a word · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Naboth
לְנָב֥וֹתle.na.Vot
H5022
Naboth · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
Jezreelite
הַיִּזְרְעֵאלִ֖יhai.yiz.re.'e.Li
H3158
a Jizreelite or native of Jizreel · definite article + noun, gentilic masculine singular absolute
vineyard
כֶּ֧רֶםKe.rem
H3754
a garden or vineyard · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Jezreel
בְּיִזְרְעֶ֑אלbe.yiz.re.'El
H3157
Jizreel · preposition + proper noun, a place name
by
אֵ֚צֶל'E.tzel
H681
a side · noun, common both genders singular construct
palace
הֵיכַ֣לhei.Khal
H1964
a large public building · noun, common masculine singular construct
Ahab
אַחְאָ֔ב'ach.'Av
H256
Achab · proper noun, a man's name
king
מֶ֖לֶךְMe.lekh
H4428
a king · noun, common masculine singular construct
Samaria
שֹׁמְרֽוֹןsho.me.Ron
H8111
Shomeron · proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Joshua 19:18 And their border was toward Jezreel, and Chesulloth, and Shunem,
Judges 6:33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of…
1 Kings 18:45-46 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went t…
2 Chronicles 28:22 And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz.
1 Samuel 29:1 Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel.
1 Kings 20:35-43 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to…
Ezra 9:13-14 And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our i…
Isaiah 9:13 For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the LORD of hosts.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 21:1-4
Here is, 1. Ahab coveting his neighbour's vineyard, which unhappily lay near his palace and conveniently for a kitchen-garden. Perhaps Naboth had been pleased that he had a vineyard which lay so advantageously for a prospect of the royal gardens, or the vending of its productions to the royal family; but the situation of it proved fatal to him. If he had had no vineyard, or it had lain obscure in some remote place, he would have preserved his life. But many a man's possessions have been his snare, and his neighbourhood to greatness has been of pernicious consequence. Ahab sets his eye and heart on this vineyard, Kg1 21:2. It will be a pretty addition to his demesne, a convenient out-let to h…
After these things - This and the twentieth chapter are transposed in the Septuagint; this preceding the account of the Syrian war with Ben-hadad. Josephus gives the history in the same order.
John Gill on 1 Kings 21:1
And it came to pass, after these things,.... After the two battles with the king of Syria, in which Ahab was victorious, and after he had let Benhadad, a blasphemer, and injurious to him, go free:
that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel; of which place See Gill on Hosea 1:5 or "who was in Jezreel"; that is Naboth, for the vineyard was in Samaria, 1 Kings 21:18.
hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria; that being the metropolis of the kingdom of Israel, is put for it, who, besides his palace in Samaria, had another in Jezreel; which, according to Bunting (y), were sixteen miles distant from each other.
(y) Travels, &c. p. 164.
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Kings 21:1-15
After these events Ahab was seized with such a desire for a vineyard which was situated near his palace at Jezreel, that when Naboth, the owner of the vineyard, refused to part with his paternal inheritance, he became thoroughly dejected, until his wife Jezebel paved the way for the forcible seizure of the desired possession by the shameful execution of Naboth (Kg1 21:1-15). But when Ahab was preparing to take possession of the vineyard, Elijah came to meet him with the announcement, that both he and his wife would be visited by the Lord with a bloody death for this murder and robbery, and that his idolatry would be punished with the extermination of all his house (Kg1 21:16-26). Ahab was so…
The Church Fathers
An ancient story tells of the two neighbors, King Ahab and a poor man, Naboth. Which of these do we consider the poorer, which the richer: the one who had been endowed with a king's measure of wealth, insatiable and unsatisfied with his wealth, who longed for the little vineyard of the poor man; or the other, heartily despising a "king's fortune of much gold" and imperial wealth, who was satisfied with his vineyard? Does he not seem richer and more a king, since he had enough for himself and regulated his desires so that he wanted nothing that belonged to others? But was he not very poor whose gold was of no account, while he considered the other's vines of priceless value? Understand why he was so very poor: because riches amassed unjustly are disgorged, but the root of the righteous remains and flourishes like a palm tree.
The story of Nabuthe is ancient, happening every day. For who among the wealthy does not desire another's possessions daily? Who among the very rich does not strive to evict the poor from their small plot of land and drive the destitute off their ancestral estate? Who is content with what they have? Whose heart is not inflamed by their neighbor's wealth? Therefore, it is not just one Achab who is born, but, what is worse, an Achab is born every day and never dies in this age. If one is killed, many rise up: more who take than who lose. Not only one Nabuthe the poor is killed: every day Nabuthe is struck down, every day the poor are killed. This human race, struck with fear, now yields its own lands, and with their little ones, the poor laden with their pledge, migrate. The weeping wife follows, as if she were accompanying her husband to the grave. She grieves less, however, who mourns the deaths of her own; because even though she has lost the protection of her husband, she possesses his tomb; and if she does not have children, nevertheless she does not lament the exiles, she does not sigh with heavier grief for the funeral rites of her tender offspring.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ahab — Father’s brother. (1.) The son of Omri, whom he succeeded as the seventh king of Israel. His history is recorded in 1 Kings 16-22. His wife was Jezebel (q.v.), who exercised a very evil influence…
Boaz — Alacrity. (1.) The husband of Ruth, a wealthy Bethlehemite. By the “levirate law” the duty devolved on him of marrying Ruth the Moabitess (Ruth 4:1-13). He was a kinsman of Mahlon, her first husband.…
Jezreel — God scatters. (1.) A town of Issachar (Josh. 19:18), where the kings of Israel often resided (1 Kings 18:45; 21:1; 2 Kings 9:30). Here Elijah met Ahab, Jehu, and Bidkar; and here Jehu executed his…
Naboth — Fruits, “the Jezreelite,” was the owner of a portion of ground on the eastern slope of the hill of Jezreel (2 Kings 9:25, 26). This small “plat of ground” seems to have been all he possessed. It was…
Stoning — A form of punishment (Lev. 20:2; 24:14; Deut. 13:10; 17:5; 22:21) prescribed for certain offences. Of Achan (Josh. 7:25), Naboth (1 Kings 21), Stephen (Acts 7:59), Paul (Acts 14:19; 2 Cor. 11:25).
Grape · .At Jezreel — .At Jezreel
Indictments · .Naboth on the charge of blasphemy — .Naboth on the charge of blasphemy
Jezreel · .Ahab’s resi — .Ahab’s resi
Naboth · of Jezebel — of Jezebel
Palace · For kings — For kings
Samaria, Ancient · Samaria the capital of: Kings of Israel sometime took their titles from — Samaria the capital of: Kings of Israel sometime took their titles from
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The writer includes another incident in which king Ahab responded in an angry and sullen manner (20:43; 21:4).
21:1 In addition to his palace in the capital city, Ahab had a second palace in Jezreel. Excavations at Jezreel have unearthed a sizeable palace there. • Samaria, which sometimes refers to the capital city, here indicates the whole northern kingdom.
Rashi on 1 Kings 21:1
After these things [this occurred]. Yet another [incident] to bring his death near.
