1 Kings 21:9
in 1 Kings 21In the letters she wrote: “Proclaim a fast and give Naboth a seat of honor among the people.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:
KJV
And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:
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This verse in 1 Kings 21
Commentary
8 notes on this verseHow clearly the custom of the rich is portrayed! They are made sad if they are not seizing the property of others; they renounce food, they fast, not that they may lessen their sin but that they may commit crime. You may see them at such times coming to church, dutiful, humble and assiduous, in order that they may deserve to obtain the accomplishment of their wickedness.
This site's exposition
Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high
on 1 Kings 21:9-10
The letters order a fast, the outward form of national repentance, to stage Naboth's death as a righteous verdict rather than a murder. Two sons of Belial are set to accuse him of blaspheming God and the king, satisfying on paper the two-witness requirement of Deuteronomy 19:15 that no man be put to death on the word of one witness alone. The law meant to protect the innocent becomes the exact instrument of Naboth's death, and Wesley reads the fast itself as theater, meant to make Ahab look zealous for God rather than guilty of murder.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
She borrows the privy-seal, but the king shall not know what she will do with it. It is probable this was not the first time he had lent it to her, but that with it she had signed warrants for the slaying of the prophets.
A fast - To remove all suspicion of evil design in Ahab, and to beget a good opinion of him amongst his people, as if he were grown zealous for God's honour, and careful of his people's welfare, and therefore desirous to inquire into all those sins which provoked God against them.
And she wrote in the letters, saying, proclaim a fast,.... Pretending fears of some dreadful calamity coming upon the nation, and therefore fasting and humiliation were necessary to avert it, and it would be right to inquire what crimes were committed by men among them, and punish them for them; and intimated to them that Naboth should be chosen as the great offender, and be accused, condemned, and put to death, R.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The object of this fast was at once to raise a prejudice against Naboth, who was assumed by the elders to have disgraced the town; and at the same time to give an air of religion to the proceedings, which might blind persons to their real injustice. Set Naboth on high among his people - This was not an order to do Naboth any, even apparent, honor; but simply a command to bring him forward before a court or assembly, where he might be seen by all, tried, and condemned.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Proclaim a fast, &c.--Those obsequious and unprincipled magistrates did according to orders. Pretending that a heavy guilt lay on one, or some unknown party, who was charged with blaspheming God and the king and that Ahab was threatening vengeance on the whole city unless the culprit were discovered and punished, they assembled the people to observe a solemn fast.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Proclaim a fast - Intimate that there is some great calamity coming upon the nation, because of some evil tolerated in it. Set Naboth on high - Bring him to a public trial.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתִּכְתֹּ֥ב | vatikhto | and she wrote | H3789 → | 224 times |
| בַּסְּפָרִ֖ים | basefarim | in the letters | H5612 → | 186 times |
| לֵאמֹ֑ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| קִֽרְאוּ־ | kiru- | proclaim | H7121 → | 733 times |
| צ֔וֹם | tzom | a fast | H6685 → | |
| וְהוֹשִׁ֥יבוּ | vehoshivu | and make sit | H3427 → | 1079 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| נָב֖וֹת | navot | Naboth | H5022 → | 22 times |
| בְּרֹ֥אשׁ | berosh | at [the] head of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| הָעָֽם׃ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וַתִּכְתֹּ֥בand she wrote
vatikhtoH3789 →224 times
בַּסְּפָרִ֖יםin the letters
basefarimH5612 →186 times
לֵאמֹ֑ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
קִֽרְאוּ־proclaim
kiru-H7121 →733 times
צ֔וֹםa fast
tzomH6685 →
וְהוֹשִׁ֥יבוּand make sit
vehoshivuH3427 →1079 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
נָב֖וֹתNaboth
navotH5022 →22 times
בְּרֹ֥אשׁat [the] head of
beroshH7218 →599 times
הָעָֽם׃the people
haamH5971 →1873 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
Matthew 23:13Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter.
it leads to
- Luke 11:52
Woe to you experts in the law! For you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”
- Matthew 23:29
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous.
- Matthew 23:23
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced…
- Matthew 23:27
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity.
- Zechariah 11:17
Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May a sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered and his right eye utterly blinded!”
- Luke 11:52
Through
Luke 20:47They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.”
it leads to
- Mark 12:40
They defraud widows of their houses, and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will receive greater condemnation.”
- Mark 12:40
Through
John 18:28Then they led Jesus away from Caiaphas into the Praetorium. By now it was early morning, and the Jews did not enter the Praetorium, to avoid being defiled and unable to eat the Passover.
it leads to
- John 18:33
Pilate went back into the Praetorium, summoned Jesus, and asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
- John 19:9
and he went back into the Praetorium. “Where are You from?” he asked. But Jesus gave no answer.
- John 18:33
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 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 10.44-45; 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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.