1 Kings 21:3
in 1 Kings 21But Naboth replied, “The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Naboth said to Ahab, Jehovah forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
KJV
And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.
⋯
This verse in 1 Kings 21
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd Naboth said to Ahab, the Lord forbid it me that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee. The inheritances of families were not to be alienated to another family, or tribe, nor even to be sold, unless in extreme poverty, and then to return at the year of jubilee, Lev 25:
This site's exposition
Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard
on 1 Kings 21:1-3
Naboth refuses a fair price and a better vineyard because Ahab is not the last owner of Israelite land, the LORD is, and the law forbade trading a tribal inheritance away in perpetuity. The oath the Lord forbid it me sets Naboth's ground beneath the covenant law of Leviticus 25:23, the land is mine, and the ruling secured for the daughters of Zelophehad at Numbers 36:7, that an inheritance should not remove from tribe to tribe. Ahab hears a business offer declined; Naboth is standing on ground the king has no authority to buy.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Canaan was in a peculiar manner God's land; the Israelites were his tenants; and this was one of the conditions of their leases, that they should not alienate (no, not to one another) any part of that which fell to their lot, unless in case of extreme necessity, and then only till the year of jubilee, Lev. xxv.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The Lord forbid it me - Or, “Yahweh forbid it me.” Naboth, as a worshipper of Yahweh, not of Baal, considers it would be wrong for him to comply with the king’s request, as contrary to the Law (margin). His was not a mere refusal arising out of a spirit of sturdy independence, or one based upon the sentiment which attaches men to ancestral estates.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel--Ahab was desirous, from its contiguity to the palace, to possess it for a vegetable garden.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֥אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| נָב֖וֹת | navot | Naboth | H5022 → | 22 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אַחְאָ֑ב | ʾachav | Ahab | H256 → | 92 times |
| חָלִ֤ילָה | chalilah | far be it | H2486 → | |
| לִּי֙ | li | to me | ||
| מֵֽיהוָ֔ה | meyahweh | from Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מִתִּתִּ֛י | mititi | than to give I | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נַחֲלַ֥ת | nachalat | [the] inheritance of | H5159 → | 222 times |
| אֲבֹתַ֖י | ʾavotai | ancestors my | H1 → | 1212 times |
| לָֽךְ׃ | lakh | to you |
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
נָב֖וֹתNaboth
navotH5022 →22 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
אַחְאָ֑בAhab
ʾachavH256 →92 times
חָלִ֤ילָהfar be it
chalilahH2486 →
לִּי֙to me
li
מֵֽיהוָ֔הfrom Yahweh
meyahwehH3068 →6520 times
מִתִּתִּ֛יthan to give I
mititiH5414 →2011 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
נַחֲלַ֥ת[the] inheritance of
nachalatH5159 →222 times
אֲבֹתַ֖יancestors my
ʾavotaiH1 →1212 times
לָֽךְ׃to you
lakh
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
Galatians 6:14But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
it leads to
- Romans 6:6
We know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.
- Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved…
- Jeremiah 9:23–24
This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
- 1 Corinthians 2:2
For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
- Philippians 3:3
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
- Romans 6:6
Through
Leviticus 25:23The land must not be sold permanently, because it is Mine, and you are but foreigners and residents with Me.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:11
Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- Ezekiel 48:14
They must not sell or exchange any of it, and they must not transfer this best part of the land, for it is holy to the LORD.
- 1 Peter 2:11
Through
Ezekiel 46:18The prince must not take any of the inheritance of the people by evicting them from their property. He is to provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property, so that none…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 45:8
This land will be his possession in Israel. And My princes will no longer oppress My people, but will give the rest of the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes.
- Ezekiel 45:8
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 Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.