And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear
witness
against him
Worthless wretches, that have cast off the yoke of the law, as
Belial signifies, lawless abandoned creatures, that have no
conscience of anything; "knights of the post", as we call them,
that will swear anything; these were to be set before Naboth,
right against him to confront him, and accuse him to his face,
and charge him with crimes next mentioned:
saying, thou didst blaspheme God and the king:
and so was guilty of death for the former, if not for both, and
of confiscation of estate for the latter, which was the thing
aimed at; and Jezebel was willing to make sure work of it, and
therefore would have him accused of both:
and then carry him out, and stone him, that he
die;
immediately, without requiring the witnesses to give proof of
their charge, and without giving Naboth leave to answer for
himself.