1 Kings 21:27
in 1 Kings 21When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
KJV
And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
⋯
This verse in 1 Kings 21
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe rich become angry and slander in order to harm, if they do not obtain what they desire. However, when they have harmed through slander, they pretend to be sorry: yet they go forth sad and mournful, not in their hearts but in their appearance, and they seize the place of the property they have seized by their unfairness.
This site's exposition
rent his clothes, and put sackcloth
Ahab tears his clothes, wears sackcloth on his bare flesh, fasts, and goes softly, the same outward signs Nineveh will later wear at Jonah's preaching. Barnes calls it real while it lasts and shallow because it never touches the idols or restores the vineyard to Naboth's heirs, springing from fear of consequence rather than love of God or hatred of sin. The text does not require Ahab's motive to be pure before it records what his humbling produces in the next verse.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
A teacher, if he dismisses a child and does not exact obedience from him, hates him; if, on the other hand, he disciplines him and the remedy cures him, his apparent severity turns out to be clemency. Ahab, too, was censured by the Lord when he killed Naboth and took his vineyard and spilled just blood. Elijah, the prophet, was sent to him to say, "You have killed. Moreover, also you have taken possession." Immediately his conscience struck and tormented him; he bowed his head and walked with eyes downcast; and this is an impious king robed in purple. Afterwards, Scripture says, Ahab went about wearing haircloth under his royal attire, and God, seeing him, said, "Because Ahab has humbled himself for my sake, I will not bring evil against him." Just realize the power of haircloth and of fasting, and how much blood is washed away by humble tears! This, then, is the proper way to wear haircloth and the proper way to fast, that no one may observe it.
And the Lord said to Elijah, "Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me?" and so on. If the repentance of Ahab had not been sincere, it would not have been praised by the Lord nor would the sentence pronounced against him have …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Delivered in 1Ki 21:21, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon, his flesh, tore off his clothes, and stripped himself of all, even of his very shirt, and put sackcloth on his bare flesh, a coarse cloth made of hair, and such as sacks are made with: and fasted, how long it is not said: and lay in sackcloth; in the night on his bed, would have no linen on him day nor night: and went softly: step by step, as persons mourning, grieving, and pensive, do; the Targum renders it "barefoot", and so Jarchi.
He obtained hereby a reprieve, which I may call a kind of pardon. Though it was but an outside repentance (lamenting the judgment only, and not the sin), though he did not leave his idols, nor restore the vineyard to Naboth's heirs, yet, because he did hereby give some glory to God, God took notice of it, and bade Elijah take notice of it: Seest thou how Ahab humbles himself?
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
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The repentance of Ahab resembles that of the Ninevites Jon 3:5. It has the same outward signs - fasting and sackcloth - and it has much the same inward character. It springs, not from love, nor from hatred of sin, but from fear of the consequences of sin. It is thus, although sincere and real while it lasts, shallow and exceedingly short-lived.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Going softly, that is, barefoot, and with a pensive manner, within doors. He manifested all the external signs, conventional and natural, of the deepest sorrow. He was wretched, and so great is the mercy of God, that, in consequence of his humiliation, the threatened punishment was deferred.
He rent his clothes - He was penetrated with sorrow, and that evidently unfeigned. Put sackcloth upon his flesh - He humbled himself before God and man. And fasted - He afflicted his body for his soul’s benefit. Lay in sackcloth - Gave the fullest proof that his repentance was real. And went softly - Walked barefooted; so the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. The Vulgate has demisso capite, “with his head hanging down.” Houbigant translates went groaning. Jarchi says that the word אט at, used here, signifies to be unshod. This is its most likely sense. All these things prove that Ahab’s repentance was genuine; and God’s approbation of it puts it out of doubt. The slow and measured pace which always accompanies deep and reflective sorrow is also alluded to by Aeschylus, where the Chorus are thus shortly addressed on the defeat of Xerxes. - Aesch. Pers. 1073. Γοασθ’ ἁβροβαται “With light and noiseless step lament.”
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִי֩ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כִשְׁמֹ֨עַ | khishmoa' | when heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אַחְאָ֜ב | ʾachav | Ahab | H256 → | 92 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַדְּבָרִ֤ים | hadevarim | the words | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הָאֵ֙לֶּה֙ | haeleh | <the> these | H428 → | 746 times |
| וַיִּקְרַ֣ע | vaiyikra' | and he tore | H7167 → | 63 times |
| בְּגָדָ֔יו | begadav | clothes his | H899 → | 217 times |
| וַיָּֽשֶׂם־ | vaiyasem- | and he put | H7760 → | 584 times |
| שַׂ֥ק | sak | sackcloth | H8242 → | 49 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| בְּשָׂר֖וֹ | besaro | body his | H1320 → | 270 times |
| וַיָּצ֑וֹם | vaiyatzom | and he fasted | H6684 → | |
| וַיִּשְׁכַּ֣ב | vaiyishkav | and he lay down | H7901 → | 212 times |
| בַּשָּׂ֔ק | basak | in the sackcloth | H8242 → | 49 times |
| וַיְהַלֵּ֖ךְ | vayhalekh | and he went about | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אַֽט׃ ס | ʾat | dejectedly | H328 → |
וַיְהִי֩and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
כִשְׁמֹ֨עַwhen heard
khishmoa'H8085 →1159 times
אַחְאָ֜בAhab
ʾachavH256 →92 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַדְּבָרִ֤יםthe words
hadevarimH1697 →1440 times
הָאֵ֙לֶּה֙<the> these
haelehH428 →746 times
וַיִּקְרַ֣עand he tore
vaiyikra'H7167 →63 times
בְּגָדָ֔יוclothes his
begadavH899 →217 times
וַיָּֽשֶׂם־and he put
vaiyasem-H7760 →584 times
שַׂ֥קsackcloth
sakH8242 →49 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
בְּשָׂר֖וֹbody his
besaroH1320 →270 times
וַיָּצ֑וֹםand he fasted
vaiyatzomH6684 →
וַיִּשְׁכַּ֣בand he lay down
vaiyishkavH7901 →212 times
בַּשָּׂ֔קin the sackcloth
basakH8242 →49 times
וַיְהַלֵּ֖ךְand he went about
vayhalekhH1980 →1546 times
אַֽט׃ סdejectedly
ʾatH328 →
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
Joel 1:13Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 4:8
So put on sackcloth, mourn and wail, for the fierce anger of the LORD has not turned away from us.”
- Joel 1:8–9
Wail like a virgin dressed in sackcloth, grieving for the husband of her youth.
- Ezekiel 7:18
They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved.
- Jeremiah 9:10
I will take up a weeping and wailing for the mountains, a dirge over the wilderness pasture, for they have been scorched so no one passes through, and the lowing of cattle is not…
- Joel 2:17
Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among…
- Jeremiah 4:8
Through
2 Samuel 3:31Then David ordered Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the funeral bier.
it leads to
- Genesis 37:34
Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
- 2 Samuel 1:2
On the third day a man with torn clothes and dust on his head arrived from Saul’s camp. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him homage.
- Genesis 37:34
Through
Genesis 37:34Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
it leads to
- Genesis 37:29
When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes,
- Genesis 37:29
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 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, On Naboth the Jezreelite 11.47; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 21:28; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 51 (PS 140[141]); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.