Text -- 1 Kings 21:1-4 (NET)

Ahab Murders Naboth

21:1 After this the following episode took place. Naboth the Jezreelite owned a vineyard in Jezreel adjacent to the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. 21:2 Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard so I can make a vegetable garden out of it, for it is adjacent to my palace. I will give you an even better vineyard in its place, or if you prefer, I will pay you silver for it.” 21:3 But Naboth replied to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should sell you my ancestral inheritance.” 21:4 So Ahab went into his palace, bitter and angry that Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not sell to you my ancestral inheritance.” He lay down on his bed, pouted, and would not eat.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 1Ki 21:1

¹ tn Heb “after these things.” The words “the following episode took place” are added for stylistic reasons.

² sn King Ahab of Samaria. Samaria, as the capital of the northern kingdom, here stands for the nation of Israel.

map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

NET Notes: 1Ki 21:2

¹ tn Heb “if it is good in your eyes.”

² tc The Old Greek translation includes the following words: “And it will be mine as a garden of herbs.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 21:3

¹ tn Heb “Far be it from me, by the Lord, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 21:4

¹ tn Heb “on account of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite spoke to him.”

² tn Heb “I will not give to you the inheritance of my fathers.”

³ tn Heb “turned away his face.”