Jezebel was born a princess and her name means "baal exalts" or "baal is a husband to". Her father was King Ethbaal (whose name means "with baal") in the land of Sidonia (1 Kings 16:31). When she grew up, she married an Israelite King named Ahab.

Why did Ahab not marry an Israelite (as commanded in Deuteronomy 7:3) and keep the commandments of God? We do not know, however, 1 Kings 16:30 tells us that Ahab, the son of Omri, "did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all the kings who were before him". After he married Jezebel, Ahab built an altar for Baal and made an Asherah pole in the house of Baal which was built in Samaria (verse 32).