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1 Kings 21:25

in 1 Kings 21

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

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

(But there was none like unto Ahab, who did sell himself to do that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

KJV

But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

This verse in 1 Kings 21

Commentary

7 notes on this verse
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.

This site's exposition

who sold himself to do evil

on 1 Kings 21:25-26

The historian gives his own judgment of the reign: “Surely there was never one like Ahab”. Jezebel is named as the one who incited him. Ahab's idols are set beside “the Amorites”, of whom Genesis 15:16 said “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete”.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

And these, tho' lighting on the body only, yet undoubtedly were designed as figures of the soul's misery in an after state. 25 Was none - None among all the kings of Israel which had been before him. Whom Jezebel - This is added to shew, that temptations to sin are no excuse to the sinner.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Naboth's Vineyard Refused to Ahab. 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.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:94%@v1-2

But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord,.... Not of any of his predecessors, even those whose families had been destroyed, as his would be, 1Ki 21:21. See Gill on 1Ki 21:20. whom Jezebel his wife stirred up; to idolatry, revenge, and murder, and to whose will he was a slave, and is one instance of his being a captive to sin, and giving up himself to the power of it.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Did sell himself to work wickedness - He hired himself to the devil for this very purpose, that he might work wickedness. This was to be his employment, and at this he labored. In the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up - A good wife is from the Lord; a bad wife is from the devil: Jezebel was of this kind; and she has had many successors.

The words behind it

15 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • רַ֚קcertainly

    rakH7535 →109 times

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • הָיָ֣הanyone was

    hayahH1961 →3559 times

  • כְאַחְאָ֔בlike Ahab

    kheachavH256 →92 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֣רwho

    ʾasherH834 →5497 times

  • הִתְמַכֵּ֔רhe sold himself

    hitmakerH4376 →

  • לַעֲשׂ֥וֹתto do

    laasotH6213 →2628 times

  • הָרַ֖עthe evil

    hara'H7451 →662 times

  • בְּעֵינֵ֣יin [the] eyes of

    beeineiH5869 →887 times

  • יְהוָ֑הYahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־whom

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • הֵסַ֥תָּהshe incited

    hesatahH5496 →

  • אֹת֖וֹ<obj.> him

    ʾotoH853 →10935 times

  • אִיזֶ֥בֶלJezebel

    ʾizevelH348 →22 times

  • אִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃wife his

    ʾishtoH802 →781 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Ecclesiastes 7:26

    And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is…

    it leads to

    • Proverbs 22:14

      The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.

    • Proverbs 5:3–5

      Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil,

    • Proverbs 2:16

      It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words

  • Through

    Proverbs 22:14

    The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.

    it leads to

    • Ecclesiastes 7:26

      And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is…

    • Proverbs 23:27

      For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.

    • Proverbs 6:24–29

      to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress.

  • Through

    Acts 14:2

    But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.

    it leads to

    • Acts 13:50

      The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.

    • Acts 13:45

      But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Kings

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.