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1 Kings Chapter
Twenty-one
New King James Version (NKJV)
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
1 Kings 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
1 Kings 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
1 Kings 21:15
but
he humbling himself
the evil threatened was deferred to the days of his son
1 Kings 21:27.
1 Kings 21:1 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.
YLT
1And it cometh to pass
after these things
a vineyard hath been to Naboth the Jezreelite
that [is] in
Jezreel
near the palace of Ahab king of Samaria
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 Hosea 1:5 or
"who was in Jezreel"; that is Naboth
for the vineyard was in
Samaria
1 Kings 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 BuntingF25Travels
&c. p. 164.
were sixteen miles distant from each other.
1 Kings 21:2 2 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.”
YLT
2and Ahab speaketh unto
Naboth
saying
`Give to me thy vineyard
and it is to me for a garden of green
herbs
for it [is] near by my house
and I give to thee in its stead a better
vineyard than it; if good in thine eyes
I give to thee silver -- its price.'
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 PlinyF26Nat Hist. l. 20.
c. 5. ; 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
1 Samuel 8:14 as
yet such oppression and tyranny was not exercised.
1 Kings 21:3 3 But Naboth said to Ahab
“The Lord
forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”
YLT
3And Naboth saith unto Ahab
`Far be it from me
by Jehovah
my giving the inheritance of my fathers to
thee;'
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
Leviticus 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.
1 Kings 21:4 4 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.
YLT
4and Ahab cometh in unto his
house
sulky and wroth
because of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite hath
spoken unto him when he saith
`I do not give to thee the inheritance of my
fathers
' and he lieth down on his bed
and turneth round his face
and hath
not eaten bread.
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
1 Kings 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.
1 Kings 21:5 5 But Jezebel his wife came
to him
and said to him
“Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”
YLT
5And Jezebel his wife cometh
in unto him
and speaketh unto him
`What [is] this? -- thy spirit sulky
and
thou art not eating bread!'
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.
1 Kings 21:6 6 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.’”
YLT
6And he saith unto her
`Because I speak unto Naboth the Jezreelite
and say to him
Give to me thy
vineyard for money
or if thou desire
I give to thee a vineyard in its stead;
and he saith
I do not give to thee my vineyard.'
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.
1 Kings 21:7 7 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.”
YLT
7And Jezebel his wife saith
unto him
`Thou now dost execute rule over Israel! rise
eat bread
and let thy
heart be glad
-- I do give to thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.'
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.
1 Kings 21:8 8 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.
YLT
8And she writeth letters in
the name of Ahab
and sealeth with his seal
and sendeth the letters unto the
elders
and unto the freemen
who are in his city
those dwelling with Naboth
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.
1 Kings 21:9 9 She wrote in the letters
saying
Proclaim a fast
and seat Naboth with high honor among the people;
YLT
9and she writeth in the
letters
saying
`Proclaim a fast
and cause Naboth to sit at the head of the
people
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 KimchiF1Apud
David. Kimchium in loc. thinks the phrase signifies "call an assembly or
congregation"; convene a court of judicature
from the use of the word in
the Talmudic languageF2Vid. Buxtorf. Talmud. Lexic. in rad צסת ; and so it is thought it is used in Jeremiah 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.
1 Kings 21:10 10 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.
YLT
10and cause two men -- sons
of worthlessness -- to sit over-against him
and they testify of him
saying
Thou hast blessed God and Melech; and they have brought him out
and stoned
him
and he dieth.'
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.
1 Kings 21:11 11 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.
YLT
11And the men of his city
the elders and the freemen who are dwelling in his city
do as Jezebel hath
sent unto them
as written in the letters that she sent unto them
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.
1 Kings 21:12 12 They proclaimed a fast
and seated Naboth with high honor among the people.
YLT
12they have proclaimed a
fast
and caused Naboth to sit at the head of the people
They proclaimed a fast
.... Or called a court;
see Gill on 1 Kings 21:9.
and set Naboth on high among the people; placed him at
the bar as a criminal; see Gill on 1 Kings 21:9
though
JosephusF3Antiqu. l. 3. c. 13. sect. 8. thinks he was set on an high
place in the court
because he was of an illustrious birth.
1 Kings 21:13 13 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.
YLT
13and two men -- sons of
worthlessness -- come in
and sit over-against him
and the men of
worthlessness testify of him
even Naboth
before the people
saying
`Naboth
blessed God and Melech;' and they take him out to the outside of the city
and
stone him with stones
and he dieth;
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
Acts 25:16.
