1 Kings 21

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THREE GREAT CRISES IN ISRAEL

1 Kings 19:1 to 1 Kings 21:29

Three great crises which occurred during the reign of Ahab are discussed in Chapter s 19-21. These crises were very different from one another. The first one was spiritual in nature and pertains to that great theocratic trooper Elijah who, because of overwhelming discouragement, had momentarily become inoperative as far as the great struggle against Baal was concerned (1 Kings 19:1-21). An invasion by Benhadad of Damascus triggered the second crisis (1 Kings 20:1-43). The third crisisa social onethreatened to disrupt the very fabric of Israelite society (1 Kings 21:1-29).

REVIEW OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I. FACTS TO MASTER

A. Important persons to identify in relation to this chapter:

1. Hazael

2. Ahab

3. Jehu

4. Naboth

5. Elisha

6. Jezebel

7. Benhadad

8. Elijah

B. Important places in this chapter to identify:

1. Beersheba

2. Aphek

3. Abel-meholah

4. Damascus

5. Horeb

6. Jezreel

7. Samaria

C. Important numbers to know:

Number of days it took Elijah to travel from the juniper tree to Horeb

Number in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal

Number of pairs of oxen plowing in a field

Number of kings who accompanied Benhadad during his attempted siege of Samaria

Number of young men Ahab used in gaining the victory over Benhadad

Number of troops Ahab had in Samaria

Number of Arameans smitten in the battle of Aphek

Number of Arameans killed when a wall fell

Number of witnesses who testified against Naboth

D. Words and phrases which should recall to mind key events in this chapter:

1. juniper tree

2. a lion will kill you

3. bread cake

4. bandage over his eyes

5. cave

6. talent of silver

7. wind, earthquake, fire

8. vineyard

9. still small voice

10. seal

11. sword

12. fast

13. drinking himself drunk

14. stones

15. gods of the mountains

16. dogs

17. ropes on their heads

II. QUESTIONS TO PONDER

A caption for chapter 19 might be God’s Cure for the Blues. What does God do to aid Elijah in this period of deep discouragement?

Why did God provide food for Elijah under the juniper tree? To what extent was Elijah’s mental attitude and outlook affected by his lack of rest and low physical ebb?

What lessons did Elijah learn at Horeb?

Why did Elijah flee all the way to Horeb? What circumstances might make a Christian retreat from the main stream of life? What does God say to those who wish to practice their religion in safe solitude?

What attributes about Elisha are revealed in chapter 19?

Why was there no rebuke for Elisha when he requested time to say good-bye to his parents?

The Naboth vineyard episode illustrates the difference in the approach of Yahwism and Baalism toward social relationships. What did Baalism champion? Yahwism?

What role do the sons of the prophets play in this section? Were they hostile or favorable toward Ahab?

What tactics did Jezebel use to secure Naboth’s vine yard for her husband? Why the fast?

Why was Elijah’s prophecy against Ahab not literally fulfilled?

Was it fair for God to delay the punishment against Ahab until the reign of his son?

What vital lessons was the wounded prophet trying to drive home to Ahab?

1 Kings 21:1-7

III. THE GREAT SOCIAL CRISIS 21:1-16

The third crisis[476] discussed in Chapter s 19-21 is of a different nature than those previously treated. Here the threat is not of external military domination, but of internal breakdown of law and order. Chapter 21 shows clearly the social breakdown of Ahab’s kingdom. Years of flirtation with pagan practices were taking their toll. The rights of individuals guaranteed in the Sinai covenant were being ignored. The king was no longer under the Law, but was superior to it. The story unfolds in four stages: (1) the covetousness of the king (1 Kings 21:1-7); (2) the conspiracy against Naboth (1 Kings 21:8-16); (3) the condemnation by Elijah (1 Kings 21:17-24); and (4) the contrition of Ahab (1 Kings 21:25-29).

[476] Chapter 21, as far as content is concerned, is a continuation of the Elijah narrative of Chapter s 17-19. The Septuagint version places this chapter immediately after chapter 19. The author of Kings must have been attempting to give a chronological assessment of Ahab’s reign in the way he arranged these Chapter s.

