Reference: Jezreel
Easton
God scatters. (1.) A town of Issachar (Jos 19:18), where the kings of Israel often resided (1Ki 18:45; 21:1; 2Ki 9:30). Here Elijah met Ahab, Jehu, and Bidkar; and here Jehu executed his dreadful commission against the house of Ahab (2Ki 9:14-37; 10:1-11). It has been identified with the modern Zerin, on the most western point of the range of Gilboa, reaching down into the great and fertile valley of Jezreel, to which it gave its name.
(2.) A town in Judah (Jos 15:56), to the south-east of Hebron. Ahinoam, one of David's wives, probably belonged to this place (1Sa 27:3).
(3.) A symbolical name given by Hosea to his oldest son (Ho 1:4), in token of a great slaughter predicted by him, like that which had formerly taken place in the plain of Esdraelon (comp. Ho 1:4-5).
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And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each one with his household, David with his two wives, Ahinoam, the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, who had been the wife of Nabal of Carmel.
And it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heavens became black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
And it came to pass after these things that Naboth of Jezreel had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.
So Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was keeping Ramothgilead, with all Israel, because of Hazael, king of Syria. But King Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael, king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it is your desire, then do not let anyone go forth nor escape out of the city to tell the news in Jezreel. read more. So Jehu rode and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah, king of Judah, was come down to see Joram. And the watchman, who stood in the tower of Jezreel, spied the company of Jehu as he came and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take a horseman and send to meet them and let him say unto them, Is there peace? So one on horseback went to meet him and said, Thus saith the king, Is there peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? Turn behind me. And the watchman gave notice, saying, The messenger came to them, but he does not return. Then he sent out another on horseback, who came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is there peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? Turn behind me. And the watchman gave notice again, saying, He also came unto them and does not return, and the pace of him who is coming is like the pace of Jehu, the son of Nimshi, for he comes impetuously. And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram, king of Israel, and Ahaziah, king of Judah, went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu and found him in the portion of Naboth of Jezreel. And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, Is there peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the fornications of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many? Then Joram turned his hands and fled and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah. But Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. Then said Jehu to Bidkar, his captain, Take him and cast him in the edge of the portion of the field of Naboth of Jezreel. Remember that when thou and I went together after Ahab, his father, the LORD pronounced this sentence upon him, saying, Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, said the LORD, and I will requite thee in this portion, said the LORD. Now, therefore, take and cast him into the portion, according to the word of the LORD. But when Ahaziah, the king of Judah, saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the ascent to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo and died there. And his slaves carried him to Jerusalem and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. In the eleventh year of Joram, the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah. And Jehu came to Jezreel, and when Jezebel heard of it, she painted her face and tired her head and looked out of a window. And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? And he lifted up his face to the window and said, Who is on my side? Who? And two or three eunuchs looked at him. And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses; and he trode her under foot. And he entered in, and after he ate and drank, he said, Go, see now this cursed woman and bury her; for after all she is a king's daughter. But when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. And they returned and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his slave Elijah, the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel. And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel so that no one shall be able to say, This is Jezebel.
And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters and sent to Samaria unto the princes of Jezreel, to the elders, and to those that brought up Ahab's children, saying, Now as soon as this letter comes to you, unto those who have your master's sons and who have chariots and horsemen and who have the arms and munitions of the city, read more. see which is the best and most upright of your master's sons and set him on his father's throne and fight for your master's house. But they were exceedingly afraid and said, Behold, two kings could not stand before him; how then shall we stand? And he that was over the house and he that was over the city, the elders also, and those who had brought up the children sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy slaves and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king; thou shalt do that which is good in thy eyes. Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye are mine and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take the heads of the male sons of your master and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy males, were with the great men of the city, who had brought them up. And when the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and slew seventy males and put their heads in baskets and sent him them to Jezreel. And a messenger came and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning. And in the morning, he went out and stood and said to all the people, Ye are righteous; behold, I conspired against my master and slew him; but who slew all these? Know now that of the word of the LORD which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab, nothing shall fall to the ground, for the LORD has done that which he spoke by his slave Elijah. So Jehu slew all that had remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and all his kinsfolk and all his priests until he left him none remaining.
And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.
And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
Hastings
The Hebrew name from which is derived the name of the Plain of Esdraelon (see Esdraelon). The plain is called 'the Valley of Jezreel' in Jos 17:16; Jg 6:33; Ho 1:5.
