8 So she wrote H3789 letters H5612 in Ahab's H256 name, H8034 and sealed H2856 them with his seal, H2368 and sent H7971 the letters H5612 unto the elders H2205 and to the nobles H2715 that were in his city, H5892 dwelling H3427 with Naboth. H5022
Judges H8199 and officers H7860 shalt thou make H5414 thee in all thy gates, H8179 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee, throughout thy tribes: H7626 and they shall judge H8199 the people H5971 with just H6664 judgment. H4941 Thou shalt not wrest H5186 judgment; H4941 thou shalt not respect H5234 persons, H6440 neither take H3947 a gift: H7810 for a gift H7810 doth blind H5786 the eyes H5869 of the wise, H2450 and pervert H5557 the words H1697 of the righteous. H6662
If one be found H4672 slain H2491 in the land H127 which the LORD H3068 thy God H430 giveth H5414 thee to possess H3423 it, lying H5307 in the field, H7704 and it be not known H3045 who hath slain H5221 him: Then thy elders H2205 and thy judges H8199 shall come forth, H3318 and they shall measure H4058 unto the cities H5892 which are round about H5439 him that is slain: H2491 And it shall be, that the city H5892 which is next H7138 unto the slain man, H2491 even the elders H2205 of that city H5892 shall take H3947 an heifer, H1241 H5697 which hath not been wrought with, H5647 and which hath not drawn H4900 in the yoke; H5923 And the elders H2205 of that city H5892 shall bring down H3381 the heifer H5697 unto a rough H386 valley, H5158 which is neither eared H5647 nor sown, H2232 and shall strike off H6202 the heifer's H5697 neck H6202 there in the valley: H5158 And the priests H3548 the sons H1121 of Levi H3878 shall come near; H5066 for them the LORD H3068 thy God H430 hath chosen H977 to minister H8334 unto him, and to bless H1288 in the name H8034 of the LORD; H3068 and by their word H6310 shall every controversy H7379 and every stroke H5061 be tried: And all the elders H2205 of that city, H5892 that are next H7138 unto the slain H2491 man, shall wash H7364 their hands H3027 over the heifer H5697 that is beheaded H6202 in the valley: H5158 And they shall answer H6030 and say, H559 Our hands H3027 have not shed H8210 this blood, H1818 neither have our eyes H5869 seen H7200 it. Be merciful, H3722 O LORD, H3068 unto thy people H5971 Israel, H3478 whom thou hast redeemed, H6299 and lay H5414 not innocent H5355 blood H1818 unto thy people H5971 of Israel's H3478 charge. H7130 And the blood H1818 shall be forgiven H3722 them. So shalt thou put away H1197 the guilt of innocent H5355 blood H1818 from among H7130 you, when thou shalt do H6213 that which is right H3477 in the sight H5869 of the LORD. H3068
And it came to pass in the morning, H1242 that David H1732 wrote H3789 a letter H5612 to Joab, H3097 and sent H7971 it by the hand H3027 of Uriah. H223 And he wrote H3789 in the letter, H5612 saying, H559 Set H3051 ye Uriah H223 in the forefront H6440 H4136 of the hottest H2389 battle, H4421 and retire H7725 ye from him, H310 that he may be smitten, H5221 and die. H4191
And Ahab H256 had seventy H7657 sons H1121 in Samaria. H8111 And Jehu H3058 wrote H3789 letters, H5612 and sent H7971 to Samaria, H8111 unto the rulers H8269 of Jezreel, H3157 to the elders, H2205 and to them that brought up H539 Ahab's H256 children, saying, H559 Now as soon as this letter H5612 cometh H935 to you, seeing your master's H113 sons H1121 are with you, and there are with you chariots H7393 and horses, H5483 a fenced H4013 city H5892 also, and armour; H5402 Look even out H7200 the best H2896 and meetest H3477 of your master's H113 sons, H1121 and set H7760 him on his father's H1 throne, H3678 and fight H3898 for your master's H113 house. H1004 But they were exceedingly H3966 H3966 afraid, H3372 and said, H559 Behold, two H8147 kings H4428 stood H5975 not before H6440 him: how then shall we stand? H5975 And he that was over the house, H1004 and he that was over the city, H5892 the elders H2205 also, and the bringers up H539 of the children, sent H7971 to Jehu, H3058 saying, H559 We are thy servants, H5650 and will do H6213 all that thou shalt bid H559 us; we will not make any H376 king: H4427 do H6213 thou that which is good H2896 in thine eyes. H5869 Then he wrote H3789 a letter H5612 the second time H8145 to them, saying, H559 If ye be mine, and if ye will hearken H8085 unto my voice, H6963 take H3947 ye the heads H7218 of the men H582 your master's H113 sons, H1121 and come H935 to me to Jezreel H3157 by to morrow H4279 this time. H6256 Now the king's H4428 sons, H1121 being seventy H7657 persons, H376 were with the great men H1419 of the city, H5892 which brought them up. H1431 And it came to pass, when the letter H5612 came H935 to them, that they took H3947 the king's H4428 sons, H1121 and slew H7819 seventy H7657 persons, H376 and put H7760 their heads H7218 in baskets, H1731 and sent H7971 him them to Jezreel. H3157
