1 Kings 21:2

2 And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it [is] near to my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; [or] if it seemeth good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

1 Kings 21:2 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 21:2

And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, give me thy vineyard,
that I may have it for a garden of herbs
For a kitchen garden to produce eatables of the vegetable kind for his household, or for a flower garden; and perhaps for both, as Kimchi observes, it being customary to have such in court yards, or behind the house; perhaps he might take his notion of an herb garden from his neighbours the Syrians, who were very diligent and laborious in cultivating their gardens, as Pliny ^F26; hence

``multa Syrorum olera'',

the many herbs of the Syrians, became a proverb with the Greeks:

because it is near unto mine house;
lay very convenient for him:

and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it
seemeth good unto thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money;
which seems very well spoken, that he would either give him a better in exchange, or purchase it at its full value; he did not pretend to take it by usurpation, by force, against his will, as it was represented by Samuel kings would do, ( 1 Samuel 8:14 ) as yet such oppression and tyranny was not exercised.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Nat Hist. l. 20. c. 5.

1 Kings 21:2 In-Context

1 And it came to pass after these things, [that] Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which [was] in Jezreel, hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

2 And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it [is] near to my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; [or] if it seemeth good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to thee.

4 And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased, because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid himself down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?