_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 k... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 th... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 disrega... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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... [ Continue Reading ]
_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,... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 Chalde... [ Continue Reading ]
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 w... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._... [ Continue Reading ]
_Of it, on the title of confiscation, as Naboth had been condemned for high treason; (see 2 Kings ix. 7.; Menochius) or because there was no heir left, ver. 10. Some assert, that Naboth was Achab's uncle. But this wants proof. (Calmet) --- Achab only waited one day, and the Elias met him to denounce... [ Continue Reading ]
_Possession, by desire; though he was yet only on the road. (Menochius) --- Perhaps he had sent his servants before. (Haydock) --- Place, not precisely, as Achab was slain in Samaria. (Menochius) --- But Naboth's vineyard, perhaps, was not far distant from the pool, where dogs licked the blood of th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thy enemy. Have I done thee any harm, whenever thou hast appeared before me? Hebrew and Septuagint, "O my enemy." (Haydock) --- To find, often means to attack or take by surprise. Art thou come thus, to fall upon me on the road? (Calmet) --- Sold. That is, so addicted to evil, as if thou hadst sold... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wall. See 1 Kings xxv. 22. --- Israel, chap. xiv. 10. (Menochius)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sin. god frequently inculcates the enormity of the crime of public scandal. (Menochius)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Field. Hebrew, "wall," or "before the wall." This was exactly fulfilled, 4 Kings ix. 32. Jezabel was hurled from a window over the gate or wall of the city. (Calmet)_... [ Continue Reading ]
_Eat him. Yet God remitted something from the severity of this sentence; and Achab was buried in Samaria, chap. xxii. 37. But his son was deprived of burial. (Tirinus) (4 Kings ix. 26.) --- According to the Hebrew, the prediction related to Achab's posterity, as the Chaldean, Septuagint, Syriac, &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now. Septuagint, "Moreover, Achab was foolishly sold, a man who was sold, &c., since Jezabel....changed him:" Greek: metetheken. His natural disposition was not perhaps so bad. But his unfortunate connexion with a most wicked wife involved him in ruin. Even when he began to relent, and was on the p... [ Continue Reading ]
_Amorrhites. The Sidonians still adored the idols Baal and Astaroth, with the utmost exertions of cruelty and lust. This was the religion which Achab wished to establish, more than any of his predecessors. (Calmet)_... [ Continue Reading ]
Down. Hebrew, "uncovered," (Malvenda; 2 Kings xv. 30.) or "barefoot," (Chaldean; Syriac) or "softly," (Vatable; Protestants) or "he walked bent down." (Septuagint) This variety shows that the signification or at (Haydock) is not well known. The repentance of Achab is not more certain. Some believe t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Sake. Hebrew, "before me," publicly. (Haydock) --- The threat of the prophet caused Achab to invest his son with the royal dignity, and Josaphat followed his example. (Salien, the year before Christ 916.) --- But some call this in question. (Haydock)_... [ Continue Reading ]
CHAPTER XXI.... [ Continue Reading ]