Text -- 1 Kings 21:1-13 (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. 21:5 Then his wife Jezebel came in and said to him, “Why do you have a bitter attitude and refuse to eat?” 21:6 He answered her, “While I was talking to Naboth the Jezreelite, I said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard for silver, or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not sell you my vineyard.’” 21:7 His wife Jezebel said to him, “You are the king of Israel! Get up, eat some food, and have a good time. I will get the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.” 21:8 She wrote out orders, signed Ahab’s name to them, and sealed them with his seal. She then sent the orders to the leaders and to the nobles who lived in Naboth’s city. 21:9 This is what she wrote: “Observe a time of fasting and seat Naboth in front of the people. 21:10 Also seat two villains opposite him and have them testify, ‘You cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.” 21:11 The men of the city, the leaders and the nobles who lived there, followed the written orders Jezebel had sent them. 21:12 They observed a time of fasting and put Naboth in front of the people. 21:13 The two villains arrived and sat opposite him. Then the villains testified against Naboth right before the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they dragged him outside the city and stoned him to death.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: 1Ki 21:3

For God had expressly, and for divers weighty reasons forbidden the alienation of lands from the tribes and families to which they were allotted. And although these might have been alienated 'till the jubilee, yet he durst not sell it to the king for that time; because he supposed, if once it came into the king's hand, neither he, nor his posterity, could ever recover it; and so he should both offend God, and wrong his posterity.

Wesley: 1Ki 21:7

Art thou fit to be king, that hast not courage to use thy power.

Wesley: 1Ki 21:9

To remove all suspicion of evil design in Ahab, and to beget a good opinion of him amongst his people, as if he were grown zealous for God's honour, and careful of his people's welfare, and therefore desirous to enquire into all those sins which provoked God against them.

Wesley: 1Ki 21:9

On a scaffold, or high - place, where malefactors were usually placed, that they might be seen, and heard by all the people.

Wesley: 1Ki 21:10

Indeed his blaspheming God would only be the forfeiture of his life, not his estate. Therefore he is charged with treason also, that his estate may be confiscated, and so Ahab have his vineyard.

Wesley: 1Ki 21:13

And it seems his sons too, either with him or after him. For God afterward says, (2Ki 9:26) I have seen the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons. Let us commit the keeping of our lives and comforts to God; for innocence itself will not always be our security.

JFB: 1Ki 21:1-3

Ahab was desirous, from its contiguity to the palace, to possess it for a vegetable garden. He proposed to Naboth to give him a better in exchange, or to obtain it by purchase; but the owner declined to part with it. In persisting in his refusal, Naboth was not actuated by any feelings of disloyalty or disrespect to the king, but solely from a conscientious regard to the divine law, which, for important reasons, had prohibited the sale of a paternal inheritance [Lev 25:23; Num 36:7]; or if, through extreme poverty or debt, an assignation of it to another was unavoidable, the conveyance was made on the condition of its being redeemable at any time [Lev 25:25-27]; at all events, of its reverting at the jubilee to the owner [Lev 25:28]. In short, it could not be alienated from the family, and it was on this ground that Naboth (1Ki 21:3) refused to comply with the king's demand. It was not, therefore, any rudeness or disrespect that made Ahab heavy and displeased, but his sulky and pettish demeanor betrays a spirit of selfishness that could not brook to be disappointed of a favorite object, and that would have pushed him into lawless tyranny had he possessed any natural force of character.

JFB: 1Ki 21:4

Either to conceal from his attendants the vexation of spirit he felt, or, by the affectation of great sorrow, rouse them to devise some means of gratifying his wishes.

JFB: 1Ki 21:7

This is not so much a question as an exclamation--a sarcastic taunt; "A pretty king thou art! Canst not thou use thy power and take what thy heart is set upon?"

JFB: 1Ki 21:7

After upbraiding Ahab for his pusillanimity and bidding him act as a king, Jezebel tells him to trouble himself no more about such a trifle; she would guarantee the possession of the vineyard.

JFB: 1Ki 21:8

The seal-ring contained the name of the king and gave validity to the documents to which it was affixed (Est 8:8; Dan 6:17). By allowing her the use of his signet-ring, Ahab passively consented to Jezebel's proceeding. Being written in the king's name, it had the character of a royal mandate.

JFB: 1Ki 21:8

They were the civic authorities of Jezreel, and would, in all likelihood, be the creatures and fit tools of Jezebel. It is evident that, though Ahab had recently been in Jezreel, when he made the offer to Naboth, both he and Jezebel were now in Samaria (1Ki 20:43).

JFB: 1Ki 21:9

Those obsequious and unprincipled magistrates did according to orders. Pretending that a heavy guilt lay on one, or some unknown party, who was charged with blaspheming God and the king and that Ahab was threatening vengeance on the whole city unless the culprit were discovered and punished, they assembled the people to observe a solemn fast. Fasts were commanded on extraordinary occasions affecting the public interests of the state (2Ch 20:3; Ezr 8:21; Joe 1:14; Joe 2:15; Jon 3:5). The wicked authorities of Jezreel, by proclaiming the fast, wished to give an external appearance of justice to their proceedings and convey an impression among the people that Naboth's crime amounted to treason against the king's life.

JFB: 1Ki 21:9

During a trial the panel, or accused person, was placed on a high seat, in the presence of all the court; but as the guilty person was supposed to be unknown, the setting of Naboth on high among the people must have been owing to his being among the distinguished men of the place.

JFB: 1Ki 21:13

Worthless fellows who had been bribed to swear a falsehood. The law required two witnesses in capital offenses (Deu 17:6; Deu 19:15; Num 35:30; Mat 26:60). Cursing God and cursing the king are mentioned in the law (Exo 22:28) as offenses closely connected, the king of Israel being the earthly representative of God in His kingdom.

JFB: 1Ki 21:13

The law, which forbade cursing the rulers of the people, does not specify the penalty for this offense but either usage had sanctioned or the authorities of Jezreel had originated stoning as the proper punishment. It was always inflicted out of the city (Act 7:58).

Clarke: 1Ki 21:1

After these things - This and the twentieth chapter are transposed in the Septuagint; this preceding the account of the Syrian war with Ben-hadad. Josephus gives the history in the same order.

Clarke: 1Ki 21:2

Give me thy vineyard - The request of Ahab seems at first view fair and honorable. Naboth’ s vineyard was nigh to the palace of Ahab, and he wished to add it to his own for a kitchen garden, or perhaps a grass-plat, גן ירק gan yarak ; and he offers to give him either a better vineyard for it, or to give him its worth in money. Naboth rejects the proposal with horror: The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to thee. No man could finally alienate any part of the parental inheritance; it might be sold or mortgaged till the jubilee, but at that time it must revert to its original owner, if not redeemed before; for this God had particularly enjoined Lev 25:14-17, Lev 25:25-28 : therefore Naboth properly said, 1Ki 21:3, The Lord forbid it me, to give the inheritance of my fathers. Ahab most evidently wished him to alienate it finally, and this is what God’ s law had expressly forbidden; therefore he could not, consistently with his duty to God, indulge Ahab; and it was high iniquity in Ahab to tempt him to do it; and to covet it showed the depravity of Ahab’ s soul. But we see farther that, despotic as those kings were, they dared not seize on the inheritance of any man. This would have been a flagrant breach of the law and constitution of the country; and this indeed would have been inconsistent with the character which they sustained, viz., the Lord’ s vicegerents. The Jewish kings had no authority either to alter the old laws, or to make new ones. "The Hindoos,"says Mr. Ward, "are as strongly attached to their homesteads as the Jews were. Though the heads of the family be employed in a distant part of the country, and though the homesteads may be almost in ruins, they cling still to the family inheritance with a fondness bordering on superstition.

Clarke: 1Ki 21:4

He laid him down upon his bed - Poor soul! he was lord over ten-twelfths of the land, and became miserable because he could not get a poor man’ s vineyard added to all that he possessed! It is a true saying, "That soul in which God dwells not, has no happiness: and he who has God has a satisfying portion."Every privation and cross makes an unholy soul unhappy; and privations and crosses it must ever meet with, therefore: -

"Where’ er it goes is hell

itself is hell!"

Clarke: 1Ki 21:7

Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? - Naboth, not Ahab, is king. If he have authority to refuse, and thou have no power to take, he is the greater man of the two. This is the vital language of despotism and tyranny.

Clarke: 1Ki 21:8

She wrote letters in Ahab’ s name - She counterfeited his authority by his own consent; and he lent his signet to stamp that authority.

Clarke: 1Ki 21:9

Proclaim a fast - Intimate that there is some great calamity coming upon the nation, because of some evil tolerated in it

Clarke: 1Ki 21:9

Set Naboth on high - Bring him to a public trial.

Clarke: 1Ki 21:10

Set two men - For life could not be attainted but on the evidence of two witnesses at least

Clarke: 1Ki 21:10

Sons of Belial - Men who will not scruple to tell lies and take a false oath

Clarke: 1Ki 21:10

Thou didst blaspheme God and the king - Thou art an atheist and a rebel. Thou hast spoken words injurious to the perfections and nature of God; and thou hast spoken words against the crown and dignity of the king. The words literally are, Naboth hath Blessed Clod and the king; or, as Parkhurst contends, "Thou hast blessed the false gods and Molech," ברכת אלהים ומלך And though Jezebel was herself an abominable idolatress; yet, as the law of Moses still continued in force, she seems to have been wicked enough to have destroyed Naboth, upon the false accusation of blessing the heathen Aleim and Molech, which subjected him to death by Deu 12:6; Deu 17:2-7. The first meaning appears the most simple

Many think that the word ברך barach signifies both to bless and curse; and so it is interpreted in most Lexicons: it is passing strange that out of the same word proceedeth blessing and cursing; and to give such opposite and self-destructive meanings to any word is very dangerous. Parkhurst denies that it ever has the meaning of cursing, and examines all the texts where it is said to occur with this meaning; and shows that blessing, not cursing, is to be understood in all those places: see him under ברך, sec. vi.

Clarke: 1Ki 21:13

And stoned him with stones - As they pretended to find him guilty of treason against God and the king, it is likely they destroyed the whole of his family; and then the king seized on his grounds as confiscated, or as escheated to the king, without any heir at law. That his family was destroyed appears strongly intimated, 2Ki 9:26; Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, And the Blood of His Sons, saith the Lord.

TSK: 1Ki 21:1

am 3105, bc 899

after : 1Ki 20:35-43; 2Ch 28:22; Ezr 9:13, Ezr 9:14; Isa 9:13; Jer 5:3

Jezreel : 1Ki 18:45; Jos 19:18; Jdg 6:33; 1Sa 29:1; Hos 1:4, Hos 1:5

TSK: 1Ki 21:2

Give me : The request of Ahab, at first view, appears fair and honourable. But, as he most evidentially wished Naboth to alienate it finally, which was expressly forbidden and provided against in the law of God (Lev 25:14-28), it was high iniquity in Ahab to tempt him to do it, and to covet it showed the depravity of his soul. Gen 3:6; Exo 20:17; Deu 5:21; 1Sa 8:14; Jer 22:17; Hab 2:9-11; Luk 12:15; 1Ti 6:9; Jam 1:14, Jam 1:15

a garden of herbs : 2Ki 9:27; Deu 11:10; Ecc 2:5; Son 4:15

seem good to thee : Heb. be good in thine eyes, Gen 16:6; 1Sa 8:6, 1Sa 29:6

TSK: 1Ki 21:3

The Lord : Gen 44:7, Gen 44:17; Jos 22:29, Jos 24:16; 1Sa 12:23, 1Sa 24:6, 1Sa 26:9-11; 1Ch 11:19; Job 27:5; Rom 3:4, Rom 3:6, Rom 3:31, Rom 6:2, Rom 6:15, Rom 7:7, Rom 7:13; 1Co 6:15; Gal 6:14

I should give : Lev 25:23; Num 36:7; Eze 46:18

TSK: 1Ki 21:4

heavy : 1Ki 20:43; Job 5:2; Isa 57:20, Isa 57:21; Jon 4:1, Jon 4:9; Hab 2:9-12

I will not : 1Ki 21:3; Num 22:13, Num 22:14

And he laid him : Gen 4:5-8; 2Sa 13:2, 2Sa 13:4; Ecc 6:9, Ecc 7:8, Ecc 7:9; Eph 4:27; Jam 1:14

TSK: 1Ki 21:5

Jezebel : 1Ki 21:25, 1Ki 16:31, 1Ki 18:4, 1Ki 19:2; Gen 3:6

Why is thy spirit : 2Sa 13:4; Neh 2:2; Est 4:5

TSK: 1Ki 21:6

Because : 1Ki 21:2; Est 5:9-14, Est 6:12; Pro 14:30; 1Ti 6:9, 1Ti 6:10; Jam 4:2-7

