Jezebel

Gender Feminine
Usage Biblical
Scripts אִיזֶבֶל(Ancient Hebrew)
Pronounced Pron. JEHZ-ə-behl(English)  [key·IPA]

Meaning & History

From Hebrew אִיזֶבֶל ('Izevel), probably from a Phoenician name, possibly containing the Semitic root zbl meaning "to exalt, to dwell". According to one theory it might be an altered form of the Phoenician name 𐤁𐤏𐤋𐤀𐤆𐤁𐤋 (Baʿlʾizbel) meaning "Ba'al exalts" with the first element removed or replaced [1].

In the Old Testament Jezebel is the Phoenician wife of Ahab, a king of Israel. She is portrayed as an evil figure because she encouraged the worship of the god Ba'al. After she was thrown from a window to her death her body was eaten by dogs, fulfilling Elijah's prophecy.

Related Names

Other Languages & CulturesJézabel(Biblical French) Isebel(Biblical German) Iezabel(Biblical Greek) 'Izevel(Biblical Hebrew) Gezabele, Izebel(Biblical Italian) Hiezabel(Biblical Latin) Jezabel(Biblical Portuguese) Jezabel(Biblical Spanish)

People think this name is

classic   formal   upper class   devious   strong   strange   complex   serious  

Categories

actions, biblical women, Bully characters, canines, ends in -bel, film titles, greatness, movies, negative, noise, queens, questions, religion, song titles, theophoric names, uncertain etymology, victims, women and death, women's history

Sources & References

  1. Page at https://archive.org/details/CorpusInscriptionumSemiticarumI1/page/n227/mode/2up.
Entry updated December 7, 2022