|
|
|
Etymology •
& Meaning •
Hebrew •
Greek •
Bible •
Names •
|
|
|
Meaning and etymology of the name Jezebel
|
|
| | |
Jezebel 
There's only one Jezebel in the Bible. She's the notorious wife of the notorious king Ahab, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians (1 Kings 16:31). Jezebel promotes the worship of Baal in Israel and murders the servants of YHWH (1 Kings 18:4). The prophet Elijah predicts Jezebel's death; she will be eaten by dogs (1 Kings 21:23). When Jehu is anointed king, he has Jezebel thrown out a window. She is cared for so little that by the time people go to bury her, most of her body has been carried off by dogs (2 Kings 9:35). Jezebel became such a symbol of evil that John the Revelator refers to her in Revelation 2:20.
The name Jezebel (which is properly pronounced as eezebel) is so unique in Semitic that BDB Theological Dictionary assumed it's a contraction of the Phenician name , Baalazebel, meaning Baal has exalted, and that pious scribes deleted the reference to Baal. BDB also acknowledges that in its present form the name Jezebel should have seemed to a Hebrew audience to be a construct of two part:
The first part of the name Jezebel is the particle , which in the void of context of a name may mean a lot of things: (ay) means coast or region (Isaiah 20:6); (ay) means jackal; (ay) is a common interrogative adverb meaning where; (ay) means alas (Ecclesiastes 4:10 only); and (ay) a rare adverb of negation meaning not (Job 22:30 only). BDB favors the latter because it is used often in Rabbinical literature to indicate a negation or impossibility. It should be noted that for instance the name Ichabod is also constructed from this same particle, and most probably also denotes a negation.
The second part of the name Jezebel is formed from the verb (zabal), meaning exalt or honor, and which only occurs in Genesis 30:20 in a word play on the related name Zebulun. The noun derived from this verb is (zebul), which typically denotes a dwelling place which is designed to honor the occupant. It's used only five times in Sciptures, for God's temple (1 Kings 8:13), for the heavens (Isaiah 63:15, Habakkuk 3:11) and once for earthly mansions (Psalm 49:14).
Together the name Jezebel is probably meant to say something like Un-Exalted or Un-Husbanded (BDB Theological Dictionary); Unmarried, Chaste (NOBS Study Bible Name List) or Without Cohabitation (Jones' Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names).
A related name is Zebulun.
|
|
|
•Look for baby names
•Augment your Hebrew language study
•Deepen your knowledge of the Bible
•Enrich your cruise to or travel holiday in Israel
|
|