1 Kings 21:20-29

20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Whether thou hast found me thine enemy? And Elijah said, I have found thee so, for thou art sold to the devil that thou shouldest do evil in the sight of the Lord. (And when Ahab saw Elijah, he said, Hast thou found me, O my enemy? And Elijah said, Yes, I have found thee, for thou hath sold thyself to the devil, and thou doest evil before the Lord.)
21 Therefore the Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall bring in upon thee evil, and I shall cut away thine hinder things, and I shall slay of Ahab a pisser to the wall, and the imprisoned, and the last in Israel; (And so the Lord saith these things, Lo! I shall bring in evil upon thee, and I shall cut away thy posterity, or thy descendants, and I shall kill all who be of Ahab, unto a pisser on the wall, and the imprisoned, and the last in Israel;)
22 and I shall give thine house to be as the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and as the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah; for thou didest evil to excite me to wrathfulness, and madest Israel to do sin. (and I shall make thy house to be like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah; for thou didest evil to stir me to anger, and madest Israel to do sin.)
23 But also the Lord spake of Jezebel, and said, (The) Dogs shall eat (up) Jezebel in the field of Jezreel;
24 if Ahab shall die in the city, dogs shall eat him; soothly if he shall die in the field, birds of the air shall eat him. (and if Ahab shall die in the city, the dogs shall eat him; and if he shall die in the field, the birds of the air shall eat him.)
25 Therefore none other was such as Ahab, that was sold to do evil in the sight of the Lord; for Jezebel his wife excited him thereto; (And there was no one else like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil before the Lord; for Jezebel his wife stirred him to do it;)
26 and he was made abominable, in so much that he followed the idols that (the) Amorites made, which men the Lord wasted from (before) the face of the sons of Israel.
27 Therefore when Ahab had heard these words, he rent his cloth (he tore his cloak), and covered his flesh with an hair-shirt, and he fasted, and slept in a sackcloth, and went with the head cast down.
28 And the word of the Lord was made to Elijah of Tishbe, and said,
29 Whether thou hast not seen Ahab made low before me? Therefore for he is made low for the cause of me, I shall not bring in evil in his days, but in the days of his son I shall bring in evil to his house. (Hast thou seen that Ahab hath made himself low, or hath humbled himself, before me? And so because he hath made himself low, I shall not bring in evil in his days, but later I shall bring in evil upon his household, or his family, yea, in the days of his son.)

1 Kings 21:20-29 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 21

In this chapter we have an account of Ahab's design to have Naboth's vineyard, for which he offered him another, or the value of that, but Naboth refusing to part with it, Ahab fell sick, 1Ki 21:1-4, the reason of which being found out by Jezebel, she devised means to get Naboth put to death under the colour of justice for blasphemy, 1Ki 21:5-14, and then bid Ahab go and take possession of the vineyard, where he was met by Elijah, who denounced the judgments of God upon him, and Jezebel, and all his family, for his injustice, 1Ki 21:15-26, but he humbling himself, the evil threatened was deferred to the days of his son, 1Ki 21:27-29.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.