1 Kings 21:13

_AND THERE CAME IN TWO MEN, CHILDREN OF BELIAL, AND SAT BEFORE HIM: AND THE MEN OF BELIAL WITNESSED AGAINST HIM, EVEN AGAINST NABOTH, IN THE PRESENCE OF THE PEOPLE, SAYING, NABOTH DID BLASPHEME GOD AND THE KING. THEN THEY CARRIED HIM FORTH OUT OF THE CITY, AND STONED HIM WITH STONES, THAT HE DIED._ There came in two men - worthless fellows, who had been bribed to swear a falsehood. The law required two witnesses in capital offences (Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15; Numbers 35:30; Matthew 26:60). Cursing God and cursing the king are mentioned in the law ...

5-16 When, instead of a help meet, a man has an agent for Satan, in the form of an artful, unprincipled, yet beloved wife, fatal effects may be expected. Never were more wicked orders given by any prince, than those Jezebel sent to the rulers of Jezreel. Naboth must be murdered under colour of religion. There is no wickedness so vile, so horrid, but religion has sometimes been made a cover for it. Also, it must be done under colour of justice, and with the formalities of legal process. Let us, from this sad story, be amazed at the wickedness of the wicked, and the power of Satan in the children of disobedience. Let us commit the keeping of our lives and comforts to God, for innocence will not always be our security; and let us rejoice in the knowledge that all will be set to rights in the great day....

Verse 1 Kings 21:13. _AND STONED HIM WITH STONES_] As they pretended to find him guilty of treason against God and the king, it is likely they destroyed the whole of his _family_; and then the king seized on his grounds as confiscated, or as _escheated_ to the king, without any heir at law. That his _family_ was destroyed appears strongly intimated, 2 Kings 9:26; _Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, AND THE BLOOD_ _OF HIS SONS, saith the Lord_....

Naboth had sons who were also put to death at this time (marginal reference). It is not improbable that they were stoned together with their parent (compare Joshua 7:24). In the East, a parent’s guilt constantly involves the punishment of his children. Contrast 2 Kings 14:6....

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 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 says d 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...

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...

STONED HIM. One of the nine cases of stoning. See note on Leviticus 24:14....

_And there came in two men, children of Belial_ R.V. AND THE TWO MEN, SONS OF BELIAL, CAME IN. The Hebrew noun is definite and the sense requires that it should be indicated. _witnessed_ R.V. BARE WITNESS. As in 1 Kings 21:10. even _against Naboth, in the presence of the people_ These words are omitted by the LXX. As much publicity as possible was given to the accusation, that thus it might have the colour of being legally carried out. _did blaspheme_ R.V. DID CURSE. The word is the same as in 1 Kings 21:10. But a different word is used for -blaspheme" in Leviticus 24:16. _they carried him forth out of the city_ This explains what is meant by -carry h