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1 Kings 21:14

in 1 Kings 21

Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

KJV

Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

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This verse in 1 Kings 21

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

Here let us observe that, as obsequious as the elders of Jezreel were to Jezebel's orders which she sent from Samaria for the murder of Naboth, so obsequious were the elders of Samaria afterwards to Jehu's orders which he sent from Jezreel for the murder of Ahab's seventy sons, only that was not done by course of law, 2 Kings x.

This site's exposition

did as Jezebel had sent unto them

on 1 Kings 21:11-14

The elders and nobles of Jezreel, men who owed Naboth nothing but common citizenship, carry out a queen's forged order against a neighbor without any recorded objection. They proclaim the fast, seat him where the crowd can see him, hear the false charge, and stone him outside the city, then send word back to Jezebel in four words, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. Barnes notes the parallel record that Naboth's sons died with him, so that no heir was left to reclaim the vineyard Jezebel intended for the king.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead. Not only stoned, but stoned to death. This message was sent to her from the magistrates of Jezreel; for though the letters came in Ahab's name, they might be privately informed that this was a scheme of Jezebel's; besides, they knew she had the sway at court, and especially that the news of this man's death would be acceptable to her, and the more if he was of the 7000 that would not bow the knee to Baal.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Navos cursed. A euphemism for curse. And Targum [Yonoson rendered], Navos blasphemed against God and cursed the king. 2 Thus making him liable to death for either offense. The reason for mentioning both offenses is to arouse the people’s anger against Navos and thereby he would be executed quickly.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on I Kings 21:13:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Get up and take possession. Some of our Sages say that the property of those executed by the king [belong] to the king. And some of them say.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on I Kings 21:15:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

7 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.

  • וַֽיִּשְׁלְח֖וּand they sent

    vaiyishlechuH7971 →845 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • אִיזֶ֣בֶלJezebel

    ʾizevelH348 →22 times

  • לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • סֻקַּ֥לhe has been stoned

    sukalH5619 →22 times

  • נָב֖וֹתNaboth

    navotH5022 →22 times

  • וַיָּמֹֽת׃and he has died

    vaiyamotH4191 →839 times

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

Related verses

4 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Ecclesiastes 8:14There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.2 worksEcclesiastes 5:8If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.2 works2 Samuel 11:14–24The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.2 works2 Kings 10:8When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, “They have brought the heads of the sons of the king.” And Jehu ordered, “Pile them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.”2 works

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 8:14

    There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of…

    it leads to

    • Ecclesiastes 7:15

      In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

    • Malachi 3:15

      So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”

    • Ecclesiastes 2:14

      The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.

    • Ecclesiastes 9:1–3

      So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or…

  • Through

    Ecclesiastes 5:8

    If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and…

    it leads to

    • Psalms 12:5

      “For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”

    • Ecclesiastes 4:1

      Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their…

    • Ecclesiastes 3:16

      Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

    • 1 Kings 21:19–20

      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…

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Kings

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
1 Kings: the study guide →Read 1 Kings 21 →

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Kings 21 →