Helena Zlotnick, «From Jezebel to Esther: Fashioning Images of Queenship in the Hebrew Bible», Vol. 82 (2001) 477-495

Only three royal couples in the HB are seen in direct communication. Of these, two, namely Ahab and Jezebel, Ahasuerus and Esther, contribute unique insights into the interpretative and redactional processes that cast later narratives around themes of earlier stories, and both around the figure of a queen. In this article I explore the hypothesis that the scroll of Esther was shaped as a reversible version of the Jezebel cycle. With the aid of narratives of the early Roman monarchy, a sensitive and sensible reading of the biblical texts relating to Jezebel and Esther demonstrates the constructive process of an ideology of queenship. Underlying both constructs is a condemnation of monarchy in general.

upon learning of Haman’s decree constitutes a transgression of the law of the land and reinforces the image of Jewish recalcitrance that Haman had portrayed. The general Jewish fast following the Ahasuerus-Haman decree seems equally incapable of averting doom. Only Esther appears to use the period of fasting as a preparation for a difficult task ahead. The irony is palpable. To approach a monarch whose main claim to fame is the celebration of lavish banquets Esther and her people have to experience the opposite of a royal lifestyle.

        In a series of intriguing and intricate inversions the Esther scroll adopts and adapts actions and protagonists of the Jezebel story to convey, ultimately, a similar message. Just as Naboth’s real murderers are doomed to perdition Haman’s plans are destined to lead to his own undoing. Beyond such simplistic similarities lies, however, a complex ideology. Because of the origins of the Israelite monarchy the power of kings must remain limited. In a post-exilic existence, such as the scroll of Esther depicts, there is in fact no room at all for a Jewish king. The only viable royalty is that of a gentile monarch. In this context a Jewish queen is born, or rather created, not as a consort of a Jewish king but as an instrument to save her people in a moment of exigency.

IV. Conclusion: Jezebel the ‘sorceress’ and Elijah the ‘magician’ 

        In the encounter between Elijah and Ahab over the royal appropriation of private property, Naboth’s death is described as a ‘murder’ (1 Kgs 21,19)²⁷. There is, however, no murderer in the plain and direct sense of the word. Kings or queens need not resort to bloodying their hands. The punishment to which Ahab and Jezebel are subjected as a result of Naboth’s death makes, therefore, little sense. In the annals of the Israelite monarchy a similarly motivated murder, notably that of Uriah by David (2 Sam 11), is cast as an act of impiety against God²⁸. And although the prophet Nathan pronounces a twofold punishment, neither David himself nor his dynasty are destined to immediate extinction as Ahab’s is. Furthermore, Ahab