Jezebel Teaches Ahab the Path of Idols

"And Deborah, a woman, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, she judged Israel at that time" (Judges 4). What was the nature of Deborah, that she judged Israel at that time and prophesied over them? Was not Phinehas son of Eleazar alive in those days? I call heaven and earth to witness for me: whether Israel or gentile, whether man or woman, whether manservant or maidservant, all is according to the deed that one does; accordingly the Holy Spirit rests upon him. Thus they said: Deborah's husband was an ignoramus. His wife said to him: Come, and let me make you wicks, and bring them to the house of God that is in Shiloh; perhaps your portion will be among the worthy men there, and you will merit the world to come. And he would make thick wicks so that their light would be abundant; therefore his name was called Lappidoth (torches). And thus they said: he had three names, Barak, Lappidoth, and Michael. Barak, because his face was like lightning (barak); Lappidoth, because he made thick torches; and what was his name? Michael was his name. The Holy One, blessed be He, who tests hearts and minds, said to Deborah: You intended for the sake of Heaven and made thick wicks so that their light would be abundant; I too will increase (arbeh) you among Israel and among Judah and among the twelve tribes of Israel. And who caused Lappidoth to have his portion among worthy men and to merit the world to come? You must say: Deborah his wife. Thus they said concerning Deborah, the wife of Barak; and concerning one like her it says: "The wisest of women builds her house" (Proverbs 14). Likewise you say concerning Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, wife of Ahab. Thus they said: In the first hour that she came in to Ahab, she taught him the way of the worship of idolatry, and through her he sold himself to idolatry, as it is said (1 Kings 21): "But there was none like unto Ahab, who sold himself to do that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up," and so forth. And because of her deeds and the deeds of her husband, the two of them were lost from this world and from the world to come, and they destroyed their children with them. A parable: to a king to whom his servant brought a gift of seventy jars of oil; when he heard from him excessive words, he flung them down before him. So who caused Ahab to be lost from this world and from the world to come, he and his children? You must say: Jezebel his wife. And concerning her and concerning one like her it says (Proverbs 4): "But folly tears it down with her hands." And concerning them it says (Psalms 37): "Fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked devices," and so forth; "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall be no more," and so forth; "I have seen the wicked in great power," and so forth; "Yet he passed away, and lo, he was not," and so forth (variant reading: "The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him"; after him it says, "The LORD will not leave him in his hand," and so forth; "The LORD shall laugh at him"). Once I was sitting in the great house of study that is in Jerusalem before the sages. I said to them: My masters, what was different concerning Omri, commander of the army of the king of Israel, from all those who were before him, that no king who was the son of a king had been seated upon the throne until Omri came, and three kings sat for him upon his throne? They said to me: We have not heard. I said to them: His reward was because he ceded a great city in the land of Israel like Jerusalem, for it was in his mind that just as Jerusalem belongs to the kings of Judah, so Samaria should belong to the kings of Israel, as it is said (1 Kings 16): "And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill, Samaria." And it says (Ezekiel 23): "Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother," and so forth; "and their names were Oholah the elder, and Oholibah her sister," and so forth; "and their names were, Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah." His reward was for ceding a great city in the land of Israel; therefore three kings sat for him upon his throne. They said concerning Omri that he was not as rich as Ahab, king of Israel, his son. Two hundred and thirty-two kings served him, not to mention the ivory house that he built. When Ahab heard from the people that these two hundred and thirty-two kings sought to rebel against him, he sent and brought the son of each one and seated them under his hand in Jerusalem and in Samaria. And the sages said: All those two hundred and thirty-two sons of kings were idolaters, and when they came to Jerusalem and to Samaria they became truly God-fearing. Blessed is the Omnipresent, blessed is He, before whom there is no favoritism. Their reward was because they were truly God-fearing; through them a great deliverance came to Israel, as it is said (1 Kings 20): "And Ben-hadad the king of Aram gathered all his host together, and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it," and so forth. "And behold, a prophet drew near unto Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus says the LORD, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand," and so forth. "And Ahab said, By whom? And he said," and so forth, "By the young men of the princes of the provinces," and so forth. And it says (2 Kings 3): "And Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-master, and he rendered unto the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool; but it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel." There gathered against him, against the king of Moab, three kings together, the king of Israel, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom, "and they smote Moab, and they fled before them," and so forth. "And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him," and so forth, "then he took his eldest son," and so forth, "and offered him for a burnt-offering upon the wall." And when he slaughtered his son and offered him up as a burnt-offering, he said: Master of the universe, Abraham offered his son upon the altar and did not slaughter him, but I will slaughter my son and offer him up as a whole burnt-offering before You, for whatever You say to me I will do (variant reading: as it is said, "then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead"). At that hour Israel descended from the upper rung to the lower rung, as it is said: "And there was great wrath against Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to their own land." And when Ahab died, the young men of the princes of the provinces departed, each one, and went to his house. Blessed is the Omnipresent, blessed is He, who repays the children of men, to every man according to his ways, and fulfills concerning them: In the measure that a man measures, so is it measured out to him. Therefore it is said: "And Deborah, a woman, a prophetess," and so forth. "And she dwelt under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the children of Israel came up to her for judgment." The sages said: Just as Samuel sat in Ramah, so Deborah sat in Ramah (variant reading: therefore it is said) "and she dwelt under the palm tree." The sages said: there were no disciples of the wise in Israel at that time except as much as fills (variant: half) a