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1 Kings 21:4

in 1 Kings 21

So Ahab went to his palace, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had told him, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and refused to eat.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

KJV

And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him: for he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And he laid him down upon his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no bread.

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This verse in 1 Kings 21

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

He laid him down upon his bed - Poor soul! he was lord over ten-twelfths of the land, and became miserable because he could not get a poor man’s vineyard added to all that he possessed! It is a true saying, “That soul in which God dwells not, has no happiness: and he who has God has a satisfying portion.” Every privation and cross makes an unholy soul unhappy; and privations and crosses it must ever meet with, therefore: - “Where’er it goes is hell; itself is hell!”

This site's exposition

heavy and displeased

on 1 Kings 21:4-6

A king who has just heard one poor man's no takes to his bed, turns away his face, and refuses bread, and the narrator gives the grief no dignity. The throne that could withstand Ben-hadad's army is undone by a vegetable garden. Jezebel finds him sullen rather than angry, and his own account to her in verse six repeats the offer nearly word for word, as though saying it again could make the answer different.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Note, (1.) Discontent is a sin that is its own punishment and makes men torment themselves; it makes the spirit sad, the body sick, and all the enjoyments sour; it is the heaviness of the heart and the rottenness of the bones. (2.) It is a sin that is its own parent.

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

turned away his face--either to conceal from his attendants the vexation of spirit he felt, or, by the affectation of great sorrow, rouse them to devise some means of gratifying his wishes.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

Upon his bed - That is, “upon his couch.” The Jews, like other Orientals, reclined upon couches at their meals (Amo 6:4; Eze 23:41, etc.). Ahab turns his face toward the back of the couch, rejecting all converse with others, and so remains, after the banquet is served, refusing to partake of it. Such an open manifestation of ill temper is thoroughly characteristic of an Oriental king.

The words behind it

29 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.

  • וַיָּבֹא֩and he went

    vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times

  • אַחְאָ֨בAhab

    ʾachavH256 →92 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • בֵּית֜וֹhouse his

    beitoH1004 →2046 times

  • סַ֣רsullen

    sarH5620 →3 times

  • וְזָעֵ֗ףand furious

    vezaefH2198 →

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הַדָּבָר֙the word

    hadavarH1697 →1440 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • דִּבֶּ֣רhe had spoken

    diberH1696 →1141 times

  • אֵלָ֗יוto him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

  • נָבוֹת֙Naboth

    navotH5022 →22 times

  • הַיִּזְרְעֵאלִ֔יthe Jezreelite

    haiyizreeliH3158 →13 times

  • וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • לֹֽא־not

    lo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • אֶתֵּ֥ןI will give

    ʾetenH5414 →2011 times

  • לְךָ֖to you

    lekha

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • נַחֲלַ֣ת[the] inheritance of

    nachalatH5159 →222 times

  • אֲבוֹתָ֑יancestors my

    ʾavotaiH1 →1212 times

  • וַיִּשְׁכַּב֙and he lay down

    vaiyishkavH7901 →212 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • מִטָּת֔וֹbed his

    mitatoH4296 →

  • וַיַּסֵּ֥בand he turned around

    vaiyasevH5437 →161 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • פָּנָ֖יוface his

    panavH6440 →2123 times

  • וְלֹֽא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • אָ֥כַלhe ate

    ʾakhalH398 →810 times

  • לָֽחֶם׃food

    lachemH3899 →298 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

1 Kings 20:43Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went home to Samaria.6 worksJames 1:14But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.3 works2 Corinthians 7:10Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.3 worksEsther 6:12Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.3 works1 Samuel 28:23Saul refused, saying, “I will not eat.” But his servants joined the woman in urging him, and he heeded their voice. He got up from the ground and sat on the bed.3 worksIsaiah 57:20–21But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck.2 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Numbers 22:13–14So Balaam got up the next morning and said to Balak’s princes, “Go back to your homeland, because the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”2 works2 Samuel 13:2Amnon was sick with frustration over his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed implausible for him to do anything to her.2 works1 Kings 21:3But Naboth replied, “The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.”2 worksJonah 4:9Then God asked Jonah, “Have you any right to be angry about the plant?” “I do,” he replied. “I am angry enough to die!”2 worksHabakkuk 2:9–12Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!2 worksEcclesiastes 6:9Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.2 worksEcclesiastes 7:8–9The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one.2 worksGenesis 4:5–8but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.2 worksJonah 4:1Jonah, however, was greatly displeased, and he became angry.2 worksEphesians 4:27and do not give the devil a foothold.2 works2 Samuel 13:4so he asked Amnon, “Why are you, the son of the king, so depressed morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?” Amnon replied, “I am in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”2 worksJob 5:2For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.2 works

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

    James 1:14

    But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.

    it leads to

    • Mark 7:21–22

      For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,

    • Ephesians 4:22

      to put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;

    • Matthew 15:18

      But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man.

    • Hebrews 3:13

      But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

    • Romans 7:13

      Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Certainly not! But in order that sin might be exposed as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through…

  • Through

    1 Kings 20:43

    Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went home to Samaria.

    it leads to

    • Esther 6:12–13

      Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief.

    • 1 Kings 22:8

      The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man who can ask the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son…

    • Job 5:2

      For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Kings

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
1 Kings: the study guide →Read 1 Kings 21 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 1 Kings 21 →