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.

of his Yahwist attachment. His brand of magic is a sure sign of his being ‘a man of God(s)’ (1 Kgs 17,24) and of YHWH being the only one and true God (1 Kgs 18,39). While Jezebel’s ‘magic’ secures the succession of her son in spite of prophetic doom, Elijah’s parallel powers require constant attestation³². In the greatest magic show Elijah disappears out of human purview. Jezebel, unaided by the Baal or by witchcraft, is torn asunder and her blood drenches the earth. Yet, it is precisely Elijah’s heroic proportion that serves to magnify Jezebel’s sorcery.

        The charge of prostitution, as has been often remarked, appears calculated to invoke Jezebel’s apostasy and her commitment to the Baal³³. In the mouth of Jehu and in the ears of Jezebel’s son the word echoes with further irony. It reminds the audience that her betrayal of YHWH and of his prophets (= prostitution) had been as vigorous and disastrous as her loyalty to her husband and to her god. Such an interpretation receives support from the fact that the scene between Jezebel’s son and her destined murderer (Jehu) is carefully placed in Jezreel, on Naboth’s former plot (2 Kgs 9,21).

        Jezebel, the ‘prostitute’ and the ‘witch’, violates norms of kingly behavior and weakens the precarious balance of power between kings and YHWH’s prophets³⁴. Her promotion of the Baal undermines YHWH’s sphere of influence. Impious, sacrilegious, and a transgressor of the boundaries of women and of queens, Jezebel is cast as the antithesis of what a Jewish queen ought to be. To remedy the damage that she had inflicted on the delicate balance between YHWH and Israel Esther is created in her reversed image.

        By shadowing Jezebel through Esther the scroll also provides a