1 Kings 21:1-29
1 And 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.
2 And 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.
3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
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 upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.
5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?
6 And 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.
7 And 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.
8 So 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.
9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on higha among the people:
10 And 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.
11 And 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.
12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.
13 And 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.
14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.
15 And 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.
16 And 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.
17 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
18 Arise, 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.
19 And 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.
20 And 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.
21 Behold, 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,
22 And 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.
23 And of Jezebel also spake the LORD, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wallb of Jezreel.
24 Him 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.
25 But 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.
26 And 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.
27 And 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.
28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
29 Seest 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.
God’s lessons from history
1 Kings
Philip Smith
Chapter 21
Queen Jezebel steals Naboth’s field
v1 King Ahab of Samaria had a palace in Jezreel. Near the palace, there was a field. Naboth who lived at Jezreel owned it. He used it to produce *grapes. v2 One day Ahab spoke to Naboth. ‘Give me your field. It is close to my palace. I want to use the land for a vegetable garden. I will give you a better one instead of it. Or, if you prefer, I will pay you its value.’
v3 But Naboth replied, ‘The *Lord does not allow me to do such a thing! I received this field from my *ancestors, so I cannot give it to you.’
v4 Ahab went home in a bad temper. He was angry about Naboth’s statement, ‘I received this field from my *ancestors, so I cannot give it to you.’ Ahab lay on his bed in a bad temper. He would not eat.
v5 His wife Jezebel came in. She asked him. ‘Why are you so sad? Why will you not eat?’
v6 He replied to her, ‘It is because Naboth refused to let me have his field. I offered to buy it from him or to give him another one. But he replied, “I cannot give my field to you.” ’
v7 Jezebel said ‘But you are the king! Get up and eat. Be cheerful! I will get you Naboth’s field.’
The law said that nobody must make a permanent sale of his land. People must not pass land from *tribe to *tribe. (See Leviticus 25:23; Numbers 36:7.)
Naboth was right to refuse the king. If Naboth sold the field to the king, he (Naboth) would not be obeying God’s law. So this was not merely a business matter or an ordinary argument. Naboth could not obey the king, because such an action would be against God’s law. So Naboth firmly refused Ahab’s request. Naboth chose to stand for God.
Ahab was angry. He had everything that he needed. But he was not happy without Naboth’s *vineyard. Jezebel promised to get the land for him. She thought that the king should be like a god. If Ahab did not behave like one, she would!
v8 So Jezebel wrote letters and she signed them with Ahab’s name. She put his mark on them. She sent them to the leaders and officials of Naboth’s city. v9 This is what she wrote. ‘Announce that there will be a day for people to go without food. Call the people together. Give Naboth the place of honour. v10 Make two wicked people sit opposite him. Tell them to say that he spoke badly about God and the king. Then take him out of the city. Throw stones at him until he dies.’
v11 So the leaders and officials of Naboth’s city did what Jezebel had ordered. v12 They told people to go without food. They gave Naboth the place of honour among the people. v13 Then two wicked people came and sat opposite him. They accused Naboth in front of the people. They said that Naboth had spoken badly about God and the king. So the people took Naboth outside the city. They threw stones at him until he died. v14 Then they told Jezebel, ‘We threw stones at Naboth. Now he is dead.’
v15 As soon as Jezebel heard this she spoke to Ahab. ‘Go. Take possession of the field that Naboth refused to give you. He is no longer alive, but dead.’ v16 Ahab heard that Naboth was dead. Then he got up. And he went to take possession of Naboth’s field.
Jezebel plotted Naboth’s death. She used the king’s name and his mark. He did not know that she had done this. She organised a *religious meeting. She suggested that God was angry with the people because of some *sin. Two wicked people said that Naboth was responsible. They pretended that he had spoken badly about God and the king. When anyone spoke badly about God or the king, the punishment was death. The people killed Naboth and his sons. (See 2 Kings 9:26.)
When Ahab heard about this, he went down to take possession of Naboth’s field. By this action, Ahab showed that he approved of Jezebel’s deeds.
Naboth’s *trial was like the *trial of Jesus. In both cases, false witnesses said that they had spoken against God and the king. (See Luke 22:70-71; Luke 23:1-3.) So, although Naboth was innocent, people killed him.
We can see that Ahab and Jezebel were becoming even more wicked. They were ready to use false (lying) witnesses to accuse people who upset them. And they were not afraid to kill an innocent man. But God knew about their *sin.
