Devotional 8-27-11

Jezebel Envisioned, Part II
Poetry by Molly Hicks, Master of Divinity student
Methodist Theological School in Ohio
July 2011 
 

Thank you to Molly Hicks for granting me permisson to use her poetry as a devotional.  Molly says of Jezebel, "She is vengeful, indeed, but I decided her humanity needed its say, as well."  Part one of her poem was published as a devotional on August 12.

 III. 1 Kings 21: 1-16
 
Metaphor: The struggle between religion and class

I came to Ahab today,
And he was withdrawn,
Sulking,
He would not eat,
Like a child he lay,
His back turned,
His breathing slight.
I felt his sadness,
And I touched his heart with mine,
“Naboth refused his land to us,” he said,
(Father would be furious!),
“This is unheard of!” I said,
“But his denial is the way of Yahweh,” he said.
Then arose my very own fury,
And I saw to it,
That Naboth breathed no more,
And my King received his vegetable garden,
This was my love given to Ahab.

IV. 2 Kings 9: 1-37

A Pomegranate Seed: The bitter end

My king has died in war,
And Elijah still lived,
Stories of his,
Rising prophetic power,
Traveled quickly,
Across our land.
This high priest of Yahweh,
Even crowned a new king,
Jehu,
A false king for Israel,
And my father's grandson,
Joram,
This precious gift,
Was slain by this false king,
This Yahweh king made by Elijah.

And then, you see, I was alone,
And feeling old.

Jehu traveled to Jezreel,
Where I stayed in respite,
And I knew my own fate,
For all I did,
For father,
For Ahab,
For Ba'al,
Meant nothing to Yahweh,
And nothing to Yahweh's people,
And Elijah meant to finish,
This endless battle,
That both him and I knew,
Would continue forever.
So I dressed in my royal gowns,
And painted my face,
As I did when I first came,
To this beautiful, cursed land,
And I waited for Jehu.

He arrived below my bedroom window,
I called him Zimri, the murderer he was,
And I imagined him to be Elijah,
Oh what a feast he will be for Ba'al,
On the day of his end,
And I cursed Elijah in my soul,
As I looked down at Jehu...

...Then before I could stop it,
I was falling,
To the street below,
I saw the faces of the people,
And the hooves of the horses,
And then the chariot covered me,
As I spattered that deep, deep red and purple,
Like the grapes of the vineyards speckled across,
The rich green cloth of this sacred land.
 
References

Frymer-Kensky, T. (2002). Reading the Women of the Bible: A new interpretation of their stories.  New York: Schocken Books.
Pruin, D. (2007). What is in a Text? - Searching for Jezebel. In L. Grabbe (Ed.), Ahab Agonistes: The Rise and Fall of the Omri Dynasty (208-235). New York: T&T Clark.
Miller, J.M. & Hayes, J., (2006). A History of Ancient Israel and Judah (2^nd ed.) Louisville: West Minster John Knox Press.
Nowell, I. (1997). Women in the Old Testament. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press.
 
Molly Hicks