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1Ki_21:1
And it came to pass after these things [These words are omitted in the Vat. LXX; which, as before remarked, transposes 1Ki_20:1-43. and 21. See introductory note, 1Ki_20:1-43.], that Naboth ["Fruit," "produce" (Gesen). Wordsworth sees in him a type of Christ, cast out of the vineyard (Mat_21:39) and slain] the Jezreelite [The Alex. LXX. here, and throughout the chapter, reads ὁ Ἰσραηλίτης . Josephus (Ant. 8.13. 8) says that Naboth was of illustrious family] had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel [See note on 1Ki_18:46], hard by the palace [LXX. threshing-floor. Stanley, arguing from this word, would reject the Hebrew text of this narrative, which places both the vineyard and the plot of ground (2Ki_9:25, 2Ki_9:26) in Jezreel, and would locate the vineyard on the hill of Samaria, in the "void place" of 1Ki_22:10] of Ahab king of Samaria. [It is clear from these last words that Jezreel had not replaced Samaria as the capital. It was a "palace" only that Ahab had there. No doubt the beauty of the situation had led to its purchase or erection. As Jezreel is only twenty-five miles distant from Samaria, it is obvious that it might be readily visited by the court.]
1Ki_21:2
And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard [The prediction of Samuel (1Sa_8:14) is being realized], that I may have it for a garden of herbs [as in Deu_11:10; Rom_15:17], because it is near unto [Heb. beside] my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it: or [Heb. omits or], if it seem good to thee [Heb. if good in thine eyes], I will give thee the worth of it in money. [Heb. I will give to thee silver the price of it. See note on 1Ki_20:39. Whatever Ahab's moral weakness, he was certainly a prince of some enterprize. 1Ki_22:39 speaks of the "cities "which he built. And the palace of Jezreel would seem to have been erected by him. This vineyard was to be one of his improvements.]
1Ki_21:3
And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me [Heb. Far be it to me from Jehovah. These words reveal to us, first, that Naboth was a worshipper of the Lord—otherwise he would hardly have used the sacred name, and that to Ahab, with whom the servants of the true God had found but scant favour; and, secondly, that he looked upon the alienation of his patrimony as an act displeasing to the Lord, and as violating the law of Moses (Le 25:93 sqq.; Num_36:7 sqq.) We have instances of the sale of land to the king in 2Sa_24:24—but that was by a Jebusite—and in 1Ki_16:24], that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. ["The preservation of the ðÇçÂìÈä was for every covenant keeping Israelite a matter not merely of piety towards his family and his tribe but a religious duty" (Bähr). It is clear, however, that the restraints of the old Mosaic law began to be irksome in that latitudinarian age. Many of its provisions were already regarded as obsolete.]
1Ki_21:4
And Ahab came into his house [At Samaria, as we gather from 1Ki_21:18, 1Ki_21:14, 1Ki_21:16, etc.] heavy and displeased [Heb. sullen and angry; same words as in 1Ki_20:43. Ewald thinks that we have here a clear reference to that passage] because of the word which Naboth the Jezreellte had spoken to him: for [Heb. and] he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed [Rawlinson understands this to mean the couch on which the Orientals recline at meals. And îÄèÈÌä is used with this meaning in Est_1:6 Eze_23:41, and elsewhere. But "his bed" seems rather to point to his private chamber; see on Eze_23:5], and turned away his face [The Vulgate adds ad parietem. Cf. 2Ki_20:2; from which place it may have been unconsciously introduced here], and would eat no bread. [Keil contends that" this childish mode of giving expression to his displeasure shows very clearly that Ahab was a man sold under sin (2Ki_20:20), who only wanted the requisite energy to display the wickedness of his heart in vigorous action;" but whether this is a just inference from these words may well be questioned. It rather shows that so little did he meditate evil that he accepted the refusal of Naboth as conclusive, and gave way to childish grief.
1Ki_21:5
But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad [same word as in 1Ki_21:4], that thou eatest no bread? [It would seem that the queen missed him from the banqueting hall—he can hardly, therefore, have lain down on one of the divans or couches therein—and went to his bedroom to inquire the reason.]
1Ki_21:6
And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him; Give me thy vineyard for money [Heb. silver]; or else, if it please [Heb. delight] thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered [Heb. said], I will not give thee my vineyard. [Ahab does not mention the reason which Naboth assigned for his refusal. But Naboth's reasons were nothing to him, and he had hardly given them a second thought.]
1Ki_21:7
And Jezebel his wife said unto him. Dost thou now govern [Heb. make; LXX: ποιεῖς [ βασιλέα ] the kingdom of Israel? [There is no question expressed in the Hebrew which stands, "Thou now makest the kingdom over Israel." The commentators generally, however, understand the words—as the LXX. and the A.V.—as an ironical question, "Art thou ruler in aught but name?" though some take it as an imperative: "Do thou now exert authority over the kingdom of Israel," And on the whole, this latter interpretation appears to be preferable. "Do thou now play the king. Make thy power felt. Give me the requisite authority. I will," etc.] Arise, and eat bread [or food], and let thine heart be merry [Heb. good; same words 1Sa_25:36]: I [This word is emphatic. "If thou wilt do thy part, I will do mine."] will give thee [no need to buy it] the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
1Ki_21:8
So she wrote letters [Heb. writings] in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal [The use of the seal, for the purpose of authentication, is of great antiquity. Some of the Egyptian signets are more than 4,000 years old. Their use in the age of the patriarchs is attested by Gen_38:15 and Gen_41:42; their importance is proved by the text, by Est_3:10; Est_8:2, Est_8:8, Est_8:10 (cf. "Herod," 3:128); Dan_6:17; Jer_32:10, 54; Hag_2:23, etc. Whether this seal—which does not necessarily prove that those who used it could not write—was impressed upon the writings themselves according to the modern practice of the East, or upon a piece of clay (Job_38:14), which was then attached to the letter by strings, we have no means of knowing. The use of Ahab's seal affords a strong presumption that he was privy to her designs (Bähr), but of this we cannot be absolutely certain], and sent the letters unto the elders [see Deu_16:18] and to the nobles [same word Neh_2:16; Neh_4:13; Ecc_10:17] that were in his city, dwelling [or inhabitants, as in Ecc_10:11] with Naboth.