A. THE COVETOUSNESS OF THE KING 21:1-7

**TRANSLATION

(1) And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. (2) And Ahab spoke unto Naboth, saying, Give me your vineyard, that it may become my garden of herbs, for it is near beside my house, and I will give you in place of it a better vineyard; or if it is good in your eyes, I will give you in silver the price of it. (3) And Naboth said unto Ahab, Far be it to me from the LORD that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you. (4) And Ahab came unto his house sullen and angry over the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken unto him when he said, I will not give to you the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would not eat food. (5) And Jezebel his wife came unto him, and spoke unto him, Why is your spirit so sad, that you do not eat food? (6) And he spoke unto her, Because I spoke unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, Give me your vineyard for silver, or if you desire I will give to you a vineyard instead of it; and he said, I will not give you my vineyard. (7) And Jezebel his wife said unto him, You now are the one who governs the land of Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be merry! I will give to you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

COMMENTS**

From the royal palace in Samaria Ahab and his court would often commute to Jezreel[477] twenty-five miles to the north where the king also had a palace. Near his Jezreel palace was a plot of ground, a vineyard, possessed by a man named Naboth which Ahab dearly coveted (1 Kings 21:1). The king negotiated with Naboth for this property, offering to exchange vineyards with him, or pay him in silver whichever he desired. This vineyard was not required for the public welfare, but to satisfy a purely selfish personal whim (1 Kings 21:2). Naboth, however, was a devout worshiper of the Lord, and he would not violate the Law of Moses[478] by selling his family inheritance to one outside the family[479] (1 Kings 21:3). To pious Israelites, it was a religious duty as well as an obligation to family and tribe to preserve the inheritance. Rebuffed by this devout man, Ahab returned to the palace to give vent to childish grief. Sullen and angry he pouted in his private chamber, refusing to partake of food (1 Kings 21:4).

[477] Jezreel may have been the ancestral home of the Omrides. The place would have served ideally as a base of operations against Ramoth-gilead. Jezreel seems to have served as a winter resort for the king (1 Kings 18:45).

[478] Cf. Leviticus 25:23 ff.; Numbers 36:7 ff.

[479] Moreover the status of Naboth as a freeman was bound up with his possession of his ancestral land. To have accepted the offer of Ahab would have made him and his family royal dependents. See Gray, OTL, p. 439.

Jezebel, noting the absence of the king from the banqueting chamber, went to Ahab’s room to inquire as to the reason for his loss of appetite (1 Kings 21:5). He told his wife how Naboth had refused to sell his vineyard, but he did not mention the reason which Naboth assigned to his refusal (1 Kings 21:6). Probably he realized that Jezebel would have no understanding of the Israelite laws of family inheritance. The queen did not inquire as to the reasons for Naboth’s refusal to dispose of his property. She could not understand why her husband was so upset over the incident. After all, he was the king, was he not? So Jezebel urged her husband to leave the matter in her hands (1 Kings 21:7).

1 Kings 21:8-16

B. THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST NABOTH 21:8-16

**TRANSLATION

(8) So she wrote letters in the name of Ahab, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and unto the nobles which were in his city, dwelling with Naboth, (9) and she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people, (10) and two men, sons of Belial, before him that they may testify against him, saying, You cursed God and king; then they shall take him out, and stone him, that he may die. (11) And the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in his city, did according to that which Jezebel had sent unto them, according to that which was written in the letters which she had sent onto them. (12) They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. (13) And two of the men, sons of Belial, came and sat before him, and the men of Belial testified against him, against Naboth, before the people, saying, Naboth cursed God and king! And they brought him without the city, and stoned him with stones, and he died. (14) And they sent unto Jezebel, saying, Naboth has been stoned, and is dead. (15) And it came to pass when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said unto Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite which he refused to give you for silver; for Naboth is not alive, but dead. (16) And it came to pass when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that he arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite to possess it.

COMMENTS**

In short order Jezebel set in motion a plot which would eliminate Naboth. Letters were written in the name of the king, sealed with the royal seal, and sent to the elders[480] and nobles in Jezreel (1 Kings 21:8). These elders and judges are said to sit with Naboth, probably on the city council. One cannot be absolutely sure, but the fact that the queen used the royal seal suggests that Ahab may have been aware of what his wicked wife was up to.[481]

[480] The institution of the monarchy had not divested the elders of their former authority in the various cities. However, it is obvious that these leaders were completely subservient to the crown. They could be depended upon to execute his orders even when called upon to perform a travesty of justice. [481] On the other hand, Jezebel may have obtained control of the seal without Ahab’s knowledge.

Jezebel’s plan was brazen and simple. A fast was to be proclaimed in Jezreel as though the city had come under a curse because of some undisclosed sin. Naboth was to be seated on high, i.e., accorded his usual position as one of the elders and judges of the city (1 Kings 21:9). There must be no semblance of premeditation. During the assembly two witnesses were to raise an accusation against Naboth and testify against him. These sons of Belial[482] i.e., worthless men, were to accuse Naboth of having cursed[483] both God and His representative, the king. Such cursing, according to the Law of Moses, was a capital crime.[484] Naboth would then be stoned to death (1 Kings 21:10).

