1 Kings 21:7-13

7 Jezebel his wife said to him, "¹Do you now reign * over Israel? Arise, eat bread, and let your heart be joyful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."

8 ²So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and sent letters to ³the elders and to the nobles who were living with Naboth in his city.

9 Now she wrote in the letters, saying, "Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people;

10 and seat two ⁴worthless men before him, and let them testify against him, saying, '⁵You cursed God and the king.' Then take him out and ⁶stone him to death."

Jezebel's Plot

11 So the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them, just as it was written in the letters which she had sent them.

12 They ⁷proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the people.

13 Then the two worthless men came in and sat before him; and the worthless men testified against him, even against Naboth, before the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." ⁸So they took him outside * the city and stoned him to death with stones.

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1 Kings 21:7-13 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.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 8

1. 1 Samuel 8:14
2. Esther 3:12; Esther 8:8, 10
3. 1 Kings 20:7
4. 1 Samuel 2:12; 2 Samuel 20:1
5. Exodus 22:28; Leviticus 24:15, 16; Acts 6:11
6. Leviticus 24:14
7. Isaiah 58:4
8. 2 Kings 9:26; 2 Chronicles 24:21; Acts 7:58, 59; Hebrews 11:37

Footnotes 3

[a]. Lit "exercise kingship"
[b]. Lit "so that he dies"
[c]. Lit "with stones so that he died"