Ahab

How Nave’s arranged it

• 1. King of Israel1 Kings 16:29
• Marries Jezebel1 Kings 16:31
• Idolatry of1 Kings 16:30–331 Kings 18:181 Kings 18:191 Kings 21:251 Kings 21:26
• Other wickedness of2 Kings 3:22 Chronicles 21:62 Chronicles 22:32 Chronicles 22:4Micah 6:16
• Reproved by Elijah; assembles the prophets of Baal1 Kings 18:17–46
• Fraudulently confiscates Naboth's vineyard1 Kings 21
• Defeats Ben-hadad1 Kings 20
• Closing history and death of1 Kings 222 Chronicles 18
• Succeeded by his son, Ahaziah1 Kings 22:40
• Prophecies against1 Kings 20:421 Kings 21:19–241 Kings 22:19–282 Kings 9:82 Kings 9:252 Kings 9:26
• Sons of, murdered2 Kings 10:1–8
• 2. A false prophetJeremiah 29:21Jeremiah 29:22

The passages, in Bible order (27)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. 1 Kings 16:29

   In the thirty-eighth year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria twenty-two years.

   ›Commentary on 1 Kings 16:292 voices

   “This is that Ahab who thought that he would make little progress in the new religion [i.e., idolatry] if he worshiped only the gods introduced by Jeroboam. Therefore he established rites for Baal, the god of the Sidonians, built his temple in the royal city, …

   “Twenty and two years - Rather, from a comparison between 1Ki 15:10 and 1Ki 22:51, not more than 21 years. Perhaps his reign did not much exceed 20 years.

   Everything gathered on 1 Kings 16:29→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. 1 Kings 16:30–33

   However, Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.

   ›Commentary on 1 Kings 16:30–332 voices

   “This is that Ahab who thought that he would make little progress in the new religion [i.e., idolatry] if he worshiped only the gods introduced by Jeroboam. Therefore he established rites for Baal, the god of the Sidonians, built his temple in the royal city, …

   “And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, above all that were before him. Adding other idols to the calves, and those more abominable than they; since the other kings pretended to worship God in them, but he worshipped other gods besides him, as the following verses show.

   Everything gathered on 1 Kings 16:30–33→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. 1 Kings 16:31

   And as if it were not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he even married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and he then proceeded to serve and worship Baal.

   ›Commentary on 1 Kings 16:312 voices

   “This was done through the influence of Jezebel, Ahab's queen. She was "the daughter of Eth-baal, king of the Zidonians." He was priest of Ashtaroth or Astarte, who, having murdered Philetes, king of Tyre, ascended the throne of that kingdom, being the eighth king since Hiram.

   “In honour of this mock deity, whom they called Baal--lord, and for the convenience of his worship, 1. Ahab built a temple in Samaria, the royal city, because the temple of God was in Jerusalem, the royal city of the other kingdom.

   Everything gathered on 1 Kings 16:31→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. 1 Kings 18:17–46

   When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”

   ›Commentary on 1 Kings 18:17–462 voices

   "When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is it you, you troubler of Israel?" He answered, "I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father's house." "It is you and your father Omri who ruined this people, because through your abominable customs …

   “And it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah,.... As soon as he came up to him, and knew who he was; Abarbinel thinks, because his hair was grown so long that Ahab did not know him certainly, and therefore put the following question: that Ahab said unto him, art thou he that troubleth Israel? by opposing the religion of Baal, which prevailed among them; but chiefly rain being withheld from them according to his word, and at his prayer.

   Everything gathered on 1 Kings 18:17–46→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. 1 Kings 18:18

   “I have not troubled Israel,” Elijah replied, “but you and your father’s house have, for you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals.

   ›Commentary on 1 Kings 18:182 voices

   "When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is it you, you troubler of Israel?" He answered, "I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father's house." "It is you and your father Omri who ruined this people, because through your abominable customs …

   “I have not troubled Israel - Here the cause of the dearth is placed on its true ground: the king and the people had forsaken the true God, and God shut up the heavens that there was no rain. Elijah was only the minister whom God used to dispense this judgment.

