1 Kings 21:6

_BUT JEZEBEL HIS WIFE CAME TO HIM, AND SAID UNTO HIM, WHY IS THY SPIRIT SO SAD, THAT THOU EATEST NO BREAD?_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

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....

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 SAID, BECAUSE I SPAKE UNTO NABOTH THE JEZREELITE, AND SAID UNTO HIM, GIVE ME THY VINEYARD FOR MONEY,.... Sell it him at his own price: OR ELSE, IF IT PLEASE THEE; if he liked it better: I WILL GIVE THEE ANOTHER VINEYARD FOR IT; AS GOOD, OR BETTER; AND HE ANSWERED, I WILL NOT GIVE THEE MY VINEYARD; he represents this answer as surly and ill natured, and as the effect of obstinacy, concealing the reason Naboth alleged for his denial....

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...

_I will not give thee my vineyard_ For the last two words the LXX. has -the inheritance of my fathers." Of course it is to be understood that Ahab would lay before Jezebel the motive, from which Naboth had refused his king's request. But the narrative is much more in character with the rest of Ahab's behaviour, if he at first makes mention only of the blank refusal. The ground for holding firm to his inheritance would most likely have found an echo in many an Israelite's heart. We see that Jezebel gives no hint to any one of the true cause for wishing to put Naboth out of the way. Had she done so, she must have mentioned the reason for his scruple, and the elders of Jezreel though they had forgotten the laws of Jehovah, would, for all that, not have cared to give publicity to Naboth's answer....

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 ...

NABOTH'S VINEYARD 1. After these things] The LXX places this chapter after 1 Kings 19, and so prevents the separation of 1 Kings 20:22, which are closely connected. JEZREEL] in the plain of Esdraelon....

GOD’S LESSONS FROM HISTORY 1 KINGS _PHILIP SMITH_ CHAPTER 21 QUEEN JEZEBEL STEALS NABOTH’S FIELD V1 King Ahab of Samaria had a palace in Jezreel. Near the palace, there was a field. Naboth who lived at Jezreel owned it. He used it to produce *grapes. V2 One day Ahab spoke to Naboth. ‘Give me your field. It is close to my palace. I want to use the land for a vegetable garden. I will give you a better one instead of it. Or, if you prefer, I will pay you its value.’ V3 But Naboth replied, ‘The *Lord does not allow me to do such a thing! I received this field from my *ancestors, so I cannot give it to you.’...