Sade (Shah - day), born Helen Folasade Adu in Ibadan, Nigeria, is one of the most successful British female artists in history, and is often recognised as an influence on contemporary music.
In her jam, Jezebel (1985), she makes a case for the most infamous woman in Bible history - the bad girl of the Bible, Jezebel. She has been saddled with the title of one of the wickedest women in history - Potiphar’s wife and Delilah don’t even come close.
In Jezebel, Sade opens with the following shocking words:
Jezebel wasn't born with a silver spoon in her mouth // She probably had less than every one of us // But when she knew how to walk she knew.
She begs us to re-analyze and look at Jezebel with a fresh set of eyes. She asks us to put ourselves in her shoes. She doesn’t call her a saint either, but she asks us to judge her fairly after reviewing the facts at hand. In her essay, How Bad Was Jezebel?, Janet Howe Gaines posits the same - put down your spikes and torches, and reread the story of Jezebel from her own point of view and maybe, despite her shortcomings, we may see the motivation behind what she did.
From the Book of Kings, we see that the princess Jezebel was brought from Phoenicia to the Kingdom of Israel to marry the newly crowned King Ahab. Phoenicians were polytheist, worshipping different gods, chief among them Baal, the god of fertility and agriculture. As King, Jezebel’s father was likely a high priest to Baal which in turn meant that Jezebel herself may have served as a priestess and was raised to honor the gods and goddesses of her land.
In Sade’s words:
Jezebel Jezebel Won't try to deny where she came from // You can see it in her pride.
Consequently, when she got married to King Ahab, she came to Israel with her gods and goddesses, whom she was raised to honor. She does not accept Ahab’s Yahweh and sticks to the gods and goddesses of her land. She remains loyal to her religious upbringing and is determined to maintain her cultural identity. By doing so, in Sade’s words, Every winter was a war she said, she has to constantly defend the gods of her land while facing the wrath of Yahweh and His prophets.
It is important to note that Jezebel’s marriage to Ahab was a political alliance, a foreign policy move whereby Jezebel being a princess was being used a pawn in regional politics. The writers of the Book of Kings do not comment about how the young queen feels about this arranged marriage.
Her transition from a kingdom of familiar gods and goddesses to a monotheistic kingdom with a sole masculine deity is not easy. Janet Howes Gaines argues that perhaps, Jezebel, seeing her marriage as way to link the two kingdoms, sees herself as an ambassador who could unite the two lands, bringing about cultural pluralism, peace and prosperity. However, as chronicled by the Deutronomists, she is seen as an interloper who has to be stopped.
Every winter was a war she said.
The first show down is between Elijah and Jezebel’s acolytes at Mt Carmel to settle the beef once and for all between God and Baal. To see who reigns supreme. The tournament is held in response to a claim that Jezebel is killing the prophets of God. Elijah summons 850 of the acolytes and the score is whichever deity sets a sacrificial bull on fire, wins. Baal gets the L.
Ironically, after the tournament, Elijah orders for the capture of all Baal prophets who are later executed. Jezebel and Elijah are all very passionate about their respective religions and they believe in their respective cause enough to kill off rival prophets but only one party is represented as evil. Murder is venerated and rewarded if it is done in the name of the right deity.
Jezebel should be feared alright, she sends Elijah running for the hills after the Mt Carmel incident and to make it worse she goes for Naboth’s vineyard. The Deutronomists have already painted Jezebel as an enemy to Israel’s God; but her taking away Naboth’s vineyard to gift her husband, paints her as an enemy to the government too. Ahab wants Naboth’s vineyard, but Naboth cannot forfeit the land as it has been in his bloodline for generations, it is his birthright. Jezebel hatches a plan which sees Naboth murdered and his land forfeited to the crown.
In her song, Sade writes of Jezebel I want to get what's mine and some scholars point out that Jezebel being born in a land of autocrats, the royal’s word was final and Naboth’s refusal went against the crown’s wishes which were as good as law.
In the above section, we have seen the case made by the Deutronomists against Jezebel as a murderer. In this section we will look at the claims made by the same - Jezebel being a witch and a whore.
The Bible sometimes connects idol worship and harlotry, thus lusting after false idols. However, in Jezebel’s case, her harlotry goes beyond idol worship. Rather, she has been considered the slut of Samaria, the lecherous wife of a pouting potentate (Gaines). In the Bible, there is no evidence of Jezebel being unfaithful to her husband or her being of loose morals upon his death.
Ahab dies, and so does his first son who had succeeded him. Ahab’s second son, Joram takes on the throne, but not for long. Jehu, one of Joram’s military commanders, is crowned the new king, despite there being a sitting monarch. He is commanded by Elisha, to kill his master and take over the throne from the ‘House of Ahab’ so as to avenge the blood of the prophets and many others who have died under Jezebel’s reign.
When Jezebel learns that Jehu is on her way to kill her, she doesn’t disguise herself or run away. We learn from the Bible that she ‘She painted her eyes with kohl and dressed her hair, and she looked out of the window’. According to Sade, Can't blame her for her beauty//She wins with her hands down Jezebel, what a belle//Looks like a princess in her new dress//She put on her stockings and shoes Had nothing to lose - she said it was worth it.
This action, by Jezebel, is taken by the Deutromists and by Jehu as her trying to use her feminine charm to seduce Jehu so that she can be spared death. According to this claim, she is painted as ready to use her body and beauty to betray her family as well as ensure her longevity.
In Hebraic thinking, brushing hair and applying kohl is taken as a flirting move. But we have to keep in mind that Jezebel was not a native of the land, she was a Phoenician princess whose culture was different from that of the Israelites.
Every Biblical word condemns her: Jezebel is an outspoken woman in a time when females have little status and few rights; a foreigner in a xenophobic land; an idol worshiper in a place with a Yahweh-based, state-sponsored religion; a murderer and meddler in political affairs in a nation of strong patriarchs; a traitor in a country where no ruler is above the law; and a whore in the territory where the Ten Commandments originate (Gaines).
Gaines continues:
Yet there is much to admire in this ancient queen. In a kinder analysis, Jezebel emerges as a fiery and determined person, with an intensity matched only by Elijah’s. She is true to her native religion and customs. She is even more loyal to her husband. Throughout her reign, she boldly exercises what power she has. And in the end, having lived her life on her own terms, Jezebel faces certain death with dignity.
Jezebel Jezebel
Won't try to deny where she came from
You can see it in her pride
And the raven in her eyes (Sade, Jezebel).
Should Sade rewrite the Bible? Probably.
I like the connection, I dgaf about the Bible but this piece makes it interesting, also Sade never ages. Naeza mpanda kama shuttle za Murang'a Sacco
I like the connection, I dgaf about the Bible but this piece makes it interesting, also Sade never ages. Naeza mpanda kama shuttle za Murang'a Sacco