Jezebel (jeze-bel). [Heb. Iïzebel, meaning uncertain. The name occurs in Phoenician with the name of Baal prefixed as Blzbl, and on an ancient Hebrew seal, spelled zbl. Gr. Iezabel.] The infamous wife of King Ahab of Israel and daughter of Ethbaal, who was king of Tyre and Sidon (1 Ki 16:31; Jos. Ant. viii. 13. 1) and the priest of Astarte (Jos. Apion i. 18). As a pagan of strong will she made a determined and successful attempt to introduce her religion into Israel. She killed worshipers of Yahweh, persecuted the prophets, and supported hundreds of prophets of Baal for whom Ahab built a temple in Samaria (1 Ki 16:32; 18:4, 13, 19). The prophet Elijah, who had incurred her wrath by his vocal and active opposition to Baal worship, by slaying all the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel (ch 18:40) excited her wrath even more (ch 19:1-3). Jezebel was responsible for the murder of Naboth, the owner of a vineyard that her husband Ahab desired to possess (1 Ki 21:1-16). Elijah predicted a speedy and gruesome punishment for this crime (vs. 17-24), a prophecy that was fulfilled 11 years after Ahab's death, when Jehu usurped the throne. Arriving at Jezreel after slaying Joram, Jehu saw Jezebel looking out of the window of her palace. He challenged her eunuchs to throw her down, which they did, pushing her through the window. She fell in front of Jehu's chariot, and he drove over her body. A little later he gave orders to bury her, since she was of royal blood, but only her skull, feet, and hands were found; the rest of her body had already been eaten by dogs, the scavengers of the East (2 Ki 9:7, 30-37). Because of Jezebel's seduction of the Israelites to idolatry, her name is used in Rev 2:20 as a symbol of that form of seduction in later periods -- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Dictionary.