1 Kings 21:19
in 1 Kings 21Tell 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!’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith Jehovah, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
KJV
And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.
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This verse in 1 Kings 21
Commentary
12 notes on this verseDivine justice is moved by this and condemns the greedy with worthy severity, saying: 'You have killed and taken possession of the inheritance? For this reason, in the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, they will lick up your blood; and the prostitutes will wash themselves in your blood.' How just, how severe is this sentence, that the bitterness of death that he inflicted on another should be dissolved by the horror of his own death!
This 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 Awakening4 voices
He killed, for he took possession. If he takes the garden, he takes the guilt with it. Terra transit cum onere--The land with the incumbrance. [2.] He passes judgment upon him.
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
-- " Thy blood, even thine, though it be royal blood, though it swell thy veins with pride and boil in thy heart with anger, shall ere long be an entertainment for the dogs"), which was fulfilled, ch. xxii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Thy blood - The threatening was so directed at first; but afterwards, upon his humiliation, the punishment was transferred from him to his son, as is expressed, ver. 29, yet upon Ahab's returning to sin, in the next chapter, he brings back the curse upon himself, and so it is no wonder if it be in some sort fulfilled in him also.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-29-anchored-19-19
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, thus saith the Lord, hast thou killed, and also taken possession?....
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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."
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
In the place where dogs licked, etc. - It is in vain to look for a literal fulfillment of this prediction. Thus it would have been fulfilled, but the humiliation of Ahab induced the merciful God to say, I will not bring the evil in his days, but in the days of his son, 1Ki 21:29. Now dogs did lick the blood of Ahab; but it was at the pool of Samaria, where his chariot and his armor were washed, after he had received his death wound at Ramoth-gilead; but some think this was the place where Naboth was stoned: see 1Ki 22:38. And how literally the prediction concerning his son was fulfilled, see 2Ki 9:25, where we find that the body of Jehoram his son, just then slain by an arrow that had passed through his heart, was thrown into the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; and there, doubtless, the dogs licked his blood, if they did not even devour his body. There is a similar idea of the propriety of punishment overtaking the culprit in the place where he had committed the crime, expressed by Orestes to Aegisthus, Soph. Elect. 1495. - Χωρει δ’ ενθαπερ κατεκτανες Πατερα τον αμον, ὡς εν ταυτῳ θανῃς. - Go where thou slew’st my father, That in the self-same place thou too may’st die.
The words behind it
28 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְדִבַּרְתָּ֨ | vedibarta | and you will speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֵלָ֜יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| לֵאמֹ֗ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כֹּ֚ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| הֲרָצַ֖חְתָּ | haratzachta | ¿ have you murdered | H7523 → | |
| וְגַם־ | vegam- | and also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| יָרָ֑שְׁתָּ | yarasheta | have you taken possession? | H3423 → | 231 times |
| וְדִבַּרְתָּ֨ | vedibarta | and you will speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֵלָ֜יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| לֵאמֹ֗ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| כֹּ֚ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| בִּמְק֗וֹם | bimkom | in [the] place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | <of> where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לָקְק֤וּ | lakeku | they licked up | H3952 → | 7 times |
| הַכְּלָבִים֙ | hakelavim | the dogs | H3611 → | 32 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דַּ֣ם | dam | [the] blood of | H1818 → | 360 times |
| נָב֔וֹת | navot | Naboth | H5022 → | 22 times |
| יָלֹ֧קּוּ | yaloku | they will lick up | H3952 → | 7 times |
| הַכְּלָבִ֛ים | hakelavim | the dogs | H3611 → | 32 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| דָּמְךָ֖ | damekha | blood your | H1818 → | 360 times |
| גַּם־ | gam- | also | H1571 → | 769 times |
| אָֽתָּה׃ | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
וְדִבַּרְתָּ֨and you will speak
vedibartaH1696 →1141 times
אֵלָ֜יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
כֹּ֚הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
הֲרָצַ֖חְתָּ¿ have you murdered
haratzachtaH7523 →
וְגַם־and also
vegam-H1571 →769 times
יָרָ֑שְׁתָּhave you taken possession?
yarashetaH3423 →231 times
וְדִבַּרְתָּ֨and you will speak
vedibartaH1696 →1141 times
אֵלָ֜יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
כֹּ֚הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
בִּמְק֗וֹםin [the] place
bimkomH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁ֨ר<of> where
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לָקְק֤וּthey licked up
lakekuH3952 →7 times
הַכְּלָבִים֙the dogs
hakelavimH3611 →32 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דַּ֣ם[the] blood of
damH1818 →360 times
נָב֔וֹתNaboth
navotH5022 →22 times
יָלֹ֧קּוּthey will lick up
yalokuH3952 →7 times
הַכְּלָבִ֛יםthe dogs
hakelavimH3611 →32 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
דָּמְךָ֖blood your
damekhaH1818 →360 times
גַּם־also
gam-H1571 →769 times
אָֽתָּה׃you
ʾatahH859 →1094 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
Esther 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.
it leads to
- Psalms 7:16
His trouble recoils on himself, and his violence falls on his own head.
- Daniel 6:24
At the command of the king, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they and their children and wives. And before they had reached the bottom…
- Judges 15:7
And Samson told them, “Because you have done this, I will not rest until I have taken vengeance upon you.”
- Psalms 7:16
Through
2 Samuel 12:9Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own, for you have…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 15:19
So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”
- Psalms 139:1–2
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
- 1 Samuel 15:23
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”
- Psalms 90:8
You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your presence.
- Amos 2:4
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they…
- 1 Samuel 15:19
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On Naboth the Jezreelite, Chapter 11, 48-49; 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); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.