1 Kings 16:31

31 And as if copying the evil ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was a small thing for him, he took as his wife Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Zidon, and became a servant and worshipper of Baal.

1 Kings 16:31 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 16:31

And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him
to walk in the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat
To worship the golden calves he set up:

that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the
Zidonians;
who is called Ithobalus and Itobalus king of the Tyrians, by Heathen historians ^F8; and, by Theophilus of Antioch ^F9, Juthobalus, priest of Astarte; for Tyre and Zidon were under one king. This woman was not only of another nation, and an idolater, but a very filthy woman, and is made the emblem of the whore of Rome, ( Revelation 2:20 )

and went and served Baal, and worshipped him
that is, went to Zidon and Tyre, and worshipped his wife's gods, which were either Jupiter Thalassius, the god of the Zidoaians, or Hercules, whom the Tyrians worshipped.

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 Menander apud Joseph. Antiqu. l. 8. c. 13. sect. 1, 2. & contr. Apion. l. 1. c. 21. Diodor. Sicul. apud Junium in loc.
F9 Ad Autolye. l. 3. p. 132.

1 Kings 16:31 In-Context

29 In the thirty-eighth year that Asa was king of Judah, Ahab, the son of Omri, became king over Israel; and Ahab was king in Samaria for twenty-two years.

30 And Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil in the eyes of the Lord, even worse than all who went before him.

31 And as if copying the evil ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was a small thing for him, he took as his wife Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Zidon, and became a servant and worshipper of Baal.

32 And he put up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he had made in Samaria.

33 And Ahab made an image of Asherah and did more than all the kings of Israel before him to make the Lord, the God of Israel, angry.