Understanding Jezebel

In part, I am only doing this to keep my brain active. However, I saw a painting today, at least I think it was a painting, of Jezebel. In the description, the woman who created the painting had a fair bit to say on the victimization of Jezebel.
She also asked why someone would name their child “Whore of God”. This is what set me on to doing a little research. While there seems to be nothing (that I can find) which, at all, says that Jezebel means “Whore of God”, there does seem to be quite some contradictory ideas on what it does mean; but, to be fair, one of those contradictory ideas does say that it means whore of some god, just not the God.
I shall stress here that this is research, thinking, and is a rough draft and likely to change, as I go along.
2/19/2010 7:27 a.m. And, it is most definitely still changing! I’ve added quite a bit in about Eve, and am working on a small comparison within the subject of that woman, in regards to basic teachings of Christianity and Islam. Though, in the end, I may move that out of the discussion of Eve, and into it’s own sub-heading.
Most importantly, it is, in no way, an argument either for or against any other member of Red Bubble. A painting and an opinion inspired the research. Nothing more, nothing less than that is the inspiration, except the research itself, of course.

Understanding Jezebel

According to the site thinkbabynames.com The girl’s name Jezebel \j(e)-ze-
bel\ is pronounced JEZ-a-bel. It is of Hebrew origin, and its meaning is “pure, virginal”. Biblical: a queen of Israel condemned by God

Jezebel has 8 variant forms: Jessabell, Jetzabel, Jezabel, Jezabella, Jezebelle, Jezibel, Jezibelle and Jezybell. All these variations, likewise, mean “pure, virginal”.

According to the television show, The Naked Archaeologist, Jezebel was an altered name. Originally her name would have been translated as “Virgin of Baal”, but a letter was added to the name so as to give it a negative spin, and so changing its meaning to “Whore of Baal”.

According to the Holy Scriptures, at "1 Kings 16:31 , which reads: “31 And it came about that, [as if it were] the most trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jer·o·bo´am the son of Ne´bat, he now took as wife Jez´e·bel the daughter of Eth·ba´al the king of the Si·do´ni·ans and began to go and serve Ba´al and to bow down to him” Jezebel, herself, was not of Hebrew origin, and it is believed, by many, that her name means, in originality “The Prince Baal exists”.

Whatever the case may be, as to the actual interpretation of her name, it is widely understood that the actions of the woman mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, herself, caused the worldwide taint upon the name. That is why, now, in the tradition of Christendom, a comparison to Jezebel suggests that a person is a pagan or an apostate masquerading as a servant of God, who by manipulation and/or seduction misleads the saints of God into sins of idolatry and sexual immorality, sending them to hell.

That being a viewpoint, obviously, as I said, of Christendom, not necessarily of all Christians.

It is also why a woman who acts as a seductress, luring men away from their moral habits, is often called to as a painted Jezebel, in reference to 2 Kings 9:30 which reads: “30At length Je´hu came to Jez´re·el, and Jez´e·bel herself heard of it. And she proceeded to paint her eyes with black paint and do her head up beautifully and to look down through the window”

Some feel this is unfair to her memory. Feminist interpretations of the Holy Scriptures, would leave one with the impression that Jezebel is a victim of history, seeing her as a strong, assertive woman, who was attacked, then murdered by fanatics of a male-dominated religion. They are not alone in their justification of this historical figure. In Isaac Asimov’s Caves of Steel, the main character saw Jezebel as an ideal wife and a woman who, in full compliance with the mores of the time, promotes her own religion conscientiously.

Could this be true, that Jezebel is a victim of history, written against her by a religious group who has never accepted women as their leaders, who view all women as chattel if not worse?

To know the answer to that, rather than to continually rehash the doings, or wrong doings, of the one woman, it is my belief that what is best is to look at how all the historical women, mentioned in the Holy Scriptures are treated by time and opinion, particularly those who were, likewise, in a position of power. If it is true that Jezebel is castigated for her strength and power, then it will be reflected in how the other women of strength and power are remembered in the writings by the same sort of men, sometimes the same exact men (I believe), who were members of the same male-dominated religious group at the time of their writing these historical documents.

