{"id":63656,"date":"2019-09-29T00:59:55","date_gmt":"2019-09-28T21:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=63656"},"modified":"2023-04-24T18:23:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-24T15:23:00","slug":"are-villains-redeemable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/are-villains-redeemable\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Villains Redeemable?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[366,383,908],"acf":{"old_id":"63656","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":40788,"related_cahpter":"318","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Case in point: Jezebel","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you hadn\u2019t been paying attention and happened upon the end of Chapter 9 of 2 Kings, you might think you had just entered a Quentin Tarantino film. This chapter describes the terrible death of Jezebel, who serves as one of the great villains of the Book of Kings. Since marrying King Ahab, she has increased the worship of Baal in the Kingdom of Israel, threatened Elijah with death and orchestrated the plunder and murder of Naboth, a simple man who refused to give up his vineyard to the King.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a result of these actions, like many of her idol-worshiping compatriots, she comes to an untimely death, as promised by God. Yet, her death stands out in two ways. One is her very gory death and the accompanying graphic description. We read that, \u201cthey pushed her out [of the window] and some of her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses and they trampled her.\u201d If that was not enough, we are further told that when they went to bury her, \u201cthey were only able to find her skull, feet and the palms of her hands\u201d which as the text reminds us, fulfills Elijah\u2019s prophecy that dogs will devour Jezebel\u2019s flesh. These hauntingly graphic images are meant to be so.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The second noteworthy aspect of her death is Jehu\u2019s insistence, after ordering she be murdered in this manner, that she be given a proper burial. What are we to make of Jehu\u2019s initiating both her disgraceful death and her respectful burial? The answer given by Jehu in text is that she is a King\u2019s daughter, which seems not to solve any of the above issues. If her royal status earned her a decent burial, why did it not protect her from this gruesomely executed death?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rashi adds a layer to the story, based on a midrash, and tells us that despite her evil ways, Jezebel did carry with her some merit. It was her practice to dance before brides, using her hands, feet and head and it was this one act that earned her a proper burial. The same hands, feet and head that were accomplices to her evil ways also brought great happiness to brides on their wedding day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can you imagine Jezebel, the scheming wife of Ahab whose name has become synonymous forever more with cunning evildoers, joyously dancing and moving her head, feet and hands in wild abandon, in front of brides? This is an image to rival the gory images of her death that the text leaves us with. Perhaps Rashi\u2019s commentary is suggesting that even the villains in our biblical stories, might be more complex figures than they are made out to be \u2013 and with a keen eye and a little probing, they may even be redeemable.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":63657,"id":63657,"title":"2kings9-dancer","filename":"2kings9-dancer.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/2kings9-dancer.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/are-villains-redeemable\/2kings9-dancer\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings9-dancer","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":63656,"date":"2019-09-28 21:59:46","modified":"2019-09-28 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