Jezebel Part 3: Baal and Astarte

Like other pagan cultures, the tribes found north of Israel had a pantheon of gods. The head god was known as Baal. He overthrew his father, El, to take control of the divine counsel. There were many other gods in this pantheon and were related to different areas of life and the environment found in the topology of the area. Mot was the god of the dead, Yarikh was the god of the Moon and Moloch was the god of fire.

When we read the Old Testament, we find these gods’ names crop up throughout the text. Most of the time, these names relate to the actual things, but sometimes they might relate to the god, depending on the context of the verse. For example, the name for the sea in Ancient Hebrew was Yam, which was also the name of the god of the sea. Shamayim is the Hebrew name for the heavens and is the name of the ‘god of the heavens’ amongst the northern pagan tribes.

Baal means master or lord. We see this word appear in the names of people in the Old Testament. Somtimes it is with a suffix of -baal, -bal, or -bel. It doesn’t always mean the god Baal, but can just mean master or lord.

For example, Gideon was at one point named Jerubbaal, meaning ‘contends with Baal’

Judges 6 v 32

Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he pulled down his altar.

Gideon was named this after he pulled down an altar to Baal.

Another example is the fourth son of Saul, as mentioned in 1 Chronicles,

1 Chronicles 8 v 33

Ner was the father of Kish, Kish the father of Saul, and Saul the father of Jonathan, Malki-Shua, Abinadab and Esh-Baal.

Esh-Baal means either the ‘Man of Baal’ or ‘man of a lord’. Though, it would be strange that the first king of Israel would name his child after an enemy god, so maybe it had nothing to do with the god Baal, but just meant he was a son a the king.

As mentioned in my first post in this series, Jezebel has -bel or Baal in her name.

Who is Astarte?

Over time, the relationships between the gods change. We may find that in one ancient culture, two gods are intimately linked or even married. And we may find in another culture, centuries later, they would have these same gods unconnected and married to other gods.

During this time in Sidon, Astarte was the wife of Baal. She was also the god of war, beauty, hunting and sexuality. In some places she was known as the ‘Name of Baal’ or the ‘Face of Baal’. She was intimately linked to Baal.

Clergy of her cult practiced ‘ritual prostitution’.  These clergy were divided into three groups, the Servants of Astarte who were young women, the Dogs who were homosexual men and the Whelps (young men) who were called the Servants of the Temple of Astarte.

She was also depicted in art as a "woman at a window".

Jezebel and Astarte

When we read about Jezebel’s death, there are some intriguing connections with the goddess Astarte.

2 Kings 9 v 30

Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she put on eye makeup, arranged her hair and looked out of a window.

Firstly, we see Jezebel came to the window, just as Astarte was depicted in art.

She also prepared her hair and make up. As part of ancient paganism, the gods were dressed by the priests before being presented to the people.

2 Kings 9 v 32-33

He (Jehu) looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?”

And two or three eunuchs looked down at him.

“Throw her down!” yelled Jehu.

So they threw her down, and her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses as they trampled her underfoot.

Here we read Jehu call to the servants to throw Jezebel out of the window. They oblige and she falls to her death.

Jehu enters the building and eats and drinks. He then tells the servants to bury her body. The servants only find her skull, hands and feet, but no body. Jehu recalls the words of Elijah,

2 Kings 9 v 36

On the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour the flesh of Jezebel.

I wonder whether the writer of this story was linking her demise to the clergy of Astarte. The Servants of Astarte push Jezebel out the window, and she is dismembered by the dogs: the Dogs and Whelps of Astarte.

Jezebel and Jesus

If we take this line of thinking further forward, we could hypothesise that just as Jesus is the Image of the Invisible God (Col 1 v 15), Jezebel is symbolically the image of Astarte, who was the Name and Face of Baal.

So when Jezebel was killed, it wasn’t just a physical act, but it was spiritual warfare and the defeat of a goddess.

This shows that every action we commit in the physical has an impact in the spiritual realm. After all,

Ephesians 6 v 12

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Below the paywall I discuss more controversial ideas. Unfortunately, we live in a culture where if someone is offended by something in the Internet, they can cause real world problems. By having a paywall, it protects myself and my family from unwanted attention.

This time I will talk about the rise of neo-paganism. If you wish to read further, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.