I will not give : 1Ki 21:3, 1Ki 21:4

TSK: 1Ki 21:7

Dost thou now : 1Sa 8:4; 2Sa 13:4; Pro 30:31; Ecc 4:1, Ecc 8:4; Dan 5:19-21

I will give thee : 1Ki 21:15, 1Ki 21:16; Mic 2:1, Mic 2:2, Mic 7:3

TSK: 1Ki 21:8

she wrote : 2Sa 11:14, 2Sa 11:15; 2Ch 32:17; Ezr 4:7, Ezr 4:8, Ezr 4:11; Neh 6:5; Est 3:12-15, Est 8:8-13

the elders : Num 11:16; Deu 16:18, Deu 16:19, Deu 21:1-9

the nobles : 1Ki 21:1; 2Ki 10:1-7, 2Ki 10:11

TSK: 1Ki 21:9

Proclaim a fast : Gen 34:13-17; Isa 58:4; Mat 2:8, Mat 23:14; Luk 20:47; Joh 18:28

on high among : Heb. in the top of

TSK: 1Ki 21:10

two men : Deu 19:15; Mat 26:59, Mat 26:60; Act 6:11

sons of Belial : Deu 13:13; Jdg 19:22

Thou didst blaspheme : Some, with Parkhurst, would render the original, bairachta elohim wamailech , ""Thou hast blessed the gods and Molech;""a sense, however, which seems extremely forced, and is not acknowledged by any of the ancient versions, though the LXX and Vulgate render bairachta by ευλογησε , benedixit , ""blessed.""It is no unusual thing for a word to have opposite senses. Exo 22:28; Lev 24:15; Mat 26:59-66; Joh 10:33; Act 6:13

TSK: 1Ki 21:11

did as Jezebel : Exo 1:17, Exo 1:21, Exo 23:1, Exo 23:2; Lev 19:15; 1Sa 22:17, 1Sa 23:20; 2Ki 10:6, 2Ki 10:7; 2Ch 24:21; Pro 29:12, Pro 29:26; Dan 3:18-25; Hos 5:11; Mic 6:16; Mat 2:12, Mat 2:16; Act 4:19, Act 5:29

TSK: 1Ki 21:12

1Ki 21:8-10; Isa 58:4

TSK: 1Ki 21:13

the men of Belial : Exo 20:16; Deu 5:20, Deu 19:16-21; Psa 27:12, Psa 35:11; Pro 6:19, Pro 19:5, Pro 19:9, Pro 25:18; Mal 3:5; Mar 14:56-59

blaspheme God : Job 1:5, Job 1:11, Job 2:9; Mat 9:3; Act 6:11

the king : Ecc 10:20; Isa 8:21; Amo 7:10; Luk 23:2; Joh 19:12; Act 24:5

they carried him : Lev 24:11-16; Num 15:35, Num 15:36; Deu 13:10, Deu 21:21, Deu 22:21, Deu 22:24; Jos 7:24, Jos 7:25; 2Ki 9:26; Ecc 4:1; Act 7:57-59

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 1Ki 21:1

A vineyard ... in Jezreel - The name Jezreel is applied in Scripture, not merely to the town 1Ki 18:46, but also to the valley or plain which lies below it, between Mount Gilboa and Little Hermon (2Sa 2:9; 2Ki 9:10; Hos 1:5; etc.).

The palace of Ahab at Jezreel was on the eastern side of the city, looking toward the Jordan down the valley above described. It abutted on the town wall 2Ki 9:30-31. Immediately below it was a dry moat. Beyond, in the valley, either adjoining the moat, or at any rate at no great distance, was the plot of ground belonging to Naboth 2Ki 9:21.

Barnes: 1Ki 21:2

I will give thee the worth of it in money - literally, "I will give thee silver, the worth of it."Money, in our sense of the word, that is to say, coins of definite values, did not yet exist. The first coin known to the Jews was the Persian daric, with which they became acquainted during the captivity. (1Ch 29:7 note).

Barnes: 1Ki 21:3

The Lord forbid it me - Or, "Yahweh forbid it me."Naboth, as a worshipper of Yahweh, not of Baal, considers it would be wrong for him to comply with the king’ s request, as contrary to the Law (margin). His was not a mere refusal arising out of a spirit of sturdy independence, or one based upon the sentiment which attaches men to ancestral estates.

Barnes: 1Ki 21:4

Upon his bed - That is, "upon his couch."The Jews, like other Orientals, reclined upon couches at their meals (Amo 6:4; Eze 23:41, etc.). Ahab turns his face toward the back of the couch, rejecting all converse with others, and so remains, after the banquet is served, refusing to partake of it. Such an open manifestation of ill temper is thoroughly characteristic of an Oriental king.

Barnes: 1Ki 21:7

The meaning is, "Art thou king, and yet sufferest thyself to be thwarted in this way by a mere subject? I, the queen, the weak woman, will give thee the vineyard, if thou, the king, the strong man, wilt do nothing."

Barnes: 1Ki 21:8

Seal - The seal is a very ancient invention. Judah’ s signet and Pharaoh’ s signet-ring are mentioned in Genesis Gen 38:18; Gen 41:42. Signets of Egyptian kings have been found which are referred to about 2000 B.C. Sennacherib’ s signet, and an impression of Sargon’ s, are still extant. There can be no doubt that in the East, from a very remote antiquity, kings had seals and appended them to all documents which they set forth under their authority. (Compare also Est 3:12; Est 8:8; Dan 6:17). The Hebrew mode of sealing seems to have been by attaching a lump of clay to the document, and impressing the seal thereupon Job 38:14.

His city - i. e., Jezreel 1Ki 21:1. The mode in which it is spoken of here, and in 1Ki 21:11, seems to imply that it was not the city from which Jezebel wrote. The court was evidently at this time residing at Samaria 1Ki 20:43; and Ahab may either have met Naboth there, or have gone down (compare 1Ki 21:16) to Jezreel to make his request, and then, on being refused, have returned to Samaria. The distance is not more than seven miles.

Barnes: 1Ki 21:9

The object of this fast was at once to raise a prejudice against Naboth, who was assumed by the elders to have disgraced the town; and at the same time to give an air of religion to the proceedings, which might blind persons to their real injustice.

Set Naboth on high among his people - This was not an order to do Naboth any, even apparent, honor; but simply a command to bring him forward before a court or assembly, where he might be seen by all, tried, and condemned.

Barnes: 1Ki 21:10

Sons of Belial - i. e., "worthless persons"(Deu 13:13 note). Witnesses must be two in number according to the Law Num 35:30; Deu 17:6; Deu 19:15.

The word rendered "blaspheme"is that which commonly means "bless."The opposite sense of "cursing,"seems, however, to be required here and in Job 1:5, Job 1:11; Job 2:5. Perhaps the best explanation of the bad sense of the original word is to be found in the practice of blessing by way of salutation, not only on meeting, but also on taking leave Gen 47:7, Gen 47:10. From the latter custom the word came to mean "bidding farewell to,"and so "renouncing,""casting off,""cursing."

Carry him out and stone him - Naboth’ s offence would be twofold, and in both cases capital; blasphemy against God being punishable with death by the Law (marginal reference), and blasphemy against the king being a capital offence by custom 1Ki 2:8; 2Sa 16:9; 2Sa 19:21. The punishment would be stoning, since the greater crime would absorb the lesser, and the Law made stoning the punishment for blasphemy against God. As stoning always took place outside the city (see Act 7:58), Jezebel told the elders to "carry Naboth out."

Barnes: 1Ki 21:11

The ready submission of the elders and nobles implies a deep moral degradation among the Israelites, the fruit of their lapse into idolatry.

Barnes: 1Ki 21:13

Naboth had sons who were also put to death at this time (marginal reference). It is not improbable that they were stoned together with their parent (compare Jos 7:24-25). In the East, a parent’ s guilt constantly involves the punishment of his children. Contrast 2Ki 14:6.

Poole: 1Ki 21:1

In Jezreel where one of Ahab’ s palaces was, as the other was in Samaria.

Poole: 1Ki 21:3

For God hath expressly, and for divers weighty reasons, forbidden the alienation of lands from the tribes and families to which they were allotted, Lev 25:15,23,25 Nu 36:7 Eze 46:18 . And although these might have been alienated till the jubilee, yet he durst not sell it to the king for that time; because he supposed that if once it came into the king’ s hand, especially to be made a garden of pleasure, and affixed to his palace, neither he nor his posterity could ever recover it again; and so he should both offend God, and wrong his posterity; which being, as it seems, a pious man, he durst not do.

Poole: 1Ki 21:4

Turned away his face from the light and company which either then were with him, or might come to him to the wall, as Hezekiah did under a like dejection of spirit, Isa 38:2 .

Would eat no bread refused to eat meat in his usual time.

Poole: 1Ki 21:7

Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? art thou fit to be king, that canst put up such affronts from thy subjects, and hast not the courage to use thy absolute power to dispose of them and theirs as seemeth good unto thee?

Poole: 1Ki 21:8

Whom she very well knew to be fit for her purpose.

In his city i.e. in Jezreel. So she seeks to destroy him with a pretence of justice, and with as little reflection upon Ahab as might be.

Poole: 1Ki 21:9

Proclaim a fast to remove all suspicion of hatred or evil design in Ahab, and to beget a good opinion of him amongst his people, as if his afflictions had done him good, and as if he were grown zealous for God’ s honour, and careful of his people’ s welfare, and therefore desirous to prevent the further displeasure of God against his city and kingdom; and in order thereunto, to inquire into all those sins which provoked God against them, and effectually to purge them out.

Set Naboth on high in a scaffold, or some other high place, where malefactors were usually and fitly placed, that they might be seen, and their defence heard by all the people.

Poole: 1Ki 21:10

Thou didst blaspheme Heb. bless . Blessing is put for cursing and blaspheming , as Job 1:5 2:9 , so also here, as is apparent, because his blessing God and the king had been no crime. It is a figure called euphemisms . God would have blasphemy so much abhorred, that it should not easily and unnecessarily be named by its proper name. Compare Psa 16:4 .

Carry him out , to the place where malefactors were punished, which was out of the city, Lev 24:23 Jos 7:24 Mar 15:20 Heb 13:12 , partly to show that they were unworthy of all human society, and abhorred by all the people; and partly because the place where they were killed was thereby ceremonially polluted.

Stone him the proper punishment of blasphemers, Lev 24:15,16 .

That he may die as one that cursed his God, and his political father, his king. See Exo 21:17 12:28 .

Poole: 1Ki 21:11

The elders and the nobles did as Jezebel had sent unto them which is not at all strange in them who had for a long time cast off the fear and sense of God, and prostituted their consciences and religion to please their king, and sold themselves to all manner of wickedness, and could not now make a safe and honourable retreat, and durst not disobey Jezebel’ s command, by whom they knew the king was wholly governed, and who could easily have taken away their lives in the same manner, if they had refused to kill Naboth.

Poole: 1Ki 21:13

And his sons with him, as may be thought from 2Ki 9:26 , that so the king might have an undisturbed possession; for which they might pretend those examples, Num 16:32 Jos 7:24 . But these were examples of extraordinary vengeance, and by special warrant from God; and the law of God was positively contrary to it, Deu 24:16 .

PBC: 1Ki 21:1

Ahab was a very wicked king of Israel and had done many things to provoke God to holy wrath. He crowned his wicked deeds by causing the unjust death of righteous Naboth, so that the wicked monarch could have his vineyard. The Lord sent His prophet, Elijah, to pronounce judgment on Ahab. He told him that the dogs would lick his blood in the same place where they had licked Naboth’s blood.

Time passed and Ahab, like many wicked men, may have thought that God had forgotten His judgment. Ahab prepared to go to battle against Syria and he asked the King of Judah, Jehoshaphat, to go to battle with him. Jehoshaphat wanted to inquire from the prophets of the Lord as to whether or not they should go to battle. Four hundred prophets told them to go on and they would have victory. Jehoshaphat was not satisfied and they called for the only one who proved to be a true prophet, Micaiah. Micaiah told them of a very strange vision that the Lord had allowed him to see. Some lying spirits had been allowed by the Lord to go and influence those false prophets so that they would lie about the situation. This does not make God a liar, nor does it make Him the author of a lie. The father of lies is the Devil, as one can learn from Joh 8:1-59. It does mean that God used the lying spirits and the lying prophets to get Ahab to go to battle. God had determined that Ahab would fall in battle that day.

Look at God’s awesome control of events as Ahab did fall in battle. The wicked king had taken every precaution to protect himself. He had disguised himself so as not to be a prominent target. However, "a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness." Now, dear friends, that man drew a bow at a venture as far as he was concerned. He did not even aim. He shot an arrow in the air. Look, however, at God’s complete and minute control of this event. God controlled the archer’s nerve impulses and muscular contractions, the angle of elevation of the bow, the direction and velocity of the wind, the direction and speed of Ahab’s chariot, and a myriad of minute details! Is our God truly awesome or is He not? The arrow went into the only place where it could have penetrated Ahab’s armor and struck its target. Ahab died when, where, and how God had determined that he would. God used lying spirits, sin, and sinful men to carry out his purposes, but He cannot be charged with their sin.

