Jezebel, Elijah, and the Widow of Zarephath: A Ménage à Trois that Estranges the Holy and Makes the Holy the Strange
This article offers a dialogical examination of 1 Kgs 17–19 that deconstructs traditionally accepted characterizations of Jezebel, Elijah, and the Widow of Zarephath. This study proposes that shifting emphasis from Elijah and Jezebel as polar opposites to a literary ménage à trois that involves all...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2012
|
| In: |
Journal for the study of the Old Testament
Year: 2012, Volume: 36, Issue: 4, Pages: 435-458 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Jezebel Israel, Queen
/ Elija
/ Bible. Könige 1. 17-19
/ Deuteronomistic history
/ Holiness (motif)
B Morphology (Linguistics) / Morphosyntax |
| Further subjects: | B
widow of Zarephath
B Deuteronomistic history B Jezebel Israel, Queen B Narrative theory B dialogical reading B Bible. Könige 1. 17-19 B Woman B Deuteronomistic History B Sarepta B Jezebel B Elijah B Sankt Elija Ohrdruf |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
|
| Summary: | This article offers a dialogical examination of 1 Kgs 17–19 that deconstructs traditionally accepted characterizations of Jezebel, Elijah, and the Widow of Zarephath. This study proposes that shifting emphasis from Elijah and Jezebel as polar opposites to a literary ménage à trois that involves all three characters makes it possible for the holy man to become a stranger and the strange women to become holy. The narrative tensions thus revealed question the validity of Israel's definitive identity markers. When reading the stories of Jezebel, Elijah, and the Widow of Zarephath in the Deuteronomistic History, clear-cut distinctions between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ continually collapse. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1476-6728 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the study of the Old Testament
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/0309089212438020 |