Since a new section begins here, translators may wish to identify Jezebel more fully as “Jezebel, the queen mother” (New Living Translation).

Heard of it: Literally the text has only the verb “heard.” Revised Standard Version and most other versions supply some kind of object. This wording may mean that Jezebel heard about the arrival of Jehu in the city or about the larger story including the deaths of Joram and Ahaziah. New American Bible takes it in the more restricted sense, saying “learned that Jehu had arrived in Jezreel.” But other versions seem to understand it in the broader sense of “heard what had happened” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible). It seems likely that she heard more than just the news of Jehu’s arrival, so the broader interpretation is probably better.

She painted her eyes: New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh and Anchor Bible have “she painted her eyes with kohl” (“kohl” is a substance used by women in Arabia and Egypt to darken the edges of their eyelids), and New Jerusalem Bible translates “She made up her eyes with mascara.” Jezebel put powdery material on her eyelids, eyelashes, and eyebrows. Since languages may have very different ways of describing the practice of adding color around a woman’s eyes, it is inadvisable to translate either Revised Standard Version or Good News Translation literally. Translators should look for the most natural way in their own language of saying “She put on her eye makeup” (New Century Version).

Adorned her head: This expression may also be rendered in a variety of ways. Literally adorned renders a causative form of the Hebrew verb meaning “to be good/pleasant.” The idea is therefore to cause the hair of a person’s head to be pleasing for others to see. This could be either by the arrangement of her hair or by adding jewelry to the hair. Some renderings are “made herself beautiful” (Bible en français courant), “braid her hair” (Knox), and “fixed her hair” (New Century Version). But translators should seek the most natural equivalent in their own language. If there are no women on the translation team, women should certainly be consulted about the proper translation of these two expressions.

Looked out of the window: Some translations make explicit that the window was “in the palace” (Good News Translation, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). The Hebrew has the definite article with the word window, but this does not mean the palace had only one window. In some languages it will be necessary to say “a window” (Good News Translation). Regarding the use of the definite article in Hebrew, see the comments on verse 6.

The purpose of these actions by Jezebel is not clear, but probably this detail is given in order to show that Jezebel prepared for Jehu’s arrival in the only way that she knew how. Some ancient commentators indicate that she hoped that by making herself attractive, Jehu would change his mind about killing her and instead take her as his wife. But her verbal attack in the following verse hardly depicts a person seeking reconciliation.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .