. The training of the Chosen people. bel herselfwas the principal cause of the introduction of thereligion of Phoenicia into Israel. Even Solomon hadfound it difficult to exclude from Jerusalem the variouscults of his heathen wives. But none of his wivesappears to have been of the type of Jezebel. She wasan able, determined and unscrupulous woman. Shedeliberately set herself to assimilate the worship ofIsrael to that of Tyre, and she bade fair to be com-pletely successful. The material interests of Israeldictated a close observance of the Phoenician a foreign princess Jezebels righ
. The training of the Chosen people. bel herselfwas the principal cause of the introduction of thereligion of Phoenicia into Israel. Even Solomon hadfound it difficult to exclude from Jerusalem the variouscults of his heathen wives. But none of his wivesappears to have been of the type of Jezebel. She wasan able, determined and unscrupulous woman. Shedeliberately set herself to assimilate the worship ofIsrael to that of Tyre, and she bade fair to be com-pletely successful. The material interests of Israeldictated a close observance of the Phoenician a foreign princess Jezebels rights of worship andthose of her retainers had probably been guaranteedby a formal treaty, and her social position, fascination,audacity and real ability were no mean powers. It is probably incorrect to describe Ahab as adoptingthe religion of Jezebel, or as greatly influenced by itas a system of faith and worship. He did, indeed,build a temple and altar of Baal at Samaria to pleasehis wife, but all along he seems to have held that she. Mount Carmel. might worship her god, while he was true to his an-cestral deity, Jehovah. In confirmation of this it hasbeen noticed that the name of Jehovah forms a partof the names of each of Ahabs children (1 Ki. 22:40;2 Ki. 3: 1; 2 Ki. 8: 26, comp. 8: 18). And yet, thoughAhab may have been able to persuade himself that he ioo Old Testament History was not disloyal to Jehovah, the insidious influenceof the sensual Phoenician worship won its way withhim (i Ki. 16:33). His readiness to profit by thecruel outrage through which Jezebel acquired Nabothsvineyard (1 Ki. 21:1-16) indicates the ascendancythis evil woman had acquired over him. The clue, however, to the policy of Ahab lies in hispurpose to promote the material interests of his king-dom. Even his marriage was only incidental to was a policy that was justifying itself by its success,and he did not find it difficult to persuade himself thathe had not really forsaken Jehovah. He probabl
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