Queens of the Bible

queens of the Bible [Music] from Bathsheba to the Queen of Sheba from Jezebel to Esther the queens of the Bible have been referenced in art music and pop culture for thousands of years but who were these ancient women what were their stories and what historic evidence do we have of their lives today let's meet the queens of the Bible first a brief background on Biblical history and timeline the Hebrew Bible or mikra consists of 24 books beginning with Genesis and ending with Chronicles it was compiled around the 7th Century BCE most mainstream historians agree that the early books of the Bible which describe the creation of the earth Adam and Eve the great flood and Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt should be interpreted as mythology their writers meant them to tell a theological narrative rather than to be taken as a literal record of historic events throughout history Jewish rabbis interpreted the early books this way as did 4th century Christian writer Saint Augustine but as we get closer to the 7th Century BCE the time in which the Bible was written we see myth become Legend stories which were likely based on real people places and events but may have been exaggerated or shifted around to fit the narrative the books of Samuel and kings were the Kingdom of Israel and most of the queens of the Bible are described exist in this middle area of Legend they have more substance than myth but can't yet be fully historically verified as we move further along the Biblical timeline the books which describe events that happened either just before or during the time that the Bible was written are much more historically accurate they describe people places and events for which we have many other historic and archaeological sources outside of the Bible as we meet these legendary Queens I'll point out where we have historic and archaeological sources to corroborate events we begin in the book of Samuel where the first king of Israel Saul is Anointed by the prophet Samuel the Israelite Kings had many wives and concubines whose names were rarely recorded we know that one of Saul's wives was named rispah because King David later handed over two of her sons to Israel's enemies the gibonites in compensation for King Saul having massacred some of their people the two boys and other Royals were executed and rizpah watched over the corpses of her children for five months until they were allowed a proper burial during Saul's Reign a young Shepherd named David gained Fame by slaying Goliath the champion of one of Israel's enemies the Philistines Saul offered David the hand of his daughter mihal she was in love with David and pleased to be marrying him but the shepherd confessed to the king that he could not afford the bride price of a princess King Saul requested the foreskins of 100 Philistines in exchange for his daughter David went off to battle and returned with the foreskins of 200 Philistines whom he had killed offering a double bride price and the couple were married Saul eventually grew jealous of his son-in-law's growing Fame feeling threatened the Old King ordered the young hero to be murdered assassins went to look for David but mihal lied and said he was sick in bed she helped him climb out a window and Escape The Palace while David was on the Run he didn't bother to contact his Young Bride but took several other wives including Abigail David Rose to power and established a rival Kingdom meanwhile Saul was killed in battle and his son ish basheth took the throne David marched on Jerusalem and conquered the city deposing ish the chef as a term of Peace David demanded that mihal be returned to him she had since been given in marriage to another man despite her husband's protests her brother handed her over the new king brought the Ark of the Covenant the most sacred relic of the Israelites which contained the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments given to Moses by the god Yahweh into the city to be the central point of worship during its holy procession David danced with joy and mihal possibly upset over her brother's recent murder admonished him for this she was punished with never having children Bathsheba was a beautiful young woman and the wife of a young soldier named Yuri one evening while her husband was away at War Bathsheba went on to the roof of her home to enjoy a cool bath King David happened to be walking on the roof of his own Palace and he saw her he made inquiries to discover who she was and then seduced or raped her making her pregnant in order to conceal his crime the king commanded her husband Yuri to return home in the hopes that he would sleep with her and believe the child to be his own but Yuri refused to betray his duty and would not leave the Army the king then ordered him to the front where he was swiftly killed David married the young Widow Bathsheba and added her to his Harem the prophet Nathan came to reprimand the king for his evil deed he said that Yahweh would punish David by having someone close to him rape his wives in broad daylight King David confessed to his sins and begged forgiveness bathsheba's first child was born with a severe illness David fasted and pleaded with God to spare his child but after seven days the baby died bathsheba's second child was Solomon in his old age David named him as his Heir disinheriting his older Sons by other wives Absalom