Josephus saysF4Antiqu. l. 3. c. 13. sect. 8. 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
Leviticus 24:14
of
the manner of which; see Gill on Acts 7:58
it seems
from 2 Kings 9:26
that
his sons were stoned with him.
1 Kings 21:14 14 Then they sent to Jezebel
saying
“Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”
YLT
14and they send unto Jezebel
saying
`Naboth was stoned
and is dead.'
Then they sent to Jezebel
saying
Naboth is stoned
and is dead. Not only
stoned
but stoned to death. This message was sent to her from the magistrates
of Jezreel; for though the letters came in Ahab's name
they might be privately
informed that this was a scheme of Jezebel's; besides
they knew she had the
sway at court
and especially that the news of this man's death would be
acceptable to her
and the more if he was of the 7000 that would not bow the
knee to Baal.
1 Kings 21:15 15 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.”
YLT
15And it cometh to pass
at
Jezebel's hearing that Naboth hath been stoned
and is dead
that Jezebel saith
unto Ahab
`Rise
possess the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite
that he
refused to give to thee for money
for Naboth is not alive but dead.'
And it came to pass when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned
and
was dead
that Jezebel said to Ahab
.... To whom she
communicated the news as soon as possible:
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; some think
that Naboth was a near relation to Ahab
his father's brother's sonF5T.
Bab. Sanhedrin
fol. 48. 2. ; which they endeavour to support from his estate
lying next to Ahab's
and from his being ordered to be set in an high place
among the people; and Josephus
as before observed
says he was of illustrious
descent; and so Ahab upon his death
his sons being also put to death with him
was next heir to his estate; and therefore Jezebel bid him enter on the
possession of it
he being dead
and his sons also
and therefore there was
nothing in his way to obstruct him: but rather her meaning is
that Naboth was
dead
not of a natural but violent death
by the hand of the civil magistrate;
as for blasphemy against God
so for treason against the king
in virtue of
which his estate was forfeited to the crown
and that Ahab had a right to
possess it; and so it was certainly condemned in later times however among the
Jews
that if a man was condemned to die by the sanhedrim
his goods came to
his heirs
but if for treason against the king
they ceded to himF6Sanhed.
ib. .
1 Kings 21:16 16 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.
YLT
16And it cometh to pass
at
Ahab's hearing that Naboth is dead
that Ahab riseth to go down unto the
vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite
to possess it.
And it came to pass
when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead
.... Of which
he was informed by Jezebel:
that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the
Jezreelite
to take possession of it; if it was in Jezreel
that was sixteen miles from Samaria
and lay lower than that
in a valley
and
therefore he is said to go down to it; and which he did very likely in great
state and pomp
many of his nobles and captains accompanying him
as we read
that Jehu and Bidkar did ride after him at this time
2 Kings 9:25.
1 Kings 21:17 17 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah
the Tishbite
saying
YLT
17And the word of Jehovah is
unto Elijah the Tishbite
saying
And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the prophet
.... Where he
now was
when this word came to him
is not certain; nor what he had been
employed in for some time past
since we hear nothing of him since the unction
of Elisha
other prophets of lesser note being employed in messages to Ahab
from time to time; perhaps Elijah
while Ahab was engaged in war with the king
of Syria
spent his time in founding or reviving the schools of the prophets
and instructing and training up those that were in them for public usefulness
since we afterwards hear of them; the word that came to him is
by the Targum
called the word of prophecy
as indeed it was
foretelling the destruction of
Ahab and his house: saying; as follows.
1 Kings 21:18 18 “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.
YLT
18`Rise
go down to meet Ahab
king of Israel
who [is] in Samaria
-- lo
in the vineyard of Naboth
whither
he hath gone down to possess it
Arise
go down to meet Ahab king of Israel
which is in Samaria
.... Whose
seat was there
his palace where he dwelt; and Benjamin of Tudela saysF7Itinerar.
p. 38.
that in his time might be discerned in Samaria the palace of Ahab king
of Israel
that is
some traces of it; some connect the last clause with
Israel
as if the sense was
that Ahab was king over those tribes of Israel
of
which Samaria was the head:
behold
he is in the vineyard of Naboth: or "will
be" by the time thou gettest thither; though the Arabic version is
he is
"now" in the vineyard of Naboth:
whither he is gone down to possess it; as if it was
his legal inheritance.
