1 Kings 21:1

_AND IT CAME TO PASS AFTER THESE THINGS, THAT NABOTH THE JEZREELITE HAD A VINEYARD, WHICH WAS IN JEZREEL, HARD BY THE PALACE OF AHAB KING OF SAMARIA._ Naboth ... had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel. Ahab proposed to Naboth to give him a better in exchange, or to obtain it by purchase; but the owner declined to part with it; and in persisting in his refusal, Naboth was not actuated by any feelings of disloyalty or disrespect to the king, but solely from a conscientious regard to the divine law, which, for important reasons, had prohibited the sale of a paternal inheritance, or if, through extreme poverty or debt, an assignation of it to another was unavoidable, the conveyance was made on the condition of its being redeemable at any time-at all events, of its reverting at the jubilee to the owner (see the notes at Leviticus 25:23;...

1-4 Naboth, perhaps, had been pleased that he had a vineyard situated so near the palace, but the situation proved fatal to him; many a man's possessions have been his snare, and his neighbourhood to greatness, of bad consequence. Discontent is a sin that is its own punishment, and makes men torment themselves. It is a sin that is its own parent; it arises not from the condition, but from the mind: as we find Paul contented in a prison, so Ahab was discontented in a palace. He had all the delights of Canaan, that pleasant land, at command; the wealth of a kingdom, the pleasures of a court, and the honours and powers of a throne; yet all avails him nothing without Naboth's vineyard. Wrong desires expose men to continual vexations, and those that are disposed to fret, however well off, may always find something or other to fret at....

CHAPTER XXI _Ahab covets the vineyard of Naboth, and wishes to have it either_ _by purchase or exchange_, 1, 2. _Naboth refuses to alienate it on any account, because it was his_ _inheritance from his fathers_, 3. _Ahab becomes disconsolate, takes to his bed, and refuses to eat_, 4. _Jezebel, finding out the cause, promises to give him the_ _vineyard_, 5-7. _She writes to the nobles of Jezreel to proclaim a fast, to_ _accuse Naboth of blasphemy, carry him out, and stone him to_ death; whic

A VINEYARD ... IN JEZREEL - The name Jezreel is applied in Scripture, not merely to the town 1 Kings 18:46, but also to the valley or plain which lies below it, between Mount Gilboa and Little Hermon (2Sa 2:9; 2 Kings 9:10; Hosea 1:5; etc.). The palace of Ahab at Jezreel was on the eastern side of the city, looking toward the Jordan down the valley above described. It abutted on the town wall 2 Kings 9:30. Immediately below it was a dry moat. Beyond, in the valley, either adjoining the moat, or at any rate at no great distance, was the plot o

EXPOSITION THE STORY OF NABOTH. THE DOOM OF AHAB'S HOUSE. HIS PENITENCE.— 1 KINGS 21:1 AND IT CAME TO PASS AFTER THESE THINGS [These words are omitted in the Vat. LXX; which, as before remarked, transposes 1 Kings 20:1. and 21. See introductory note, 1 Kings 20:1.], THAT NABOTH ["Fruit," "produce" (Gesen). Wordsworth sees in him a type of Christ, cast out of the vineyard ...

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 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 Bunting y, were sixteen miles distant from each other. y Travels, c. p. 164....

CHAPTER 21NABOTH'S VINEYARD _ 1. Naboth's refusal (1 Kings 21:1)_ 2. Jezebel's wicked deed (1 Kings 21:5) 3. Elijah pronounces divine judgment (1 Kings 21:17) 4. Ahab's wickedness and confession (1 Kings 21:25) 5. The LORD's mercy (1 Kings 21:28) No comment is needed on the story of Naboth's vineyard. Jezebel, the wicked, and Ahab's submission to her was his ruination. On her Satanic suggestion one of the most wicked deeds recorded in Bible history is done. Naboth is murdered to obtain his vi

THE STORY OF NABOTH. This is evidently not a part of the Elijah story of 1 Kings 17-19. There are certain differences of style; _e.g._ Ahab is described as king of Samaria (1); and Elijah does not, as in 1 Kings 17-19, occupy the central place. Nor does the story come in a very suitable place between 1 Kings 20 and 1 Kings 22, which have points in common. In the LXX it occurs before 1 Kings 20. It is probably, though not certainly, an independent narrative about Elijah. Ahab, as is usual. is not represented in the worst possible light; the great offender is Jezebel, who acts not as a Baal worshipper so much as a queen of Israel. Some critics (_e.g._ Burney) connect this passage with 2 Kings 9 f., the story of the destruction of the house of Omri by Jehu, where the mention of the burden laid on Ahab on that occasion demands the recital of thesecircumstances. Naboth refused to sell his vin...

1 Kings 21:1-16. Naboth the Jezreelite is stoned to death and Ahab takes possession of his vineyard (Not in Chronicles) 1. This chapter is placed by the LXX. before the preceding, and numbered 20. Josephus also adopts that order of the events. In consequence, the LXX. omits the words -after these things" in 1 Kings 21:1. The LXX. (_Alex._) calls Naboth -an Israelite". This of course he was. But _Jezreel_יזרעאל may easily, especially in ms., be mistaken for _Israel_ישׂראל. Both versions of the LXX. make the vineyard to be not near the _palace_, but near the _threshingfloor_of Ahab....

III. THE GREAT SOCIAL CRISIS 21:1-16 The third crisis[476] discussed in Chapter s 19-21 is of a different nature than those previously treated. Here the threat is not of external military domination, but of internal breakdown of law and order. Chapter 21 shows clearly the social breakdown of Ahab's kingdom. Years of flirtation with pagan practices were taking their toll. The rights of individuals guaranteed in the Sinai covenant were being ignored. The king was no longer under the Law, but was superior to it. The story unfolds in four stages: (1) the covetousness of the king (1 Kings 21:1-7); (2) the conspiracy against Naboth (1 Kings 21:8-16); (3) the condemnation by Elijah (1 Kings 21:17-24); and ...