See PBtop: GOD IS SOVEREIGN

Haydock: 1Ki 21:1

Who was. Hebrew, Chaldean, &c., place this after vineyard, and read which, referring it to the ground; which we might naturally suppose would be the place of Naboth's nativity, as it was his parental estate, 4 Kings ix. 21. Josephus calls the place Azari, and says it was a field contiguous to the king's palace. Septuagint Greek: alo, "threshing-floor."

Haydock: 1Ki 21:2

Herbs. The taste of eastern nations is very different from ours. The Syrians delight in seeing gardens filled with melons, onions, &c., and they cannot conceive what pleasure we can find in rambling round our long walks for the sake of exercise. ---

Money. Hence we perceive that, notwithstanding the despotic power of the kings of Israel, they did not imagine that they had a right to take their subjects' lands, 1 Kings viii. 14. (Calmet) ---

Naboth's conduct is therefore here applauded; and St. Ambrose (Off. iii. 9.) styles him a martyr, (Worthington) and a great saint. (Tirinus) ---

Maluit periculum cum honestate, quam utilitatem cum opprobrio.

Haydock: 1Ki 21:3

Fathers. He would have deemed it a mark of disrespect and a crime, as he was not in a state of indigence; which alone could authorize him to sell his property, and then only till the year of jubilee; (Leviticus xxv. 23.) and as his field was to be turned into a royal garden, and the law was disregarded by the king, there was no prospect of his regaining it at that period. The law of Moses was till in force; and there were some, like Naboth, who were resolved to comply with it, (Calmet) even at the hazard of their lives. (Tirinus)

Haydock: 1Ki 21:4

Fretting. The Hebrew terms are the same as [in] chap. xx. 43. What weakness in Achab! Riches and honours are not capable of ensuring content. (Calmet) ---

"Who, thinkest thou, is poor; the man who is content with his own, or he who covets another's property?" (St. Ambrose, Naboth ii.) ---

Wall, as Ezechias did afterwards, in very different dispositions; though both were oppressed with grief, Isaias xxxviii. 2. Septuagint, "he covered his face." (Haydock)

Haydock: 1Ki 21:7

Israel. Hebrew simply, "Now thou wilt make the kingdom of Israel." (Calmet) ---

Protestants, "Dost thou now govern the?" &c. (Haydock) ---

Thou art a fit person indeed to establish a kingdom! Ought not a king to take what he has a mind to? Syriac, "Are you fit to reign?" Arabic, "You do not deserve to govern." (Calmet) ---

Septuagint, "Dost thou now act the king over Israel, in this manner?" (Haydock)

Haydock: 1Ki 21:8

Chief men. Hebrew chorim, "those in white," the usual colour of magistrates and noblemen, Ecclesiastes ix. 8., and Daniel vii. 9. The angels generally appear arrayed in white. Among the Egyptians and the Greeks, the rich were remarkable for the whiteness of their robes. (Herodotus ii. 36.) (Homer, Odyssey z.)

Haydock: 1Ki 21:9

Fast, as in a case of the greatest importance, where the welfare of the king and of the state are concerned. We have frequent mention of such extraordinary fasts, 2 Paralipomenon xx. 3., 1 Esdras viii. 21., and Joel i. 14, &c. Some would translated, "Call the assembly." (Vatable) ---

But the Chaldean, &c., are for the fast. Josephus joins both. All the people were collected, (Calmet) and Naboth was (Hebrew) "set on high, or at the head, as president, on account of his riches and nobility, (Haydock) that he might be unprepared, and afterwards be more disgraced. (Menochius) Abulensis (q. 4.) thinks that the judges were accustomed to fast, to shew their pity for the criminal, and that they were moved only by a zeal for justice.

Haydock: 1Ki 21:10

Belial, without restraint or conscience. ---

Blasphemed. Hebrew, "blessed." ---

Elohim, (Haydock) or god, the gods, magistrates, &c. (Calmet) ---

Blessing is equally put, to avoid the horrible sound of blaspheming. (Worthington) (Job i. 5., and ii. 9.) ---

Martin de Roa (i. 9.) maintains, that the word implies to "bid adieu," or quit; as if Naboth had relinquished the service both of God and of the king. He was accused as a traitor. The law did not condemn the person to death who had spoken ill of the prince, Exodus xxii. 28. But the wicked judges complied with the intimation of Jezabel; (Calmet) as she pretended that he had also blasphemed God. (Haydock) ---

Josephus introduces three witnesses, which was more conformable to the practice of the Jews. (Grotius) ---

But the text specifies two; and that number would suffice. (Haydock) ---

All Naboth's family were involved in his ruin; (4 Kings ix. 26.; Tirinus) as it was necessary for Achab's purpose. So Achan's children perished with him, Josue vii. 25. (Haydock) ---

What a complication of crime! (Tirinus) ---

"They proclaimed a fast, in order to commit murder." (St. Chrysostom, ser. 68.) Hypocrisy, falsehoods, perjury, perversion of justice, all are employed to take away the life, honour, and property of the innocent. See St. Ambrose, Seneca Benef. ii. 27. (Tirinus)

Haydock: 1Ki 21:13

Devil. Hebrew Belial, ver. 10. Protestants, "and the men of Belial witnessed against him." ---

City, as was requisite. (Calmet) ---

Stoned him, for blasphemy, Leviticus xxiv. 16., and 23.

Gill: 1Ki 21:1

And it came to pass, after these things,.... After the two battles with the king of Syria, in which Ahab was victorious, and after he had let Benhadad, a blasphemer, and injurious to him, go free:

that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel; of which place See Gill on Hos 1:5 or "who was in Jezreel"; that is Naboth, for the vineyard was in Samaria, 1Ki 21:18.

hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria; that being the metropolis of the kingdom of Israel, is put for it, who, besides his palace in Samaria, had another in Jezreel; which, according to Bunting ^y, were sixteen miles distant from each other.

Gill: 1Ki 21:2

And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs,.... For a kitchen garden to produce eatables of the vegetable kind for his household, or for a flower garden; and perhaps for both, as Kimchi observes, it being customary to have such in court yards, or behind the house; perhaps he might take his notion of an herb garden from his neighbours the Syrians, who were very diligent and laborious in cultivating their gardens, as Pliny ^z; hence

"multa Syrorum olera'',

the many herbs of the Syrians, became a proverb with the Greeks:

because it is near unto mine house; lay very convenient for him:

and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seemeth good unto thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money; which seems very well spoken, that he would either give him a better in exchange, or purchase it at its full value; he did not pretend to take it by usurpation, by force, against his will, as it was represented by Samuel kings would do, 1Sa 8:14 as yet such oppression and tyranny was not exercised.

Gill: 1Ki 21:3

And Naboth said to Ahab, the Lord forbid it me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. The inheritances of families were not to be alienated to another family, or tribe, nor even to be sold, unless in extreme poverty, and then to return at the year of jubilee, Lev 25:23. Now Naboth was a man in good circumstances, and under no necessity of selling his vineyard; and, if he sold it, he might reasonably conclude, it becoming a part of the royal demesnes, would never revert to his family; and therefore, both out of regard to the law of God, and the good of his family, would not part with it at any rate: this shows that he was a conscientious man, and therefore is thought to be one of those that would not bow his knee to Baal, and against whom Ahab had a grudge, and sought an opportunity against him.

Gill: 1Ki 21:4

And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased,.... Just in the same humour he was after the prophet had delivered his message to him, 1Ki 20:43, where the same words are used as here:

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, neither by way of exchange nor of purchase: and such a denial he could not bear, since it looked like treating him with contempt, and taxing him with imprudence at least, if not with injustice, or both:

and he laid him down upon his bed; or couch, which might be not in his bedchamber, but in one of his halls, where his courtiers were:

and turned away his face; to the wall, not choosing to have conversation with any of his nobles:

and would eat no bread; the vexation took away his stomach, and he became melancholy, at least sullen.

Gill: 1Ki 21:5

But Jezebel his wife came unto him, and said, why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread? She perceived he was low spirited, and supposed he had met with something that had ruffled him, and made him so uneasy that he could not eat his food; and she desired to know what it was, that she might relieve him if possible.

Gill: 1Ki 21:6

And he said, because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, give me thy vineyard for money,.... Sell it him at his own price:

or else, if it please thee; if he liked it better:

I will give thee another vineyard for it; as good, or better; and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard; he represents this answer as surly and ill natured, and as the effect of obstinacy, concealing the reason Naboth alleged for his denial.

Gill: 1Ki 21:7

And Jezebel his wife said unto him, dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel?.... Art thou not king of Israel? canst thou not do as thou pleasest? hast thou not power to oblige a subject to obey thy commands, and especially in such a trifling matter as parting with a vineyard, and that upon the most reasonable terms? thou hast too much demeaned thyself as a king; thou oughtest to have exerted thy kingly power and authority, and demanded it from him; the Targum is,

"thou now shalt prosper in thy kingdom over Israel;''

thy reign now is prosperous, and like to continue so, having obtained two such victories over thine enemies, and therefore should not be dejected with such a trifling thing as this:

arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: the kingdom being in such a flourishing state; and let not this affair give thee any trouble or uneasiness; I will take care of that, leave it with me:

I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite: without paying any money, or giving another vineyard in exchange for it.

Gill: 1Ki 21:8

So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal,.... He giving her leave, no doubt, to take his seal; though she might not communicate her scheme to him, lest he should object to it:

and sent the letters unto the elders, and to the nobles that were in his city dwelling with Naboth: to the chief magistrates of the city of Jezreel, where Naboth dwelt.

Gill: 1Ki 21:9

And she wrote in the letters, saying, proclaim a fast,.... Pretending fears of some dreadful calamity coming upon the nation, and therefore fasting and humiliation were necessary to avert it, and it would be right to inquire what crimes were committed by men among them, and punish them for them; and intimated to them that Naboth should be chosen as the great offender, and be accused, condemned, and put to death, R. Joseph Kimchi ^a thinks the phrase signifies "call an assembly or congregation"; convene a court of judicature, from the use of the word in the Talmudic language ^b; and so it is thought it is used in Jer 36:6 and indeed it can hardly be thought that Jezebel should have much notion of fasting; and besides, if it was a public fast, why should it be proclaimed only in Jezreel, and not throughout the kingdom?

and set Naboth on high among the people; the court being set, bring him to the bar and arraign him; perhaps in their courts of judicature there was a high place above the heads of the people, where criminals accused used to stand when they took their trials, that they might be seen and heard by all in court.

Gill: 1Ki 21:10

And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him,.... Worthless wretches, that have cast off the yoke of the law, as Belial signifies, lawless abandoned creatures, that have no conscience of anything; "knights of the post", as we call them, that will swear anything; these were to be set before Naboth, right against him to confront him, and accuse him to his face, and charge him with crimes next mentioned:

saying, thou didst blaspheme God and the king: and so was guilty of death for the former, if not for both, and of confiscation of estate for the latter, which was the thing aimed at; and Jezebel was willing to make sure work of it, and therefore would have him accused of both:

and then carry him out, and stone him, that he die; immediately, without requiring the witnesses to give proof of their charge, and without giving Naboth leave to answer for himself.

Gill: 1Ki 21:11

And the men of the city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them,.... That Jezebel should contrive so execrable a scheme, and that there should be such sons of Belial among the common people to swear to such falsehoods, need not seem strange; but that the elders and nobles of the city, the chief magistrates thereof, should be so sadly and universally depraved as to execute such a piece of villany, is really surprising. Idolatry, when it prevails, takes away all sense of humanity and justice:

and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them; they punctually, exactly, obeyed the orders in them, as follows.

Gill: 1Ki 21:12

They proclaimed a fast,.... Or called a court; see Gill on 1Ki 21:9.

and set Naboth on high among the people; placed him at the bar as a criminal; see Gill on 1Ki 21:9, though Josephus ^c thinks he was set on an high place in the court, because he was of an illustrious birth.

Gill: 1Ki 21:13

And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him,.... Which position showed that they were his accusers, and had a charge against him; it being usual for the accusers and accused to be set face to face, as it was the manner of the Romans in later times, Act 25:16. Josephus says ^d there were "three" men to accuse him; but the Targum, and all the ancient versions, have only "two":

and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people; both before the judges of the court, and before all the people that filled it, who came to hear the trial; so bold and impudent were they:

saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king; or "bless", an euphemism; the phrase of cursing God being shocking to the ear, and therefore such a word is used to express it, see Job 1:5,

then they carried him forth out of the city; without any further process of examining witnesses, and of hearing what the accused had to say in his defence; but immediately they carried him out of court, and out of the city, to put him to death, malefactors being executed always without the city:

and stoned him with stones, that he died; which was the death blasphemers were put to, Lev 24:14, of the manner of which; see Gill on Act 7:58, it seems from 2Ki 9:26, that his sons were stoned with him.

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.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 21:6

¹ tn Heb “While I was talking…, I said…, he said….” Ahab’s explanation is one lengthy sentence in the Hebrew text, which is divided in the English translation for stylistic reasons.