palm tree alone; therefore it is said "under the palm tree." Another interpretation: "and she dwelt under the palm tree," because it is not the way of a woman to be secluded inside the house; therefore Deborah went and sat under the shade of the palm tree and taught Torah in public; therefore it is said "and she dwelt under the palm tree." "And she sent and called Barak son of Abinoam out of Kedesh-naphtali, and said unto him, Has not the LORD commanded," and so forth, "and take with you ten thousand men," and so forth. What is taught by "Has not the LORD commanded"? Rather, thus she said to him: It is written in the Torah, "And the judges shall inquire diligently," and so forth (Deuteronomy 19); and what is the matter written after it? "When you go forth to battle against your enemies," and so forth, "you shall not be afraid of them, for the LORD your God is with you," and so forth (Deuteronomy 20). And what is the nature of Deborah being with Barak? Was not Deborah in her place and Barak in his place? Rather, thus the sages said: Barak served the elders in the lifetime of Joshua, and so he continued to serve after his death; therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, brought him and placed him with Deborah. At that hour it was shown to Deborah by what means the Holy One, blessed be He, saves Israel from among the idolaters: by sons who rise early and stay late at the synagogue and the house of study and busy themselves with the words of Torah every day continually. And why were Zebulun and Naphtali different from all the tribes, that a great deliverance came to Israel through them, as it is said (Deuteronomy 4 [Judges 4]): "and take with you ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun"? Thus the sages said: Naphtali served Jacob our father, and contentment of spirit came from him; and Zebulun served Issachar, and because he made him a lodging-place, and because Barak trusted in the God of Israel and believed in the prophecy of Deborah, as it is said: "And Barak said unto her, If you will go with me, then I will go," and so forth, "and she said, I will surely go with you," and so forth; therefore he was given a portion in the song with her, as it is said: "Then sang Deborah and Barak," and so forth. And why was Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, different from all women, that a great deliverance came to Israel through her, as it is said: "And Jael took the tent-pin," and so forth, "and she smote the pin into his temple," and so forth, "and he was in a deep sleep and weary; so he died"? Thus the sages said: Jael was a worthy woman, and she did the will of her husband. From here the sages said: You have no worthy woman among women except a woman who does the will of her husband. Once I was sitting in the great house of study that is in Jerusalem before the sages, and I said to them: My masters, I am dust beneath your feet; I will say before you one thing. They said to me: Speak. And I said: My Father in heaven, may Your great name be blessed forever and to all eternity, and may You have contentment of spirit from Israel in all the places of their dwellings, for all the good things (variant: and the comforts) You said to man, You said only with wisdom and understanding and knowledge and intelligence, as it is said (Genesis 2:18): "And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help to match him," a help to set him on his feet and a help to give light to his eyes. They said to me: Give a reason for your words. I said to them: I will give a reason for my words. And I said to them: My masters, wheat and barley, before they are processed and ground in the mill, are nothing but wood alone. And they said to me: Yes. And I said to them: If a man gives them to his wife, and she sets them in order and processes them and grinds them in the mill, and brings forth from them bread, fine bread; or if she made him fat meat or fat milk dishes, the best foods in the world, and he eats. And likewise flax is nothing but grass. And they said to me: Yes. And I said to them: If a man gives flax to his wife, she weaves from it a garment. And not only this, but she brings forth from her fruitfulness and increase for the world; and further, so that he will not commit adultery, going from place to place. These are the four things that a woman does for her husband. And if he (variant: indeed) gives her bread and feeds her, behold, to cattle and to beasts and to birds the whole world gives food. Therefore it is said: "I will make him a help to match him," a help to set him on his feet, a help to give light to his eyes. And I further said before them words of the Holy One, blessed be He: The Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to sit in His great house, and the righteous of the world sit before Him, and He will say to them: To what are you likened? A man marries a good and beautiful wife; he rejoices in her. If her beauty changes, then he seeks to marry another in addition to her. But you are not so; you are beloved to Me from beginning to end, forever and to all eternity, as it is said (Hosea 3): "And the LORD said to me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn unto other gods," and so forth, until "afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God," and so forth. And it says (Jeremiah 3): "If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again?" and so forth, "but you have played the harlot with many lovers; yet return to Me, says the LORD." And are they truly lovers to Him, God forbid, or is there substance in them, God forbid, to set up idolatry, that it is said "many lovers"? Rather, Israel made them into idolatry as though they were lovers to Him, God forbid; and even so He passes over the iniquities of Israel and does not keep jealousy and vengeance against them in all the places of their dwellings, and He has not withheld the words of Torah from them, and He passes over their iniquities one by one from before His face (variant: as it is said (Jeremiah 33): Thus says the LORD, If the heavens above can be measured; and the sufferings scour away their iniquities); and His deeds are not like their deeds. If so, to what are you likened? The verse therefore teaches (Deuteronomy 33): "And of Asher he said, Blessed be Asher above sons; let him be acceptable to his brothers," and so forth, "and as your days, so shall your strength be." The sages said this concerning the daughters of Asher, that the old one was like a virgin, and a virgin has no menstrual flow, as it is said: "Your bars shall be iron and brass, and as your days, so shall your strength be." And it says: "There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides upon the heaven for your help, and in His excellency on the skies." Happy is he who has not come to transgression, nor to sin and iniquity, and has not departed from the good way; even if he is an Israelite, he is fit to offer a burnt-offering upon the altar as though he were a high priest, as it is said: "And he sent young men of the children of Israel, and they offered burnt-offerings," and so forth (Exodus 24). But this one who set himself idle from transgression and does not commit the transgression, behold, he is prepared like the ministering angels, as it is said: "And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand; and they beheld God, and did eat and drink."