1. Primarily, however, it denotes an Important city overlooking the Plain on the south in the border of the tribe of Issachar. Here, by 'the fountain of Jezreel'
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And the sons of Joseph said, This mountain is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are in Bethshean and her towns, and those who are in the valley of Jezreel.
Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east gathered themselves together as one and went over and pitched camp in the valley of Jezreel.
David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel, and they were also both of them his wives.
Now the Philistines gathered together all their camps to Aphek, and the Israelites pitched camp by a fountain which is in Jezreel.
and made him king over Gilead and over the Ashurites and over Jezreel and over Ephraim and over Benjamin and over all Israel.
Baana, the son of Ahilud; to him pertained Taanach and Megiddo and all Bethshean, which is by Zartanah beneath Jezreel, from Bethshean to Abelmeholah, even unto the place that is beyond Jokneam;
And it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heavens became black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
And it came to pass after these things that Naboth of Jezreel had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria.
Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
And King Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael, king of Syria. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram king of Judah, went down to see Joram, the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
And these were of the father of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash, and the name of their sister was Hazelelponi.
And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
and the earth shall respond to the wheat and the wine and the oil; and they shall respond to Jezreel.
Morish
Jez'reel
1. Descendant of 'the father of Etam.' 1Ch 4:3. (Six Hebrew MSS, the LXX, and the Vulgate read 'sons' instead of 'father.')
2, 3. Symbolical name both of the son of Hosea and of Israel. Ho 1:4,11. Jezreel is interpreted both 'God scatters' and 'God sows.' Ho 1:4 refers to judgement upon the house of Jehu and the house of Israel; and Ho 1:11 to blessing, when of both Israel and Judah it will be said, "Ye are the sons of the living God." Then "great shall be the day of Jezreel:" cf. Ho 2:22-23; "I will sow her unto me in the earth." Then God will say to her, "Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God."
4. City of Judah, from whence David married Ahinoam. Jos 15:56; 1Sa 25:43;
5. City in Issachar, the abode of Ahab and Jezebel, and principally connected with their history. It was the scene of Jezebel's tragical end. Jos 19:18; 2Sa 2:9; 4:4; 1Ki 18:45-46; 21:1,23; 2Ki 8:29; 9:10-37; 10:1-11. Identified with Zerin, 32 34' N, 35 19' E.
6. The extensive valley or plain in which the last-named city was situated, in southern Galilee. It has been called the battle-field of Palestine. It was where Barak triumphed, and where Josiah was defeated, Jg 5:19; 2Ch 35:22
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And the sons of Joseph said, This mountain is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are in Bethshean and her towns, and those who are in the valley of Jezreel.
The kings came and fought; then the kings of Canaan fought in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; they took no gain of money.
Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east gathered themselves together as one and went over and pitched camp in the valley of Jezreel.
And these were of the father of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash, and the name of their sister was Hazelelponi.
And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease.
And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will visit the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease. And it shall come to pass in that day that I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.
And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel shall be congregated together, and they shall raise up for themselves one head, and they shall rise up from the land: for the day of Jezreel is great.
And the sons of Judah and the sons of Israel shall be congregated together, and they shall raise up for themselves one head, and they shall rise up from the land: for the day of Jezreel is great.
and the earth shall respond to the wheat and the wine and the oil; and they shall respond to Jezreel.
and the earth shall respond to the wheat and the wine and the oil; and they shall respond to Jezreel. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon Loruhamah, , and I will say to Loammi, , Thou art my people; and he shall say, Thou art my God.
And he gathered them together into the place which in Hebrew is called, Armageddon.
Smith
Jez're-el
(seed of God), a descendant of the father or founder of Etam, of the line of Judah.
(B.C. about 1445).
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And these were of the father of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash, and the name of their sister was Hazelelponi.
Watsons
JEZREEL, a royal city of the kings of Israel, who sometimes resided here as well as at Samaria. Ahab, in particular, is known to have made this his residence: near to whose palace was the vineyard of the unfortunate Naboth. The name of Jezreel was by the Greeks moulded into that of Esdraela; which is described by Eusebius and Jerom, in the fourth century, as a considerable town. In like manner, the valley of Jezreel obtained the name of the valley or plain of Esdraelon; which is still described as very fertile, and much frequented by the Arabs for its fine pasturage. This is the largest, and at the same time the most fertile, plain in the land of Canaan; and is called, by way of eminence, the Great Plain. It may be estimated at thirty miles in length, and twenty in breadth. The river Kishon flows through it. See ESDRAELON.