Of
the sons whom Jezebel bore him, Ahab called one Ahaziah, i.e.
Jehovah holds, and another Jehoram, i.e. Jehovah is exalted: he
adhered to Jehovah as the god of Israel, though to please his wife
he founded at Samaria a temple and a cultus of the Syrian goddess.
This being so, Elijah's contest with Baal cannot have possessed
the importance attributed to it from the point of view of a later time.
In the group of popular narratives above referred to, there is no
trace of a religious commotion that tore Israel asunder: the whole
strength of the people is absorbed in the Syrian wars. The kings
are the prominent figures, and do well and according to their office
in battle: Elijah stands in the background. From several indications,
though from no direct statements, we learn of the high esteem which
Ahab enjoyed from friend and foe alike (xx. 3I, xxii. 32-34 seq.).
Joram also, and even Jezebel, are drawn not without sympathy (2Kings
vi. 30, ix. 31). We can scarcely say the same of Jehu, the murderer,
instigated by the prophets, of the house of Ahab (2Kings ix. 10).
It is the fact, certainly, that the prophets' hatred of Baal
succeeded at last in overturning the dynasty of Omri.
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