T Q¹ 1-16. Evil committed. Q² 17-29. Evil to be judged.
Q¹ j 1-3. Ahab's covetousness. Fact.
k l 4. Ahab's heaviness.
m 5. Jezebel's inquiry.
j 6. Ahab's covetousness. Recital.
k m 7-15. Jezebel's promise.
l 16. Ahab's gratification.
822 to 800 B.C.
1 Kings 21)
1 And it came to pass after these things, [that] Naboth (= liberal) the Jezreelite had a vineyard come to be his (i.e. by inheritance), which [was] in Jezreel (= seed of God. In the plain of Esdraelon), hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.
2 And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your vineyard (cp. 1 Sam. 8:14, of which this is a fulfillment), that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it [is] near to my house: and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it; [or], if it seem good to you, I will give thee the worth of it in money.”
3 And Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord (Yahaveh) forbid me it, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you.” (Naboth respected the Law of God [Lev. 25:23. Num. 36:7,8])
4 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 you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.
5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sad, that you eat no bread?”
6 And he said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it please you, I will give you [another] vineyard for it:’ and he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”
7 And Jezebel his wife said to him, ”Do you now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, [and] eat bread, and let your heart be merry: I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed [them] with his seal (sealing was done by rubbing ink on the seal, moistening the paper, and pressing the seal thereon), and sent the letters to 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: (i.e. in a conspicuous place; or, perhaps, before the bar of justice)
10 And set two men (cp. Deut. 17:6), sons of Belial (cp. Deut. 13:13. 1 Sam. 1:16; 2:12, &c.), before him, to bear witness against him, saying, ‘You did blaspheme God and the king.’ (the current Heb. text reads "bless". In spite of this the A.V and R.V. render it "blaspheme". It is one of the emendations of the Sopherim, and is correctly rendered "blaspheme", but should have had a marginal note of explanation) And [then] carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.”
11 And the men of his city, [even] the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did according as Jezebel had sent to them, [and] as it [was] written in the letters which she had sent to them.
12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the People.
13 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 (1 of 9 cases of stoning. See Lev.24:14).
14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth is stoned, and is dead.”
15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise (this form of the imperative is only found in connection with Yehovah, and always with reference to the promised land. And the lengthened form is found only in Moses' mouth in Num.10:35), take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.”
16 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.
Q² R n 17-19-. Call to Elijah to go to Ahab.
o -19. Judgment pronounced.
S p 20. Altercation.
q 21,22. Judgment. Particular.
T 23. Jezebel.
S q 24. Judgment. Particular.
p 25,26. Provocation.
R n 27-29-. Call to Elijah to see Ahab humbled.
o -29. Judgment mitigated.
17 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
18 “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which [is] in Samaria: behold, [he is] in the vineyard of Naboth, to which place he is gone down to possess it.
19 And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, ‘Have you murdred, and also taken possession?’ ’ And you shall speak to him, saying,
‘Thus says the Lord, ‘In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your blood, even yours.’ ’ ”
20 And Ahab said to Elijah, “Hast you found me, O my enemy?” And he answered, “I have found [you]: because you have sold yourself to work the evil in the sight of the Lord.
21 Behold, I will bring evil upon you, and will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisses against the wall (= every male. Cp. 14:10), and him that is shut up and left in Israel (see 14:10),
22 And will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat (cp. 16:3), and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith you have provoked [Me] to anger, and made Israel to sin” (see 12:30).
23 And of Jezebel also spoke the Lord, saying, “The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall (the word behêl is thought by Ginsburg to be an abbreviation for behelek = "in the portion of", as in 2 Kings 9:10,36: i.e. within the rampart) of Jezreel (not Samaria the capital, but Jezreel where Naboth had been murdered).
24 Him that dies of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dies in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.”
25 {But there was none like unto Ahab (out of 20 bad kings Ahab was the worst. Cp. 16:30,33), which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
26 And he did very abominably in following filthy idols (cp. Lev.26:30), according to all [things] as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the sons of Israel}.
27 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes (his repentance was outward, not real), and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly (i.e. humbly).
28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
29 “See you how Ahab humbles himself before Me?
because he humbles himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days (so the judgment on Solomon was postponed [11:12] for his father's sake): [but] in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.”