Among the important centres of northern Israel was the town of Jezreel in the tribal territory of Issachar (Joshua 19:17-18). (This town is to be distinguished from the lesser known Jezreel in the tribal territory of Judah to the south; cf. Joshua 15:56; 1 Samuel 25:43.) Jezreel of the north was situated on the edge of the Plain of Esdraelon, where the plain began to slope down into the Valley of Jezreel. This region was often a battleground in Old Testament times, and Jezreel sometimes became involved in the fighting (e.g. 1 Samuel 29:11; see PALESTINE).
When, during the time of the divided kingdom, the king of Israel established his capital in Samaria, he also built a summer palace at Jezreel. Ahab later expanded this palace by unjustly seizing the adjoining property belonging to Naboth (1 Kings 21:1-2; 1 Kings 21:16). Ahab’s wife Jezebel, their son Joram and others of the royal household were killed at Jezreel in Jehu’s bloody revolution (2 Kings 8:29; 2 Kings 9:16-37; 2 Kings 10:11; Hosea 1:4-5).