When Jezebel saw her husband pouting like a petulant child, she swiftly hatched a scheme to get him what he wanted​—and also, in the process, to destroy a righteous family.

It is hard to read of her plot without feeling astonished by its wickedness. Queen Jezebel knew that God’s Law required the testimony of two witnesses for a serious charge to be substantiated. (Deuteronomy 19:15) So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, directing prominent men of Jezreel to find two men willing to launch a false accusation against Naboth​—that of blasphemy, which carried the death penalty. Her plan worked only too well. Two “good-for-nothing men” testified falsely against Naboth, and he was stoned to death as a result. Not only that​—Naboth’s sons were killed as well!b (1 Kings 21:5-14; Leviticus 24:16; 2 Kings 9:26) Ahab had, in effect, abdicated his headship, allowing his wife to run rampant and destroy those innocent people.