   Everything gathered on 1 Kings 18:18→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. 1 Kings 18:19

   Now summon all Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel, along with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

   ›Commentary on 1 Kings 18:192 voices

   “Carmel (Jos 12:22 note) was chosen by the prophet as the scene of the gathering to which he invited, or rather summoned, Ahab. Its thick jungles of copse and numerous dwarf-oaks and olives, would furnish abundant wood for his intended sacrifice. Here was a perennial fountain; and here again an ancient “altar of the Lord” 1Ki 18:30, belonging probably to the old times of non-idolatrous high-place worship - perhaps an erection of one of the patriarchs.

   “Carmel - Not that Carmel, in Judah, but another in Issachar by the midland sea, which he chose as a convenient place being not far from the center of his kingdom, to which all the tribes might conveniently resort, and at some distance from Samaria, that Jezebel might not hinder. Prophets of Baal - Who were dispersed in all the parts of the kingdom.

   Everything gathered on 1 Kings 18:19→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. 1 Kings 20:1

   Now Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army. Accompanied by thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots, he marched up, besieged Samaria, and waged war against it.

   ›Commentary on 1 Kings 20:12 voices

   “Ben-hadad, the king of Syria - Probably the son of the Ben-hadad who assisted Asa against Baasha (1Ki 15:18 note). Thirty and two kings with him - Not allies, but feudatories 1Ki 20:24. Damascus had in the reign of this Ben-hadad become the center of an important monarchy, which may not improbably have extended from the Euphrates to the northern border of Israel. The Assyrian inscriptions show that this country was about the period in question parcelled out into a multitude of petty kingdoms, the chief tribes who possessed it being the Hittites, the Hamathites, and the Syrians of Damascus.

   “What the ground of the quarrel was we are not told; covetousness and ambition were the principle, which would never want some pretence or other. David in his time had quite subdued the Syrians and made them tributaries to Israel, but Israel's apostasy from God makes them formidable again.

   Everything gathered on 1 Kings 20:1→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. 1 Kings 20:42

   And the prophet said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have let slip from your hand the man I had devoted to destruction, your life will be exchanged for his life, and your people for his people.’”

   ›Commentary on 1 Kings 20:422 voices

   “Thy life - "What was the great sin of Ahab in this action, for which God so severely punisheth him?" The great dishonour hereby done to God, in suffering so horrid a blasphemer, to go unpunished, which was contrary to an express law, Lev. xxiv, 16.

   “In the course of these events Ahab's indulgence toward a man who was notoriously impious and an open and arrogant despiser of divine majesty fully deserved to be condemned, just as Saul's clemency toward the king of the Amalekites was reproached with good reason by …

   Everything gathered on 1 Kings 20:42→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. 1 Kings 21:1

   Some time later, Naboth the Jezreelite happened to own a vineyard in Jezreel next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.

   ›Commentary on 1 Kings 21:12 voices

   “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?

   “A vineyard ... in Jezreel - The name Jezreel is applied in Scripture, not merely to the town 1Ki 18:46, but also to the valley or plain which lies below it, between Mount Gilboa and Little Hermon (2Sa 2:9; 2Ki 9:10; Hos 1:5; etc.). The palace of Ahab at Jezreel was on the eastern side of the city, looking toward the Jordan down the valley above described. It abutted on the town wall 2Ki 9:30-31. Immediately below it was a dry moat.

   Everything gathered on 1 Kings 21:1→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. 1 Kings 21:19–24

    Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”

    ›Commentary on 1 Kings 21:19–242 voices

    In the place where dogs licked, &c.--a righteous retribution of Providence. The prediction was accomplished, not in Jezreel, but in Samaria; and not on Ahab personally, in consequence of his repentance (1Ki 21:29), but on his son (2Ki 9:25). The words "in the place where" might be rendered "in like manner as."