1Ki_21:9
And she wrote in the letters, saying Proclaim a fast [The object of this ordinance was to give the impression that the city was labouring under, or threatened with, a curse, because of some undiscovered sin (2Sa_21:1; Jos_9:11; Deu_21:9), which must be removed or averted by public humiliation. Cf. Joe_1:14; Joe_2:12; 1Sa_7:6; 2Ch_20:3)], and set Naboth on high among the people. [Heb. at the head of the people. Keil, al. interpret, bring him into the court of justice, as defendant before all the people." And certainly äåÉùÄÑéáåÌ here, and in the next verse—where it is used of the witnesses (cf. verse 13)—means, make to sit; which looks as if judicial procedure were intended. But "at the head of the people "rather suggests that in the public assembly, which marked the fast (Joe_2:15), Naboth was assigned the most distinguished place. The reason for this is obvious, viz; to give a colour of impartiality to the proceedings. As Grotius, Ne odio damnasse crederentur, quem ipsi honoraverunt. It would also accord with the popular idea of retributive justice that Naboth should be denounced in the very hour of his triumph and exaltation. Josephus, however, says that it was because of his high birth that this position was assigned him.]
1Ki_21:10
And set two men [according to the previsions of the law (Deu_17:6, Deu_17:7; Deu_19:5; Num_35:30). "Even Jezebel bears witness to the Pentateuch" (Wordsworth). Josephus speaks of three witnesses], sons of Belial [i.e; worthless men. This use of the word "son" (cf. Psa_89:22, "son of wickedness"), which is one of the commonest idioms of the East, throws some light on the expression "sons of the prophets" (see 1Ki_20:35, note; cf. Deu_13:13; Mat_26:60)], before him [confronting him], to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme [Heb. bless; cf. Job_1:5, Job_1:11; Job_2:5; LXX. εὐλόγησε . The Lexicographers are not agreed as to how this word, the primary meaning of which is to kneel, hence to pray, to bless, came to signify curse or blaspheme. According to some, it is an euphemism, the idea of cursing God being altogether too horrible for the Jew to express in words; whilst others derive this signification from the fact that a curse is really a prayer addressed to God; and others, again, account for it by the consideration that a person who bids farewell to another sometimes does so in the sense of dismissing and cursing him. Anyhow, it is noticeable that the word "blessing" is sometimes used with a similar meaning amongst ourselves] God and the king [God and the representative of God in Israel are here coupled together, as in Exo_22:28. To curse the king was practically to curse Him whose vicegerent he was (cf. Mat_23:18-22). Hence such cursing is called blasphemy and was punishable with death (Deu_13:11; Deu_17:5; 2Sa_16:9; 2Sa_19:21; and see on 1Ki_2:43, 1Ki_2:44)]. And then carry him out [i.e; out of the city (cf. Le Exo_24:14; Act_7:58; Luk_4:29; Heb_13:12). "Locus lapidationis erat extra urbem, omnes enim civitates muris cinctae paritatem habent ad castra Israelis" (Babyl. Sanh.)], and stone him [the legal punishment for blasphemy (Le Exo_24:16)], that he may die. [The terrible power accorded to "two or three witnesses," of denouncing a man to death, accounts for the prominence given to the sin of bearing false witness (Exo_20:16; Exo_23:1; Deu_19:16). It found a mention in the Decalogue.]
1Ki_21:11
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 [Their ready compliance shows not merely the "deep moral degradation of the Israelites" at that period, but also the terror which the name of Jezebel inspired], and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them. [That she did not hesitate to put her infamous command into writing shows the character of the woman.]
1Ki_21:12
They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.
1Ki_21:13
And there came in [Heb. came. The assembly was probably held al fresco. From the word àÆîÆùÑ , A.V. yesterday, but strictly, yesternight, Stanley suggests that the trial took place by night. But the word is often used in the wider sense of "yesterday" (Gesenius)] 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 [The whole congregation was interested in a charge of blasphemy. If unpunished, the guilt rested on the congregation. Hence the provision of Deu_24:14. By the imposition of hands they testified that the guilt of the blasphemer thenceforth rested upon his own head], saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth [Heb. made him to go forth] out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. [It appears from 2Ki_9:26 that the children of Naboth, who otherwise might have laid claim to their patrimony, were put to death at the same time, and probably in the same way; cf. Jos_7:24, Jos_7:25; Num_16:27. This was the rule of the East (Dan_6:24). The principle of visiting the sins of the parents upon the children seems to have been carried to an excess, as we find Joash (2Ki_14:6) instituting a more merciful rule.]
1Ki_21:14
Then they sent to Jezebel [clearly she was not at Jezreel], saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. [Stanley observes that it is significant that this announcement was made to her and not to Ahab. It appears from 1Ki_21:19 that the corpses both of Naboth and his children were left to be devoured of dogs.]
1Ki_21:15
And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession [or inherit, succeed to; same word Gen_21:10; Deu_2:24; Jer_49:1. The possessions of a person executed for treason were ipso facto forfeited to the crown. There was no law prescribing this, but it followed the principles of the Mosaic code. Just as the goods of the idolater were devoted as cherem to the Lord (Deut, Jer_13:16), so those of the traitor reverted to the king. So Keil] of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give to thee for money [there is a proud malicious triumph in these words. "He refused, simple fool, to sell it. Now thou canst have it for nothing. I have discovered a better plan than buying it"]: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.
