And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.
Give me. Compare 1 Samuel 8:14 , of which this is a fulfilment.
And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
the inheritance of my fathers. Naboth respected the Law of God (Leviticus 25:23 .Numbers 36:7 , Numbers 36:8 ).
And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.
But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?
And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard.
And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
Dost. ? Figure of speech Erotesis. App-6 .
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.
sealed. with his seal. Figure of speech Polyptoton. App-6 , Sealing was done by rubbing ink on the seal, moistening the paper, and pressing the seal thereon.
And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:
on high: i.e. in a conspicuous place; or, perhaps, before the bar of justice.
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.
two. Compare Deuteronomy 17:6 .
sons of Belial. Compare Deuteronomy 13:13 . 1Sa 1:16 ; 1 Samuel 2:12 , &c.
blaspheme. The current Hebrew text reads "bless". In spite of this the Authorized Version and Revised Version render it "blaspheme". It is one of the emendations of the Sopherim ( App-18 ), and is correctly rendered "blaspheme", but should have had a marginal note of explanation.
And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.
as = according as.
They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.
And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.
stoned him. One of the nine cases of stoning. See note on Leviticus 24:14 .
Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.
And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.
Arise. This form of the imperative is only found in connection with Jehovah, and always with reference to the promised land. And the lengthened form is found only in Moses' mouth in Numbers 10:35 .
And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.
And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
Hast thou. ? Figure of speech Erotesis .
killed = murdered.
And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.
evil = the evil. Hebrew. ra'a' . App-44 .
Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,
him that, &c. = every male. Compare 1 Kings 14:10 .
shut up and left. See note on 1 Kings 14:10 .
And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.
Jeroboam. Compare 1 Kings 16:3 .
made Israel to sin. See note on 1 Kings 12:30 .
And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.
by the wall. The word behel is thought by Ginsburg to be an abbreviation for bthelek = "in the portion of", as in 2 Kings 9:10 , 2 Kings 9:36 : i.e. within the rampart.
Jezreel. Not Samaria the capital, but Jezreel where Naboth had been murdered.
Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.
But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
The Structure (p. 485) places the member, verses: 1 Kings 21:25-26 , as within a parenthesis.
none like unto Ahab. Out of twenty bad kings Ahab was the worst. Compare 1 Kings 16:30 , 1 Kings 16:33 .
And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
idols = filthy idols. Compare Leviticus 26:30 .
And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
rent his clothes. His repentance was outward, not real.
went softly: i.e. humbly.
And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.
not bring. So the judgment on Solomon was postponed (1 Kings 11:12 ) for his father's sake.