1 Kings 21:26

_AND OF JEZEBEL ALSO SPAKE THE LORD, SAYING, THE DOGS SHALL EAT JEZEBEL BY THE WALL OF JEZREEL._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

17-29 Blessed Paul complains that he was sold under sin, Romans 7:14, as a poor captive against his will; but Ahab was willing, he sold himself to sin; of choice, and as his own act and deed, he loved the dominion of sin. Jezebel his wife stirred him up to do wickedly. Ahab is reproved, and his sin set before his eyes, by Elijah. That man's condition is very miserable, who has made the word of God his enemy; and very desperate, who reckons the ministers of that word his enemies, because they tell him the truth. Ahab put on the garb and guise of a penitent, yet his heart was unhumbled and unchanged. Ahab's repentance was only what might be seen of men; it was outward only. Let this encourage all that truly repent, and unfeignedly believe the holy gospel, that if a pretending partial penitent shall go to his house reprieved, doubtless, a sincere believing penitent shall go to his house jus...

The Amorites appear here as representatives of the old Canaanite nations (Genesis 15:16 note). It seems to be implied here that their idolatries were in the main identical with those of the Phoenicians which Ahab had adopted....

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 HE DID VERY ABOMINABLY IN FOLLOWING IDOLS,.... Which were abominable to the Lord; "dunghill gods", as the Tigurine version: ACCORDING TO ALL THINGS AS DID THE AMORITES, WHOM THE LORD CAST OUT BEFORE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL; meaning the seven nations that formerly inhabited Canaan, but were driven out for their sins, to make way for the children of Israel, of which the Amorites were one, and here put for all the rest....

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...

IDOLS. filthy idols. Compare Leviticus 26:30....

_he did very abominably_ Ahab himself cast aside the worship which his predecessors had inaugurated and followed, and followed Jezebel in her idolatry. _according to all things as did the Amorites_ Better, with R.V., ACCORDING TO ALL THAT THE AMORITES DID. The Amorites are mentioned probably because, being widely spread, the name had become representative of all the nations cast out before the children of Israel. They were the dwellers on the hills, like the Hittite and the Jebusite. It may therefore be that the Amorite worship and customs had lingered in the hill country of Samaria, and been revived during the idolatrous reign of Ahab. _whom the Lord cast out_ The R.V. has usually changed -cast" into -drave" in these passages. See 1 Kings 14:24. There seems no reason why it should not be done here....

D. THE CONTRITION OF AHAB 21:25-29 TRANSLATION (25) But there was none like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. (26) He erred exceedingly in going after the idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the LORD had driven out from before the children of Israel. (27) And it came to pass when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his garments and put sackcloth upon his flesh and fasted, and lay in the sackcloth and went about softly. (28) And the word of the LORD came unto Elijah the Tishbite, saying, (29) Have you seen that Ahab humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days; in the days of his son I will bring the evil upon his house. COMMENTS 1 Kings 21:25-26 seem to be in the nature of a parenthetical remark which is intended to f