rebelled against his father plunging Israel into Civil War during the conflict Absalom captured some of his father's wives and raped them in public thus fulfilling Nathan's prophecy Absalom was killed in battle and bathsheba's Son Solomon became king though she had not been David's senior wife and was thus not his Queen consort she was Queen Mother during the reign of her Sun the Queen of Sheba the Hebrew Bible tells of a queen who is not named traveling to Jerusalem with a very great retinue with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones which she gave to King Solomon she came to prove him with hard questions after Solomon answered to her satisfaction they exchanged gifts and she returned to her land this is the only Glimpse that the Bible gives us of this mysterious woman it is not clear where Sheba was located though it is most often interpreted to be Ethiopia the Queen of Sheba appears in many other writings and legends targum sheni tells of a bird whispering to Solomon that Sheba is the only Kingdom on Earth not subject to him and that its Queen is a sun worshiper the king attached a letter to the bird's wing and and sent it Toshiba commanding that its Queen come to bow to him and submit to Yahweh he threatened that if he must come to her it would be at the head of an army she could never defeat the queen sent him all the ships of the sea loaded with precious gifts and six thousand views all born at the same hour and clothed in purple robes They Carried a letter declaring that the queen herself would make the long trip to Jerusalem within three years when she finally arrived she thought the glass floor of Solomon's Palace was a pool of water so she lifted the Hem of her dress Solomon reprimanded her for having hairy legs she then asked him a series of Riddles In order to test his famous wisdom the gospels of Matthew and Luke mention her as a queen of the South who was black and beautiful they tell how she spent many days in Solomon's company talking with him and learning from his wisdom he converted her to the faith of Yahweh upon her departure Solomon presented her with a ring while traveling home the queen gave birth to a son whom she named bin Al Hakeem son of the wise man later called menelik when the boy grew up he returned to Jerusalem and was welcomed by his father before his departure menelik stole the Ark of the Covenant the power of the Ark protected his ship from storms as he crossed the Red Sea upon discovering that the ark was missing King Solomon gave Chase but was unable to catch his son he had a replica of the Ark built so that no one would know it was gone The Kebra nagast the Ethiopian National Saga claims the Queen of Sheba as their own and gives her the first name Makita the modern Ethiopian royal family claims descent from Makita and menelik King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines his wife Nama wore his Heir rehoboam when Solomon died rehobo wore the crown 10 of the Twelve Tribes of Israel requested reforms to the law as special reduction in taxes the king refused the tribes rebelled and Israel was split in two the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to the king and created the kingdom of Judah in the South with Jerusalem as their Capital meanwhile the other ten tribes took over the north kept the name Israel and built Samaria as their Capital the kings of both kingdoms throughout the generations are recorded in the Bible but very few of their wives are mentioned King rehoboam of Judah married his second cousin Maka she served as Queen Mother for her grandson King ASA but was deposed for worshiping Idols meanwhile in Israel in the north we come to the first king who actually appears in the archaeological record King Omri who ruled around 880 BCE his name is recorded in both the mesha steel and the black Obelisk so we know that he and many who came after him really were rulers in ancient Israel his son Ahab also appears in archaeological record his wife is one of the most infamous women in the Bible Jezebel was a Phoenician princess and daughter of ithobal the first king of tire Jezebel does not appear in the archaeological record however her father and brother are recorded in the history of tire her brother was a grandfather of legendary Queen Dido who founded the city of Carthage Jezebel wed Ahab as part of a peace alliance between Israel and tire she required a temple be built in her new home so that she could continue practicing her native religion an altar to honor the god ball and a pole to honor the Goddess ashra were erected King Ahab soon converted to his wife's religion and together they spread the faith and its more permissive sexual morality to the people of Israel Jezebel ordered those followers of Yahweh who spoke against her to be executed but a royal counselor hid hundreds of them in a cave gave to save them from her wrath the Prophet Elijah invited Jezebel's Prophet to a challenge to see who could summon their God to burn a bull sacrifice on an altar the Israelites came to watch The Showdown of deities the prophets of ball and ashra prayed cried and cut themselves but nothing happened then Elijah called on Yahweh and the altar burst into flames consuming the sacrifice and impressing the Israelites Elijah ordered the crowd to seize the false prophets and drown them in the kitchen River Queen Jezebel was Furious and she swore to see Elijah dead even if