1Ki_21:16
And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab arose up [According to the LXX; his first act was to rend his clothes and put on sackcloth. Afterwards "he rose up," etc.] to go down [The "Great Plain, on the margin of which Jezreel stands, is at a much lower level than Samaria, which is in the mountain district of Ephraim"] to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. ["Behind him—probably in the back part of his chariot—ride his two pages, Jehu and Bidkar (2Ki_9:26)," Stanley. But the expression "riding in pairs after Ahab" (A.V. "rode together after") does not make it certain that they were in the same chariot. Indeed, they may have been on horseback. This was apparently (2Ki_9:26) on the day after the murder.]
1Ki_21:17
And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying [As in 1Ki_17:1, 1Ki_17:8; 1Ki_18:1],
1Ki_21:18
Arise, go down [Bähr hence concludes that Elijah was at this time in a mountain district. But wherever he might be, this word would probably be used of journey to the plain of Esdraelon] to meet ["The word used 1Sa_17:48 of David going out to meet Goliath (Stanley). But the same word is used (1Sa_18:6) of the women going out to meet Saul, and indeed it is the usual word for all meetings. We cannot hence infer, consequently, that Elijah went forth as if to encounter a foe] Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria [i.e; whose seat is in Samaria; who rules there. There is no need to understand the word of the territory of Samaria]: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it. [The words imply that Elijah found Ahab—strode into his presence—in the vineyard; not that he was there already when the royal chariot entered it (Stanley).]
1Ki_21:19
And thou shalt speak unto him;. saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed [ äÂøÈöÇçÀúÈÌ , a rare and expressive word. We might render, slaughtered], and also [this word suggests that Jezebel's programme, which he had accepted, was fast being accomplished. But in the very hour of its completion it should be interrupted] taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord [For the repetition, see on 1Ki_20:13, 1Ki_20:14], In the place where dogs [LXX. αἱ ὗες καὶ οἱ κύνες ] licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood [according to the lex talionis, as in 1Ki_20:42], even thine. [Heb. even thou. The LXX. adds, "And the harlots shall bathe in thy blood." For the construction see Gesen; Gram. § 119. 3; and cf. Gen_27:34; Pro_23:15; Psa_9:7. Thenius contends that there is a contradiction between this ver. and 1Ki_22:38 (together with 2Ki_9:25) which is absolutely insuperable. But as Bähr observes, "How thoughtless our author must have been if in two consecutive chapters—i.e; on the same leaf, as it were—he had inadvertently inserted direct contradictions." And the following considerations will show that the discrepancy is only apparent.
(1) The sentence here pronounced against Ahab was, on his repentance, stayed in its execution. God said distinctly, "I will not bring the evil in his days," and as distinctly added that He would "bring the evil in his son's days, upon his house" (1Ki_22:29). And
(2) with the prophecy, as thus modified, the facts exactly record. The body of Jehoram was "cast into the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite" (2 Kings l.c.). And if it be objected
(3) that our historian sees in the death of Ahab in Samaria (1Ki_20:1-43. l.c.) a fulfilment of this prophecy, the answer is that that death was a partial fulfilment of Elijah's words. The repentance of Ahab, having secured him immunity from this sentence, his subsequent folly and sin (cf. 1Ki_22:27) nevertheless brought down upon him a judgment of God strikingly similar, as we might expect it would be, to that originally denounced against him, which was now reserved for his son. In ether words, the prophecy was fulfilled to the letter in the person of his son, but it had a secondary fulfilment in its spirit on himself].
1Ki_21:20
And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me [Not merely, "Hast thou found me out? hast thou surprised me in the very act?" though this meaning is not to be excluded, but also, "Has thy vengeance overtaken me?" îÈàÈõ is used in this sense 1Sa_23:17; Isa_10:10; Psa_21:9. Ahab is so conscience stricken by the sudden apparition of Elijah, whom in all probability he had not seen or heard of since "the day of Carmel," and by his appearance on the scene at the very moment when he was entering on the fruit of his misdoing," in the very blossom of his sin," that he feels that judgment is already begun], O mine enemy? [No doubt the thought was present in Ahab's mind that Elijah had ever been opposed to him and thwarting him, but he does not dream (Von Gerlach, in Bähr) of justifying himself by ascribing Elijah's intervention to personal hatred towards himself. The sequel shows that he was thoroughly conscious of wrong-doing.] And he answered, I have found thee: because [not because I am thine enemy, but because] thou has sold thyself [or sellest thyself, i.e; surrenderest thyself wholly. The idea is clearly derived from the institutions of slavery, according to which the bondservant was wholly at his master's disposal and was bound to accomplish his will. Whether "the practice of men selling themselves into slavery" (Rawlinson) existed in that age may perhaps be doubted. We have the same thought in 2Ki_17:17, and Rom_7:14] to work evil in the sight of the Lord. [We can readily gather from these words why the doom was denounced against Ahab, who had but a secondary share in the crime, rather than against Jezebel, its real perpetrator. It was because Ahab was the representative of God, God's minister of justice, etc. If he had not himself devised the death of Naboth; if he had, which is possible, remained in ignorance of the means by which Jezebel proposed to procure him the vineyard, he had nevertheless readily and gladly acquiesced in her infamous crime after its accomplishment, and was then reaping its fruits. And because he was the king, the judge, who, instead of punishing the evil doer, sanctioned and approved the deed, and who crowned a reign of idolatries and abominations with this shameful murder, the prophetic sentence is directed primarily against him.]
1Ki_21:21
Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity [Heb. exterminate after thee. See note on 1Ki_14:10. Ahab knew well the meaning of these words. He had before him the examples of Baasha and Zimri], and will cut off from Ahab [Heb. to Ahab] him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel [see on 1Ki_14:10].
1Ki_21:22
And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat [cf. 1Ki_15:29], and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah [1Ki_16:3, 1Ki_16:11], for—[ àÆì used in the sense of òÇì , as elsewhere] the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger [1Ki_14:9; 1Ki_16:7, etc.], and made Israel to sin.
