1 Kings 21:18
in 1 Kings 21“Get up and go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria. See, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, of which he has gone to take possession.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who dwelleth in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to take possession of it.
KJV
Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.
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This verse in 1 Kings 21
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite
on 1 Kings 21:17-19
The prophet who vanished under Jezebel's threat in chapter nineteen is sent to meet her victim's killer in the stolen vineyard itself. Elijah's charge is one unanswerable question, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession, followed by a sentence that binds Ahab's death to the ground he has just walked onto, in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. This is the third house condemned by the dogs formula, after Jeroboam's at 14:11 and Baasha's at 16:4, and 22:38 records it kept to the word.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
And the Lord said to Elijah, "Get up, go down to meet King Ahab of Israel," and so on. Now, when Jezebel invited Ahab to come and take hold of the vineyard whose owners had been stoned, Elijah went out to meet him, precisely when …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
What good canst thou expect from it when it is purchased with blood ( Hab. ii. 12 ) and thou hast caused the owner thereof to lose his life? " Job xxxi. Now that he is pleasing himself with his ill-gotten wealth, and giving direction for the turning of this vineyard into a flower-garden, his meat in his bowels is turned.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Hast thou killed, and also taken possession?--While Ahab was in the act of surveying his ill-gotten possession, Elijah, by divine commission, stood before him. The appearance of the prophet, at such a time, was ominous of evil, but his language was much more so (compare Eze 45:8;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Go down to meet Ahab - This was the next day after the murder, as we learn from the above quotation, 2Ki 9:26.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ק֣וּם | kum | arise | H6965 → | 628 times |
| רֵ֗ד | red | go down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| לִקְרַ֛את | likrat | to meet | H7122 → | 139 times |
| אַחְאָ֥ב | ʾachav | Ahab | H256 → | 92 times |
| מֶֽלֶךְ־ | melekh- | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בְּשֹׁמְר֑וֹן | beshomeron | [is] in Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
| הִנֵּה֙ | hineh | there! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| בְּכֶ֣רֶם | bekherem | [he is] in [the] vineyard of | H3754 → | 92 times |
| נָב֔וֹת | navot | Naboth | H5022 → | 22 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יָ֥רַד | yarad | he has gone down | H3381 → | 381 times |
| שָׁ֖ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| לְרִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃ | lerishto | to take possession of it | H3423 → | 231 times |
ק֣וּםarise
kumH6965 →628 times
רֵ֗דgo down
redH3381 →381 times
לִקְרַ֛אתto meet
likratH7122 →139 times
אַחְאָ֥בAhab
ʾachavH256 →92 times
מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of
melekh-H4428 →2525 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בְּשֹׁמְר֑וֹן[is] in Samaria
beshomeronH8111 →109 times
הִנֵּה֙there!
hinehH2009 →843 times
בְּכֶ֣רֶם[he is] in [the] vineyard of
bekheremH3754 →92 times
נָב֔וֹתNaboth
navotH5022 →22 times
אֲשֶׁר־where
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
יָ֥רַדhe has gone down
yaradH3381 →381 times
שָׁ֖םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
לְרִשְׁתּֽוֹ׃to take possession of it
lerishtoH3423 →231 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
1 Kings 13:32for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 16:24
He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a city there, calling it Samaria after the name of Shemer, who had owned the hill.
- 1 Kings 13:2
And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of…
- Leviticus 26:30
I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.
- 1 Kings 12:31
Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed from every class of people priests who were not Levites.
- 2 Kings 23:16–19
And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the hillside, and he sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar to defile it,…
- 1 Kings 16:24
Through
2 Chronicles 22:9Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah, and Jehu’s soldiers captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. So Ahaziah was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 9:27–28
When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!” So they shot Ahaziah in his chariot on the Ascent of Gur,…
- 2 Chronicles 21:4
When Jehoram had established himself over his father’s kingdom, he strengthened himself by putting to the sword all his brothers along with some of the princes of Israel.
- 2 Chronicles 21:20
Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He died, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David, but not in the…
- 2 Kings 9:27–28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Kings

Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonDivided kingdomAhabSeventh king of the northern kingdom, son of Omri, who "did evil above all that were before him"; Elijah's chief antagonist, conde…
- PersonDivided kingdomNabothThe Jezreelite who refused to sell the inheritance of his fathers to Ahab; framed by Jezebel's letters and stoned — the vineyard w…
- PlaceThe northern hill countrySamariaThe hill Omri bought and built his capital on, where Ahab raised a temple to Baal, where the four lepers found the Aramean camp em…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 21:17; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