And in the days H3117 of Artaxerxes H783 wrote H3789 Bishlam, H1312 Mithredath, H4990 Tabeel, H2870 and the rest H7605 of their companions, H3674 unto Artaxerxes H783 king H4428 of Persia; H6539 and the writing H3791 of the letter H5406 was written H3789 in the Syrian tongue, H762 and interpreted H8638 in the Syrian tongue. H762 Rehum H7348 the chancellor H1169 H2942 and Shimshai H8124 the scribe H5613 wrote H3790 a H2298 letter H104 against H5922 Jerusalem H3390 to Artaxerxes H783 the king H4430 in this sort: H3660
Then were the king's H4428 scribes H5608 called H7121 on the thirteenth H7969 H6240 day H3117 of the first H7223 month, H2320 and there was written H3789 according to all that Haman H2001 had commanded H6680 unto the king's H4428 lieutenants, H323 and to the governors H6346 that were over every province, H4082 and to the rulers H8269 of every people H5971 of every province H4082 according to the writing H3791 thereof, and to every people H5971 after their language; H3956 in the name H8034 of king H4428 Ahasuerus H325 was it written, H3789 and sealed H2856 with the king's H4428 ring. H2885 And the letters H5612 were sent H7971 by H3027 posts H7323 into all the king's H4428 provinces, H4082 to destroy, H8045 to kill, H2026 and to cause to perish, H6 all Jews, H3064 both young H5288 and old, H2205 little children H2945 and women, H802 in one H259 day, H3117 even upon the thirteenth H7969 H6240 day of the twelfth H8147 H6240 month, H2320 which is the month H2320 Adar, H143 and to take the spoil H7998 of them for a prey. H962 The copy H6572 of the writing H3791 for a commandment H1881 to be given H5414 in every province H4082 was published H1540 unto all people, H5971 that they should be ready H6264 against that day. H3117 The posts H7323 went out, H3318 being hastened H1765 by the king's H4428 commandment, H1697 and the decree H1881 was given H5414 in Shushan H7800 the palace. H1002 And the king H4428 and Haman H2001 sat down H3427 to drink; H8354 but the city H5892 Shushan H7800 was perplexed. H943
Write H3789 ye also for the Jews, H3064 as it liketh H2896 you, H5869 in the king's H4428 name, H8034 and seal H2856 it with the king's H4428 ring: H2885 for the writing H3791 which is written H3789 in the king's H4428 name, H8034 and sealed H2856 with the king's H4428 ring, H2885 may no man reverse. H7725 Then were the king's H4428 scribes H5608 called H7121 at that time H6256 in the third H7992 month, H2320 that is, the month H2320 Sivan, H5510 on the three H7969 and twentieth H6242 day thereof; and it was written H3789 according to all that Mordecai H4782 commanded H6680 unto the Jews, H3064 and to the lieutenants, H323 and the deputies H6346 and rulers H8269 of the provinces H4082 which are from India H1912 unto Ethiopia, H3568 an hundred H3967 twenty H6242 and seven H7651 provinces, H4082 unto every province H4082 according to the writing H3791 thereof, and unto every people H5971 after their language, H3956 and to the Jews H3064 according to their writing, H3791 and according to their language. H3956 And he wrote H3789 in the king H4428 Ahasuerus' H325 name, H8034 and sealed H2856 it with the king's H4428 ring, H2885 and sent H7971 letters H5612 by H3027 posts H7323 on horseback, H5483 and riders H7392 on mules, H7409 camels, H327 and young H1121 dromedaries: H7424 Wherein the king H4428 granted H5414 the Jews H3064 which were in every city H5892 to gather themselves together, H6950 and to stand H5975 for their life, H5315 to destroy, H8045 to slay, H2026 and to cause to perish, H6 all the power H2428 of the people H5971 and province H4082 that would assault H6696 them, both little ones H2945 and women, H802 and to take the spoil H7998 of them for a prey, H962 Upon one H259 day H3117 in all the provinces H4082 of king H4428 Ahasuerus, H325 namely, upon the thirteenth H7969 H6240 day of the twelfth H8147 H6240 month, H2320 which is the month H2320 Adar. H143 The copy H6572 of the writing H3791 for a commandment H1881 to be given H5414 in every province H4082 was published H1540 unto all people, H5971 and that the Jews H3064 should be ready H6264 H6259 against that day H3117 to avenge H5358 themselves on their enemies. H341
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 1 Kings 21
Commentary on 1 Kings 21 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
After these events Ahab was seized with such a desire for a vineyard which was situated near his palace at Jezreel, that when Naboth, the owner of the vineyard, refused to part with his paternal inheritance, he became thoroughly dejected, until his wife Jezebel paved the way for the forcible seizure of the desired possession by the shameful execution of Naboth (1 Kings 21:1-15). But when Ahab was preparing to take possession of the vineyard, Elijah came to meet him with the announcement, that both he and his wife would be visited by the Lord with a bloody death for this murder and robbery, and that his idolatry would be punished with the extermination of all his house (1 Kings 21:16-26). Ahab was so affected by this, that he humbled himself before God; whereupon the Lord told Elijah, that the threatened judgment should not burst upon his house till after Ahab's death (1 Kings 21:27-29).