1Ki_21:23
And of Jezebel [Heb. to Jezebel. LXX. τῇ ̓Ιεζάβελ . But we cannot be sure that she also received a message of doom Elijah, as ìÀ : like àÆì after verbs of from speaking sometimes has the meaning of, concerning. Cf. Gen_20:13; Psa_3:3; Jdg_9:54; 2Ki_19:32. Moreover if the denunciation had been direct, it would have run, "The dogs shall eat thee," etc. See also 2Ki_19:27] also spake the Lord [Probably at the same time. Certainly by the same prophet (2Ki_9:1-37 :86). Elijah's words to Ahab appear to he only partially recorded (ib; 2Ki_19:26)], saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel [see on 1Ki_14:11] by the wall [ çÅì . same word as çÇéì , is used of the strength and defences of a town, sc. its fortifications, and especially of the ditch or moat before them. Cf. 2Sa_20:15. The LXX. render by προτείχισμα or περίτειχος , the Vulgate by antemurale. "There is always in Oriental towns a space outside the walls which lies uncultivated and which is naturally used for the deposit of refuse of every kind. Here the dogs prowl, and the kites and vultures find many a feast" (Rawlinson). In 2Sa_21:12 we find the bodies of Saul and Jonathan impaled in the open space (A.V. "street") of Bethshean. This heap of refuse—for such the place soon be-comes—is called in the Arabian Nights "the mounds" (Stanley)] of Jezreel. [Retribution should overtake her near the scene of her latest crime (2Ki_9:36). By this the just judgment of God would be made the more conspicuous.
1Ki_21:24
Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat. [See on 1Ki_14:11; 1Ki_16:4. Stanley, forgetting that the phrase is almost a formula, thinks that "the large vultures which in Eastern climes are always wheeling aloft under the clear blue sky doubtless suggested the expression to the prophet." "The horizon was darkened with the visions of vultures glutting on the carcases of the dead, and the packs of savage dogs feeding on their remains, or lapping up their blood."]
1Ki_21:25
But [Heb. Only] there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord [as in verse 20], whom Jezebel his wife stirred up [or as Marg; incited, instigated and urged to sin. Cf. Deu_13:7 Hebrews; Job_36:18].
1Ki_21:26
And he did very abominably in following idols [Heb. to go after the idols. For the last word see on 1Ki_15:12], according to an things as did the Amorites. [Heb. the Amorite—the word is always singular—here put as a nomen generale for the seven nations of Canaan. Cf. Gen_15:16; 2Ki_21:11; Eze_16:8; Amo_2:9, Amo_2:10. Strictly the term Amorite, i.e; Highlander, is in contrast with Canaanite, i.e; dwellers in the lowlands; see Num_13:29; Jos_5:1. But the word is used interchangeably with Canaanite (cf. Deu_1:44 with Num_14:45, and Jdg_1:10 with Gen_13:8), Hittites (Jdg_1:10 with Gen_23:2, Gen_23:3, Gen_23:10), Hivites (Gen_48:22 with Gen_34:2), and Jebusites (Jos_10:5, Jos_10:6, with Jos_17:1-18 :63, etc.) The ethnical and geographical ideas of the Jews were never very precise. The idolatries of the seven nations had lingered, as we might expect, amongst the Zidonians, whence they were reintroduced into the kingdom of Samaria—one fruit of disobedience to the command of Deu_7:1-5, etc.], whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel [Deu_2:34; Deu_3:8, Deu_3:8, etc.]
1Ki_21:27
And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those [Heb. these] words [verses 21-24, and others not recorded], that he rent his clothes [cf. 2Sa_13:19; Job_1:20; Job_2:12; Jer_36:24, etc.], and put sackcloth upon his flesh [1Ki_20:31; 2Ki_6:1-33 :80; Joe_1:8; 2Sa_21:10, Heb.], and fasted, and lay [i.e; slept] in sackcloth, and went softly. [All these were signs of contrition and humiliation (verse 29). The "going softly"—Josephus says he went barefoot—is especially characteristic of the subdued and chastened mind.]
1Ki_21:28
And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, [It is not clear that this mitigation of the sentence was announced to Ahab],
1Ki_21:29
Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? [The repentance, if it was not profound, or enduring, was nevertheless, while it lasted, sincere. The Searcher of hearts saw in it a genuine self-abasement. And "He will not break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax;" Isa_42:3; Mat_12:20.] Because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil [There is a manifest reference to Mat_12:21, where the same words are used] in his days; but in his son's days [There is no injustice here—no threat of punishment against the innocent instead of the guilty—as might at first sight appear. For in the first place, God knew well what the son would be, and in the second place, if the son had departed from his father's sins he would have been spared (Eze_18:14 sqq.); the sentence would have been revoked. Judgment was deferred to give the house of Ahab another chance. When Ahab lapsed into sin, he suffered in his own person: when his sons persisted in sin, excision befell the family] will I bring the evil [Mat_12:19] upon his house [Mat_12:22],
And just as the crime has few parallels, so has the history few equals in point of graphic force and quiet pathos. It is like one of those sketches by the hand of a master, which set us wondering to see how much effect can be produced, and how much meaning conveyed, by a few broad lines and touches. We see in the first place the king, from his palace lattices, or from his garden slopes, casting hungry, envious eyes on the rich vineyard of his neighbour. He must have it at any cost. The residence is incomplete without it. We then hear him making overtures to the sturdy owner. There is a smile upon his face. His words are smoother than butter. Nothing could be fairer, as it seems at first, than his proposals. Surely Naboth will do well to sell or exchange on such liberal terms as these. But we find him straightway shrinking in pious horror from the idea. There is nothing to soften or modify his blunt and abrupt refusal. He cannot, he will not, do this thing and sin against God. We see a cloud of vexation gather on the king's brow. He is foiled. The project on which he has set his heart he cannot realize. With a mortified scowl, a look in which suppressed rage and bitter disappointment are equally blended, he terminates the interview and hurries to his palace, while Naboth, strong in the consciousness of right, but not without misgivings as to the issue, goes to tell his story to his wife and children at home.