1 Kings 21:19 19 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.”’”
YLT
19and thou hast spoken unto
him
saying
Thus said Jehovah
Hast thou murdered
and also possessed? and
thou hast spoken unto him
saying
Thus said Jehovah
In the place where the
dogs licked the blood of Naboth
do the dogs lick thy blood
even thine.'
And thou shalt speak unto him
saying
thus saith the Lord
hast
thou killed
and also taken possession?.... Killed in order to
possess
and now taken possession upon the murder; some versions
as the
Vulgate Latin and Arabic
read without an interrogation
"thou hast killed
and hath taken possession"
so Joseph Kimchi and Ben Melech; charging him
with the murder of Naboth
and the unjust possession of his vineyard; the
murder is ascribed to him
because his covetousness was the cause of it; and it
was done by the contrivance of his wife; and it is highly probable Ahab knew
more of it
and connived at it
and consented to it
than what is recorded
and
however
by taking possession upon it
he abetted the fact:
and thou shalt speak unto him
saying
in the place where dogs
licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood
even thine; which was
fulfilled in his sons
who were his flesh and blood
2 Kings 9:26
for
the punishment was respited in his days
and transferred to his sons
see 1 Kings 21:29
though dogs did lick his blood
even his blood also
according to this
prophecy
though not in the same place
see 1 Kings 22:38
wherefore some take these words not to be expressive of the place where
but of
the cause or reason for which this should be done
and read the words
"inasmuch"
or "because dogs have licked"F8במקום אשר "pro eo
quod"
Junius & Tremellius; "propierea quod"
Grotius; so
some in Vatablus.
&c.
1 Kings 21:20 20 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:
YLT
20And Ahab saith unto Elijah
`Hast thou found me
O mine enemy?' and he saith
`I have found -- because of
thy selling thyself to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah;
And Ahab said to Elijah
hast thou found me
O mine enemy?.... So he
reckoned him
because he dealt faithfully with him
and reproved him for his
sins
and denounced the judgments of God upon him for them:
and he answered
I have found thee; as a thief
a robber and
plunderer
in another's vineyard; he had found out his sin in murdering Naboth
and unjustly possessing his vineyard
which was revealed to him by the Lord;
and now was come as his enemy
as he called him
as being against him
his
adversary
not that he hated his person
but his ways and works:
because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the
Lord; had given up himself wholly to his lusts
was abandoned to them
and as much under the power of them as a man is that has sold himself to
another to be his slave; and which he served openly
publicly in the sight of
the omniscient God
and in defiance of him. Abarbinel gives another sense of
the word we render "sold thyself"
that he "made himself
strange"
as if he was ignorant
and did not know what Jezebel had done;
whereas he knew fully the whole truth of the matter
and that Naboth was killed
through her contrivance
and by her management purposely; and so he did evil in
the sight of that God that knows all things
pretending he was ignorant when he
was not
and this Elijah found out by divine revelation; so the word is used in
Genesis 42:6
but
the former sense is best
as appears from 1 Kings 21:25.
1 Kings 21:21 21 ‘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.
YLT
21lo
I am bringing in unto
thee evil
and have taken away thy posterity
and cut off to Ahab those sitting
on the wall
and restrained
and left
in Israel
Behold
I will bring evil upon thee
.... Upon his own person
by cutting him off with a violent death
though his family was so numerous
having no less than seventy sons:
and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall
and
him that is shut up and left Israel; See Gill on 1 Kings 14:10.
1 Kings 21:22 22 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.’
YLT
22and given up thy house like
the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat
and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah
for the provocation with which thou hast provoked [Me]
and dost cause Israel
to sin.
And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of
Nebat
and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah
.... Two of
his predecessors
whose families were utterly destroyed
1 Kings 15:29
for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger
and
made Israel to sin: not only by his worship of the calves
but of the idols of the
Zidonians
particularly Baal
and also of the Amorites
1 Kings 21:26.
1 Kings 21:23 23 And concerning Jezebel the
Lord also spoke
saying
‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall[a] of
Jezreel.’
YLT
23`And also of Jezebel hath
Jehovah spoken
saying
The dogs do eat Jezebel in the bulwark of Jezreel;
And of Jezebel also spake the Lord
.... To Elijah
and by
him:
saying
the dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel or in the
inheritance or portion of Jezreel
as the Targum; Jarchi interprets it
the
valley of Jezreel; the fulfilment of this see in 2 Kings 9:30.