Who are the women of the Holy Scriptures? Eve, Hagar, Rebecca, Rachel, Sarah, Potiphar’s wife, Tamar, Miriam, Deborah, Jael, Jephtah’s daughter, Delilah, Bathsheba, Jezebel (who will not be studied for this purpose), Ruth, Naomi, Esther, Judith, Mary of Nazareth, Mary Magdalene, Martha, Mary, Elizabeth, Samaritan woman, some adulterous woman, a crippled woman, and a menstruating woman. There may be other women, certainly; but, these are the women most spoken of, given a place of prominence within the writings of the Holy Scriptures. Since what is at question is the veracity of the Holy Scriptures, as historical documents kept by manly men, in regards to the treatment of women as historical figures, it is to the Holy Scriptures that this study will be primarily kept.

Eve:
According to the Christian, Judaic, and Islamic religious history, in the majority, Eve was the second human created, having been built from the rib of the first human created.

Genesis 2:18 And Jehovah God went on to say: “It is not good for the man to continue by himself. I am going to make a helper for him, as a complement of him.”
Genesis 2:21 Hence Jehovah God had a deep sleep fall upon the man and, while he was sleeping, he took one of his ribs and then closed up the flesh over its place. 22 And Jehovah God proceeded to build the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman and to bring her to the man.

In the Holy Scriptures, it was Adam who gave Eve her name, which means, according to various sources “mother of all”, “source of all life”, or “living one”.

Genesis 3:20 After this Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she had to become the mother of everyone living.

This was, of course, after the downfall of Man.

Now, the teaching of many people, from various religious viewpoints suggest that women were created to be inferior to men, and that the very weakness of their character and intellect is what caused the downfall of Man, the race.

Interestingly, even those religions whose current teachings, and subsequent societal laws claimed to be based on those teachings, are most harsh against women, do not agree with this viewpoint. The Quran, for instance, teaches that Eve existed with Adam, before they ever came to Earth, and their Earth was their place of banishment from Paradise. (Qur’an 2:36); that Adam was directly admonished not to even approach the tree (Qur’an 7:19 ); and, that Satan’s enticements were issued to both Adam and Eve (Qur’an 7:20-21), or, possibly, just Adam (Qur’an 20:120)

In fact, by Islamic teaching, women have certain unalienable rights, which, in simple form, I have copied to here, and supplemented with text added, in between, from the Holy Scriptures to show that these rights also are expressed therein; or, to show the differences, wherein the rights are not expressed therein.

+ The right and duty to obtain education.+
Joshua 8:35 “There proved to be not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read aloud in front of all the congregation of Israel, together with the women and the little ones and the alien residents who walked in their midst.”

Nehemiah 8:2 Accordingly Ez´ra the priest brought the law before the congregation of men as well as of women and of all intelligent enough to listen, on the first day of the seventh month. 3 And he continued to read aloud from it before the public square that is before the Water Gate, from daybreak till midday, in front of the men and the women and the other intelligent ones; and the ears of all the people were [attentive] to the book of the law

+ The right to have their own independent property. +
Proverbs 31:16 She has considered a field and proceeded to obtain it; from the fruitage of her hands she has planted a vineyard.

The right to work to earn money if they need it or want it.
Proverbs 31:24 She has made even undergarments and proceeded to sell [them], and belts she has given to the tradesmen.

And, in answer to those who would say that these things are only for the benefit of her husband and sons, and not for her independent needs:

Proverbs 31: 31 GIVE her of the fruitage of her hands, and let her works praise her even in the gates.

Give who the fruitage of her hands? Who is being given the right to benefit from this wife’s work? That’s right. It’s her! Which means that, yes, she can use it to take care of her family, but, she can also use it for herself. Which also answers the very next right:

+ Equality of reward for equal deeds. +

+ The right to participate fully in public life and have their voices heard by those in power. +

Proverbs 1:8 Listen, my son, to the discipline of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother.

Proverbs 31:1 The words of Lem´u·el the king, the weighty message that his mother gave to him in correction:

John 4:7 A woman of Sa·mar´i·a came to draw water. Jesus said to her: “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone off into the city to buy foodstuffs.) 9 Therefore the Sa·mar´i·tan woman said to him: “How is it that you, despite being a Jew, ask me for a drink, when I am a Sa·mar´i·tan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Sa·mar´i·tans.)

Please note, regarding the above quotation of scripture, that this was what many men would have considered an act of utter scandal. Both in that Jesus was speaking to a woman, and that he was speaking to a Samaritan. Yet, he, the person of the highest power in all of Christianity, outside of his Father, not only found the woman worthy of speaking to, but, she is the one to which he chose to plainly reveal himself as the Christ, for the first time.

