1 Kings 21

Some time after these events, a man named Naboth from Jezreel owned a vineyard. It was in Jezreel, right next to the palace of Ahab, the king who ruled from Samaria.

1And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

NoteSamaria was the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel; calling Ahab "king of Samaria" identifies him by his capital, the way one might say "the government in Washington." Jezreel was a separate town about twenty miles north, where the king kept a second residence, so Naboth's family plot lay directly under the palace windows.

2Ahab said to Naboth, "Give me your vineyard so I can use it as a vegetable garden, since it is close to my house. I will give you a better vineyard in its place. Or, if you would rather, I will pay you what it is worth in silver."

2And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

NoteThere were no coins in Israel at this period. Payment "in silver" meant lumps or pieces of silver weighed out on a balance. Ahab's offer is a normal one on its face: either a swap of land or a cash purchase.

3Naboth said to Ahab, "May the LORD keep me from ever giving you the land I inherited from my fathers."

3And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.

NoteUnder Israelite land custom, a family's farmland was not simply property to be sold. It was the portion allotted to that family's ancestors when the land was divided, held in trust and passed down; land sold under hardship was meant to return to the family in the year of Jubilee. Naboth is not haggling over price: he is saying the sale is one he is not free to make.

4So Ahab went home sullen and angry because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him: "I will not give you the land I inherited from my fathers." He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and would not eat anything.

4And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

5His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, "Why are you so gloomy that you will not eat?"

5But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?

6He answered her, "Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, 'Sell me your vineyard, or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.' And he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'"

6And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard.

7His wife Jezebel said to him, "Aren't you the one who rules Israel? Get up, eat some food, and cheer up. I will get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."

7And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

NoteThe Hebrew of Jezebel's opening line can be read either as a question, "Are you not the one who rules Israel?", or as a flat statement, "You are the one who exercises kingship over Israel." Either way it is a jab: in the kingdoms Jezebel came from, a king who wanted a field took it.

8So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, stamped them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and leading men who lived in Naboth's city, in the same town as he did.

8So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.

NoteA seal was a small carved stone, worn on a cord or ring, pressed into wet clay or wax on a document. It functioned as a signature and proof of authority, so letters bearing Ahab's seal carried the king's own command. The "elders and leading men" were the town's local leadership, who heard legal cases and gave judgment, normally in the open space just inside the town gate.

9This is what she wrote in the letters: "Announce a public fast, and give Naboth a seat of honor in front of the people.

9And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:

NoteA public fast was called when a community believed some serious wrong or hidden guilt had brought trouble on it. Calling one sets the stage: it puts the town in the mood to look for a guilty party. Seating Naboth at the head of the assembly puts the most prominent man of the town in plain view of everyone, so that the charge against him will be made in front of the whole community.

10Then seat two worthless men across from him to testify against him, saying, 'You have cursed God and the king.' Then take him outside and stone him to death."

10And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.

Note"Sons of Belial" in the King James is a word-for-word carry-over of a Hebrew phrase meaning something like "men of worthlessness" (good-for-nothings, scoundrels. It is not a personal name. Two witnesses were the legal minimum needed to convict in a capital case, which is why exactly two are hired. The Hebrew verb behind "blaspheme" or "curse" here is literally "bless") copyists substituted the opposite word rather than write the phrase "curse God" out in full. Cursing God carried the death penalty, and a man executed as a traitor could have his land forfeited, which is how the vineyard becomes available.

11The men of Naboth's city, that is, the elders and leading men who lived there, did exactly what Jezebel had told them, just as she had written in the letters she sent them.

11And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.

12They announced a public fast and gave Naboth a seat of honor in front of the people.

12They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.

13Two worthless men came in and sat across from him. In front of everyone, they testified against Naboth, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.

13And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.

NoteExecutions by stoning were carried out outside the town, and the witnesses who gave the testimony threw the first stones.

14Then they sent word to Jezebel: "Naboth has been stoned, and he is dead."

14Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

15When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, "Get up and take the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, the one he refused to sell you. Naboth is not alive anymore. He is dead."

15And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.

16When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to take it for himself.

16And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

17Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah, who was from Tishbe. The LORD said,

17And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

NoteTishbe was a village in Gilead, the hill country east of the Jordan River, a detail that marks Elijah as an outsider to the royal court.

18"Get up and go down to meet Ahab, king of Israel, who rules from Samaria. Right now he is in Naboth's vineyard, where he has gone to take it for himself.

18Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.

19Say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: Have you murdered a man and also taken his land?' Then say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: In the very place where dogs licked up Naboth's blood, dogs will lick up your blood too, yes, yours.'"

19And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.

NoteDogs in this world were not pets but half-wild scavengers around the edges of towns. To have one's blood licked by dogs, or one's body eaten by them, meant dying unburied and picked over, the most humiliating end imaginable.

20Ahab said to Elijah, "So you have found me, my enemy." Elijah answered, "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD.

20And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.

Note"Sold yourself" is an idiom: to hand yourself over completely, like a man selling himself into slavery, so that you belong to what you have chosen.

21The LORD says: I am going to bring disaster on you. I will sweep away your descendants and cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, whether slave or free.

21Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,

NoteThe King James "him that pisseth against the wall" is a literal rendering of a blunt Hebrew idiom meaning simply "every male." The phrase translated "him that is shut up and left" is genuinely obscure; it is a paired expression meaning something like "bond and free" or "every last one," and its exact sense is disputed.

22I will make your family like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the family of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have stirred up my anger and led Israel into sin.

22And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.

NoteJeroboam and Baasha were earlier kings of the northern kingdom whose entire families were wiped out when their dynasties fell. Naming them tells Ahab precisely what fate is being announced for his own line.

23The LORD also spoke about Jezebel. He said, "The dogs will eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel."

23And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.

NoteSome Hebrew manuscripts read "by the rampart of Jezreel" and others "in the plot of ground at Jezreel"; the two words differ by a single letter.

24Anyone in Ahab's family who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies out in the open country will be eaten by the birds.

24Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.

NoteDeath in the city or in the open country, with dogs or birds as scavengers, is a standard formula in ancient curses covering every possibility, wherever a person dies, no one will bury him.

25There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, with his wife Jezebel urging him on.

25But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

26He did utterly detestable things by following idols, exactly as the Amorites had done, the people the LORD drove out ahead of the Israelites.

26And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

NoteThe Amorites were one of the peoples living in Canaan before Israel; in this kind of sentence the name often stands for the earlier inhabitants of the land in general.

27When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put rough sackcloth against his skin, and went without food. He slept in the sackcloth and walked around quietly and subdued.

27And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.

NoteTearing one's clothes was the standard public sign of grief or shock. Sackcloth was coarse cloth woven from dark goat hair, scratchy and worn next to the skin as a visible sign of mourning or self-abasement. "Went softly" translates a Hebrew phrase of uncertain force: it suggests moving slowly and quietly, with the bearing of a man in mourning.

28Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah, who was from Tishbe. The LORD said,

28And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

29"Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster during his lifetime. I will bring it on his family in his son's days."

29Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.