Ahab (Ay´hab; Heb., “father’s brother”?)

1 The son and successor of Omri, king of Israel (ca. 869–850 BCE). His queen was Jezebel, known as a proponent of Baal worship. Ahab was the first king of Israel to come into conflict with Assyria. The biblical accounts, however, are concerned primarily with his four encounters with the prophets, especially Elijah (1Kgs 17-22). 2 The son of Kolaiah, a false prophet among the Babylonian exiles. Jeremiah accused him of adultery and impiety and threatened him with death by fire at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 29:21-23).