Behind Every Great Man is a Great Woman:

Jezebel's Story
By Michael Gossett
 We've all heard the saying that behind every great man is a great woman, and Jezebel is no

exception. At first thought of Jezebel's name many think: prostitute, temptress, and as Electric Light

Orchestra put it evil woman, but Jezebel's life was much more. She had many qualities of a good leader

like passion, charisma, and initiative. With her abilities as queen coupled with her initiative, she was

able to solve many problems that her husband often could not. Her charisma and charms were what

people remember most about her and how they drew others to her, including her husband. Lastly her

passion was one of the fiercest in the entire bible.

The bible gives us few glimpses of Jezebel, but in the stories that we can find, she shows

remarkable initiative in solving any obstacle put before her. In First Kings Chapter Twenty-One, we are

told a story of how Jezebel's husband king Ahab wishes to annex a local vineyard for a vegetable

garden. When Ahab first approaches Naboth, the owner of the vineyard, he offers to give Naboth a

better vineyard or any price in gold he wishes; however, Naboth explains that “The Lord forbid that I

should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”1 Ahab returns to the palace to sulk where Jezebel

happens upon him and inquires of him “Why are you so sullen?”2 After explaining his dilemma to his

wife, Jezebel tells scorns him “Is this how you act as king over Israel?”3 and tells him to go eat and be

merry. Once her husband is away, she writes the elders of the town to hold a feast in Naboth's honor,

and in the middle of the feast have two men accuse Naboth of cursing the king and the Lord 's name.

They then were to take him out and stone him for his crimes. Her plan works perfectly, and the

innocent man was killed. After this she tells her husband that Naboth is dead and to go claim the

vineyard. It is Jezebel's clever initiative in using the town elders to remove the obstacle in her husband

path that is a quality of a good leader. A paramount facet of a good leader is being able to see which

people are best suited for specific situations.

It is in another story of Jezebel that we see her true passion. In First Kings Chapter Sixteen and

Eighteen after Ahab marries Jezebel, she converts Ahab to follow her god Baal, the god of the

Sidonians. After her husband's conversion, she sets her ambition on removing all followers of the Lord
by fleshing them out and killing them “Jezebel was killing off the Lord's prophets”4. While eradicating

the servants of the lord, one of the lord's prophets, Elijah, taunts the prophets of Baal into a contest of

sacrificing a bull without the use of fire. Four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal prepared their

sacrifice and prayed to Baal who did not answer. Elijah prepared his sacrificed, dumped water upon it,

and prayed to the lord who then lit the wet sacrifice ablaze. Upon seeing this the prophets of Baal were

filled with fear and attempted to flee; however, Elijah commanded they be captured and put to death.

When word of this reached Jezebel she made this statement “May the gods deal with me, may it be ever

so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”5 I had always

thought of Jezebel as a more timid and withdrawn character, but upon reading this statement, my view

has changed. To tell someone you hope to be severely punished by godly wrath if you don't bring

vengeance upon them is something no person says unless they are entirely passionate about their cause,

and Jezebel certainly was.

I think what has made Jezebel a stereotypical man-eater was her charisma. It is her charisma I

believe that drew her husband and all her followers to her. She rumored to be beautiful but sheer beauty

is not what charisma is about. Charisma is something that draws others to you for reasons they

themselves cannot fathom. It is an unforeseen power, and when present in a woman it is most often

mistaken for feminine whiles or tawdriness. Jezebel was certainly rumored to have partaken in many

scandalous incidents, but I surmise that it was overall charisma that drew people to her.

While being a “bad girl” Jezebel still exhibited many characteristics of a good leader: Charisma,

Initiative, and Passion. Without her charisma she would have never been able to influence the amount

of people she did, and one of the qualities of leadership is the ability to influence others. Her initiative

provided her husband with the means to obtain what he sought; she saw the path that he did not.

Another quality of a good leader being able to see the lighted path when others mire in the darkness.

Finally it is Jezebel's passion that seared her name in the pages of history. Even while committing

wrongs, she was true to herself and her beliefs which is a quality of a good leader, the perseverance to
stay true to one self when nations or God stand before you.