And now the scene changes. We are admitted to a room, a bedroom of the palace of Samaria. We see on an ivory couch, in an ivory house (1Ki_22:29), or in a chamber celled with cedar, and painted with vermilion (Jer_22:14), a man whose soul is so vexed and troubled that he can eat no bread, that he has a word for no one, but turns his face sullenly to the wall. Can this be the king of Israel? can this be Ahab, whose recent victories over the Syrians have rung through many lands? It is Ahab indeed. The great conqueror is a slave to himself. By his side there stands his dark, malignant, Phoenician consort. We hear his pitiful, almost childish, complaint, that he cannot have the vineyard he so much covets, and we straightway see a look of something like scorn upon her face. We hear her almost contemptuous rejoinder, "Art thou, then, so helpless, so utterly without resources, as to lie here and grieve like a spoilt child? Is it for nothing that thou art a king, or art thou king in name only? If thou art baffled, I am not. Arise, and eat bread. Banish dull care and give thyself up to feasting. I will give thee the vineyard of this wretched peasant."
The next tableau introduces us to another chamber of this same royal residence. The king may keep his bed if he will, but the queen is up and doing. The scribes are now writing at her command. She it is who dictates the words, who stamps the writings with the king's seal. The scribe's hand may well tremble as he pens the infamous decree, for the letter consigns Naboth to death; but she knows no fear, has no scruples. The letters are despatched, the royal posts carry their sealed orders to Jezreel, and the murderess sits down to eat and drink, and rises up to play.
Again the scene changes. We find ourselves in s village convocation. The elders of Jezreel, the officers of the royal borough, have proclaimed a fast. Their town has incurred the wrath of God, and they must find out and expiate the sin. Naboth is there. He fears this meeting bodes him no good, but he is compelled to attend. He finds himself, to his great surprise, set "at the head of the people." But who shall picture the astonishment and pain in this man's face, when there rise up in that assembly, two miserable varlets who swear that he, Naboth, the humble servant of the Lord, the man who has honestly striven to keep the law, even against his king, has committed a horrible breach of law, has blasphemed God and the anointed of God. He thinks, perchance, at the first, that the charge is so utterly reckless and improbable, that none of these his neighbours, who know him so well, and have known him from his youth up, will entertain it for a moment. But he is speedily undeceived. He finds that he has not a chance with them, that all steel their faces and hearts against him. He perceives that there is a conspiracy against him. In vain he protests his innocence; in vain he appeals to his blameless life. His cries and those of his wife and children are alike unheeded. In a trice he is condemned to die the death of the blasphemer.
And now we find ourselves hurried along by a tumultuous crowd. We pass through the city gate, we reach the open space outside the walls. So far, Naboth has hardly realized that they are in earnest, so suddenly has the thing come upon him. Surely it is some grim jest that his neighbours play upon him. It cannot be that he is to die, to look for the last time on the faces of those he loves, on his native fields, on the blessed light of the sun. But if he has any lingering hopes of deliverance they are rapidly dispelled. He sees them making preparations for his execution. They are going to stone him on the spot. "O God in heaven!" he thinks, "is it for this I have kept Thy law? Is this agony and death the reward of mine integrity? Must I then die, when life is so sweet! Is there no power to rescue me out of the jaws of the lion? Has God forgotten me? or will He look on it and require it?" (2Ch_24:22.) It is true the history says nothing of any such thoughts, of any prayers, appeals, entreaties, threatenings; but the history, it must be remembered, is but an outline, and that outline it is left for us to fill up. And we cannot doubt that Naboth had some such thoughts as these. But whatever they were, they were speedily brought to a close. "The king's business required haste." Time for reflection would mean time for repentance. The witnesses speedily divest themselves of their abbas; they lay them down at the feet of the elders; they take up stones and rush upon him. At the first blow he quivers from head to foot with a great throb of pain, but blow follows fast upon blow; he sinks senseless; the blood streams from his wounds; the dear life is crushed out of him, and Naboth's name and the names of his sons are added to those on the glory roll of the noble army of martyrs.
But it is now for us to ask what led to this shameful deed. There were five parties to this tragedy—Naboth, the king, the queen, the elders, the witnesses. Let us see how each of these contributed, though in very different ways, to diabolical result. We shall thus see how Naboth, who was murdered in the name of law and religion, was a martyr to law and religion. And let us consider—
1. The piety of Naboth. For it was his religion brought this doom upon his head. He had but to comply with the request of the king—and what loyal subject would not wish to gratify the Lord's anointed?—and all would have gone well. So far from being stoned, he would have been honoured and rewarded. And that request seemed so reasonable. There was no attempt at robbery or confiscation. The king offered an ample equivalent; a better vineyard than it, or bars of silver which could buy a better. Was he not perverse and wrong headed to let a scruple stand in the way? We should not have done so. No; but is not that precisely because we have not the steadfast piety of Naboth? There is no reason to think that he was not loyal. Doubtless he would have been glad to oblige his king. But there were two considerations stood in the way. First, his duty to God; secondly, his duty to his forefathers and to his posterity. His duty to God. For God's law said, "The land shall not be sold forever" (Le 25:2-3); it laid down that every child of Israel should "cleave to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers" (Num_36:7). And Naboth knew this, and Ahab knew it. But to the latter the law was a dead letter; to the former it was a living reality. To him there was no God but one, no will to be considered in comparison with His. If Naboth could but have consented to do as others had done (1Ki_16:24), he would have kept his life. But he could not. He "did not fear loss, but sin." It was a crime against Jehovah, and he would not consent. Moreover it was—though perhaps this thought had comparatively little influence with him—a wrong to his ancestors and to his posterity. For generations past, ever since it was allotted to his first father, had that vineyard been in his family. It had been transmitted through a long line to him. It was his duty to transmit it intact to those who came after him, and he would do it. It was for these reasons—sentimental reasons some would call them—that Naboth died, because of his belief in a living God, and because he kept His law, and especially the first and fifth commandments of the Decalogue.