NET Notes: 1Ki 21:7

¹ tn Heb “You, now, you are exercising kingship over Israel.”

² tn Heb “so your heart [i.e., disposition] might be well.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 21:8

¹ tn Heb “scrolls.”

² tn Heb “in the name of Ahab.”

³ tn Heb “scrolls.”

⁴ tn Heb “elders.”

⁵ tn Heb “to the nobles who were in his city, the ones who lived with Naboth.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 21:9

¹ tn Heb “she wrote on the scrolls, saying.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 21:11

¹ tn Heb “his.”

² tn Heb “elders.”

³ tn Heb “and the nobles who were living in his city.”

⁴ tn Heb “did as Jezebel sent to them, just as was written in the scrolls which she sent to them.”

NET Notes: 1Ki 21:13

¹ tn Heb “led him.”

² tn Heb “and they stoned him with stones and he died.”

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 21:2

And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, ^{( a )} 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.

^{( a )} Though Ahab's tyranny is condemned by the Holy Spirit, yet he was not so rigorous that he would take from another man his right without full recompense.

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 21:4

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 thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down ^{( b )} upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

^{( b )} Thus the wicked do not consider what is just and lawful, but fret inwardly when they cannot have their inordinate lusts satisfied.

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 21:7

And Jezebel his wife said unto him, ^{( c )} 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.

^{( c )} As though she said, "You do not know what it means to reign. Command and do not beg".

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 21:9

And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a ^{( d )} fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:

^{( d )} For then they used to enquire of men's faults: for no one could truly fast if he was a notorious sinner.

Geneva Bible: 1Ki 21:11

And the ^{( e )} 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.

^{( e )} Thus the worldlings contrary to God's commandment, who does not consent to the shedding of innocent blood, would rather obey the wicked commandments of princes than the just laws.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 1Ki 21:1-29

1 Ahab being denied Naboth's vineyard, is grieved.

5 Jezebel writing letters against Naboth, he is condemned of blasphemy.

15 Ahab take possession of the vineyard.

17 Elijah denounces judgments against Ahab and Jezebel.

25 Wicked Ahab repenting, God defers the judgment.

MHCC: 1Ki 21:1-4

Naboth, perhaps, had been pleased that he had a vineyard situated so near the palace, but the situation proved fatal to him; many a man's possessions have been his snare, and his neighbourhood to greatness, of bad consequence. Discontent is a sin that is its own punishment, and makes men torment themselves. It is a sin that is its own parent; it arises not from the condition, but from the mind: as we find Paul contented in a prison, so Ahab was discontented in a palace. He had all the delights of Canaan, that pleasant land, at command; the wealth of a kingdom, the pleasures of a court, and the honours and powers of a throne; yet all avails him nothing without Naboth's vineyard. Wrong desires expose men to continual vexations, and those that are disposed to fret, however well off, may always find something or other to fret at.

MHCC: 1Ki 21:5-16

When, instead of a help meet, a man has an agent for Satan, in the form of an artful, unprincipled, yet beloved wife, fatal effects may be expected. Never were more wicked orders given by any prince, than those Jezebel sent to the rulers of Jezreel. Naboth must be murdered under colour of religion. There is no wickedness so vile, so horrid, but religion has sometimes been made a cover for it. Also, it must be done under colour of justice, and with the formalities of legal process. Let us, from this sad story, be amazed at the wickedness of the wicked, and the power of Satan in the children of disobedience. Let us commit the keeping of our lives and comforts to God, for innocence will not always be our security; and let us rejoice in the knowledge that all will be set to rights in the great day.

Matthew Henry: 1Ki 21:1-4

Here is, 1. Ahab coveting his neighbour's vineyard, which unhappily lay near his palace and conveniently for a kitchen-garden. Perhaps Naboth had been pleased that he had a vineyard which lay so advantageously for a prospect of the royal gardens, or the vending of its productions to the royal family; but the situation of it proved fatal to him. If he had had no vineyard, or it had lain obscure in some remote place, he would have preserved his life. But many a man's possessions have been his snare, and his neighbourhood to greatness has been of pernicious consequence. Ahab sets his eye and heart on this vineyard, 1Ki 21:2. It will be a pretty addition to his demesne, a convenient out-let to his palace; and nothing will serve him but it must be his own. He is welcome to the fruits of it, welcome to walk in it; Naboth perhaps would have made him a lease of it for his life, to please him; but nothing will please him unless he have an absolute property in it, he and his heirs for ever. Yet he is not such a tyrant as to take it by force, but fairly proposes either to give Naboth the full value of it in money or a better vineyard in exchange. He had tamely quitted the great advantages God had given him of enlarging his dominion for the honour of his kingdom, by his victory over the Syrians, and now is eager to enlarge his garden, only for the convenience of his house, as if to be penny wise would atone for being pound foolish. To desire a convenience to his estate was not evil (there would be no buying if there were no desire of what is bought; the virtuous woman considers a field and buys it ); but to desire any thing inordinately, though we would compass it by lawful means, is a fruit of selfishness, as if we must engross all the conveniences, and none must live, or live comfortably, by us, contrary to the law of contentment, and the letter of the tenth commandment, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house. 2. The repulse he met with in this desire. Naboth would by no means part with it (1Ki 21:3): The Lord forbid it me; and the Lord did forbid it, else he would not have been so rude and uncivil to his prince as not to gratify him in so small a matter. Canaan was in a peculiar manner God's land; the Israelites were his tenants; and this was one of the conditions of their leases, that they should not alienate (no, not to one another) any part of that which fell to their lot, unless in case of extreme necessity, and then only till the year of jubilee, Lev 25:28. Now Naboth foresaw that, if his vineyard were sold to the crown, it would never return to his heirs, no, not in the jubilee. He would gladly oblige the king, but he must obey God rather than men, and therefore in this matter desires to be excused. Ahab knew the law, or should have known it, and therefore did ill to ask that which his subject could not grant without sin. Some conceive that Naboth looked upon his earthly inheritance as an earnest of his lot in the heavenly Canaan, and therefore would not part with the former, lest it should amount to a forfeiture of the latter. He seems to have been a conscientious man, who would rather hazard the king's displeasure than offend God, and probably was one of the 7000 that had not bowed the knee to Baal, for which, it may be, Ahab owed him a grudge. 3. Ahab's great discontent and uneasiness hereupon. He was as before (1Ki 20:43) heavy and displeased (v. 4), grew melancholy upon it, threw himself upon his bed, would not eat nor admit company to come to him. He could by no means digest the affront. His proud spirit aggravated the indignity Naboth did him in denying him, as a thing not to be suffered. He cursed the squeamishness of Naboth's conscience, which he pretended to consult the peace of, and secretly meditated revenge. Nor could he bear the disappointment; it cut him to the heart to be crossed in his desires, and he was perfectly sick for vexation. Note, (1.) Discontent is a sin that is its own punishment and makes men torment themselves; it makes the spirit sad, the body sick, and all the enjoyments sour; it is the heaviness of the heart and the rottenness of the bones. (2.) It is a sin that is its own parent. It arises not from the condition, but from the mind. As we find Paul contented in a prison, so Ahab discontent in a palace. He had all the delights of Canaan, that pleasant land, at command the wealth of a kingdom, the pleasures of a court, and the honours and powers of a throne; and yet all this avails him nothing without Naboth's vineyard. Inordinate desires expose men to continual vexations, and those that are disposed to fret, be they ever so happy, will always find something or other to fret at.

Matthew Henry: 1Ki 21:5-16

Nothing but mischief is to be expected when Jezebel enters into the story - that cursed woman, 2Ki 9:34.

I. Under pretence of comforting her afflicted husband, she feeds his pride and passion, and blows the coals of his corruptions. It became her to take notice of his grief and to enquire into the cause of it, 1Ki 21:5. Those have forgotten both the duty and affection of the conjugal relation that interest not themselves in each other's troubles. He told her what troubled him (1Ki 21:6), yet invidiously concealed Naboth's reason for his refusal, representing it as peevish, when it was conscientious - I will not give it thee, whereas he said, I may not. What! says Jezebel (1Ki 21:7), Dost thou govern Israel? Arise, and eat bread. She does well to persuade him to shake off his melancholy, and not to sink under his burden, to be easy and cheerful; whatever was his grief, grieving would not redress it, but pleasantness would alleviate it. Her plea is, Dost thou now govern Israel? This is capable of a good sense: "Does it become so great a prince as thou art to cast thyself down for so small a matter? Thou shamest thyself, and profanest thy crown; it is below thee to take notice of so inconsiderable a thing. Art thou fit to govern Israel, who hast no better a government of thy own passions? Or hast thou so rich a kingdom at command and canst not thou be without this one vineyard?"We should learn to quiet ourselves, under our crosses, with the thoughts of the mercies we enjoy, especially our hopes of the kingdom. But she meant it in a bad sense: " Dost thou govern Israel, and shall any subject thou hast deny thee any thing thou hast a mind to? Art thou a king? It is below thee to buy and pay, much more to beg and pray; use thy prerogative, and take by force what thou canst not compass by fair means; instead of resenting the affront thus, revenge it. If thou knowest not how to support the dignity of a king, let me alone to do it; give me but leave to make use of thy name, and I will soon give thee the vineyard of Naboth; right or wrong, it shall be thy own shortly, and cost thee nothing."Unhappy princes those are, and hurried apace towards their ruin, who have those about them that stir them up to acts of tyranny and teach them how to abuse their power.

II. In order to gratify him, she projects and compasses the death of Naboth. No less than his blood will serve to atone for the affront he has given to Ahab, which she thirsts after the more greedily because of his adherence to the law of the God of Israel.

1. Had she aimed only at his land, her false witnesses might have sworn him out of that by a forged deed (she could not have set up so weak a title but the elders of Jezreel would have adjudged it good); but the adulteress will hunt for the precious life, Pro 6:26. Revenge is sweet. Naboth must die, and die as a malefactor, to gratify it.

(1.) Never were more wicked orders given by any prince than those which Jezebel sent to the magistrates of Jezreel, 1Ki 21:8-10. She borrows the privy-seal, but the king shall not know what she will do with it. It is probable this was not the first time he had lent it to her, but that with it she had signed warrants for the slaying of the prophets. She makes use of the king's name, knowing the thing would please him when it was done, yet fearing he might scruple at the manner of doing it; in short, she commands them, upon their allegiance, to put Naboth to death, without giving them any reason for so doing. Had she sent witnesses to inform against him, the judges (who must go secundum allegata et probata - according to allegations and proofs ) might have been imposed upon, and their sentence might have been rather their unhappiness than their crime; but to oblige them to find the witnesses, sons of Belial, to suborn them themselves, and then to give judgment upon a testimony which they knew to be false, was such an impudent defiance to every thing that is just and sacred as we hope cannot be paralleled in any story. She must have looked upon the elders of Jezreel as men perfectly lost to every thing that is honest and honourable when she expected these orders should be obeyed. But she will put them in a way how to do it, having as much of the serpent's subtlety as she had of his poison. [1.] It must be done under colour of religion: " Proclaim a fast; signify to your city that you are apprehensive of some dreadful judgment coming upon you, which you must endeavour to avert, not only by prayer, but by finding out and by putting away the accursed thing; pretend to be afraid that there is some great offender among you undiscovered, for whose sake God is angry with your city; charge the people, if they know of any such, on that solemn occasion to inform against him, as they regard the welfare of the city; and at last let Naboth be fastened upon as the suspected person, probably because he does not join with his neighbours in their worship. This may serve for a pretence to set him on high among the people, to call him to the bar. Let proclamation be made that, if any one can inform the court against the prisoner, and prove him to be the Achan, they shall be heard; and then let the witnesses appear to give evidence against him."Note, There is no wickedness so vile, so horrid, but religion has sometimes been made a cloak and cover for it. We must not think at all the worse of fasting and praying for their having been sometimes thus abused, but much the worse of those wicked designs that have at any time been carried on under the shelter of them. [2.] It must be done under colour of justice too, and with the formalities of a legal process. Had she sent to them to hire some of their danbitti, some desperate suffirans, to assassinate him, to stab him as he went along the streets in the night, the deed would have been bad enough; but to destroy him by a course of law, to use that power for the murdering of the innocent which ought to be their protection, was such a violent perversion of justice and judgment as was truly monstrous, yet such as we are directed not to marvel at, Ecc 5:8. The crime they must lay to his charge was blaspheming God and the king - a complicated blasphemy. Surely she could not think to put a blasphemous sense upon the answer he had given to Ahab, as if denying him his vineyard were blaspheming the king, and giving the divine law for the reason were blaspheming God. No, she pretends not any ground at all for the charge: though there was no colour of truth in it, the witnesses must swear it, and Naboth must not be permitted to speak for himself, or cross-examine the witnesses, but immediately, under pretence of a universal detestation of the crime, they must carry him out and stone him. His blaspheming God would be the forfeiture of his life, but not of his estate, and therefore he is also charged with treason, in blaspheming the king, for which his estate was to be confiscated, that so Ahab might have his vineyard.

