* CommonKnowledge: These days, the word "Jezebel" is often used to describe [[ReallyGetsAround promiscuous]] women, [[TheOldestProfession prostitutes]], or just generally 'immoral' women. However, the biblical Jezebel never engaged in prostitution nor was she ever described as promiscuous. She was faithful to her husband Ahab. What made her the villain is that she served as LadyMacbeth to Ahab and encouraged him to be a tyrant. The misconception that she was a prostitute probably comes from the word "Jezebel" being applied to any woman deemed immoral (whether as a queen or sexually immoral).
* OneSceneWonder:
** Josiah, king of Judah. His destruction of idols and sanctuaries of other gods in Judah is epic, he even destroys altars and statues that previous reformers had left in place, and which had been standing since the time of Solomon. He also recovers the Mosaic law and celebrates the first Passover in centuries. The chapters discussing his reign are like the muster of Patroclus in Literature/TheIliad, where he succeeds so well that he verges on changing fate; but God has already made up His mind. God informs him that He's very impressed with what he accomplished, but [[DownerEnding Israel will still be destroyed;]] [[YouWillBeSpared but God will wait until after Josiah is dead for it to happen]].
** Princess Jehosheba, who saves her brother King Ahaziah's son, Prince Joash, when [[EvilMatriarch her mother]] Queen Athaliah has the other royal children killed, and then hides him from her until LaResistance is strong enough to restore him to the throne. This sounds like such a cool and heroic story that later authors have written whole novels about Jehosheba--though the telegraphic entry in II Kings only affords Jehosheba herself a couple of sentences, preferring to detail [[BadassPreacher Jehoiada's]] conspiracy against Athaliah instead.
* NeverLiveItDown: Be honest; how many of you heard of Elisha ''before'' you heard about the whole "sending-bears-to-eat-youths" thing? If you have, you must be a devout Jew, Christian, or Muslim who doesn't spend a lot of time online. It only takes up three verses in the whole passage, yet it's the main thing he's remembered for nowadays.
* ValuesDissonance:
** Elisha summoning [[BearsAreBadNews two bears to eat up 42 boys for mocking him]] is easily seen as DisproportionateRetribution to modern readers. Granted this was a DubInducedPlotHole, but still.
*** Most scholars agree that the part about the "boys" is LostInTranslation and the original text refers to males in their late teens or early 20s, and they were a legitimate threat to his life.
** In an age where religious pluralism is seen as a good thing, the "good" kings persecuting paganism may come across as an act of violent intolerance of other people's beliefs. While the Canaanite pagans are depicted as following a ReligionOfEvil with child sacrifice, the author seems just as offput by people building cow statues as he is by people sacrificing infants.
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