it meant she faced Divine judgment Elijah fled for his life sometime later King Ahab wanted to acquire a nearby Vineyard so that he could expand the palace Gardens but the owner refused to sell to cheer up her husband Jezebel arranged for the owner to be executed on false charges of blasphemy his corpse was licked by stray dogs and the King took the vineyard this was the last straw Elijah received a prophecy that ahab's dynasty would be annihilated and Jezebel's corpse would be eaten by dogs King Ahab was killed in battle his son ahaziah inherited the throne but died in an accident a prophet of Yahweh anointed jehu commander of the army as the new king he killed the rest of ahab's male descendants and went to the Royal Palace to confront Jezebel The Dowager queen dressed up in her finest clothes Jewels makeup and form a wig and looked out a window taunting him but her fate was sealed jehu ordered her eunuchs to throw her from the window her blood splattered on the wall of the palace and jehu's horse trampled her corpse the new king entered the palace where after he ate and drank he ordered Jezebel's body to be buried but only her skull feet and the palms of her hands remained her flesh had been eaten by stray dogs just as Elijah had prophesied Jezebel has become a name synonymous with a Wicked Woman dozens of works of art songs writings and even a gossip website reference her villainous reputation but it is important to note that the records of the Northern Kingdom of Israel were recorded by their southern Rivals the kingdom of Judah the judeans often vilified the Israelites for not being devoted enough to Yahweh it is likely that this story was exaggerated to make an Israelite Queen appear particularly Wicked many who reject the narrative that pains powerful women in history as inherently evil see Jezebel as a feminist icon athalia was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel she was wed to King jaharam of Judah as part of a peace treaty previous Kings of Judah had been faithful to Yahweh but jaharam and athalaya were not the king's rule was shaky and plagued by Rebellion enemies raided the palace and carried off all of the king's Sons except for athaliah's youngest ahaziah when his father died 22 year old ahaziah became king with his mother's guidance he introduced more Pagan worship to the people thus offending the followers of Yahweh while the young king was visiting his cousin the king of Israel a follower of Yahweh assassinated both monarchs and all other members of the Israeli royal family then declared himself king of Israel when atheliah learned of the massacre she seized the Throne of Judah for herself she then executed all the remaining members of her own royal family to prevent them from claiming the throne from her her daughter jehoshiba managed to save her one-year-old nephew joash from The Purge he was hidden in the temple of Yahweh and raised by a priest when the boy was seven years old priests hatched a plot to overthrow Queen athalia She overheard a crowd of people chanting long live the king she followed the sound to the temple where she found her grandson with a crown on his head Seated on a royal pillar surrounded by supporters she tore her clothes and cried treason treason she was dragged out of the temple and slain at the palace gate for the rest of the Bible's recordings of the Kings of Israel no important Queens are mentioned the kingdom was conquered by Assyria in 722 BCE there is plenty of archaeological evidence for this event the kingdom of Judah lived on and became larger stronger and wealthier one Queen is briefly mentioned hefsabah was the wife of Hezekiah and mother of Manasseh but little more is known about her her great-grandson King Josiah reigned from 641 to 609 BCE he laid the foundation for second temple Judaism the religion from which rabbinical Judaism Christianity and Islam would rise the writing of the Hebrew Bible began during his rule many biblical scholars believe that the legend of a United Kingdom of Israel was created in order to justify King Josiah is expansion North into the territory recently laid waste by the Assyrians archaeologists have found no evidence of a large Central Kingdom before Josiah but rather small unincorporated cities the famous Kings Saul David Solomon and so on may have been real local leaders who were exaggerated into great and wealthy kings to better fit the narrative in 586 BCE King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon conquered the kingdom of Judah and destroyed its Temple most of the Jews were transported to Babylon where they lived in Exile thus ending the reign of the kings and queens of Israel and Judah but the Bible still has two more fascinating Queens to reveal vashti was the daughter of King Balthazar of Babylon Persians attacked her kingdom when she was a young girl killed her father and kidnapped her King Darius gave vashti as a bride to his eldest son who would become King ahaziwaris of Persia he threw a magnificent banquet for his Prince's Nobles and servants on the seventh day of celebrating when the king's heart was merry with wine he summoned his Queen vashti to appear before his gas naked wearing only her royal crown so that they could gaze upon her beauty vashti refused to expose herself and be gawked at a Jesus was Furious and asked his vizier how he should punish his wife for her Disobedience he was advised that she