Ethbaal

Biblical Record

Ethbaal is mentioned only once in the Bible. 1 Kings 16:31 records that Ahab, king of the northern kingdom of Israel, "took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him." Scripture gives no separate account of Ethbaal's own deeds or reign. He is mentioned only to identify Jezebel's origins.

His name is commonly interpreted as "(one who is) with Baal." Because it contains the divine name Baal, it is sometimes read as an indication that his kingdom was a center of Baal worship.

Significance Within Scripture

The books of Kings present this marriage as the occasion for the full-scale spread of Baal worship in the northern kingdom. Ahab built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria and made an Asherah (1 Kings 16:32–33). Soon afterward Elijah appears and proclaims a drought, and the contest on Mount Carmel follows. Within this narrative sequence, Ethbaal's name serves as a symbol of the political alliance between Israel and Phoenicia and of the religious influence that accompanied it.

During the drought, Elijah took refuge in "Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon" (1 Kings 17:9), a place within the territory Ethbaal ruled. This scene, in which a Gentile widow in the land of Baal receives God's care, is cited by Jesus himself in the New Testament (Luke 4:25–26; see Widow of Zarephath). Ethbaal's name, however, appears nowhere in the New Testament. The "Jezebel" of Revelation 2:20 is a symbolic name for a false prophetess in the church at Thyatira and has no direct connection to Ethbaal.

Interpretations and Debated Points

• Identification with Ithobal, king of Tyre: The first-century Jewish historian Josephus, citing the records of Menander of Ephesus, describes Ithobal (Ithobaal), king of Tyre (and Sidon). Ithobal is said to have been a priest of the goddess Astarte who seized the throne after killing the preceding king. Many commentators identify this figure with Ethbaal. This account, however, comes from outside the Bible, and the text of 1 Kings says nothing about his accession or priestly status.
• Scope of "king of the Zidonians": In the Old Testament, "Zidonians" can also refer to the Phoenicians as a whole. Some therefore understand Ethbaal to have been a king who ruled both Tyre and Sidon.
• Record of a drought: Josephus reports that Menander's records mention a drought during the time of Ithobal, and he connects it with the drought in Elijah's day. Whether the two records refer to the same event, however, has not been established.
• Jezebel's zeal for Baal worship is sometimes explained as having been "inherited from her priestly father." This is an inference based on Josephus's account, not a statement of the biblical text.

Few points of denominational disagreement over the interpretation of this figure are known.

In the Korean Church

Sermons and Sunday school lessons devoted specifically to Ethbaal are rare. He is usually mentioned briefly as Jezebel's father when the background to the story of Ahab and Jezebel is explained. In preaching, Ahab's politically motivated marriage is sometimes cited as an example of how idolatry was brought into Israel.