Jezebel

Your correspondent W.G.H. believes this word to be derivable from *Baal*. That the Phœnician word בַעַל (Lord) makes a component part of many Syrian names is well-known: but I do not think the contracted form בֵל, which was used by the Babylonians, is ever found in any Syrian names. If we suppose the name אִיזֶבֶל to be derived from בֵל or בַעַל, we must find a meaning for the previous letters. Gesenius derives the name from אי, the negative particle, זבל, and gives it the sense of "innuba", *i.e.* "pure," comparing it, as a female name, with the Christian Agnes. There is but one passage, howe…