[482] The connotation of this phrase is well known, but the etymology is uncertain. It is not clear whether the false witnesses became sons of Belial by virtue of this testimony, or whether they were worthless men to start with. Probably their past record and reputation were well known. [483] The Hebrew uses a verb which more commonly means bless. Some scholars regard the word as a euphemism. Others feel the word had dual meaning and could refer to either blessing or cursing.

[484] Exodus 22:28; Deuteronomy 13:11; 2 Samuel 16:9; 2 Samuel 19:21.

The elders at Jezreel must have been as corrupt and as wicked as their queen to agree to such a treacherous act as Jezebel had proposed. Their ready compliance (1 Kings 21:11) shows not only the moral degradation of the day, but also the terror which the name of Jezebel inspired. The fast was proclaimed; Naboth was set at the head of the people in a prominent position (1 Kings 21:12). The two witnesses presented their tainted testimony in a most convincing manner, and no amount of protest on the part of the pious Naboth could sway the crowd. They were interested in this charge of blasphemy because, if left unpunished, the guilt of such a sin would rest on the entire community. The fast created a mood on the part of the community in which they were prepared to accept the fact that someone through sin had brought the community under Divine wrath. Convinced that Naboth had brought down the curse of God on their city, the crowd pushed and shoved this man of God outside the city walls where they laid their hands on his head (Deuteronomy 24:14) and then stoned him[485] to death (1 Kings 21:13). Then the elders returned word to Jezebel, who seems to have been in Samaria, that the dastardly deed had been done (1 Kings 21:14). It would seem that in ancient Israel the properties of those accused of treason were automatically forfeited to the crown.[486] So when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been executed for this crime, she announced to Ahab that the way was clear for him to claim his coveted vineyard. There is irony in the words of the queen, which he refused to give you for silver. The simple Naboth had refused to sell; now he had lost his life along with his property (1 Kings 21:15). The moody Ahab was jubilant when he heard that Naboth was dead, and he arose immediately to go down to Jezreel to take possession of the vineyard (1 Kings 21:16).

[485] According to 2 Kings 9:26, it would appear that not only Naboth, but that his entire family was killed.

[486] It is also possible that the property reverted to the crown because there was no legal heir, since Naboth’s entire family was executed.

1 Kings 21:17-24

C. THE CONDEMNATION BY ELIJAH 21:17-24

**TRANSLATION

(17) And the word of the LORD came unto Elijah the Tishbite, saying, (18) Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold he is in the vineyard of Naboth which he has gone down to possess. (19) And speak onto him saying, Thus says the LORD: Have you murdered; and also taken possession? Then you speak unto him, saying, Thus says the LORD: In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, the dogs shall also lick your blood. (20) And Ahab said unto 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 eyes of the LORD. (21) Behold I am about to bring against you evil, and it will consume after you, and I will cut off to Ahab male descendants, even the one shut up and the one left in Israel. (22) And 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, and because you have made Israel to sin. (23) And also of Jezebel the LORD has spoken, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel. (24) And the dead of Ahab in the city shall the dogs eat, and the dead in the field shall the birds of the heavens eat.

COMMENTS**

God would not allow the ruthless murder of Naboth to go unrebuked. Elijah the prophet was reactivated (1 Kings 21:17) and sent to meet Ahab in the vineyard which he had confiscated (1 Kings 21:18). That Ahab might realize the full impact of what he had done, the prophet was to open the conversation with a penetrating rhetorical question: Have you murdered and also taken possession? This indictment was to be followed by a pronouncement of the doom of Ahab: In the place where dogs licked Naboth’s blood, shall dogs lick your blood! (1 Kings 21:19). The execution of this sentence against Ahab was stayed when the king repented[487] (cf. 1 Kings 21:27 ff.). But the subsequent folly and sin of Ahab brought down upon this king a judgment of God strikingly similar to that which is here pronounced against him.

[487] This explains the seeming contradiction between the prediction of Elijah here and the actual events of 1Kings 22. According to 1 Kings 21:13 Naboth was executed outside the city of Jezreel. According to 1 Kings 22:38, Ahab’s blood was licked up by the dogs at the pool of Samaria. It is also possible that the Hebrew bimqom -asher should be translated not in the place where, but in place of that. The point would then be that Ahab’s blood would be subjected to a similar fate, rather than that the two occurrences would happen at the same spot.

