263 Jezer 264 Jehu behind Ahab’s back. Jezebel’s foil is Deborah, Jezrahiah the righteous and rather boring daughter of Na- Jezrahiah (MT Yizraḥyâ; LXX Ιε ρια) is a personal both, who recognizes the queen’s sinfulness. Ex- name with a theophoric element that means plaining to Jehu why she believes Jezebel to be evil, “YHWH rises to shine” (cf. also the name Zerahiah Deborah says, “Because I am a woman. Perhaps I in 1 Chr 5 : 32, which is composed with the same can see things in another woman that a man can- root; there is perhaps also epigraphic evidence for not see.” the name). According to 1 Chr 7 : 3, Jezrahiah is the Jezebel appears as a one-dimensional support- son of Uzzi, an Issacharite (some English transla- ing character in the five-part Brazilian TV-miniser- tions spell here the name “Izrahiah”). ies O Desafio de Elias (dir. Luiz Antônio Piá, 1997, In Neh 12 : 42, he is a Levite, the leader of the BR, “The Challenge of Elijah”). She also appears as singers at a ceremony dedicating the wall of Jerusa- Jazz, “the witch-queen,” who sacrifices babies and lem (his name and role are omitted in LXX, so that massacres Israelites in the poorly acted film Blast this passage may be a late addition to the MT). and Whisper (dir. Mark Moran, 2010, US). The ex- ■ ploitation film The Joys of Jezebel (dir. Peter Perry, Jr., Bibliography: Noth, M., Die israelitischen Personennamen (BWANT 3/10; Stuttgart 1928). [Esp. 40] ■ Zadok, R., The 1970, US) picks up in hell a week after the queen’s Pre-Hellenistic Israelite Anthroponomy and Prosopography (Leuven death. Satan allows Jezebel to swap souls with a 1988). [Esp. 425] buxom virgin so that she can return to earth to seek Martin Prudký revenge against her murderer Jeremiah (not Jehu, cf. 2 Kgs 9 : 30–37). Bibliography: ■ Jeter, I., “Jezebel and the Emergence of the Jezreel (Person) Hollywood Tradition of a Decadent South,” in The South in Film (ed. W. G. French; Jackson, Miss. 1981) 31–46. ■ Pip- 1. Son of Etam pin, T., Apocalyptic Bodies: The Biblical End of the World in Text ε ραηλ and Image (London/New York 1999). [Esp. ch. 3] Jezreel (MT Yizrĕ e l; LXX Ι ) is a son of Etam Rhonda Burnette-Bletsch (according to LXX), from the tribe of Judah, men- tioned in 1 Chr 4 : 3. A textual problem at the begin- ning of the verse has made commentators either Jezer emend “father of Etam” to “sons of Etam” (follow- ing LXX) or assume that the name of Etam’s father Jezer (MT Yēṣer; LXX Ισσααρ) is the son of Naphtali. dropped out of the text. In that case, Jezreel would He is among the sixty-six households of Jacob who be Etam’s brother and not his son. moved down to Egypt (Gen 46 : 24, 26; 1 Chr 7 : 13). His descendants are reported to have constituted a Bibliography: ■ Klein, R. W., 1 Chronicles (Hermeneia; Min- huge family by the end of the wilderness period neapolis, Minn. 2006). (Num 26 : 49–50), but a further lineage of his de- scendants is unknown. Even though the list men- 2. Son of Hosea tioning Jezer (Gen 46 : 8–26) is usually assigned to Jezreel is the first son of Hosea the prophet and the Priestly source, some scholars maintain that it Gomer his wife (Hos 1 : 3). The prophet was ordered existed independently before it was incorporated by YHWH to give this name to his son in order to into P. symbolize the imminent fate of the Northern king- dom of Israel. Due to the bloodguilt at Jezreel (2 Kgs Bibliography: ■ Westermann, C., Genesis 37–50 (BKAT 1/3; Neukirchen-Vluyn 1982). 9 : 1–10 : 11), the dynasty of Jehu was doomed by Jaeyoung Jeon YHWH. The divine punishment would equal Israel’s military defeat in the Valley of Jezreel (Hos 1 : 4–5). Yet, in other passages, his name also calls for divine Jeziel benevolence bestowed upon the people of Israel, as revealed in the meaning of his name (“God sows”) Jeziel (MT Yĕzîēl [Qere], Yzwl [Ketib]; but LXX (Hos 2 : 24–25; cf. Macintosh: 15–18, 87–89). Ιωηλ) is the son of Azmaveth. According to the Chronicler, Jeziel is one of the leaders of the Benja- Bibliography: ■ Macintosh, A. A., A Critical and Exegetical minite warriors who joined David at Ziklag when Commentary on Hosea (ICC; Edinburgh 1997). David was still in hiding from Saul (1 Chr 12 : 1, 3). Shuichi Hasegawa They supported David in battle in spite of their kin- ship with Saul (vv. 1–2). They were skilled in sling- ing stones and shooting arrows and, probably, am- Jezreel (Place) bidextrous (v. 2). Jeziel’s father, Azmaveth (v. 3), is possibly one of David’s mighty men (1 Chr 11 : 33; 1. Town in Judah 2 Sam 23 : 31); but the name Azmeveth may also in- A small town Jezreel (MT Yizrĕ el, “El/God sows”; dicate the place where Jeziel came from (cf. Ezra LXX Ιαριηλ, LXXA Ιε ραελ) in the hill country of 2 : 24). Judah is mentioned a few times in the HB/OT. This Jaeyoung Jeon town was, according to the book of Joshua, part of Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/2/19 1:45 AM 265 Jezreel Valley 266 the measurement of Judah (Josh 15 : 56). Ahinoam, 2. The Area by the Spring. Below the tel is an allu- one of David’s wives, originated from Jezreel (1 Sam vial covered terrace with evidence of occupation 25 : 43). The traditional identification of this town from the Neolithic (7th millennium) onwards. In with Tell Ṭarrāme has been contested. 2007 the Israel Antiquities Authority undertook a small salvage excavation on a section of the terrace, Bibliography: ■ Vos, J. C. de, Das Los Judas: über Entstehung und Ziele der Landbeschreibung in Josua 15 (VTSup 95; Leiden and exposed remains from the Intermediate Bronze 2003). [Esp. 440–45] Age. In 2012 an airborne LiDAR scan revealed archi- tectural remains and new excavations were com- 2. Place in Issachar menced in 2013 directed by Jennie Ebeling of the University of Evansville and Norma Franklin of the The Israelite town of Jezreel (MT Yizrĕ el, “El/God University of Haifa. sows”) is mentioned in 2 Kgs 9–10 (see “Jezreel [Place in Issachar]”). Bibliography: ■ Ebeling, J. et al., “Jezreel Revealed in Laser Bob Becking Scans: A Preliminary Report of the 2012 Survey Season,” NEA 75.4 (2012) 232–39. ■ Franklin, N., “Jezreel: Before and After Jezebel,” in Israel in Transition: From Late Bronze II to Iron IIA (c. 1250–850 BCE), vol. 1, The Archaeology (ed. L. L. Jezreel (Place in Issachar) Grabbe; LHBOTS 491; London 2008) 45–53. ■ Ussishkin, I. Archaeology D./J. Woodhead, “Excavations at Tel JezreeI 1990–1991: II. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Preliminary Report,” Tel Aviv 19 (1992) 3–56. ■ Ussishkin, D./J. Woodhead, “Excavations at Tel Jezreel 1992–1993: Second Preliminary Report,” Levant 26 (1994) 1–71. ■ Us- I. Archaeology sishkin, D./J. Woodhead, “Excavations at Tel Jezreel 1994– Jezreel consists of two sites; the tel and a site over- 1996: Third Preliminary Report,” Tel Aviv 24 (1997) 6–72. looking the spring of Jezreel, 810 meters northeast ■ Zimhoni, O., “The Iron Age Pottery from Tel Jezreel: An Interim Report,” Tel Aviv 19 (1992) 57–70. ■ Zimhoni, O., of the tel. “Clues from the Enclosure-fills: Pre-Omride Settlement at 1. The Tel. The Israel Antiquities Authority con- Tel Jezreel,” Tel Aviv 24 (1997) 83–109. ducted salvage excavations in 1988 and 1989 on the Norma Franklin east side of the tel. They exposed some Iron Age structures and Hellenistic to Roman period archi- II. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament tectural and agricultural elements. These excava- The Israelite town of Jezreel (MT Yizrĕ el, “El/God tions spurred the launch of a full-scale expedition sows”) was located in the tribal area of Issachar at led by David Ussishkin of Tel Aviv University and the southern edge of the valley of Jezreel. The city John Woodhead of the British School of Archaeol- has been identified with Tell Yezreel. It was a royal ogy in Jerusalem. They conducted seven seasons of city under the Omride dynasty. Ahab’s palace was excavation from 1990 to 1996. The dominant fea- adjacent to the vineyard of Naboth (1 Kgs 21). There ture excavated was a 9th century BCE rectangular exists some discussion whether the Vineyard of Na- enclosure measuring 289 by 157 meters with a case- both was located at Jizreel or at Samaria, the latter mate wall system that supported a deep construc- city being the capital of the Northern Kingdom. tional fill. The south, west and east sides were pro- From a narrative as well as from an archaeological tected by a rock-cut moat, ca. 12 meters wide and point of view it is, however, more convincing to lo- 6.5 meters deep. Two corner towers were exposed cate the story at Jizreel. According to the books of and two other corner towers are presumed to have Kings Jehu’s slaughter of the Omride dynasty took existed. A six-, or possibly four-chambered gate al- place in Jezreel (2 Kgs 9–10). The cultural memory lowed entry from the south. of this event gave rise to the expectation of a world Construction of the enclosure complex was changing “Day of Jezreel” (Hos 2 : 2, ET 1 : 11).