Luke 8: 1 Shortly afterwards he went journeying from city to city and from village to village, preaching and declaring the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and certain women that had been cured of wicked spirits and sicknesses, Mary the so-called Mag´da·lene, from whom seven demons had come out, 3 and Jo·an´na the wife of Chu´za, Herod’s man in charge, and Su·san´na and many other women, who were ministering to them from their belongings.

Acts 2:17 ‘“And in the last days,” God says, “I shall pour out some of my spirit upon every sort of flesh, and YOUR sons and YOUR daughters will prophesy and YOUR young men will see visions and YOUR old men will dream dreams; 18 and even upon my men slaves and upon my women slaves I will pour out some of my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

+ The right to provisions from the husband for all her needs and more.+

1st Peter 3: 7 YOU husbands, continue dwelling in like manner with them according to knowledge, assigning them honor as to a weaker vessel, the feminine one, since YOU are also heirs with them of the undeserved favor of life, in order for YOUR prayers not to be hindered.

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, continue loving YOUR wives, just as the Christ also loved the congregation and delivered up himself for it

+ The right to negotiate marriage terms of her choice. +

The right to obtain divorce from her husband, even on the grounds that she simply can’t stand him.

The right to keep all her own money (she is not responsible to maintain any relations).

The right to get sexual satisfaction from her husband.

The Mormons teach that the fall from grace was a planned and necessary action, and that after the death of the Christ, we are no longer considered responsible for the sins committed by the first parents of Mankind, as is evidence by these quotes from Mormon religious leaders:

• Jeffrey R. Holland: “We must remember the Fall was an essential part of Heavenly Father’s divine plan. Without it no mortal children would have been born to Adam and Eve, and there would have been no human family to experience opposition and growth, moral agency, and the joy of resurrection, redemption, and eternal life.”
• Spencer J. Condie: “The Fall was a necessary and foreseen part of the great plan of happiness… Far from being a great disappointment and disgrace to their Heavenly Father, Adam and Eve were his instruments to further the divine plan.”
• Joseph Fielding Smith: “That was what the Lord expected Adam to do, because that opened the door to mortality; and we came here into this mortal world to receive a training in mortality that we could not get anywhere else or in any other way.”

What does the Holy Scripture say, though? In Genesis 1, which is a broad overview of Creation, we find Jehovah God’s viewpoint in creating mankind:

Genesis 1:26 And God went on to say: “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and the domestic animals and all the earth and every moving animal that is moving upon the earth.” 27 And God proceeded to create the man in his image, in God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.

There is no inferiority, or superiority, stated, in this viewpoint, for either sex. They are both considered to be part of mankind. Nothing more or less. Obviously, as previously read, in Genesis 2, it does make a distinction between Adam and Eve, at the time of her being created. She was created, not out of dust, but, out of the rib of Adam. So, though they were both directly formed by the instruction of Jehovah God, she is built from more refined materials than her predecessor. And, why is she built? To help him. Whereas she never had a helper built for her. Which implies one of two things: one, that she needed no helper, or, two, that her helper was already created. Either way, there is no indication of inferiority in either her design or the reason for her creation.

It is interesting to note, though Eve is generally blamed, by those who teach from the Holy Scriptures, as being the cause of the downfall of Man, that the commandment that had been broken which caused this downfall was given to Adam before Eve’s creation:

Genesis 2:16 And Jehovah God also laid this command upon the man: “From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. 17 But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die.”

It is also interesting to note that, before an outside temptation occurred, this was the explanation of how it was between the man and the woman:

Genesis 2:24 That is why a man will leave his father and his mother and he must stick to his wife and they must become one flesh. 25 And both of them continued to be naked, the man and his wife, and yet they did not become ashamed.

This particular section of verse, points out that it was not the creation of Eve which caused the downfall of Mankind, as many religions have taught throughout our histories. If it had been so, if it was a weakness of character, the strong powers of her different, feminine flesh, they would not have continued naked and unashamed. Nor would anyone have felt the need to tempt them in any direction, since she would have already been the temptation.

One must remember that the account was written by someone much later on in the history of Man, so that, on top of taking this as an account of the Creation of Man, one must take this as the viewpoint of the writer, in regards to how women are viewed in his time. For he is drawing a conclusion with the words “that is why”, and instructing both men and women in how their relationship as man and wife should be viewed.

Therefore, one of the greatest religious leaders in all the history of the world, who wrote the inspired books that became the rootstock of the three principle religions of the world, Moses, had this viewpoint, by the teachings of his faith and by a communion with God that was far more direct than had been achieved by most men: male and female were equal, even after having fallen from grace. If they were not equal, simple logic dictates that they could not marry and become “one flesh”.