1 Kings 21:24 24 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.”
YLT
24him who dieth of Ahab in a
city do the dogs eat
and him who dieth in a field do fowl of the heavens eat;
Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat
and him
that dieth in the field the fowls of the air shall eat. That is
they
shall have no burial
see 1 Kings 14:11
hitherto are the words of the Lord by Elijah; next follow the remarks of the
historian.
1 Kings 21:25 25 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.
YLT
25surely there hath none been
like Ahab
who sold himself to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah
whom
Jezebel his wife hath moved
But there was none like unto Ahab
which did sell himself to work
wickedness in the sight of the Lord
.... Not of any of his
predecessors
even those whose families had been destroyed
as his would be
1 Kings 21:21. See
Gill on 1 Kings 21:20.
whom Jezebel his wife stirred up; to idolatry
revenge
and murder
and to whose will he was a slave
and is one instance of his being
a captive to sin
and giving up himself to the power of it.
1 Kings 21:26 26 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.
YLT
26and he doth very abominably
to go after the idols
according to all that the Amorite did whom Jehovah
dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel.'
And he did very abominably in following idols
.... Which
were abominable to the Lord; "dunghill gods"
as the Tigurine
version:
according to all things as did the Amorites
whom the Lord cast
out before the children of Israel; meaning the seven
nations that formerly inhabited Canaan
but were driven out for their sins
to
make way for the children of Israel
of which the Amorites were one
and here
put for all the rest.
1 Kings 21:27 27 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.
YLT
27And it cometh to pass
at
Ahab's hearing these words
that he rendeth his garments
and putteth sackcloth
on his flesh
and fasteth
and lieth in sackcloth
and goeth gently.
Delivered
in 1 Kings 21:21
that he rent his clothes
and put sackcloth upon
his flesh
tore off his
clothes
and stripped himself of all
even of his very shirt
and put sackcloth
on his bare flesh
a coarse cloth made of hair
and such as sacks are made
with:
and fasted
how long it is not said:
and lay in sackcloth; in the night on his bed
would have no linen on him day nor night:
and went softly: step by step
as persons mourning
grieving
and pensive
do; the Targum renders it "barefoot"
and so
Jarchi.
1 Kings 21:28 28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah
the Tishbite
saying
YLT
28And the word of Jehovah is
unto Elijah the Tishbite
saying
And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite
.... After he
was gone from Ahab
and Ahab had been some time in this humble posture; the
Targum calls it the word of prophecy
and so it was
as the next verse shows:
saying: as follows.
1 Kings 21:29 29 “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.”
YLT
29`Hast thou seen that Ahab
hath been humbled before Me? because that he hath been humbled before Me
I
bring not in the evil in his days; in the days of his son I bring in the evil
on his house.'
Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me?.... Which yet
was but an external humiliation
to be seen only with bodily eyes
as were all
his actions and postures
before observed. Some Jewish writersF9Bereshit
Rabba in Abarbinel in loc. think his repentance was true and perfect
and his
conversion thorough and real: they tell usF11Pirke Eliezer
c. 43.
that he was in fasting and prayer morning and evening before the Lord
and was
studying in the law all his days
and returned not to his evil works any more
and his repentance was accepted: but the contrary appears manifest; we never
read that he reproved Jezebel for the murder of Naboth
nor restored the
vineyard to his family
which he would have done had he been a true penitent;
nor did he leave his idols; we quickly hear of his consulting with the four
hundred prophets of the groves
and expressing his hatred of a true prophet of
the Lord
1 Kings 22:6
his
humiliation arose from dread of punishment
and not from the true fear of God;
however
it was such as was never seen in any of his wicked predecessors
and
is taken notice of by the Lord. LutherF12Mensal. Colloqu. c. 32. p.
360. from these words concluded
and was persuaded
that he was saved:
because he humbled 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; this was not
a pardon
only a reprieve; the sentence pronounced on him and his family was
not taken off
nor countermanded
only the execution of it prolonged; it is
promised that the destruction of his family should not be in his lifetime
but
after his death
in his son's days
otherwise he himself died a violent death
and the dogs licked his blood
as were foretold; however
this may be an
encouragement to those who are truly humbled for their sins
and really repent
of them
that they shall receive forgiveness at the hand of God
since he
showed so much regard to an outward humiliation and repentance.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)