(2.) Never were wicked orders more wickedly obeyed than these were by the magistrates of Jezreel. They did not so much as dispute the command nor make any objections against it, though so palpably unjust, but punctually observed all the particulars of it, either because they feared Jezebel's cruelty or because they hated Naboth's piety, or both: They did as it was written in the letters (1Ki 21:11, 1Ki 21:12), neither made any difficulty of it, nor met with any difficulty in it, but cleverly carried on the villany. They stoned Naboth to death (1Ki 21:13), and, as it should seem, his sons with him, or after him; for, when God came to make inquisition for blood, we find this article in the account (2Ki 9:26), I have seen the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons. Perhaps they were secretly murdered, that they might not claim their father's estate nor complain of the wrong done him.

2. Let us take occasion from this sad story, (1.) To stand amazed at the wickedness of the wicked, and the power of Satan in the children of disobedience. What a holy indignation may we be filled with to see wickedness in the place of judgment! Ecc 3:16. (2.) To lament the hard case of oppressed innocency, and to mingle our tears with the tears of the oppressed that have no comforter, while on the side of the oppressors there is power, Ecc 4:1. (3.) To commit the keeping of our lives and comforts to God, for innocency itself will not always be our security. (4.) To rejoice in the belief of a judgment to come, in which such wrong judgments as these will be called over. Now we see that there are just men to whom it happens according to the work of the wicked (Ecc 8:14), but all will be set to rights in the great day.

III. Naboth being taken off, Ahab takes possession of his vineyard. 1. The elders of Jezreel sent notice to Jezebel very unconcernedly, sent it to her as a piece of agreeable news, Naboth is stoned and is dead, 1Ki 21:14. Here let us observe that, as obsequious as the elders of Jezreel were to Jezebel's orders which she sent from Samaria for the murder of Naboth, so obsequious were the elders of Samaria afterwards to Jehu's orders which he sent from Jezreel for the murder of Ahab's seventy sons, only that was not done by course of law, 2Ki 10:6, 2Ki 10:7. Those tyrants that by their wicked orders debauch the consciences of their inferior magistrates may perhaps find at last the wheel return upon them, and that those who will not stick to do one cruel thing for them will be as ready to do another cruel thing against them. 2. Jezebel, jocund enough that her plot succeeded so well, brings notice to Ahab that Naboth is not alive, but dead; therefore, says she, Arise, take possession of his vineyard, 1Ki 21:15. He might have taken possession by one of his officers, but so pleased is he with this accession to his estate that he will make a journey to Jezreel himself to enter upon it; and it should seem he went in state too, as if he had obtained some mighty victory, for Jehu remembers long after that he and Bidkar attended him at this time, 2Ki 9:25. If Naboth's sons were all put to death, Ahab thought himself entitled to the estate, ob defectum sanguinis - in default of heirs (as our law expresses it); if not, yet, Naboth dying as a criminal, he claimed it ob delictum criminis - as forfeited by his crime. Or, if neither would make him a good title, the absolute power of Jezebel would give it to him, and who would dare to oppose her will? Might often prevails against right, and wonderful is the divine patience that suffers it to do so. God is certainly of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, and yet for a time keeps silence when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he, Hab 1:13.

Keil-Delitzsch: 1Ki 21:1-15

After these events Ahab was seized with such a desire for a vineyard which was situated near his palace at Jezreel, that when Naboth, the owner of the vineyard, refused to part with his paternal inheritance, he became thoroughly dejected, until his wife Jezebel paved the way for the forcible seizure of the desired possession by the shameful execution of Naboth (1Ki 21:1-15). But when Ahab was preparing to take possession of the vineyard, Elijah came to meet him with the announcement, that both he and his wife would be visited by the Lord with a bloody death for this murder and robbery, and that his idolatry would be punished with the extermination of all his house (1Ki 21:16-26). Ahab was so affected by this, that he humbled himself before God; whereupon the Lord told Elijah, that the threatened judgment should not burst upon his house till after Ahab's death (1Ki 21:27-29).

1Ki 21:1-2

Ahab wanted to obtain possession of the vineyard of Naboth, which was in Jezreel ( אשׁר refers to כּרם ), near the palace of the king, either in exchange for another vineyard or for money, that he might make a vegetable garden of it. From the fact that Ahab is called the king of Samaria we may infer that Jezreel, the present Zerin (see at Jos 19:18), was only a summer residence of the king.

1Ki 21:3

Naboth refused to part with the vineyard, because it was the inheritance of his fathers, that is to say, on religious grounds ( חלילה כּי מיהוה ), because the sale of a paternal inheritance was forbidden in the law (Lev 25:23-28; Num 36:7.). He was therefore not merely at liberty as a personal right to refuse the king's proposal, but bound by the commandment of God.

1Ki 21:4

Instead of respecting this tender feeling of shrinking from the transgression of the law and desisting from his coveting, Ahab went home, i.e., to Samaria (cf. 1Ki 21:8), sullen and morose ( סר וזעף as in 1Ki 20:43), lay down upon his bed, turned his face (viz., to the wall; cf. 2Ki 20:2) - "after the manner of sorrowful persons, who shrink from and refuse all conversation, and even the sight of others"(Seb. Schmidt) - and did not eat. This childish mode of giving expression to his displeasure at Naboth's refusal to comply with his wish, shows very clearly that Ahab was a man sold under sin (1Ki 21:20), who only wanted the requisite energy to display the wickedness of his heart in vigorous action.

1Ki 21:5-7

When Jezebel learned the cause of Ahab's ill-humour, she said to him, "Thou, dost thou now exercise royal authority over Israel." אתּה is placed first for the sake of emphasis, and the sentence is to be taken as an ironical question, as it has been by the lxx. "I (if thou hast not courage enough to act) will procure thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."

1Ki 21:8-10

The shameless woman then wrote a letter in the name of Ahab, sealed it below with the royal seal, which probably bore the king's signature and was stamped upon the writing instead of signing the name, as is done at the present day among Arabs, Turks, and Persians (vid., Paulsen, Reg. der Morgenl . p. 295ff.), to give it the character of a royal command (cf. Est 8:13; Dan 6:17), and sent this letter (the Chethîb הסּפרים is correct, and the Keri has arisen from a misunderstanding) to the elders and nobles of his town (i.e., the members of the magistracy, Deu 16:18), who lived near Naboth, and therefore had an opportunity to watch his mode of life, and appeared to be the most suitable persons to institute the charge that was to be brought against him. The letter ran thus: "Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people, and set two worthless men opposite to him, that they may give evidence against him: Thou hast blasphemed God and king; and lead him out and stone him, that he may die."Jezebel ordered the fasting for a sign, as though some public crime or heavy load of guilt rested upon the city, for which it was necessary that it should humble itself before God (1Sa 7:6). The intention was, that at the very outset the appearance of justice should be given to the legal process about to be instituted in the eyes of all the citizens, and the stamp of veracity impressed upon the crime of which Naboth was to be accused. העם בראשׁ ... הושׁיבוּ , " seat him at the head of the people,"i.e., bring him to the court of justice as a defendant before all the people. The expression may be explained from the fact, that a sitting of the elders was appointed for judicial business, in which Naboth and the witnesses who were to accuse him of blasphemy took part seated . To preserve the appearance of justice, two witnesses were appointed, according to the law in Deu 17:6-7; Deu 19:15; Num 35:30; but worthless men, as at the trial of Jesus (Mat 26:60). אלהים בּרך , to bless God, i.e., to bid Him farewell, to dismiss Him, as in Job 2:9, equivalent to blaspheming God. God and king are mentioned together, like God and prince in Exo 22:27, to make it possible to accuse Naboth of transgressing this law, and to put him to death as a blasphemer of God, according to Deu 13:11 and Deu 17:5, where the punishment of stoning is awarded to idolatry as a practical denial of God. Blaspheming the king is not to be taken as a second crime to be added to the blasphemy of God; but blaspheming the king, as the visible representative of God, was eo ipso also blaspheming God.

1Ki 21:11-13

The elders of Jezreel executed this command without delay; a striking proof both of deep moral corruption and of slavish fear of the tyranny of the ruthless queen.

1Ki 21:14-15

When the report of Naboth's execution was brought to her, she called upon Ahab to take possession of his vineyard ( רשׁ = רשׁ , Deu 2:24). As Naboth's sons were put to death at the same time, according to 2Ki 9:26, the king was able to confiscate his property; not, indeed, on any rule laid down in the Mosaic law, but according to a principle involved in the very idea of high treason. Since, for example, in the case of blasphemy the property of the criminal was forfeited to the Lord as cherem (Deu 13:16), the property of traitors was regarded as forfeited to the king.

Constable: 1Ki 16:29--22:41

1. Ahab's evil reign in Israel 16:29-22:40

Ahab ruled Israel from Samaria for 22 years (874-853 B.C.). During the first of these years Asa ruled alone in Judah. Then for three years Asa and Jehoshaphat shared the throne. For the remainder of Ahab's reign Jehoshaphat ruled alone.

Constable: 1Ki 21:1-16

Ahab's disregard for Yahweh's authority 21:1-16

Even though Jezebel was behind the murder of Naboth, God held her husband Ahab responsible (v. 19). Jezebel's evil influence over her husband stands out in this story.²²¹ Ahab was willing to murder a godly Israelite to obtain a mere vegetable garden.

"A vineyard, like an olive-orchard, is not just land that may have been in the family for a long time: it represents a high investment in many years of unfruitful care before it reaches maturity."²²²

Naboth sought to live by the Mosaic Law (v. 3; cf. Lev. 25:23-28; Num. 36:7). Ahab's "sullen and vexed" feelings (v. 4; cf. 20:43) were the result of his perception that Naboth's position was unassailable legally.²²³

Jezebel believed Ahab was the supreme authority in Israel (v. 7), an opinion he shared (cf. 20:42). This was the root of many of Ahab and Jezebel's difficulties (cf. Saul and Michal, and Ahab and Jezebel's daughter Athaliah). They failed to acknowledge Yahweh's sovereignty over Israel. Jezebel obviously knew the Mosaic Law (v. 10). It required two witnesses in capital offense cases (Deut. 17:6-7). Cursing God was a capital offense (Lev. 24:16). Jezebel elevated cursing the king to a crime on the same level with cursing Yahweh (v. 10). This was inappropriate but consistent with her concept of Israel's king. She formed her plot in conscious disobedience to God's revealed will.

The elders and nobles of Jezreel were under Jezebel's thumb (v. 11). They were not faithful to Yahweh. They probably could not have been to have stayed in office under Ahab. Jezebel also executed Naboth's sons (2 Kings 9:26). When Ahab heard what his wife had done, he did not reprove her but took advantage of her actions and in doing so approved them (v. 16).²²⁴

"The most heinous act of Ahab came in the matter of Naboth. A king's primary responsibility was to render justice in the land. Ahab egregiously violated this requirement by stealing from a man he had murdered (through Jezebel)."²²⁵

Guzik: 1Ki 21:1-29

1 Kings 21 - The Murder of Naboth

A. Naboth is murdered for his vineyard.

1. (1-3) Naboth refuses to give up his land.

And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, "Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money." But Naboth said to Ahab, "The LORD forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!"

a. Give me your vineyard: This account begins as a simple attempted real estate transaction. Ahab wanted the vineyard near his royal house in Jezreel that he might have it as a vegetable garden. He was willing to trade for the land or pay for it.

b. The LORD forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you! Naboth's response was an emphatic "no." His rejection of the otherwise reasonable offer was rooted in the ancient Israelite idea of the land. They believed that the land was an inheritance from God, parceled out to individual tribes and families according to His will. Therefore land was never really sold, only leased - and that only under the most dire circumstances. Real Estate offices in ancient Israel didn't do very good business.

i. "For God hath expressly, and for divers weighty reasons, forbidden the alienation of lands from the tribes and families to which they were allotted, Leviticus 25:15, 25:23, 25:25; Numbers 36:7; Ezekiel 46:18." (Poole)

2. (4-7) Ahab pouts before Jezebel.

So Ahab went into his house sullen 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 lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, "Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?" 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 pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.' And he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'" Then Jezebel his wife said to him, "You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."

a. Ahabe went into his house sullen and displeased: This seemed entirely characteristic of Ahab. He seemed to be a spineless, pouting man who reacted this way when he met any kind of adversity.

i. "So the scene is a vivid picture of peevish Ahab turning his face to the wall and refusing to eat. He was like a sulking child who could not get his own way." (Dilday)

ii. "Poor soul! He was lord over ten-twelfths of the land, and became miserable because he could not get a poor man's vineyard added to all that he possessed!" (Clarke)

b. You now exercise authority over Israel . . . I will give you the vineyard of Naboth: Jezebel's manner of speech revealed who really exercised authority in the palace of Israel.

3. (8-14) Jezebel plots and has Naboth murdered.

