[1] See _Allg. musik. Ztg._ (Leipzig, 1816), p. 506, and Beilage 5,
where the construction of the instruments is described and
illustrated and the system of notation shown in various pieces of
music.
JEZEBEL (Heb. _i-zebel_, perhaps an artificial form to suggest
"un-exalted," a divine name or its equivalent would naturally be
expected instead of the first syllable), wife of Ahab, king of Israel (1
Kings xvi. 31), and mother of Athaliah, in the Bible. Her father
Eth-baal (Ithobal, Jos., _contra Ap._ i. 18) was king of Tyre and priest
of the goddess Astarte. He had usurped the throne and was the first
important Phoenician king after Hiram (see PHOENICIA). Jezebel, a true
daughter of a priest of Astarte, showed herself hostile to the worship
of Yahweh, and to his prophets, whom she relentlessly pursued (1 Kings
xviii. 4-13; see ELIJAH). She is represented as a woman of virile
character, and became notorious for the part she took in the matter of
Naboth's vineyard. When the Jezreelite[1] sheikh refused to sell the
family inheritance to the king, Jezebel treacherously caused him to be
arrested on a charge of treason, and with the help of false witnesses he
was found guilty and condemned to death. For this the prophet Elijah
pronounced a solemn curse upon Ahab and Jezebel, which was fulfilled
when Jehu, who was anointed king at Elisha's instigation, killed the son
Jehoram, massacred all the family, and had Jezebel destroyed (1 Kings
xxi.; 2 Kings ix. 11-28). What is told of her comes from sources written
under the influence of strong religious bias; among the exaggerations
must be reckoned 1 Kings xviii. 13, which is inconsistent with xix. 18
and xxii. 6. A literal interpretation of the reference to Jezebel's
idolatry (2 Kings ix. 22) has made her name a byword for a false
prophetess in Rev. ii. 20. Her name is often used in modern English as a
synonym for an abandoned woman or one who paints her face. (S. A. C.)