A Phoenician princess, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Zidonians, and wife of Ahab, king of Israel (1 Kgs. 16: 31). This marriage, more than any other single event, caused the downfall of the northern kingdom, as Jezebel introduced into Israel the worst forms of Phoenician worship in place of the worship of Jehovah (1 Kgs. 18: 4, 13, 19; 1 Kgs. 19: 1-2; see also 1 Kgs. 21: 5-25; 2 Kgs. 9). In Rev. 2: 20 the name is applied figuratively to a woman (or sect) causing great harm to the Church in Thyatira.

See also Athaliah.