Ahab was shocked at the sudden appearance of Elijah whom he had not seen since the Carmel contest. Now at the very moment Ahab was entering on the fruit of his sin, God’s prophet of judgment appeared! Have you found me out? the conscience-stricken king meekly asked. Ahab considered Elijah his enemy because it seemed that this prophet always had been opposed to him and always had thwarted him. Yet it was not because he was the king’s enemy that Elijah had sought out Ahab, but because the king had sold himself, i.e., completely surrendered himself, to do what was evil in the eyes of the Lord (1 Kings 21:20). Ahab, the supreme judge of the land, the representative of God, may have been ignorant of the tactics by which Jezebel proposed to procure the vineyard for him; but he had acquiesced in her infamous crime after its accomplishment, and he was anxious to reap the benefits of it. Thus instead of punishing his guilty wife and those who had carried out her instructions, the king, by his actions, sanctioned and approved the crime. Therefore, the prophetic pronouncement was directed against Ahab.

After he explained the reason for the sentence, Elijah elaborated upon it. The judgment would involve every male descendant of Ahab[488] (1 Kings 21:21). Ahab’s house was to be exterminated like that of Jeroboam, the first king of Israel, and Baasha, founder of the second dynasty of the Northern Kingdom. By his actions Ahab had provoked God to anger, and had also encouraged Israel to sin; therefore he must be punished (1 Kings 21:22). Furthermore, the queen must also taste the vengeance of the living God. The dogs would eat Jezebel beside the wall of Jezreel, the scene of her latest crime (1 Kings 21:23). In the prophetic formula used by previous prophets to condemn earlier kings, Elijah closed off his threat against Ahab (1 Kings 21:24; cf. 1 Kings 14:11; 1 Kings 16:4).

[488] The Hebrew reads literally, him who urinates against the wall. On the phrase, the one shut up and the one left in Israel, see comments on 1 Kings 14:10. Behold I am about to bring is the familiar formula by which the prophets threatened imminent judgment. Cf. 1 Kings 14:10; 1 Kings 16:3.

1 Kings 21:25-29

D. THE CONTRITION OF AHAB 21:25-29

**TRANSLATION

(25) But there was none like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. (26) He erred exceedingly in going after the idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD had driven out from before the children of Israel. (27) And it came to pass when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his garments and put sackcloth upon his flesh and fasted, and lay in the sackcloth and went about softly. (28) And the word of the LORD came unto Elijah the Tishbite, saying, (29) Have you seen that Ahab humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days; in the days of his son I will bring the evil upon his house.

COMMENTS**

1 Kings 21:25-26 seem to be in the nature of a parenthetical remark which is intended to further justify the harsh sentence pronounced against Ahab and his wife. No Northern predecessor had so completely abandoned the ways of the Lord as had Ahab. His gross apostasy is explained by the fact that his wife, a devotee of a pagan deity, stirred him up or incited him to sin (1 Kings 21:25). Ahab tolerated, condoned and engaged in the idolatrous practices of the nations[489] which God had driven out before the mighty armies of Joshua (1 Kings 21:26). Canaanite Baal worship survived among the Sidonians and by means of Jezebel was reintroduced in the kingdom of Samaria.

[489] Technically, the term Amorite refers to those peoples dwelling in the mountain regions of Palestine as opposed to Canaanite which refers to the inhabitants of the valleys. Here, as frequently in the Old Testament, the Amorite is used as a general name for the seven nations which possessed Canaan prior to the Israelite invasion under Joshua. Cf. Genesis 15:16; Ezekiel 16:3; Amos 2:9-10.

Ahab was deeply affected by the dire predictions of Elijah. By several outward signs he manifested his inward repentance for the crimes he had committed. He rent his garments, put on sackcloth,[490] fasted and even slept in his sackcloth. He also went about softly (1 Kings 21:27), which may mean he walked barefoot, or, to take the expression in a more figurative way, humbly, contritely. Taking note of this royal repentance, the Lord sent an important word to Elijah (1 Kings 21:28) which in effect cancelled the threat against Ahab. It is not clear whether or not this mitigation of the sentence was ever announced to Ahab himself, but there is no reason to think that it was not. The merciful Lord regarded the repentance of the king as sincere, and because of it, deferred the execution of the sentence unto the days of Ahab’s son (1 Kings 21:29). This is no example of the innocent suffering for the guilty, for God knew what the son of Ahab would be. Furthermore, that son would have the option of repentance by which still further reprieve could be granted (cf. Ezekiel 18:14 ff.). Judgment was deferred to give the house of Ahab another chance. How marvelous is the divine patience!

[490] Mourners seem to have worn sackcloth on the outside where it could be seen; but penitents wore it under the clothes as a form of self-affliction.