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 t... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL GIVE THEE THE WORTH OF IT IN MONEY - literally, “I will give thee silver, the worth of it.” Money, in our sense of the word, that is to say, coins of definite values, did not yet exist. The first coin known to the Jews was the Persian daric, with which they became acquainted during the captiv... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD FORBID IT ME - Or, “Yahweh forbid it me.” Naboth, as a worshipper of Yahweh, not of Baal, considers it would be wrong for him to comply with the king’s request, as contrary to the Law (margin). His was not a mere refusal arising out of a spirit of sturdy independence, or one based upon the... [ Continue Reading ]
UPON HIS BED - That is, “upon his couch.” The Jews, like other Orientals, reclined upon couches at their meals (Amos 6:4; Ezekiel 23:41, etc.). Ahab turns his face toward the back of the couch, rejecting all converse with others, and so remains, after the banquet is served, refusing to partake of it... [ Continue Reading ]
The meaning is, “Art thou king, and yet sufferest thyself to be thwarted in this way by a mere subject? I, the queen, the weak woman, will give thee the vineyard, if thou, the king, the strong man, wilt do nothing.”... [ Continue Reading ]
SEAL - The seal is a very ancient invention. Judah’s signet and Pharaoh’s signet-ring are mentioned in Genesis Genesis 38:18; Genesis 41:42. Signets of Egyptian kings have been found which are referred to about 2000 B.C. Sennacherib’s signet, and an impression of Sargon’s, are still extant. There ca... [ Continue Reading ]
The object of this fast was at once to raise a prejudice against Naboth, who was assumed by the elders to have disgraced the town; and at the same time to give an air of religion to the proceedings, which might blind persons to their real injustice. SET NABOTH ON HIGH AMONG HIS PEOPLE - This was no... [ Continue Reading ]
SONS OF BELIAL - i. e., “worthless persons” (Deuteronomy 13:13 note). Witnesses must be two in number according to the Law Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15. The word rendered “blaspheme” is that which commonly means “bless.” The opposite sense of “cursing,” seems, however, to be re... [ Continue Reading ]
The ready submission of the elders and nobles implies a deep moral degradation among the Israelites, the fruit of their lapse into idolatry.... [ Continue Reading ]
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.... [ Continue Reading ]
TO TAKE POSSESSION OF IT - The goods of traitors appear to have been forfeited to the crown by the Jewish law as they still are almost universally throughout the East. Compare 2 Samuel 16:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
HAST THOU KILLED, AND ALSO TAKEN POSSESSION? - These words rebuke especially Ahab’s indecent haste. He went to Jezreel the very day after Naboth’s execution 2 Kings 9:26. The prophecy following had a double fulfillment. The main fulfillment was by the casting of the dead body of Jehoram into Naboth’... [ Continue Reading ]
The words “O mine enemy,” may refer partly to the old antagonism (marginal reference; 1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 19:2); but the feeling which it expresses is rather that of present oppositions - the opposition between good and evil, light and darkness John 3:20. THOU HAST SOLD THYSELF TO WORK EVIL - Com... [ Continue Reading ]
The prophet changes, without warning, from speaking in his own person to speaking in the person of God. The transition is abrupt, probably because the compiler follows his materials closely, compressing by omission. One fragment omitted here is preserved in 2 Kings 9:26.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND OF JEZEBEL ALSO SPAKE THE LORD, SAYING - These are not the words of Elijah, but of the writer, who notes a special prophecy against Jezebel, whose guilt was at least equal to her husband’s. WALL - The marginal rendering “ditch,” is preferable. There is always in Oriental towns a space outside t... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOM JEZEBEL STIRRED UP - The history of Ahab’s reign throughout exhibits him as completely governed by his imperious wife. Instances of her influence are seen in 1 Kings 21:7, 1 Kings 21:15, marginal reference, 1 Kings 18:4; 1 Kings 19:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
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.... [ Continue Reading ]
The repentance of Ahab resembles that of the Ninevites Jonah 3:5. It has the same outward signs - fasting and sackcloth - and it has much the same inward character. It springs, not from love, nor from hatred of sin, but from fear of the consequences of sin. It is thus, although sincere and real whil... [ Continue Reading ]
THE EVIL - i. e., the main evil. See 1 Kings 21:19 note; and compare 1 Kings 22:38 with marginal reference.... [ Continue Reading ]