Elijah *prophesies the end of Ahab’s rule over *Israel
v17 Then the *Lord spoke to Elijah from Tishbe. v18 The *Lord said, ‘Go down to meet Ahab king of *Israel who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth’s field. He is taking possession of it. v19 Say to him, “This is the message from the *Lord. You have murdered a man and taken his property.” Tell him that the *Lord says to him, “In the place where the dogs *licked Naboth’s blood, they will *lick your blood.” ’
v20 Ahab said to Elijah, ‘You have found me, my enemy.’
‘Yes, I have’, replied Elijah. ‘You have given yourself completely to do what the *Lord considers to be evil. v21 (So the *Lord says,) “I will bring *disaster upon you. I will kill you and every male in your family, both young and old. v22 Your family will become like those of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah. This is because you have made me angry. You have led *Israel into *sin.” ’
v23 Elijah added, ‘And the *Lord also says this about Jezebel. “The dogs will eat her body by the wall of Jezreel. v24 Dogs will eat the bodies of the relations of Ahab who die in the city. Vultures (birds that eat dead animals) will eat the bodies of those who die in the country.” ’
v25 Nobody else was as bad as Ahab. He did what the *Lord considered to be evil. His wife Jezebel urged him to do this. v26 He *worshipped *idols in the same disgusting way as the *Amorites did. The *Lord had forced them to leave as the *Israelites advanced.
v27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes. He put on rough cloths and he refused to eat. He lay in rough cloths and he was very sad in front of everyone.
v28 Then the *Lord spoke to Elijah from Tishbe. v29 ‘You see how humble Ahab has become! Because he has done this, I will not bring *disaster upon him during his life. I will bring it on his family during the rule of his son.’
Elijah went to meet Ahab again. This time he came to tell Ahab that God would punish him. Ahab considered Elijah as his enemy.
Elijah told Ahab that all his family would die. They would not continue as kings. Their deaths would be awful and they would not even have proper graves.
Ahab then showed *sorrow for what he had done. He was not sorry enough to stop his *worship of *idols or to give back Naboth’s field. Still, God was willing to make his punishment less. *Disaster would not happen until after Ahab’s death. God will answer if people change their ways. He will do this even if their change is not perfect. God does not want anybody to suffer *everlasting death (2 Peter 3:9). He wants everyone to have life. But later, Ahab died as Elijah *prophesied. The wages of *sin is death (Romans 6:23). The punishment on his family happened later.
Ahab was a very wicked king. But in fact his wife, Jezebel, was responsible for many of his worst *sins. In these matters, Ahab was evil not because of his own cruelty, but because he was weak. We must never allow wicked people to control our actions. John wrote to a church where an evil woman was controlling some people. He warned the members of that church about her. They would suffer greatly if they continued to obey her. He called that woman by the name ‘Jezebel’ (Revelation 2:20-25).
grapes ~ green or purple soft fruits that people use to make wine.Lord ~ the name of God. It can translate either of two words in Hebrew, which is the original language of this book. The word ‘Yahweh’ is God’s most holy name, and means ‘God always’. The word ‘Adonai’ means ‘master’.
ancestor ~ any person from the past from whom the families of your father or mother have come.
tribe ~ a group of people; a family or people that have the same ancestors; family from one man. Israel came from the 12 sons of Jacob. These 12 families formed the 12 tribes of Israel.
ancestor ~ any person from the past from whom the families of your father or mother have come.
Israel ~ the country or nation of people who are descendants of Jacob; the northern part of that country after it divided.
descendants ~ people in your family who live after you.
vineyard ~ an area where people grow grapes.
grapes ~ green or purple soft fruits that people use to make wine.
religious ~ about religion.'sin/sinful ~ an action that is wrong or wicked. It is against a religious or moral law.
religious ~ about religion.
trial ~ something that will show whether a person has done something wrong or not.
prophesy ~ to speak God’s word; or, to say what will happen in the future.
Israel ~ the country or nation of people who are descendants of Jacob; the northern part of that country after it divided.
descendants ~ people in your family who live after you.
lick ~ to taste with the tongue.
disaster ~ an event that makes people suffer. It can cause great damage and death.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God; to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
idol ~ the image of a god to whom people give honour.
Amorite ~ one of a group of people who had lived in Canaan before the Jews lived there.
Jew ~ a person who was born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children; an Israelite.
Israelite ~ someone who lives in Israel; or, a descendant of Jacob.
Israel ~ the country or nation of people who are descendants of Jacob; the northern part of that country after it divided.
descendants ~ people in your family who live after you.
Israelite ~ someone who lives in Israel; or, a descendant of Jacob.
Israel ~ the country or nation of people who are descendants of Jacob; the northern part of that country after it divided.
descendants ~ people in your family who live after you.
sorrow ~ sad feelings.
disaster ~ an event that makes people suffer. It can cause great damage and death.
everlasting ~ without beginning or end.