Word gets to Jezebel, the queen mother, that Jehu has killed her son and has gained access to the city. She doesn't react in grief when she hears of the death of her son, as we would expect a loving mother to react. She doesn't react in fear and hide herself or attempt to flee the city, as we would expect someone to do who knows the entire royal family is about to be wiped out. Instead she puts on a bold and unrepentant face. "Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she put on eye makeup, arranged her hair and looked out of a window. As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, 'Have you come in peace, you Zimri, you murderer of your master?'" (2 Kings 9:30-31)
If Jezebel is going to her doom, she is going to go to her doom while looking her best. By the time Jehu nears the palace she is waiting for him at the open window. She calls down to him something like, "Have you come to kill me too or are you going to spare my life, you rebel? Only a man who is the scum of the earth---a man like Zimri---would rise up against his master as you have!" You may recall from 1 Kings 16 that Zimri was one of the chariot commanders of King Elah of Israel. Zimri conspired against his master and slew him while Elah was drinking in the home of his steward, then Zimri assumed the throne in Elah's place and slew the entire royal family.
Jezebel's words to Jehu are insulting to his character, to be sure, but I think they are primarily intended as a curse. I think she is saying, "The same fate that befell the treacherous Zimri will befall you, you traitor! You may have stolen the crown of Israel but you won't wear it for long!" Zimri only reigned for seven days after he killed the king and took control of the palace. Upon hearing what he had done, the army of Israel elected the general of the army---Omri, the father of Jezebel's late husband Ahab---as their king. Omri and his troops marched to the capital city (which was in Tirzah at that time) and laid siege to the city and the palace. When Zimri saw that his efforts to rule the nation had come to nothing, he set the palace on fire around him and perished in the flames. In comparing Jehu to Zimri, Jezebel is threatening him that he can be sure judgment is coming. But she is wrong; her "gods" will not come to her aid or wreak vengeance upon Jehu.
When Jehu hears her voice, he looks up and sees who it is and asks if he has any supporters in the palace. "He looked up at the window and called out, 'Who is on my side? Who?' Two or three eunuchs looked down at him. 'Throw her down!' Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot." (2 Kings 9:32-33)
It was a common practice for eunuchs (castrated males) to be in charge of the women of the households of wealthy men. Husbands did not trust intact males to guard their women because those men might engage in sexual intercourse with the women of the harem. Males were needed to defend the women but only castrated males were trusted for this job. Eunuchs were usually young and strong foreigners who had been taken captive following victorious wars with other nations. These men were captured, taken to the nation of the victors, castrated, and put in charge of harems. They were basically slaves, though they lived in palatial luxury with the finest of clothing and food and wine provided for them. They had no hope of ever leaving their masters, no hope of ever marrying, no hope of ever fathering any children. I am sure many of them hated their masters and the women they guarded, but to rebel in any way would have meant certain death. But now the eunuchs of the household of King Joram have no fear of punishment for any actions they might take against the evil Jezebel. When Jehu calls out, "Who is with me?", these men seize their opportunity to take revenge against the woman who probably treated them cruelly whenever the mood struck her. They cast her out of an upper window. The horses of Jehu and his troops then trample her underfoot.
Jehu now has control of the palace. No one is going to stand against him. In fact, the slaves and many of the servants probably feel as if he is their hero and liberator. He is tired and hungry and thirsty, so he goes inside and helps himself to the food and drink that is on hand. "Jehu went in and ate and drank. 'Take care of that cursed woman,' he said, 'and bury her, for she was a king's daughter.' But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands. They went back and told Jehu, who said, 'This is the word of the Lord that He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel's flesh. Jezebel's body will be like dung on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, 'This is Jezebel.'" (2 Kings 9:34-37)
Elijah had predicted that Jezebel would be eaten by dogs and now this prophecy has come to pass. Also as Elijah predicted, Jezebel's body fell on the plot of land adjoining the palace complex at Jezreel---the plot of land her late husband Ahab wanted for a vegetable garden, only Naboth wouldn't sell it to him. Jezebel arranged to have Naboth falsely accused and executed, along with his sons and heirs so no one could lay claim to the land. (Many scholars believe Ahab was a first cousin to Naboth and that every heir of Naboth in between the two of them was killed so Ahab would be his surviving next of kin.) Because Jezebel had been a royal princess of the house of King Ethbaal of Sidon, Jehu had been going to allow her to be buried, but it was not the Lord's will for anyone to be able to visit her tomb and show her any respect in death. Jezebel lived a thoroughly dishonorable life and she is not awarded any respect in death.
Jezebel does have the dubious honor of being known as the most evil woman of the Bible. Her name has become synonymous with idolatry and immorality. Her name has become synonymous with blatant, over-the-top, unrepentant sin against the Lord and against everything that is considered holy and sacred. Her name has gone down in history, but not as a respected queen or as a loving wife and mother or as a godly woman. Her name is forever connected with everything a woman should not be.
No comments:
Post a Comment