Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

21:1 Excavations at Tel Jezreel have unearthed a fortified acropolis from the ninth century b.c. The construction at the site is large and elaborate, with the dressed masonry typical of royal palaces of that era. The archaeologist at this site concluded that it was built by either Omri or Ahab, and that it was the auxiliary residence for the king of Israel.

21:2 The Hebrew for vegetable garden occurs elsewhere in the OT only in Deut. 11:10, where a contrast is offered between Egypt (a vegetable garden requiring human care) and the Promised Land (which the Lord cares for). Israel is also sometimes portrayed in the OT as a vine under God's special care (e.g., Isa. 3:13-15). With these wider observations in mind, Ahab's desire to replace a vineyard with a vegetable garden may express (albeit unconsciously) a deeper desire to make Israel "like Egypt"--to blur Israel's special identity as God's people.

21:3 the inheritance of my fathers. The land of Israel belonged not to the families who technically "owned" it but to God, who had brought the Israelites into the land in fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise and had, through Joshua, allocated its various parts to the tribes as their inheritance (e.g., Gen. 17:8; Lev. 25:23; Josh. 13:1-7). Individual Israelites could not sell land in perpetuity, and a complex set of laws kept land in the family and prevented its accumulation in the hands of a few (e.g., Deut. 25:5-10). Ahab's offer is therefore evidence of his disregard for Israelite law.

21:7 Do you now govern Israel? Jezebel wrongly assumes that a king should use government power for personal gain. As this narrative shows, the real driving force in the kingdom of Israel is Jezebel (cf. 19:1-2), not the passive Ahab, and she is contemptuous of her husband's unwillingness to behave as a despotic king.

21:8-10 Proclaim a fast. Jezebel's plan to have Naboth executed on false charges requires a public setting, elders and leaders who take lightly their responsibility to be the guardians of justice (cf. Deut. 19:11-13; 21:1-9), and two worthless men who are prepared to function as the two witnesses required by OT law (cf. Deut. 19:15-21).

21:15 take possession of the vineyard. The implication appears to be that the king may confiscate the property of an executed criminal, a custom that is known from non-Israelite texts but for which there is no provision in Israelite law. This serves to emphasize the extent to which Ahab and Jezebel are moving outside the sphere of Israelite law and custom and introducing foreign ideas.

21:19 In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood. Ahab died in battle and was buried in Samaria (22:34-37), not outside Jezreel "in the place" where Naboth was stoned (21:19; cf. v. 13); and yet, when dogs in Samaria lick up his blood washed from his chariot, the authors declare that to be according to these words (22:38). There are two main ways to explain how the prophecy and its fulfillment are related: (1) the prophecy was fulfilled in stages, first by Ahab's death and then by the death of his son Joram, whose body was in fact thrown into Naboth's vineyard (2 Kings 9:25-26, which also is "according to the word of the Lord"); or (2) the Hebrew words translated "in the place where dogs licked up" could be taken as "in place of dogs licking up," i.e., Ahab will suffer a similar fate to Naboth. Either solution is possible, although the first seems to account better for the way the text draws attention to the prophecy, and for the delay of punishment due to Ahab's repentance (1 Kings 21:29).

21:23-24 The dogs shall eat . . . the birds of the heavens shall eat. It was considered a terrible thing in Israel not to be afforded a proper burial; Deut. 28:25-26 and Jer. 16:4 capture the horror well.

21:29 Because he has humbled himself. Ahab was the worst of kings (vv. 25-26), adding to Jeroboam's sin the worship of Baal (16:30-33). But the great sinner demonstrates penitence at this point, and avoids God's judgment on his house in his lifetime.