2. The impiety of Ahab. Just as the action of Naboth arose out of his belief, so did that of Ahab spring out of his practical unbelief—an apt illustration of the close connexion between our faith and our practice. This crime had its beginning, its fons et origo, in idolatry. It was because Ahab worshipped gods many and lords many that his allegiance to the Divine law was shaken. The law of Baal, he argued, did not forbid the alienation of land—why should the law of Jehovah? The root of this sin, therefore, like the root of all sin, was unbelief. And its blossom was a direct violation of the Decalogue. Out of the breach of the first commandment sprang violations of the sixth, eighth, ninth, and tenth. Just as Naboth, the believer in the one true God, stands out conspicuously as a keeper of the ten words, so do all the other parties in the tragedy stand convicted of violating them. It was primarily the tenth commandment that Ahab set at nought. He had no right to set his heart upon that vineyard, which the great King had given to another. And a breach of law was the less excusable in his ease, insomuch as he was the guardian of law and was acquainted with its provisions (Deu_17:18). Of all men, he should have been the last to defy or disregard it. But it is only when we consider that when his subject, to whom he should have been an example, set him an example, and refused to participate in his sin, that then, so far from repenting and praying that the thought of his heart might be forgiven him, he mourns and repines that he was not allowed to consummate it—it is only when we consider this that we realize its hue character. His was a sin against light and knowledge; a sin against his helper and benefactor (1Ki_20:13, 1Ki_20:28); a sin in spite of manifold warnings; a sin which led to blacker sin still. He coveted an evil covetousness to his house. That "love of money" was a root of false witness, of foul murder. And in this estimate of Ahab's sin it is assumed that he neither knew nor sanctioned Jezebel's designs. If he gave her the royal seal with the least idea of the malignant purpose to which she would apply it, he was virtually an accessory before the fact, and so was guilty of murder and robbery. And even if he was ignorant of her intentions, still the readiness with which he reaped the fruits of her crime makes him a partaker in her sin. It is a common saying that the "receiver is as bad as the thief." And he must have known that "Jezebel could not give this vineyard with dry hands."
3. The depravity of Jezebel. Great as Ahab's guilt was, it was altogether eclipsed by that of his wife. At her door lies the real sin of the murder. The hands that accomplished it were not so guilty as the heart that suggested it and the mind that planned it. Ahab broke the tenth, Jezebel the sixth, eighth, ninth, and tenth commandments. Covetousness, false witness, murder, confiscation, she stands convicted of them all. But what lends its most hideous feature to her sin is the consideration that she, the sworn foe of the law of Jehovah, availed herself of its forms to compass Naboth's death. Was ever such black-hearted ingenuity as hers? We can fancy her laughing in her sleeve at the crafty use she made of the hated system of the Jews. We can see her shaking her finger at Naboth and saying "Simple fool! thou hast stood out for the law; thou shalt have a surfeit of it this time." It is possible that she rejoiced at the base part to which she commits the elders of Jezreel. If they will cling to their austere and gloomy creed, she will make them carry out its provisions. To this shameful murderess it added zest to her sin that she scored a triumph against the followers and the law of the God of Israel. We must also observe the evident satisfaction, the malicious triumph, with which she hears of Naboth's death. So far from feeling the least compunction, she hurries with the good news to her husband. Her part, so far as we know, is absolutely without a parallel of all the daughters of our first mother. What name is there so deservedly infamous as hers?
4. The corruption of the elders. We may readily acquit them of liking the task entailed upon them. They could not embark on that course of crime without many qualms of conscience and secret self upbraidings. But the name of Jezebel inspired so much terror that they dared not resist her will. Their sin was, first, that they feared man more than God. It was unbelief at bottom; they had more faith in the finger of the queen than in the arm of the Almighty. They argued, as the Turkish peasant does, that the queen was near and God was a long way off. It was, secondly, that they abused their office. In defiance of law (Exo_23:2, Exo_23:6; Deu_16:19), they wrested judgment and condemned the innocent (Deu_27:19, Deu_27:25), and so they share with Jezebel the guilt of the murder. It is idle to plead the constraint put upon them, to say that they would have died had they resisted her; they should have died rather than slay the innocent. But for their complaisance, the queen might have been baffled. One might reasonably expect elders—the "judges and officers" of the land (Deu_16:18)—to answer, "We ought to obey God rather than man." History tells of many judges who have withstood the corrupt commands of their sovereign. During the Mohammedan rule in Spain one of the caliphs took forcible possession of a field belonging to one of his subjects. This man, as a forlorn hope, stated his grievance before the kadi, a man renowned for his integrity, and the kadi promised to bring his case before the king. Loading his mule with a sack of earth which he had taken from the stolen field, he strode into the presence of the prince, and asked him to be so good as to lift the sack of earth to his shoulders. The caliph tried to comply with his request, but the burden proved too heavy for him; he could not move, still less carry, it. "Wretched man!" cried the judge, "see what thou hast done. Thou canst not carry one mule's burden of the earth of this field of which thou hast deprived thy subject. How, then, canst thou hope to sustain the whole field on thy shoulders in the dreadful day of judgment?" The appeal was successful; the prince made immediate restitution and rewarded the judge. But nothing of this kind did the elders of Jezreel. They only feared for their skins. They argued that one or the other must die, and if so it must be Naboth. And so he died, and they bore the stain of blood upon their souls.
5. The perjury of the witnesses. It is hardly correct to describe their sin as perjury. It was much more than that. It was actual murder also. As witnesses, they had to cast the first stone—to take the principal part in the execution. Even without this they were guilty of murder, for it was upon their testimony that Naboth was condemned to die. They share with the elders, consequently, the guilt of violating the sixth and ninth commandments. But they were "sons of Belial" to begin with. They were not ministers of God; still less were they the "Lord's anointed." And they were but instruments in the hand of others. The elders were the hand; the queen was the head.
