Some of the wicked kings we know in the Bible were also married to wicked queens who either encouraged their husbands to do evil or they themselves did evil in the name of their husbands. Examples of these wicked queens mentioned in the Bible are:
Jezebel, queen of Israel
An Israelite was not supposed to marry a heathen – so the Lord commanded them to do. Ahab forsook the word of God and went and married Jezebel, princess of Zidon, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians. Jezebel and Ahab, her husband, further thrust the kingdom of Israel deep into idolatry for they establish the religion of Baal in the kingdom.
In the course of time, Ahab requested to buy the vineyard of Naboth, but Naboth did not offer the vineyard to him for sale to the displeasure of Ahab. When Jezebel got to know this matter due to Ahab’s sad mood, she devised a way to usurp the property from Naboth. This is what she did:
8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. 9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: 10 And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. (1 Kings 21:8–10)
The men of the city, the elders and the leaders who lived in Naboth’s city, did as it was written in the letters that Queen Jezebel sent to them. They proclaimed a fast and they brought Naboth before the people and falsely accused him by the mouth of two false witnesses. Afterward, he was stoned outside the city to his death. Then they sent to Queen Jezebel, saying, “Naboth is stoned, and is dead”. Bible reference 1 Kings 21:1–16.
Moreover, the wicked queen, Jezebel, firmly established the idolatrous religion of Baal in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of Ahab. To give her religion and cults a foothold, she sought to remove the worship of the true God from the scene. Thus she persecuted the prophets of God, killing any prophet she laid her hands on. Those prophets who survived her purge had to go into hiding. Bible reference 1 Kings 18:4, 13
Athaliah, queen of Judah
Athaliah – she was the daughter of Ahab, king of Israel. She got married to Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat. She proved herself to be a wicked queen just like her mother Queen Jezebel and her father King Ahab and her brothers, King Ahaziah and King Joram. Undoubtedly, Queen Athaliah was very instrumental in the tragic life of her husband King Jehoram. Having been nurtured in idolatry in her father’s house, she was profoundly a bad influence on King Jehoram, turning his heart away from following the exemplary life of his father, King Jehoshaphat, in serving the Lord; rather, she made him practice idolatry like the house of Ahab. It is written:
And he [Jehoram] walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab: for the daughter [Athalia] of Ahab was his wife: and he did evil in the sight of the LORD. 2 Kings 8:18:
Because of the sins and wickedness of Athaliah’s husband King Jehoram, the Lord inflicted him with bowel disease, and he languished with the disease to his death which occurred two years after he had the disease. When King Jehoram died, Ahaziah, the son of King Jehoram and Queen Athaliah, was made a king in his father’s stead. Queen Athaliah did not seem to be satisfied with causing the downfall of her husband; she also proceeded to negatively influence her son King Ahaziah to his downfall. This is written concerning King Ahaziah:
He [Ahaziah] also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother [Athalia] was his counsellor to do wickedly. 4 Wherefore he did evil in the sight of the LORD like the house of Ahab: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father to his destruction. 2 Chronicles 22:3,4
King Ahaziah made an alliance with King Joram, son of Ahab and king of Israel, and he helped King Joram to fight against Hazael, king of Syria, at Ramothgilead. King Joram incurred an injury in the war, and he went to Jezreel to be healed of the wound. King Ahaziah being a good friend, went to visit him at Jezreel; unfortunately, he met his untimely death at the hands of Jehu. When Queen Athaliah saw that her son King Ahaziah is dead, she killed all the children of Ahaziah, her own grandchildren, and she usurped the throne and reigned as queen of Judah in Jerusalem. However, little did she know that Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of King Ahaziah and stole him from among the king’s sons who were killed; and they hid him. Later, Joash became king of Judah.
Athaliah, the wicked queen, caused the fall of two kings of Judah; one was her husband and the other, her son; worse yet, she took the lives of her own grandchildren in the name of power. Bible reference 2 Chronicles 22
Herodias, queen of Galilee
Herodias is also labeled as a wicked queen; she would ever be remembered because of the death of John the Baptist. The Bible describes her as the wife of Philip, the brother of Herod the tetrarch. However, Herod the tetrarch (Herod Antipas) unlawfully married her, whiles her brother Philip was alive. John the Baptist dared to preach against this adultery and Herodias vehemently hated John the Baptist and even wanted him dead.
She influenced Herod Antipas to lay his hands on John and put him in prison. Actually, she had wanted John to be put to death; but Herod Antipas was reluctant to do such a thing for he feared the reaction of the people and also he held the notion that John was a righteous man.
One day Herod held a feast on his birthday, and the daughter of Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and the guests who were with him. Herod carelessly promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask for. The girl went to her mother to enquire of her what she should ask for, and her mother told her to ask for the head of John the Baptist. The girl went straight to Herod Antipas and said to him, “I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist”. The king could not go back on his oath and also for the sake of the guests he granted the girl what she asked for. He sent an executioner to behead John the Baptist in prison and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she took it to Herodias, her mother. Bible reference Matthew 14:1 – 11; Mark 6:17–28.
Maachah, queen of Judah
Maachah (also called Michaiah in 2Ch 13:2) was married to King Rehoboam, the son of King Solomon (2Ch 11:21). She was also the mother of King Abijah (2Ch 11:22). She outlived her husband and her son into the reign of her grandson, King Asa. In the days of King Asa, she was revered as the queen mother, but she was later removed from her post as queen mother because of her evil act of idol worship. It is written;
King Asa also removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as queen mother because she had made a detestable Asherah pole. Asa chopped down the pole, crushed it, and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 2 Chronicles 15:16
Though Queen Maachah did not shed innocent blood, her act of making idols and worshipping them is counted as an evil or wicked act before the Lord according to Deuteronomy 17:1-7 and 2 Kings 17:12-13.