1 Kings 21:2

2 and Ahab speaketh unto Naboth, saying, `Give to me thy vineyard, and it is to me for a garden of green herbs, for it [is] near by my house, and I give to thee in its stead a better vineyard than it; if good in thine eyes, I give to thee silver -- its price.'

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 cometh to pass, after these things, a vineyard hath been to Naboth the Jezreelite, that [is] in Jezreel, near the palace of Ahab king of Samaria,

2 and Ahab speaketh unto Naboth, saying, `Give to me thy vineyard, and it is to me for a garden of green herbs, for it [is] near by my house, and I give to thee in its stead a better vineyard than it; if good in thine eyes, I give to thee silver -- its price.'

3 And Naboth saith unto Ahab, `Far be it from me, by Jehovah, my giving the inheritance of my fathers to thee;'

4 and Ahab cometh in unto his house, sulky and wroth, because of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite hath spoken unto him when he saith, `I do not give to thee the inheritance of my fathers,' and he lieth down on his bed, and turneth round his face, and hath not eaten bread.

5 And Jezebel his wife cometh in unto him, and speaketh unto him, `What [is] this? -- thy spirit sulky, and thou art not eating bread!'