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1 Kings 21:16

in 1 Kings 21

And when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

KJV

And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

This verse in 1 Kings 21

Commentary

3 notes on this verse
To take possession of it - The goods of traitors appear to have been forfeited to the crown by the Jewish law as they still are almost universally throughout the East. Compare 2Sa 16:4.

This site's exposition

Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth

on 1 Kings 21:15-16

Jezebel's message strips the murder down to a real estate transaction, Naboth is not alive, but dead, so arise and take what is now unclaimed. Ahab asks no question about how the vineyard came free and goes down that same day to take possession, and his silence is its own answer. Henry calls it a case of might prevailing against right, with God's patience letting the wicked devour a more righteous man for a season before judgment falls.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

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

14 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.

  • וַיְהִ֛יand it was

    vayhiH19613559 times

  • כִּשְׁמֹ֥עַwhen heard

    kishmoa'H80851159 times

  • אַחְאָ֖בAhab

    ʾachavH25692 times

  • כִּ֣יthat

    kiH35884482 times

  • מֵ֣תhe had died

    metH4191839 times

  • נָב֑וֹתNaboth

    navotH502222 times

  • וַיָּ֣קָםand he arose

    vaiyakomH6965628 times

  • אַחְאָ֗בAhab

    ʾachavH25692 times

  • לָרֶ֛דֶתto go down

    laredetH3381381 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • כֶּ֛רֶם[the] vineyard of

    keremH375492 times

  • נָב֥וֹתNaboth

    navotH502222 times

  • הַיִּזְרְעֵאלִ֖יthe Jezreelite

    haiyizreeliH315813 times

  • לְרִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃ סto take possession of it

    lerishtoH3423231 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

    Romans 1:32

    Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.

    it leads to

    • Romans 2:1–5

      You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on another. For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.

    • Romans 1:21

      For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.

    • Romans 6:21

      What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.

    • Romans 1:18

      The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

    • Psalms 50:18

      When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.

  • Through

    Isaiah 33:15

    He who walks righteously and speaks with sincerity, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears against murderous plots and shuts his eyes tightly against evil—

    it leads to

    • Psalms 119:37

      Turn my eyes away from worthless things; revive me with Your word.

    • 1 John 3:7

      Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.

  • Through

    Psalms 50:18

    When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.

    it leads to

    • Romans 1:32

      Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do these things, but also approve of those who practice them.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Kings

This page draws on 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 (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.