    “Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? - These words rebuke especially Ahab’s indecent haste. He went to Jezreel the very day after Naboth’s execution 2Ki 9:26. The prophecy following had a double fulfillment. The main fulfillment was by the casting of the dead body of Jehoram into Naboth’s plot of ground at Jezreel, where, like Naboth’s, it was left for the dogs to eat 2Ki 9:25. This spot, which was just outside the city wall, and close to a gate 2Ki 9:31, was probably the actual scene of Naboth’s execution.

    Everything gathered on 1 Kings 21:19–24→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. 1 Kings 21:25

    (Surely there was never one like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, incited by his wife Jezebel.

    ›Commentary on 1 Kings 21:252 voices

    “whom Jezebel stirred up - The history of Ahab’s reign throughout exhibits him as completely governed by his imperious wife. Instances of her influence are seen in 1Ki 21:7, 1Ki 21:15, marginal reference, 1Ki 18:4; 1Ki 19:2.

    “He was wholly given up to sin, and, upon condition he might have the pleasures of it, he would take the wages of it, which is death, Rom. vi. Blessed Paul complained that he was sold under sin ( Rom. vii. 14 ), as a poor captive against his will; but Ahab was voluntary: he sold himself to sin; of choice, and as his own act and deed, he submitted to the dominion of sin.

    Everything gathered on 1 Kings 21:25→

    Verse page →Original language →

12. 1 Kings 21:26

    He committed the most detestable acts by going after idols, just like the Amorites whom the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.)

    ›Commentary on 1 Kings 21:262 voices

    “The Amorites appear here as representatives of the old Canaanite nations (Gen 15:16 note). It seems to be implied here that their idolatries were in the main identical with those of the Phoenicians which Ahab had adopted.

    “He was wholly given up to sin, and, upon condition he might have the pleasures of it, he would take the wages of it, which is death, Rom. vi. Blessed Paul complained that he was sold under sin ( Rom. vii. 14 ), as a poor captive against his will; but Ahab was voluntary: he sold himself to sin; of choice, and as his own act and deed, he submitted to the dominion of sin.

    Everything gathered on 1 Kings 21:26→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. 1 Kings 22:1

    Then three years passed without war between Aram and Israel.

    ›Commentary on 1 Kings 22:11 voice

    “And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. From the time that Benhadad made a covenant with Ahab; not three full years, but part of them: it was threatened by Elijah from the Lord, that Ahab's life should go for Benhadad's, because he had let him, go, 1Ki 22:42, but because of his humiliation, as is thought by Ben Gersom and others, it was respited for those three years; and now an opportunity and occasion would be given for the fulfilment of what was threatened.

    Everything gathered on 1 Kings 22:1→

    Verse page →Original language →

14. 1 Kings 22:19–28

    Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.

    ›Commentary on 1 Kings 22:19–282 voices

    “Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?--Since Ahab was disposed to trace this unwelcome truth to personal enmity, Micaiah proceeded fearlessly to tell the incensed monarch in full detail what had been revealed to him. The Hebrew prophets, borrowing their symbolic pictures from earthly scenes, described God in heaven as a king in His kingdom.

    “I saw - By the eyes of my mind: for he could not see the Lord with bodily eyes. The Host - The angels, both good and bad, the one possibly on his right, the other on his left hand. Nor is it strange that the devils are called the host of heaven; if you consider, first, that their original seat was in heaven.

    Everything gathered on 1 Kings 22:19–28→

    Verse page →Original language →

15. 1 Kings 22:40

    And Ahab rested with his fathers, and his son Ahaziah reigned in his place.

    Verse page →Original language →

16. 2 Kings 3:2

    And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done. He removed the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made.

    ›Commentary on 2 Kings 3:21 voice

    “On the “evil” done by Ahab, see especially 1Ki 16:30-34. Jehoram, warned by the fate of his brother (2Ki 1:4 note), began his reign by a formal abolition of the Phoenician state religion introduced by Ahab - even if he connived at its continuance among the people 2Ki 10:26-27; and by a re-establishment of the old worship of the kingdom as arranged by Jeroboam.

    Everything gathered on 2 Kings 3:2→

    Verse page →Original language →