It is clear, then, that Naboth's death was a true martyrdom. He died a victim to his faith in God and his obedience to law. He was a witness ( μάρτυς ), consequently, for God no less than Elijah or Elisha. Like Elijah, he was a public vindicator of the law, and he sealed his witness with his blood. He died because he would not deny it; because others, its guardians and executors, violated and abused it.
But if any deny his right to be enrolled in the army of martyrs, it only needs to compare his end with that of the protomartyr Stephen, and indeed with that of our blessed Lord. The analogy could not well be closer.
1. The same passions and influences were at work in each case. It was unbelief and pride and covetousness occasioned the death of Naboth. These were the forces arrayed against our Lord and against Stephen. Was there a coveted vineyard in one case? so there was in the other (Luk_20:14, Luk_20:15).
2. The tribunals were equally corrupt. The Sanhedrim was the counterpart of the elders; the council of Jerusalem of that of Jezreel (Mat_26:59; Act_6:12).
3. The princes of this world occasioned the death of Naboth; the princes of this world took counsel against the Christ (Act_4:26, Act_4:27), and crucified the Lord of glory (1Co_2:8).
4. The charge was the same in every case, viz; blasphemy (Mat_26:65; Act_6:13). The variation is extremely slight: "God and the king" in one case; "against Moses and God" in another (Act_6:11).
5. The charge was made in each instance by men who were conspicuously law-breakers (Joh_17:19; Act_7:58), and it was made in the name of law (Joh_19:7; Act_6:14).
6. The means used to compass the death were alike in every case, viz; false witness (Mat_26:59, Mat_26:60; Act_6:11, 18).
7. Each of these three martyrs suffered without the gate (Act_7:58 : Heb_13:12). Like Naboth, Stephen was stoned; like Naboth, our Lord would have been stoned if the Jews had had the power (Joh_18:31), and if the counsel of God had not willed otherwise (Act_4:28).
8. There is indeed one difference, and that is suggestive. The martyrs of our religion prayed for their murderers (Luk_23:34; Act_7:60); the martyrs of Judaism could only cry, "The Lord look on it and require it" (2Ch_24:22). The blood of the covenant speaks better things than the blood of Naboth.
1Ki_21:17-24
Now the dispensation under which these men lived promised a present recompense, a temporal reward, to obedience, and it denounced temporal punishment against "every transgression and disobedience." We may imagine, consequently, how this tragedy would strike the men of that age. They would see in it a direct failure of justice. They would ask whether there was a God that judgeth in the earth. They would look, and especially the God-fearing amongst them, in utter perplexity and distress on this conspicuous instance of the triumph of force and wrong. "What is the Almighty," they would be tempted to ask," that we should serve him? and what profit should we have if we pray unto him?" (Job_21:15.) They would be tempted to think that "in keeping of his commandments there was no reward; yes, even tempted to say in their hearts, "There is no God" (Psa_53:1).
It would have been strange, therefore, if such a red-handed, cold-blooded murder had passed unnoticed and unavenged; if the dogs had been left to feast on the remains of Naboth, and Ahab had been suffered to enter on his vineyard without protest. But this was not to be. The men of Jezreel had not seen the last act in the tragedy. They must learn that "no reckoning is brought in the midst of the meal; the end pays for all;" they must be taught to count no man happy before his death. They must be reminded that there is a prophet in Israel, and a God of Israel who will by no means clear the guilty. And so Elijah, the great restorer of the law, stands forth to avenge the death of Naboth, the law-keeper, at the hands of law-breakers.
"Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, which he refused to give thee for money, for Naboth is not alive, but dead. Did the king stop. to ask how this death had been brought about? Did he know the shameful crime that had been committed in his name, and under his palace walls? He must have known something of it, if not all. Even if he thought it prudent to ask no questions, still he would remember the significant promise of 1Ki_21:7; he would have some suspicions of the purpose for which the royal seal was required; and it would be clear to him, even if he did not know the exact circumstances, that somehow Jezebel had compassed Naboth's death. It was clear to him that this vineyard was bought at the price of blood.
But he will not let such considerations as these hinder his enjoyment of it. All he thinks of or cares for is this, that the vineyard is his and he can enter upon it at once. He will enter upon it at once. His chariot shall bear him to the spot. He will view his new property that day; he will begin his garden of herbs forthwith.
The citizens of Jezreel, the "elders," and "children of Belial" amongst them, see the royal chariot crossing the plain, breasting the hill, entering the city. They know full well what is its destination. There is hardly a child in the city but guesses the king's errand. It causes them no surprise when the chariot and its escort pass on to the vineyard of Naboth. But they shall learn, and through them all Israel shall learn, that there is a just God in heaven, and that even the king is responsible to a Higher Power; and they shall know that God Himself is against the evildoer, and shall render to every man according to his works (Pro_24:12; Mat_16:27; 2Ti_4:14).
