When Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and adorned her head, and looked out at the window.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 30. Stone, or antimony, to make the eyes look black and large. If ( Calmet.) Jezabel thought that she would thus command respect or love, (Abulensis) she was extremely imprudent and rash, in her present condition. Pride might suggest that she ought not to appear unadorned. Calmet. Tirinus.—The women of the Eastern countries delight much in painting, (Pliny xi. 37. and xxxiii. 6.) and some men have not been ashamed to follow their example. S. Cyp.—Sardanapalus had his eyes and his eye-lids painted. Athen. xii. The Arabs, and so forth think that this black colour protects the eyes against the sun-beams. Valle ii. Ep. 17. To express the affection of Jezabel, Hebrew has, “she placed her eyes in antimony,” (fuc, or puc, whence the Latin fucus is visibly derived) as if she plunged them in it. Calmet.