1 Kings 21:1-2
Ahab wanted to obtain possession of the vineyard of Naboth, which was in Jezreel ( אשׁר refers to כּרם ), near the palace of the king, either in exchange for another vineyard or for money, that he might make a vegetable garden of it. From the fact that Ahab is called the king of Samaria we may infer that Jezreel, the present Zerin (see at Joshua 19:18), was only a summer residence of the king.
1 Kings 21:3
Naboth refused to part with the vineyard, because it was the inheritance of his fathers, that is to say, on religious grounds ( חלילה כּי מיהוה ), because the sale of a paternal inheritance was forbidden in the law (Leviticus 25:23-28; Numbers 36:7.). He was therefore not merely at liberty as a personal right to refuse the king's proposal, but bound by the commandment of God.
1 Kings 21:4
Instead of respecting this tender feeling of shrinking from the transgression of the law and desisting from his coveting, Ahab went home, i.e., to Samaria (cf. 1 Kings 21:8), sullen and morose ( סר וזעף as in 1 Kings 20:43), lay down upon his bed, turned his face (viz., to the wall; cf. 2 Kings 20:2) - “after the manner of sorrowful persons, who shrink from and refuse all conversation, and even the sight of others” (Seb. Schmidt) - and did not eat. This childish mode of giving expression to his displeasure at Naboth's refusal to comply with his wish, shows very clearly that Ahab was a man sold under sin (1 Kings 21:20), who only wanted the requisite energy to display the wickedness of his heart in vigorous action.
1 Kings 21:5-7
When Jezebel learned the cause of Ahab's ill-humour, she said to him, “Thou, dost thou now exercise royal authority over Israel.” אתּה is placed first for the sake of emphasis, and the sentence is to be taken as an ironical question, as it has been by the lxx. “I (if thou hast not courage enough to act) will procure thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
1 Kings 21:8-10
The shameless woman then wrote a letter in the name of Ahab, sealed it below with the royal seal, which probably bore the king's signature and was stamped upon the writing instead of signing the name, as is done at the present day among Arabs, Turks, and Persians (vid., Paulsen, Reg. der Morgenl . p. 295ff.), to give it the character of a royal command (cf. Esther 8:13; Daniel 6:17), and sent this letter (the Chethîb הסּפרים is correct, and the Keri has arisen from a misunderstanding) to the elders and nobles of his town (i.e., the members of the magistracy, Deuteronomy 16:18), who lived near Naboth, and therefore had an opportunity to watch his mode of life, and appeared to be the most suitable persons to institute the charge that was to be brought against him. The letter ran thus: “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people, and set two worthless men opposite to him, that they may give evidence against him: Thou hast blasphemed God and king; and lead him out and stone him, that he may die.” Jezebel ordered the fasting for a sign, as though some public crime or heavy load of guilt rested upon the city, for which it was necessary that it should humble itself before God (1 Samuel 7:6). The intention was, that at the very outset the appearance of justice should be given to the legal process about to be instituted in the eyes of all the citizens, and the stamp of veracity impressed upon the crime of which Naboth was to be accused. העם בראשׁ ... הושׁיבוּ , “ seat him at the head of the people,” i.e., bring him to the court of justice as a defendant before all the people. The expression may be explained from the fact, that a sitting of the elders was appointed for judicial business, in which Naboth and the witnesses who were to accuse him of blasphemy took part seated . To preserve the appearance of justice, two witnesses were appointed, according to the law in Deuteronomy 17:6-7; Deuteronomy 19:15; Numbers 35:30; but worthless men, as at the trial of Jesus (Matthew 26:60). אלהים בּרך , to bless God, i.e., to bid Him farewell, to dismiss Him, as in Job 2:9, equivalent to blaspheming God. God and king are mentioned together, like God and prince in Exodus 22:27, to make it possible to accuse Naboth of transgressing this law, and to put him to death as a blasphemer of God, according to Deuteronomy 13:11 and Deuteronomy 17:5, where the punishment of stoning is awarded to idolatry as a practical denial of God. Blaspheming the king is not to be taken as a second crime to be added to the blasphemy of God; but blaspheming the king, as the visible representative of God, was eo ipso also blaspheming God.