And she wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. She wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people; and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, "You have blasphemed God and the king." Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die. So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!" Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth has been stoned and is dead."

a. She wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles: This shows that Ahab was in agreement with what Jezebel did and had to know something of her plot.

i. "She involved Ahab by they use of his seal on the directives to the local magistrates. The use of the king's royal, dynastic, administrative or even personal seal to gain his authority would require Ahab's collusion." (Wiseman)

ii. Alexander Maclaren noted three types of dangerous characters in this chapter: (1) Ahab who was wicked and weak. (2) Jezebel who was wicked and strong. (3) The Elders of Jezreel, who were wicked and subservient.

b. Proclaim a fast: The idea was that some evil or calamity came upon Israel, and a scapegoat had to be found for the evil. Jezebel intended that Naboth be revealed as the scapegoat.

c. Seat Naboth with high honor among the people: This was a treacherous plan - first, to set Naboth in a high place of honor and then to destroy him with lies from the mouths of scoundrels.

d. Naboth has blasphemed God and the king! Jesus was charged with similar crimes, accused of offending both God and Caesar. Naboth, just like Jesus, was completely innocent of such accusations and was murdered without cause. The stoning of Naboth over a piece of land for a vegetable garden shows the brutal and amoral character of Jezebel and Ahab.

i. 2 Kings 9:26 indicates that the crime was even worse than this, connecting the murder of Naboth with the blood of his sons. It is likely that the entire family of Naboth was murdered, so no heirs were left to claim his property.

4. (15-16) Ahab takes possession of Naboth's land.

And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, "Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead." So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

a. Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth: This added evil to evil. Even with Naboth dead, the land did not belong to Ahab or the royal house of Israel. It belonged to the heirs or family of Naboth. Ahab probably claimed the land as a royal right because the crown seized the land of any executed criminal.

i. Although, "Some say that Ahab was his next kinsman, his sons being dead; which they judge more likely, because his land was next to the king's." (Poole) "Hence some make Naboth to have been Ahab's uncle; but that is uncertain." (Trapp)

B. Elijah confronts Ahab.

1. (17-24) God pronounces judgment upon Ahab.

Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, "Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. You shall speak to him, saying, 'Thus says the LORD: "Have you murdered 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, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours."' " So Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?" And he answered, "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD: 'Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin.' And concerning Jezebel the LORD also spoke, saying, 'The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.' The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field."

a. Arise, go down to meet Ahab: Ahab ran out to get his new toy - the land gained by betrayal, lies, and murder - and instead he ran into the prophet of God.

b. Have you murdered and also taken possession? Elijah did what few other men had the courage to do - confront this wicked, brutal, and amoral king and queen of Israel. He pointedly charged them with the two crimes of both murder and theft of Naboth's land.

i. We notice that Elijah confronted Ahab (you murdered) over the sin of Jezebel and her wicked associates. God clearly held Ahab responsible for this sin as husband, as king, and as beneficiary of this crime.

ii. "This is added to show that temptations to sin are no excuse to the sinner." (Poole)

c. In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours: This was a strong and startling prophecy. It was not fulfilled, because Ahab died in Samaria and the dogs licked his blood there (1 Kings 22:38), instead of in Jezreel where Naboth was murdered.

i. This unfulfilled prophecy has needlessly troubled some. Various explanations have been made, including the ideas that Elijah meant a general area and not a specific place, or that there were pools or streams that carried the blood from Ahab's chariot to the waters of Jezreel, or that this was fulfilled in the blood that ran in the veins of Ahab's son Joram (2 Kings 9:25). A far better explanation is found in the fact that because of Ahab's sorrow and repentance at the end of the chapter, God relented from this judgment and instead brought it upon Ahab's son (in 2 Kings 9:24-26) as the LORD said He would in 1 Kings 21:29.

ii. "And see how literally the prediction concerning his son was fulfilled, see 2 Kings 9:25, where we find that the body of Jehoram his son, just then slain by an arrow that had passed through his heart, was thrown into the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; and there, doubtless, the dogs licked his blood, if they did not even devour his body." (Clarke)

d. Have you found me, O my enemy? "Though the king knew it not, Elijah was his best friend; Jezebel his direst foe." (Meyer)

i. "To the widow of Zarephath Elijah was an angel of light; whilst to Ahab he was an enemy . . . What you are, determines whether Elijah will be your friend or your enemy." (Meyer)

e. You have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD: "See a similar form of speech, Romans 7:14. Thou hast totally abandoned thyself to the service of sin. Satan is become they absolute master, and thou his undivided slave." (Clarke)

f. I will take away your posterity, and cut off from Ahab every male in Israel: This was a severe judgment against anyone, in particular against a king. A king's legacy was in his posterity succeeding him on the throne, and here God announced an end to the dynasty of Omri (Ahab's father). His dynasty would come to a dead end just like the dynasties of Jeroboam and Baasha.

i. Ahab never possessed the vineyard of Naboth. He held it, but that very fact became to him a torment. However fine the vintage, for him the grapes were acrid, poisonous . . . That which is gained by fraud is never possessed." (Morgan)

g. The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel: Though the prophecy of judgment was focused against Ahab, it did not forget Jezebel. He end would be both horrible and disgraceful.

2. (25-26) Ahab's great wickedness.

But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

a. There was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the LORD, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up: Ahab's sin was multiplied not only because of the sin itself, but because by his permission, his wife stirred him up to do it.

i. This reminds us of what God said to Adam in pronouncing the curse after the sin in the Garden of Eden: Because you have heeded the voice of your wife (Genesis 3:17). Apparently, God hold husbands who follow their wife into sin to a special accountability.

b. According to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD had cast out: In likening the sin of Ahab to the sin of the Amorites, God prepared the ground for the future eviction of Israel from the Promised Land. As the Amorites were cast out of Canaan for their continued idolatry and rejection of God, so would the northern kingdom of Israel.

3. (27-29) Ahab humbles himself and God relents from judgment in his life.

So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, "See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house."

a. When Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body: For all his wickedness, Ahab received this prophecy of judgment exactly as he should have. He understood that the prophecy of judgment was in fact an invitation to repent, humble one's self, and to seek God for mercy.

i. "But this humiliation or repentance of Ahab's was only external and superficial, arising from the terror of God's judgments; and not sincere and serious, proceeding from the love of God, or a true sense of his sin, or a solemn purpose of amendment of his life, as appears, because all the particulars of his repentance here, are external and ritual only; nor is there the least intimation of any one sign or fruit of his true repentance, as that he restored Naboth's land, or reproved his infamous wife; but in the very next chapter you find him returning to his former vomit." (Poole)

ii. Three years later, Ahab was dead under God's judgment. "I will recompense his temporary repentance with a temporary deliverance." (Trapp)

b. Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days: God honored Ahab's initiative. This shows the power of both prayer and humble repentance. If Ahab did not humble himself in this way, then the judgment would have come in his own day. This shows that God gave the prophecy of judgment as an invitation to repentance, and God opened to the door of mercy when Ahab properly responded to that invitation.

i. There is no record of Jezebel's humility or repentance. Therefore we can expect that God's judgment will come upon her exactly as He first announced.

ii. "The penitent heart ever meets the merciful eye of God; repentance is highly esteemed by the Father of compassion, even where it is comparatively shallow and short-lived." (Clarke)

iii. This shows us the character of God's mercy: it is given to the undeserving. By nature, the innocent do not need mercy. Ahab was a great sinner, but he won great mercy (in this life) through humble repentance. The worst sinner should not disqualify himself from receiving God's mercy, if that sinner should only approach God in humble repentance.

© 2004 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Introduction / Outline

JFB: 1 Kings (Book Introduction)

THE FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF KINGS, in the ancient copies of the Hebrew Bible, constitute one book. Various titles have been given them; in the Septuagint and the Vulgate they are called the Third and Fourth Books of Kings. The authorship of these books is unknown; but the prevailing opinion is that they were compiled by Ezra, or one of the later prophets, from the ancient documents that are so frequently referred to in the course of the history as of public and established authority. Their inspired character was acknowledged by the Jewish Church, which ranked them in the sacred canon; and, besides, it is attested by our Lord, who frequently quotes from them (compare 1Ki 17:9; 2Ki 5:14 with Luk 4:24-27; 1Ki 10:1 with Mat 12:42).

JFB: 1 Kings (Outline)

• ABISHAG CHERISHES DAVID IN HIS EXTREME AGE. (1Ki 1:1-4)
• ADONIJAH USURPS THE KINGDOM. (1Ki. 1:5-31)
• SOLOMON, BY DAVID'S APPOINTMENT, IS ANOINTED KING. (1Ki. 1:32-49)
• ADONIJAH, FLEEING TO THE HORNS OF THE ALTAR, IS DISMISSED BY SOLOMON. (1Ki 1:50-53)
• DAVID DIES. (1Ki 2:1-11)
• SOLOMON SUCCEEDS HIM. (1Ki 2:12-24)
• JOAB SLAIN. (1Ki. 2:28-45)
• SHIMEI PUT TO DEATH. (1Ki 2:34-46)
• SOLOMON MARRIES PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER. (1Ki 3:1)
• HIGH PLACES BEING IN USE, HE SACRIFICES AT GIBEON. (1Ki 3:2-5)
• HE CHOOSES WISDOM. (1Ki 3:6-15)
• HIS JUDGMENT BETWEEN TWO HARLOTS. (1Ki 3:16-28)
• SOLOMON'S PRINCES. (1Ki 4:1-6)
• HIS TWELVE OFFICERS. (1Ki 4:7-21)
• HIS WISDOM. (1Ki 4:29-34)
• HIRAM SENDS TO CONGRATULATE SOLOMON. (1Ki 5:1-6)
• FURNISHES TIMBER TO BUILD THE TEMPLE. (1Ki 5:7-12)
• SOLOMON'S WORKMEN AND LABORERS. (1Ki 5:13-18)
• THE BUILDING OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE. (1Ki 6:1-4)
• THE CHAMBERS THEREOF. (1Ki 6:5-10)
• GOD'S PROMISES UNTO IT. (1Ki 6:11-14)
• THE CEILING AND ADORNING OF IT. (1Ki 6:15-22)
• THE TIME TAKEN TO BUILD IT. (1Ki 6:37-38)
• BUILDING OF SOLOMON'S HOUSE. (1Ki 7:1)
• OF THE HOUSE OF LEBANON. (1Ki 7:2-7)
• HIRAM'S WORKS. (1Ki. 7:13-51)
• THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. (1Ki 8:1-12)
• SOLOMON'S BLESSING. (1Ki 8:12-21)
• HIS PRAYER. (1Ki. 8:22-61)
• HIS SACRIFICE OF PEACE OFFERING. (1Ki 8:62-64)
• THE PEOPLE JOYFUL. (1Ki 8:65)
• GOD'S COVENANT IN A SECOND VISION WITH SOLOMON. (1Ki 9:1-9)
• THE MUTUAL PRESENTS OF SOLOMON AND HIRAM. (1Ki 9:10-23)
• SOLOMON'S YEARLY SACRIFICES. (1Ki 9:24-28)
• THE QUEEN OF SHEBA ADMIRES THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON. (1Ki 10:1-13)
• HIS RICHES. (1Ki. 10:14-29)
• SOLOMON'S WIVES AND CONCUBINES IN HIS OLD AGE. (1Ki 11:1-8)
• GOD THREATENS HIM. (1Ki 11:9-13)
• REFUSING THE OLD MEN'S COUNSEL. (1Ki 12:1-5)
• JEROBOAM MADE KING OVER THEM. (1Ki 12:20-33)
• JEROBOAM'S HAND WITHERS. (1Ki. 13:1-22)
• THE DISOBEDIENT PROPHET SLAIN BY A LION. (1Ki 13:23-32)
• AHIJAH DENOUNCES GOD'S JUDGMENTS AGAINST JEROBOAM. (1Ki. 14:1-20)
• REHOBOAM'S WICKED REIGN. (1Ki 14:21-24)
• SHISHAK SPOILS JERUSALEM. (1Ki 14:25-31)
• ABIJAM'S WICKED REIGN OVER JUDAH. (1Ki 15:1-8)
• ASA'S GOOD REIGN. (1Ki 15:9-22)
• NADAB'S WICKED REIGN. (1Ki 15:25-34)
• JEHU'S PROPHECY AGAINST BAASHA. (1Ki 16:1-8)
• ZIMRI'S CONSPIRACY. (1Ki 16:9-22)
• OMRI BUILDS SAMARIA. (1Ki 16:23-28)
• JOSHUA'S CURSE FULFILLED UPON HIEL THE BUILDER OF JERICHO. (1Ki 16:34)
• ELIJAH, PROPHESYING AGAINST AHAB, IS SENT TO CHERITH. (1Ki 17:1-7)
• HE IS SENT TO A WIDOW OF ZAREPHATH. (1Ki 17:8-16)
• HE RAISES HER SON TO LIFE. (1Ki 17:17-24)
• ELIJAH MEETS OBADIAH. (1Ki. 18:1-16)
• ELIJAH, BY PRAYER, OBTAINS RAIN. (1Ki 18:41-46)
• ELIJAH FLEES TO BEER-SHEBA. (1Ki 19:1-3)
• ELISHA FOLLOWS ELIJAH. (1Ki 19:19-21)
• BEN-HADAD BESIEGES SAMARIA. (1Ki 20:1-12)
• THE SYRIANS ARE SLAIN. (1Ki 20:13-20)
• A PROPHET REPROVES HIM. (1Ki 20:35-42)
• NABOTH REFUSES AHAB HIS VINEYARD. (1Ki 21:1-4)
• JEZEBEL CAUSES NABOTH TO BE STONED. (1Ki 21:5-16)
• ELIJAH DENOUNCES JUDGMENTS AGAINST AHAB AND JEZEBEL. (1Ki 21:17-29)
• AHAB SLAIN AT RAMOTH-GILEAD. (1Ki. 22:1-36)

TSK: 1 Kings 21 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

1Ki 21:1, Ahab being denied Naboth’s vineyard, is grieved; 1Ki 21:5, Jezebel writing letters against Naboth, he is condemned of blasphemy; 1Ki 21:15, Ahab take possession of the vineyard; 1Ki 21:17, Elijah denounces judgments against Ahab and Jezebel; 1Ki 21:25, Wicked Ahab repenting, God defers the judgment.

