Robert J. Merecz, «Jezebel’s Oath (1 Kgs 19,2)», Vol. 90 (2009) 257-259
Jezebel’s oath, as recorded in 1 Kgs 19,2, gives some clues that from the beginning it was not intended to be kept. One such indication is the lack of the prepositional phrase yl. Lack of the phrase coupled with other contextual clues paints a picture of Jezebel as a calm and clever queen and, at the same time, it exposes Elijah’s unreasonable fear and inability to see the true matter of things.
Jezebel’s Oath (1 Kgs 19,2) 259
The oath, however, did not state who was to be punished by God should the
matter not be followed through. One therefore suspects that the king was
not truly intending to kill his own son. And as it turns out, he did not. The
pro-Jonathan sentiments of the people served as an excuse not to fulfil the
insincerely-spoken oath.
In case of Jezebel, not only did she not follow up on her words, but she
in fact acted against them — she warned Elijah, thus making it possible for
him to escape from the country. It is, then, another beautifully crafted clue
the narrator left, together with the sending of a mere death threat and not a
sword, that Jezebel wanted Elijah alive but in a self-imposed exile.
There is also another detail in 19,2 that supports the latter claim. It is
that the time when Elijah’s çpn was to become çpnk of one of the prophets of
Baal. Jezebel set that time to be rmj t[k. The only reason that would
explain letting Elijah know the exact time for the realization of the threat
would be to make him run for his life. And this is exactly what the prophet
did.
In summary, the oath formula as present in MT portrays Jezebel as a
very calm and clever queen. On the one hand, she was not frightened when
confronted with the massacre of her cultic personnel. On the other, she was
also not blinded by her fury or willingness to vengeance. Swearing by her
gods she did not dare to put herself under oath but let Elijah supply the
missing reference to her. The prophet, frightened by her spoken but
unintended threat, did what she wanted him to do — expelled himself from
the country leaving confused supporters behind him.
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SUMMARY
Jezebel’s oath, as recorded in 1 Kgs 19,2, gives some clues that from the
beginning it was not intended to be kept. One such indication is the lack of the
prepositional phrase yl. Lack of the phrase coupled with other contextual clues
paints a picture of Jezebel as a calm and clever queen and, at the same time, it
exposes Elijah’s unreasonable fear and inability to see the true matter of things.