For who is this that strides up to the king as he stands in the coveted vineyard, and shapes his projects concerning it? It is a prophet—the dress proves that; a glance shows that it is the dreaded, mysterious prophet Elijah. "Behold Elijah" (1Ki_18:8, 1Ki_18:11) is on their lips. Whence has he come? Since the day of Carmel he has been hidden from their view. They had often wondered why he had so suddenly disappeared; whether he was still alive; whether the Spirit had cast him upon some mountain or into some valley (2Ki_2:16); whether he was hiding among foreigners as he had done before. And now he is amongst them again. And Jehu and Bidkar at least (2Ki_9:25), and probably others with them, presently understand the reason of his sudden reappearance. "Hast thou killed," he thunders forth, "and also taken possession?" They see the guilty look on Ahab's face; they note his ashy paleness; they observe how he trembles helplessly from head to foot. Then they hear the terrible doom—and their ears tingle, as Elijah's impassioned words fall upon them—"Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Jezebel shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine." They hear, and Ahab hears, that for him a death as cruel and shameful as Naboth's is reserved; that, king though he is, he shall come to the dogs at the last. But more: they presently learn that for his children, born in the purple and delicately nurtured, there remains a reckoning; that their blood must be shed, their bodies torn of beasts, like those of Naboth's sons. Nor shall proud Jezebel, the prime mover in this murder, escape. In the open space before the city wall the dogs which devoured the flesh of Naboth shall feast upon her dead body. All this was spoken in the broad day, before king and retinue, by a prophet whose words had never fallen to the ground. The king is found out; he is taken red-handed in the blossoms of his sin, Yesterday the crime, today the sentence. We may compare the feelings of that group standing in the vineyard with those of that surging crowd who saw Robespierre standing under the guillotine to which he had consigned so many. hundreds of Frenchmen. "Aye, Robespierre, there is a God." We may imagine how they stood for a while transfixed to the spot; how, when Elijah had hurled his words at the king, he strode away and left them to rankle in his mind. But the thing was not done in a corner, and it could not be kept secret. As the chariot returns to Samaria the townsman in the street, the peasant in the field, perceive that something untoward has happened. The news of Elijah's reappearance spreads like wildfire; his scathing words are passed from lip to lip; every town and hamlet soon knows that Naboth is avenged; it knows that with what measure king and queen meted to him it shall be measured to them again.
The lessons which this public manifestation of the righteous judgment of God had for the men of that age, and some of which it has still, may be briefly stated in the words of Scripture. Among them are these:
1. "The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good" (Pro_15:3); God doth know, and there is knowledge in the Most High (Psa_73:11; cf. Psa_11:4).
2. "Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth" (Psa_58:11). "Thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand" (Psa_10:14).
3. "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Num_32:23).
4. "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished" (Pro_11:21).
5. "I will come near to you in judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord" (Mal_3:5).
6. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed" (Gen_9:6).
7. "Life for life, eye for eye, tooth, for tooth, hand or hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe" (Exo_21:23-25). "God loves to punish by retaliation" (Hall),
1Ki_21:28, 1Ki_21:29
I. AHAB'S SIN. In this respect" there was none like him." He "sold himself to work wickedness." It was not because of Naboth's murder alone that the sentence of 1Ki_21:19-22 was pronounced against him; it was for the varied and accumulated sins of a reign of twenty years. Among these were -
1. The sin of schism. He continued the calf worship (1Ki_16:1-34 :81). He kept "the statutes of Omri." Despite the warnings of prophets and of history, he maintained the shrines, sacrifices, priests, of Bethel and Daniel
2. The sin of his marriage. "Was it a light thing to walk in the way of Jeroboam that he must take to wife Jezebel" (1Ki_15:31 Hebrews), in direct violation of the law (Deu_7:1-3), in disregard of the example of Solomon? To place such a woman, daughter of such a house, on the throne of Israel was to insult the true religion, and to court its overthrow.
3. The sin of idolatry. (1Ki_16:32.) Samaria had its house of Baal, its altar for Baal. He did very abominably in following idols (1Ki_21:26).
4. The sin of impurity. This was involved, as we have already remarked, in the idolatry of that age. "Ahab made an Asherah" (1Ki_16:32). Indeed, it is to the impurities of Canaanitish worship that the words just cited (verse 26) refer. The abominations of the Amorites are not to be named amongst Christians.
5. The sin of persecuting the prophets. It is very possible that Ahab himself was no persecutor, but Jezebel was, and he should have restrained her (1Sa_3:18). He was directly responsible for her deeds. She owed her power, place, and influence to him.
6. The sin of releasing the persecutor of God's people. The pardon and favour he accorded to Ben-hadad are mentioned as a part of the provocation wherewith he provoked the Lord (1Ki_20:42). It sprang out of his forgetting God. He ignored altogether God's will and pleasure in the matter. See p. 492.
7. The sin of slaying Naboth and his sons. For with this crime Ahab is charged. "Hast thou killed?" I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth; and I will requite thee" (2Ki_9:26). Perhaps he flattered himself that that sin lay at Jezebel's door. If so, he is soon undeceived.
Such was Ahab's sevenfold sin. Consider—
II. ITS AGGRAVATIONS. It enhanced his guilt that—
1. He was the Lord's anointed. He was the head of the Jewish Church. Fidei Defensor—this was the highest function of a true king of Israel. His very position reminded him of the gracious and marvellous history of his fathers. To him it was granted to be the representative of heaven to the chosen people. How great the sin when the champion of the faith became its oppressor, when the "nursing father" of the Church depraved and prostituted it.
2. He had witnessed miracles. The drought, the fire, the rain, all these signs and tokens had been wrought in his presence. Unto him they were showed that he might know that the Lord He was God (Deu_4:35, Deu_4:36; cf. 1Ki_18:39). Did ever king hear the voice of God as he had done?
3. He had been miraculously helped and delivered. Cf. 2Ch_26:15. If he gave no heed to the signs, he should have been moved by the victories God had granted him. These were plain proofs that the Lord alone was God (1Ki_20:13, 1Ki_20:28). But neither plagues, nor signs, nor victories moved that rebellious heart. He is scarce home from his Syrian compaigns, to enjoy the fruit of his success, than he lends himself to fresh sin, to murder and oppression, He, the executor and guardian of law, connives at the murder of a law-abiding subject. Let us now consider—
III. HIS REPENTANCE. Now that he is found out and denounced, like Felix, he trembles. As Elijah stands over him, and announces the doom of his house, he sees a horrible vision of blood and slaughter. The garden of herbs he has pictured dies away from his view. He sees in its stead his own mangled body cast into the plot of ground where he was then standing. He sees his hands, his feet, his face gnawed by the curs of the adjoining city. He sees his proud consort stripped of her silk attire, suffering a like indignity in the neighbouring ditch. He sees his children, the fruit of his body, stretched in th