Jezebel met her demise as prophesied. Jehu, anointed as king of Israel, had her thrown from a window, and her body was consumed by dogs, fulfilling Elijah's prophecy (2Ki.9.30-37).
In Rev.2.20, the name "Jezebel" is used symbolically to describe a false prophetess who led people astray in the church of Thyatira, drawing a parallel to the idolatry and immorality promoted by Ahab's queen.
Key verses
Jezebel appears in 20 verses. Here are some of the most notable:
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And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
1 Kings 16:31 -
For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
1 Kings 18:4 -
Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid an hundred men of the Lord’s prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
1 Kings 18:13 -
Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table.
1 Kings 18:19 -
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
1 Kings 19:1
Show all 20 references
1 Kings (13)
- 1 Kings 16:31
- 1 Kings 18:4
- 1 Kings 18:13
- 1 Kings 18:19
- 1 Kings 19:1
- 1 Kings 19:2
- 1 Kings 21:5
- 1 Kings 21:7
- 1 Kings 21:11
- 1 Kings 21:14
- 1 Kings 21:15
- 1 Kings 21:23
- 1 Kings 21:25
2 Kings (6)
- 2 Kings 9:7
- 2 Kings 9:10
- 2 Kings 9:22
- 2 Kings 9:30
- 2 Kings 9:36
- 2 Kings 9:37
Revelation (1)
- Revelation 2:20