Ethbaal

Ethbaal is named once in scripture, identified as the Sidonian king whose daughter became Ahab's queen. He stands at the head of the alliance that brings Baal worship into Israel through marriage.

King of the Sidonians

The narrator of Kings introduces Ethbaal at the moment Ahab's apostasy takes a decisive new turn: "And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him" (1Ki 16:31). Ethbaal's title fixes him politically as ruler of Sidon. His role in the narrative is dynastic: through his daughter Jezebel the worship of Baal becomes the official religion of Ahab's court, and Ethbaal himself stands behind the marriage that opens that door.