JEZREEL
(Jezʹre·el), Jezreelite (Jezʹre·el·ite) [God will sow seed].
The name “Jezreel” was borne by two different men. (1 Chron. 4:3; Hos. 1:4) There were also two cities known as Jezreel, one in the mountainous region of Judah (Josh. 15:56) and the other on the border of Issachar’s territory. (Josh. 19:17, 18) An inhabitant of either city was called a Jezreelite(ss). (1 Sam. 27:3; 1 Ki. 21:1) The geographical area embraced by the Valley of Jezreel is often restricted to the low plain extending in a southeasterly direction from the city of Jezreel in Issachar to Beth-shean. But at times the designation “Valley of Jezreel” is also used today to include the low plain W of Jezreel or the Plain of Esdraelon (the Greek form of the Hebrew Jezreel).
1. A descendant of Judah; possibly the forefather of the inhabitants of Jezreel (No. 3, below) or its principal settler.—1 Chron. 4:1, 3; compare ATROTH-BETH-JOAB.
2. Son of the prophet Hosea by his wife Gomer (Hos. 1:3, 4); for the prophetic significance of “Jezreel” see No. 4.
3. A city in the mountainous region of Judah, perhaps founded by No. 1 above. (Josh. 15:20, 48, 56) This Jezreel doubtless was the home of David’s wife Ahinoam. (1 Sam. 25:43) Some tentatively identify it with Khirbet Tarrama, about five and a half miles (c. 9 kilometers) SW of Hebron.
4. A city on the border of Issachar’s territory. (Josh. 19:17, 18) Today Jezreel is linked with Zerʽin, a town located about seven miles (c. 11 kilometers) N of Jenin (En-gannim). Just to the SE lies a crescent-shaped ridge of limestone hills traditionally identified with Mount Gilboa.
Situated at the edge of a rocky descent, Zerʽin overlooks the entire low plain of Jezreel, extending southeastward for nearly twelve miles (19 kilometers) and measuring approximately two miles (3 kilometers) in width. In the time of Joshua this area was controlled by Canaanites having a strong, well-equipped chariotry. (Josh. 17:16) It was also in the low plain of Jezreel that Gideon and his three hundred men witnessed Jehovah’s saving hand as the enemy forces of the Midianites, Amalekites and Easterners turned against one another in confusion. (Judg. 6:33; 7:12-22) Later, the Israelite army under King Saul, encamped by the spring in Jezreel (perhaps ‘Ain Jalud on the NW spur of Mount Gilboa or ‘Ain el-Meiyiteh below the town of Zerʽin), faced the enemy Philistines. Thereafter, from Jezreel report was received about the deaths of Saul and his son Jonathan. (1 Sam. 29:1, 11; 2 Sam. 4:4) Jezreel and its vicinity then came to be part of the territory ruled by Saul’s son Ish-bosheth. (2 Sam. 2:8, 9) And, while Solomon reigned, the assignment of the deputy Baana included the fertile plain of Jezreel.—1 Ki. 4:7, 12.
During the latter half of the tenth century B.C.E. Jezreel served as the royal residence for Israel’s King Ahab and his successor Jehoram, although Samaria was the actual capital of the northern kingdom. (1 Ki. 18:45, 46; 21:1; 2 Ki. 8:29) In the vineyard of Naboth near the palace at Jezreel, the prophet Elijah uttered Jehovah’s judgment against the house of Ahab. (1 Ki. 21:17-29) The prophecy was fulfilled. Jehu slew Ahab’s son King Jehoram and then had his corpse thrown into the tract of Naboth’s field. Ahab’s wife Jezebel became food for the scavenger dogs of Jezreel when dropped from a window at Jehu’s command. The heads of Ahab’s seventy sons, executed by their caretakers in Samaria, were piled up in two heaps at the gate of Jezreel. None of Ahab’s distinguished men, acquaintances and priests at Jezreel escaped.—2 Ki. 9:22-37; 10:5-11.
HOSEA’S PROPHECY
Seemingly, the words of Jehovah to Hosea (1:4) allude to Jehu’s destroying the house of Ahab as “the acts of bloodshed of Jezreel.” Although divinely rewarded for this executional work by being assured of a dynasty of kings to the fourth generation, Jehu, as suggested by his failure to eradicate calf worship, may not have had an altogether pure motive. (2 Ki. 10:30, 31) Perhaps his case parallels that of Babylon. Though serving as an instrument to execute Jehovah’s judgment and rewarded accordingly, Babylon’s presumptuousness required that her bloodguiltiness be avenged.—Jer. 27:5-8; 50:14, 29-34; 51:34, 35; Ezek. 29:18-20.
The prophetic name “Jezreel,” by which Jehovah instructed Hosea to call his son by Gomer, pointed to a future accounting against the house of Jehu. That accounting came when Jehu’s great-great-grandson Zechariah, after ruling for six months, was murdered, and the assassin Shallum seized the throne. (2 Ki. 15:8-10) Thus ended the dynasty of Jehu. About fifty years later, in 740 B.C.E., when the northern kingdom fell to Assyria and its inhabitants were exiled, the royal rule of the house of Israel ceased completely. At that time the “bow of Israel,” that is, its military strength, was definitely broken. The prophecy had, indicated that this would take place in the low plain of Jezreel, perhaps because the Assyrians gained a decisive victory there.—Hos. 1:4, 5.
However, through his prophet Hosea, Jehovah also pointed to a favorable meaning of “Jezreel.” By regathering the remnant of Israel and Judah and then bringing his people back to their land, Jehovah would sow seed.—Hos. 1:11; 2:21-23; compare Zechariah 10:8-10.