1 Kings 21:11-13
The elders of Jezreel executed this command without delay; a striking proof both of deep moral corruption and of slavish fear of the tyranny of the ruthless queen.
1 Kings 21:14-15
When the report of Naboth's execution was brought to her, she called upon Ahab to take possession of his vineyard ( רשׁ = רשׁ , Deuteronomy 2:24). As Naboth's sons were put to death at the same time, according to 2 Kings 9:26, the king was able to confiscate his property; not, indeed, on any rule laid down in the Mosaic law, but according to a principle involved in the very idea of high treason. Since, for example, in the case of blasphemy the property of the criminal was forfeited to the Lord as cherem (Deuteronomy 13:16), the property of traitors was regarded as forfeited to the king.
But when Ahab went down to Jezreel to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, Elijah came to meet him by the command of God, with the word of the Lord, “Hast thou murdered and also taken possession?” The question served to sharpen his conscience, since Ahab was obliged to admit the fact. בּשׁמרון אשׁר means “who lives at Samaria,” for when Elijah came to meet him, Ahab was in Jezreel, Elijah then said to him still further: “Thus saith the Lord: In the place where the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, will they also lick thine, yea, thy blood.” אתּה גּם serves as an emphatic repetition of the suffix (cf. Ges. § 121, 3). This threat was only so far fulfilled upon Ahab, from the compassion of God, and in consequence of his humbling himself under the divine judgment (1 Kings 21:27-29), that dogs licked his blood at Samaria when the carriage was washed in which he had died (1 Kings 22:38); but it was literally fulfilled in the case of his son Joram, whose corpse was cast into Naboth's piece of ground (2 Kings 9:25-26).
Ahab answered, “Hast thou found me (met with me), O mine enemy?” (not, hast thou ever found me thine enemy? - Vulg., Luth.) i.e., dost thou come to meet me again, mine enemy? He calls Elijah his enemy, to take the sting from the prophet's threat as an utterance caused by personal enmity. But Elijah fearlessly replied, “I have found (thee), because thou sellest thyself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.” He then announced to him, in 1 Kings 21:21, 1 Kings 21:22, the extermination of his house, and to Jezebel, as the principal sinner, the most ignominious end (1 Kings 21:23). הרע לעשׂות חתמכּר to sell one's self to do evil, i.e., to give one's self to evil so as to have no will of one's own, to make one's self the slave of evil (cf. 1 Kings 21:25, 2 Kings 17:17). The consequence of this is πεπρᾶσθαι ὑπὸ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν (Romans 7:14), sin exercising unlimited power over the man who gives himself up to it as a slave. For 1 Kings 21:21, 1 Kings 21:22, see 1 Kings 14:10-11; 1 Kings 15:29-30; 1 Kings 16:3, 1 Kings 16:12-13. The threat concerning Jezebel (1 Kings 21:23) was literally fulfilled, according to 2 Kings 9:30. חל , written defectively for חיל , as in 2 Samuel 20:15, is properly the open space by the town-wall, pomoerium . Instead of בּחל we have בּחלק in the repetition of this threat in 2 Kings 9:10, 2 Kings 9:36-37, and consequently Thenius and others propose to alter the חל here. But there is no necessity for this, as בּחלק , on the portion, i.e., the town-land, of Jezreel (not, in the field at Jezreel), is only a more general epithet denoting the locality, and חל is proved to be the original word by the lxx.
1 Kings 21:25, 1 Kings 21:26 contain a reflection on the part of the historian concerning Ahab's ungodly conduct, whereby he brought such an ignominious end upon himself and his house. וגו היה לא רק , “only there has not been (one) like Ahab,” i.e., there was no one else like Ahab, “who sold himself,” etc. הסתּה for הסיתה , from סוּת , to entice, to seduce or lead astray (cf. Ewald, § 114, a ., and Ges. § 72, Anm. 6). ויּתעב , and he acted abominably. Amorites : for Canaanites, as in Genesis 15:16, etc.
This terrible threat made such an impression upon Ahab, that he felt deep remorse, and for a time at least was sincerely penitent. Rending the clothes, putting on the mourning garment of hair ( שׂק ), and fasting, are frequently mentioned as external signs of humiliation before God or of deep mourning on account of sin. יהלּך אט , he walked about lightly (slowly), like one in deep trouble. This repentance was neither hypocritical, nor purely external; but it was sincere even if it was not lasting and produced no real conversion. For the Lord Himself acknowledge it to be humiliation before Him (1 Kings 21:29), and said to Elijah, that because of it He would not bring the threatened calamity upon Ahab's house in his own lifetime, but only in the days of his son. אבי for אביא , as in 1 Kings 21:21.