Poole: 1 Kings (Book Introduction)

FIRST BOOK OF KINGS COMMONLY CALLED

THE THIRD BOOK OF THE KINGS

THE ARGUMENT

THESE two Books called Of the Kings, because they treat of the kings of Judah and Israel, were written by the prophets, or holy men of God, living in or near their several times, and by some one of them digested into this order. But whoever was the penman, that these are a part of those Holy Scriptures which were Divinely inspired is sufficiently evident first,

From the concurring testimony of the whole Jewish church in all ages, to whom were committed the oracles of God, Rom 3:2 , who also did faithfully discharge their duty in preserving and delivering them entirely and truly to their posterity from time to time, as plainly appears, because Christ and his apostles, who reproved them freely for their several sins, never taxed them with this fault, of depraving the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament. Secondly, Because this is manifest concerning divers parcels of them which were taken out of the records of the prophets Nathan, Ahijah, and Iddo, 2Ch 9:29 , and out of the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah; and the rest doubtless were of the same nature.

Thirdly, From the approbation of these books by the New Testament, both generally, as 2Ti 3:16 , All Scripture is given by inspiration from God, &c., which is affirmed concerning all those Holy Scriptures which Timothy had known, from a child, 2Ti 3:15 , and therefore must necessarily be meant of all the books of the Old Testament, which the Jews owned for canonical Scripture; and particularly Rom 11:2,3 , &c., where a passage out of these books is quoted and owned as a part of the Holy Scripture, called the Scripture by way of eminency.

Poole: 1 Kings 21 (Chapter Introduction)

KINGS CHAPTER 21

Ahab coveteth to buy Naboth’ s vineyard; which is denied him, and he is grieved, 1Ki 21:1-4 . Jezebel writeth letters against Naboth; he is condemned of blasphemy, and stoned, 1Ki 21:5-14 . Ahab possesseth the vineyard, 1Ki 21:15,16 . Elijah denounceth judgment against Ahab and Jezebel, 1Ki 21:17-26 . He repenting, God deferreth the judgment, 1Ki 21:27-29 .

MHCC: 1 Kings (Book Introduction)

The history now before us accounts for the affairs of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, yet with special regard to the kingdom of God among them; for it is a sacred history. It is earlier as to time, teaches much more, and is more interesting than any common histories.

MHCC: 1 Kings 21 (Chapter Introduction)

(1Ki 21:1-4) Ahab covets Naboth's vineyard.

(1Ki 21:5-16) Naboth murdered by Jezebel.

(1Ki 21:17-29) Elijah denounces judgments against Ahab.

Matthew Henry: 1 Kings (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The First Book of Kings

Many histories are books of kings and their reigns, to which the affairs of their kingdoms are reduced; this is a piece of honour that has commonly been paid to crowned heads. The holy Scripture is the history of the kingdom of God among men, under the several administrations of it; but there the King is one and his name one. The particular history now before us accounts for the affairs of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, yet with special regard to the kingdom of God among them; for still it is a sacred history, much more instructive and not less entertaining than any of the histories of the kings of the earth, to which (those of them that are of any certainty) it is prior in time; for though there were kings in Edom before there was any king in Israel, Gen 36:31 (foreigners, in that point of state, got the precedency), yet the history of the kings of Israel lives, and will live, in holy Writ, to the end of the world, whereas that of the kings of Edom is long since buried in oblivion; for the honour that comes from God is durable, while the honour of the world is like a mushroom, which comes up in a night and perishes in a night. - The Bible began with the story of patriarchs, and prophets, and judges, men whose converse with heaven was more immediate, the record of which strengthens our faith, but is not so easily accommodated to our case, now that we expect not visions, as the subsequent history of affairs like ours under the direction of common providence; and here also we find, though not many types and figures of the Messiah, yet great expectations of him; for not only prophets, but kings, desired to see the great mysteries of the gospel, Luk 10:24 - The two books of Samuel are introductions to the books of the Kings, as they relate the origin of the royal government in Saul and of the royal family in David. These two books give us an account of David's successor, Solomon, the division of his kingdom, and the succession of the several kings both of Judah and Israel, with an abstract of their history down to the captivity. And as from the book of Genesis we may collect excellent rules of economics, for the good governing of families, so from these books we may collect rules of politics, for the directing of public affairs. There is in these books special regard had to the house and lineage of David, from which Christ came. Some of his sons trod in his steps, and others did not. The characters of the kings of Judah may be thus briefly given: - David the devout, Solomon the wise, Rehoboam the simple, Abijah the valiant, Asa the upright, Jehoshaphat the religious, Jehoram the wicked, Ahaziah the profane, Joash the backslider, Amaziah the rash, Uzziah the mighty, Jotham the peaceable, Ahaz the idolater, Hezekiah the reformer, Manasseh the penitent, Amon the obscure, Josiah the tender-hearted, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, all wicked, and such as brought ruin quickly on themselves and their kingdom. The number of the good and bad is nearly equal, but the reigns of the good were generally long and those of the bad short, the consideration of which will make the state of Israel not altogether so bad in this period as at first it seems. In this first book we have, I. The death of David, ch. 1 and 2. II. The glorious reign of Solomon, and his building the temple (ch. 3-10), but the cloud his sun set under, ch. 11. III. The division of the kingdoms in Rehoboam, and his reign and Jeroboam's, ch. 12-14. IV. The reigns of Abijah and Asa over Judah, Baasha and Omri over Israel, ch. 15 and 16. V. Elijah's miracles, ch. 17-19. VI. Ahab's success against Benhadad, his wickedness and fall, ch. 20-22. And in all this history it appears that kings, though gods to us, are men to God, mortal and accountable.

Matthew Henry: 1 Kings 21 (Chapter Introduction)

Ahab is still the unhappy subject of the sacred history; from the great affairs of his camp and kingdom this chapter leads us into his garden, and gives us an account of some ill things (and ill indeed they proved to him) relating to his domestic affairs. I. Ahab is sick for Naboth's vineyard (1Ki 21:1-4). II. Naboth dies by Jezebel's plot, that the vineyard may escheat to Ahab (1Ki 21:5-14). III. Ahab goes to take possession (1Ki 21:15-16). IV. Elijah meets him, and denounces the judgments of God against him for his injustice (1Ki 21:17-24). V. Upon his humiliation a reprieve is granted (1Ki 21:25-29).

Constable: 1 Kings (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The Books of 1 and 2 Kings received their names because they document the reigns of the 40 kings of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah following David.¹

In the Hebrew Bible 1 and 2 Kings were one book until the sixteenth century. The ancients regarded them as the continuation of the narrative begun in Samuel. The Septuagint (Greek) translation of the Hebrew text, dating from about 250 B.C., was the first to divide Kings into two books. That division has continued to the present day. The Septuagint translators, however, called these two books 3 and 4 Kingdoms. First and 2 Kingdoms were our 1 and 2 Samuel. Jerome's Vulgate (Latin) translation, which dates about A.D. 400, changed the name from Kingdoms to Kings.

"The English Bible presents the books primarily as historical accounts. Their placement next to 1, 2 Chronicles demonstrates the collectors' interest in detailing all the events of Israel's history. In contrast, the Hebrew Bible places Joshua-Kings with the prophets, which highlights their common viewpoints. This decision implies that 1, 2 Kings are being treated as proclamation and history."²

Writer and Date

Most Old Testament scholars today believe several different individuals wrote and edited Kings because of theories concerning textual transmission that have gained popularity in the last 150 years. However, many conservatives have continued to follow the older tradition of the church that one individual probably put Kings together.³ This view finds support in the stylistic and linguistic features that run through the whole work and make it read like the product of a single writer. Some of these features are the way the writer described and summarized each king's reign, the consistent basis on which he evaluated all the kings, and recurring phrases and terms.

The identity of the writer is unknown today and has been for centuries. Ancient Jewish tradition suggested Ezra or Ezekiel as possible writers since both of these men were biblical writers who lived after the Babylonian exile. The record of King Jehoiachin's release from Babylonian captivity (2 Kings 25:27-30) points to a date of final composition sometime after that event. Jeremiah has traditional Talmudic support as well though he never went to Babylon but died in Egypt. Of course, someone else may have written Kings. Scholars have suggested these men only because they were famous writers who lived when Kings reached its final form.

Most non-conservatives date Kings considerably later than the sixth or fifth centuries.⁴

Scope

The historical period Kings covers totals about 413 years. The events that frame this period were Solomon's coronation as co-regent with David (973 B.C.) and Jehoiachin's release from Babylonian exile (560 B.C.).

However, most of Kings deals with the period that spans Solomon's coronation and the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C., a period of 387 years. In terms of the temple, at the beginning we see the temple built and at the end the temple burnt.

". . . 1, 2 Kings present Israel's history as a series of events that describe how and why the nation fell from the heights of national prosperity to the depths of conquest and exile."⁵

"More specifically, 1, 2 Kings explain how and why Israel lost the land it fought so hard to win in Joshua and worked so hard to organize in Judges and 1, 2 Samuel."⁶

"Plot relates the causes and effects in a story. Thus, the story line in 1, 2 Kings may be that Israel went into exile, but the plot is Israel went into exile because of its unfaithfulness to God. To make cause and effect unfold, plots normally have at least two basic aspects: conflict and resolution. A plot's conflict is the tension in a story that makes it an interesting account, while a plot's resolution is the way the conflict is settled. How the author develops these two components usually decides the shape and effectiveness of the plot."⁷

This historical period is more than twice that of the one the Books of Samuel covered, which was about 150 years in length. The Book of Judges covers about 300 years of Israel's history.

The dates of the kings of Israel and Judah that I have used in the following notes are those of Edwin Thiele.⁸ He has worked out the many problems regarding these dates more satisfactorily than anyone else in the opinion of most scholars.⁹

Message¹⁰

The fact that this book opens and closes with death should be a clue as to its message.

It opens with David's death, and it closes with Ahab's death. The intervening period of about a century and a half is a story of national decline, disruption, disintegration, and disaster. Israel and Judah passed from affluence and influence to poverty and paralysis.

There is an emphasis in this book on thrones.

Obviously there were the thrones of Judah and Israel on earth with their kings who succeeded one another. However there is also the throne in heaven with its one King. Rehoboam and Jeroboam had their successors, the kings who replaced one another. Yahweh also in a sense had His successors, the prophets who replaced one another as His messengers to the people. While the kings remind us of the thrones on earth, the prophets remind us of the throne in heaven.

The thrones on earth present a story of disruption, disintegration, and disaster in both kingdoms, Judah and Israel. This trend continued despite changes in the methods the various rulers employed to govern their people.

Solomon's method of government was oppression. He taxed the people greatly and conscripted them into government service. The result was material magnificence. He multiplied riches and manifested great displays in the temple, the palace, and throughout his kingdom. He increased the military strength of the nation. Nevertheless in the process he ground down the people. The state became more important than the people. The testimony to this appears in 12:4. The result was dissatisfaction with Solomon's method of government.

In reaction to this method Rehoboam chose a new method of government: autocracy. He decided to tighten his grip on the people so he could control them (12:14). He believed the people should trust in their rulers, but he did not trust in God. Consequently he failed. Autocracy led to revolution (12:16).

Jeroboam chose a third method of government: democracy. He let the people determine how they would live. While this resulted in more pleasant conditions for the people, it also resulted in ultimate disaster for his nation. Notice what democracy produced in Jeroboam's day: 12:27-29. People cannot rule themselves effectively. We need God to govern us. Jeroboam believed rulers should trust in the people, but he did not trust in God. Consequently he failed. He made religion convenient, and the people became corrupt (12:30-31).