had not only wronged him but also wronged all the husbands of Persia whose wives would be incur encouraged to disobey the advisor suggested the king dismiss vashti and find another queen he did just that and sent a letter to all the men in his kingdom advising them to dominate their households vashti's refusal to obey her drunken husband's command has been interpreted in many different ways over the centuries the midrash interpretations of the talmud written by rabbis between 400 and 1200 CE present vashti as wicked and Bane as punishment for enslaving Jewish women and forcing them to work on the Sabbath she had been cursed with Leprosy and it was embarrassment at her pocked and ruined skin rather than modesty that caused her to refuse on the other hand Harriet Beecher Stowe called vashti's Disobedience the first stand for women's rights Elizabeth Katie Stanton wrote that vashti added new glory to her day and generation for resistance to tyrants is obedience to God it is unclear if King ahazueres ordered vashti to be banished or executed either way he needed a new Queen he ordered beautiful maidens from across the kingdom to be brought to his harem Esther was a Jewish woman by the name of Hadassah when she was taken to the Harem her cousin Mordecai advised her to change her name to the Persian Esther and keep her Heritage secret she was bathed dressed in fine clothes and gold and perfumed with myrrh a eunuch presented her to the king who fell madly in love with her beauty he crowned Esther as his Queen a rare honor after her coronation Mordecai learned of a plot to assassinate the king he told Esther who warned Jesus thus saving his life one day while walking through the city the king's vizier hamen came across Mordecai who refused to bow down to him incensed Haman paid the king ten thousand silver Talons for the right to exterminate all the Jews in Persia he cast lots to determine that the 13th day of the month of Adar would be the ideal date for the genocide when Mordecai learned of the plan he asked Esther to reveal herself to the king and beg him to spare her people Esther hesitated as she could be put to death if she went to her husband without being summoned but she agreed to try she asked that all the Jews fast and pray for three days before she went to see the King on the third day Esther was welcomed by her husband who offered her anything she wanted up to half of his kingdom Esther invited a Jesus and vizier hamen to a banquet the next day where she promised she would reveal her request meanwhile Hammond built a Gallows upon which he wanted to hang Mordecai he waited outside the palace so that he could be the first one in to see the king in the morning to ask permission to execute Mordecai the King was unable to sleep and he commanded the court records to be read to him the book miraculously opened to the page telling of Mordecai's foiling the plot to assassinate the king a Jesus inquired whether Mordecai had been rewarded and was informed that he had not he then saw Haman standing in the palace Courtyard and ordered him to take Mordecai through the streets of the Capitol on the Royal horse wearing the Royal robes after spending the day honoring the man he wanted to murder Hammond rushed to Esther's banquet there the queen revealed that she was a Jew and by murdering her people Haman was condemning her to death as well ajesus was enraged and ordered hamen to be hanged on the Gallow he had built for Mordecai Esther begged her husband to revoke the order to exterminate the Jews but he replied that Royal order could never be repealed he instead allowed Esther and Mordecai to draft a new order warning the Jews and allowing them to defend themselves the Jewish holiday of puram is now celebrated on the 13th day of Adar to commemorate the events King Jesus does not appear in the archaeological record however there is evidence linking him to Historic King Xerxes the first of Persia there isn't any record of Cersei having consorts similar to vashti or Esther Persian kings did not marry outside of seven noble Persian families and many historians argue that the Book of Esther should be viewed as a romantic novel rather than a history whether or not the legendary queens of the Bible are based on real women of the past their stories are fascinating they have been interpreted and will continue to be interpreted in a number of interesting ways want even more tea on History check out the history Tea Time Podcast available on Spotify Apple podcasts and Google podcasts if you enjoyed this video please like subscribe comment your thoughts and check out my other Royal history videos if you really want to help please consider supporting me on patreon a link is in the description thank you for watching

Channel: History Tea Time with Lindsay Holiday

Views: 159,460

Keywords: history, documentary, royalty, queen, queens of the world, womens history, women in history, Royal history, Lindsay Holiday, Lindsay Holliday, History tea time, History tea time with Lindsay Holiday, hebrew bible, biblical history documentary, biblical history, history of israel, queens of the bible, biblical queens, bible history, bathsheba, queen of sheba, jezebel, esther, book of esther, ancient israel, ancient history, women of the bible, kingdom of judah, kingdom of israel

Id: HWcrnTUp5Oo

Length: 26min 44sec (1604 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 26 2024