1 Kings 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 OF THE VINEYARD OF NABOTH THE JEZREELITE, WHICH HE REFUSED TO GIVE THEE FOR MONEY: FOR NABOTH IS NOT ALIVE, BUT DEAD._ Jezebel ... said ... Arise, take possession. Naboth's execution having been announced, and his family being involved in the same fatal sentence (2 Kings 9:26) his property became forfeited to the crown, not by law, but by traditionary usage (see the notes at 2 Samuel 16:4)....

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 21:15. _ARISE, TAKE POSSESSION_] By what _rites_ or in what _forms_ this was done, we do not know....

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 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 son e; 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 dea...

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...

ARISE. This form of the imperative is only found in connection with Jehovah, and always with reference to the promised land. And the lengthened form is found only in Moses' mouth in Numbers 10:35....

_that Naboth was stoned, and was dead_ These words are omitted by the LXX. The repetition is alien to Greek style, but exactly after the fashion of Hebrew. _take possession of the vineyard_ Some have thought that the king could do this, because it is supposed that the property of one so executed would become confiscated. Others have suggested that there was some relationship between Ahab and the family of Naboth. It seems unnecessary to seek for reasons in such a case. Where so much had been done unlawfully, and a life, or perhaps several, taken by false accusation, it would be a small matter to seize on the ground without any plea of law or kinship....

B. THE CONSPIRACY AGAINST NABOTH 21:8-16 TRANSLATION (8) So she wrote letters in the name of Ahab, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and unto the nobles which were in his city, dwelling with Naboth, (9) and she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people, (10) and two men, sons of Belial, before him that they may testify against him, saying, You cursed God and king; then they shall take him out, and stone him, that he may die. (11) And the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in his city, did according to that which Jezebel had sent unto them, according to that which was written in the letters which she had sent onto them. (12) They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. (13) And two of the men, sons of Belial, came and sat before him, and the men of Belial testifie...