Rehoboam's successors in Judah chose a method of government we could call government by policy. That is, they chose to follow precedent, the pattern of their predecessors, rather than getting and following God's direction for their nation. There were some exceptions to this approach, but on the whole this was Judah's method of government.

Jeroboam's successors in Israel, however, chose a different method of government: selfishness. The kings of Israel cared little for the people of Israel. What concerned them primarily was what they could get out of being king for themselves. That is why the story of the kingdom of Israel is a story of intrigue, assassinations, and much bloodshed.

In summary, every form of human government results in disastrous failure if people do not acknowledge God's sovereignty. People cannot govern themselves effectively. The result is always decline, disruption, and disintegration. This is one of the great revelations of 1 Kings.

However there is another throne in view in this book: the throne in heaven. Whereas 1 Kings reveals that human government always fails, it also reveals that God's government never fails. There are two ways God exercised His kingship over His people during Israel's monarchy.

First, He broke in on human life with messages that the prophets delivered. Ahijah announced the division of the kingdom (11:26-39). Later he announced the death of Jeroboam's son (14:4-16). Shemaiah directed Rehoboam not to fight against Jeroboam (12:21-24). An unnamed prophet announced the fate of Jeroboam's altar (13:1-10). Jehu announced Baasha's doom (16:1-4). Elijah vindicated Yahweh in the days of Ahab's apostasy (chs. 17-21). Another unnamed prophet rebuked Ahab for allowing Ben-Hadad to escape (20:35-43). Micaiah foretold Israel's scattering (22:8-28). These are all evidences that God was governing His people independently of the kings when they forgot Him. The heavenly throne ruled in spite of the earthly thrones.

The second way God exercised His rule, in addition to sending messages by the prophets, was by directly and indirectly intervening in the lives of His people. He appeared and spoke directly to Solomon, which resulted in the building of the temple. He raised up an adversary to Solomon, namely Jeroboam. He slew Abijah. He withheld rain and brought famine. He sent fire from heaven on Mt. Carmel. He sent rain. He appeared to Elijah in an earthquake. He enticed Ahab into battle through the mouths of lying prophets.

In short, God ruled by exercising direct and indirect influence over people, by directly intervening and by controlling circumstances occasionally. He manipulated history. God sits in perfect control and continuity over all the human chaos that peoples' failure to rule themselves causes.

The message of the book, therefore, is that when people exclude God, every method of human government will fail; but even so God is still on His throne and is in control.

If people exclude God, every method of government ends in disaster. Even though in Solomon's reign the king emphasized religious forms and ceremonies, internal development, foreign treaties, and intellectual attainment, his oppression did not bring stability and peace. Autocracy will end in revolution eventually. Democracy that locks God out can result in the most terrible consequences for the people whose interests it professes to advocate. Government by policy can only deteriorate. Selfish rulers will only rape their nations.

Man cannot govern himself because he does not know himself apart from God's Word. How can he govern others about whom he knows even less? If people do not submit to the throne in heaven, no matter what method of government they choose, they will fail. As Christians, we must remember who is in control. We must look beyond our government to our God.

First Kings also reveals God's method in the midst of human failures.

First, when a throne on earth rebels against the throne in heaven God abandons that throne on earth. He separated Himself from it. He allowed the evil choices of the rulers to work themselves out to their inevitable consequences. Departure leads to disaster. Apostasy results in awful consequences (cf. Rom. 1).

Second, God keeps some consciousness of Himself and His government alive in the hearts and minds of a remnant. The prophets spoke. All Christians exercise that ministry today. We should speak for God to our generation.

Third, God maintains ultimate control. He controls history directly and indirectly so His purposes get accomplished. The Christian never needs to panic. God has revealed His plan for history. Knowledge of the Word should give us stability in uncertain times.

What I have said is true on the national scale is also true on the individual level. If a person excludes God from his or her life, no matter how the person may live, he or she will fail. We can resist God's authority, but we cannot overcome it. People only break themselves by refusing to submit to the throne in heaven. People need reminding of the throne in heaven. These principles have worked out throughout history. God's plan moves ahead.

Constable: 1 Kings (Outline)

Outline

I. The reign of Solomon chs. 1-11

A. Solomon's succession to David's throne 1:1-2:12

1. David's declining health 1:1-4

2. Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne 1:5-53

3. David's charge to Solomon 2:1-9

4. David's death 2:10-12

B. The foundation of Solomon's reign 2:13-4:34

1. Solomon's purges 2:13-46

2. Solomon's wisdom from God ch. 3

3. Solomon's political strength ch. 4

C. Solomon's greatest contribution chs. 5-8

1. Preparations for building ch. 5

2. Temple construction ch. 6

3. Solomon's palace 7:1-12

4. The temple furnishings 7:13-51

5. The temple dedication ch. 8

D. The fruits of Solomon's reign chs. 9-11

1. God's covenant with Solomon 9:1-9

2. Further evidences of God's blessing 9:10-28

3. Solomon's greatness ch. 10

4. Solomon's apostasy ch. 11

II. The divided kingdom -1 Kings 12-2 Kings 17

A. The first period of antagonism 12:1-16:28

1. The division of the kingdom ch. 12

2. Jeroboam's evil reign in Israel 12:25-14:20

3. Rehoboam's evil reign in Judah 14:21-31

4. Abijam's evil reign in Judah 15:1-8

5. Asa's good reign in Judah 15:9-24

6. Nadab's evil reign in Israel 15:25-32

7. Baasha's evil reign in Israel 15:33-16:7

8. Elah's evil reign in Israel 16:8-14

9. Zimri's evil reign in Israel 16:15-20

10. Omri's evil reign in Israel 16:21-28

B. The period of alliance -1 Kings 16:29-2 Kings 9:29

1. Ahab's evil reign in Israel 16:29-22:40

2. Jehoshaphat's good reign in Judah 22:41-50

3. Ahaziah's evil reign in Israel -1 Kings 22:51-2 Kings 1:18

(Continued in notes on 2 Kings)

One writer observed that a chiastic structure marks the Books of Kings.¹¹

A Solomon/United Monarchy -- 1 Kings 1:1-11:25

B Jeroboam/Rehoboam; the division of the kingdom -- 1 Kings 11:26-14:31

C Kings of Judah/Israel -- 1 Kings 15:1-16:22

D The Omride dynasty; the rise and fall of the Baal cult in Israel and Judah -- -1 Kings 16:23-2 Kings 12

C' Kings of Judah/Israel -- 2 Kings 13-16

B' The fall of the Northern Kingdom -- 2 Kings 17

A' The Kingdom of Judah -- 2 Kings 18-25.

Constable: 1 Kings

1 Kings

Bibliography

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: 1 Kings (Book Introduction)

THE THIRD BOOK OF KINGS.

INTRODUCTION.

This and the following Book are called by the holy Fathers, The Third and Fourth Book of Kings; but by the Hebrews, the First and Second. They contain the history of the kingdoms of Israel and Juda, from the beginning of the reign of Solomon to the captivity. As to the writer of these books, it seem most probable they were not written by one man, nor at one time; but as there was all along a succession of prophets in Israel, who recorded, by divine inspiration, the most remarkable things that happened in their days, these books seem to have been written by these prophets. See 2 Paralipomenon, alias 2 Chronicles ix. 29., xii. 15., xiii. 22., xx. 34., xxvi. 22., and xxxii. 32. (Challoner) --- This book informs us of the death of David, chap. ii. 11, where some Greek copies concluded the second book "of the reigns or kingdoms," as they style all the four books. Theodoret and Diodorus follow this division. The point is of no consequence; and the Hebrew editions have often varied. Origen observes, that the Jews denoted these two books from the first words, "Ouammelech David." (Eusebius, Hist. vi. 25.) (Haydock) --- In St. Jerome's time, the four books made only two. The present book details the actions of Solomon, (Calmet) till the end of the 12th chapter. Then we behold the division of the kingdom: Roboam, Abias, Asa, and Josaphat, reign over Juda; Jeroboam, &c., over Israel; while the prophets Abias, Elias, Eliseus, appear in the remaining eleven chapters. (Worthington) --- Though the memoirs seem to have been left by contemporary authors, (Haydock) one, and most probably Esdras, made the compilation, after the captivity, inserting frequently the very words of his authors, yet so as to make some additional reflections. (Calmet) --- The Rabbins generally attribute the work to Jeremias. (Haydock) --- He is more attentive to the house of David, and to display the rewards of the piety, and the punishment of vice, as well as the glory of the temple and of religion, than to describe the military exploits, which occupy so much of the profane history. (Calmet)

Gill: 1 Kings (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS

This, and the following book, properly are but one book, divided into two parts, and went with the Jews under the common name of Kings. This, in the Syriac version, is called the Book of Kings; and in the Arabic version, the Book of Solomon, the Son of David the Prophet, because it begins with his reign upon the death of his father; and, in the Vulgate Latin version, the Third Book of Kings, the two preceding books of Samuel being sometimes called the First and Second Books of Kings, they containing the reigns of Saul and David; and in the Septuagint version both this and the following book are called Kingdoms, because they treat of the kingdom of Israel and Judah, after the division in the times of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, and of the several kings of them; as of Solomon before the division, so afterwards of the kings of Judah; Rehoboam, Abijam, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Jehoash, Amaziah, Uzziah or Azariah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah; and of the kings of Israel, Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam the son of Joash, Zachariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and Hoshea; so that these books may, with great propriety, be called the books or histories of the kings in the two kingdoms of Judah and Israel: who they were written by, is not easy to say; some think they were written by piecemeal by the prophets that lived in the several reigns successively, as Nathan, Ahijah the Shilonite, Iddo, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and afterwards put together by an inspired writer. The Jews commonly say ^a, that Jeremiah wrote the book of the Kings, by which they mean this, and the following book; though very probably they were written by Ezra, since the history in them is carried down to the liberty granted to Jehoiachin in Babylon; but that Ezra was the writer of all the preceding historical books, and even of the Pentateuch, cannot be admitted, which is the conceit of Spinosa ^b; part of whose tract is just now republished by somebody, word for word, under a title as in the margin ^c; but that Ezra was not the writer of the Pentateuch is clear, since he refers to it as written by Moses, and as the rule of religion and worship in his times, Ezr 3:2; and it is certain these writings were in being in the times of Josiah, Amaziah, Joash, yea, of David, and even of Joshua, 2Ch 34:14; and as for the book of Joshua, that also was written long before Ezra's time; it must be written long before the times of David, before the Jebusites were expelled from Jerusalem, since the writer of it says, that they dwelt there in his days, Jos 15:63; the book of Judges must be written before the times of Samuel and David, since the former refers to the annals of it, 1Sa 12:9; and the latter alludes to some passages in it, Psa 68:7; see Jdg 5:4; and a speech of Joab's, 2Sa 11:21, shows it to be an history then extant: to which may be added, that in it Jerusalem is called Jebus, Jdg 19:10; which it never was, after it was taken by David out of the hands of the Jebusites, 2Sa 5:6; the book of Ruth very probably was written by Samuel; had it been of a later date, or written by Ezra, the genealogy with which it concludes, would doubtless have been carried further than to David: the Book of Samuel, and particularly the song of Hannah in it, were written in all probability before the penning of the hundred thirteenth psalm, Psa 113:1, in which some expressions seem to be taken from it wherefore, though the two books of Kings may be allowed to be written or compiled by Ezra, the ten preceding ones cannot be assigned to him: however, there is no room to doubt of the divine authority of these two books, when the honour our Lord has done them is observed, by quoting or referring to several histories in them; as to the account of the queen of Sheba coming to hear the wisdom of Solomon; of the famine in the times of Elijah; and of that prophet being sent to the widow of Sarepta, and of the cleansing of Naaman the Syrian in the times of Elisha, Mat 12:42 from 1Ki 17:1 2Ki 5:10; to which may be added, the quotations and references made by the apostles to passages in them, as by the Apostle Paul in Rom 11:2 from 1Ki 19:14 where this book is expressly called the Scripture; and by the Apostle James, Jam 5:17; who manifestly refers to 1Ki 17:1; and there are various things in this part of Scripture, which are confirmed by the testimonies of Heathen writers, as will be observed in the exposition of it. The use of these books is to carry on the history of the Jewish nation, to show the state of the church of God in those times, and his providential care of it amidst all the changes and vicissitudes in the state; and, above all, to transmit to us the true genealogy of the Messiah, which serves to confirm the Evangelist Matthew's account of it.

Gill: 1 Kings 21 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 21

In this chapter we have an account of Ahab's design to have Naboth's vineyard, for which he offered him another, or the value of that, but Naboth refusing to part with it, Ahab fell sick, 1Ki 21:1, the reason of which being found out by Jezebel, she devised means to get Naboth put to death under the colour of justice for blasphemy, 1Ki 21:5, and then bid Ahab go and take possession of the vineyard, where he was met by Elijah, who denounced the judgments of God upon him, and Jezebel, and all his family, for his injustice, 1Ki 21:15, but he humbling himself, the evil threatened was deferred to the days of his son, 1Ki 21:27.