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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.

2 And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

3 And Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee.

4 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.

5 But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?

6 And he said unto her, Because I spake unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and said unto him, Give me thy vineyard for money; or else, if it please thee, I will give thee another vineyard for it: and he answered, I will not give thee my vineyard.

7 And Jezebel his wife said unto him, Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.

8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth.

9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:

10 And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.

11 And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.

12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people.

13 And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.

14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.

16 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

17 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

18 Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.

19 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.

20 And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord.

21 Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,

22 And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to sin.

23 And of Jezebel also spake the Lord, saying, The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.

24 Him that dieth of Ahab in the city the dogs shall eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat.

25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

26 And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.

27 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.

28 And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,

29 Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.

<html><b>After these things [this occurred].</b> Yet another [incident] to bring his death near.</html>

<html><b>The worth of this one.</b> This vineyard.¹<i class=“footnote”>Achov did not attempt to take this vineyard by force because he was afraid of a popular rebellion if he were to act unjustly.—Radak</i></html>

<html><b>To the elders.</b> Wicked elders, elders of shame.</html>

<html><b>Proclaim a day of fasting.</b> On a fast day it was their custom to examine their sins.</html>

<html><b>Navos cursed.</b> A euphemism for curse. And Targum [Yonoson rendered], Navos blasphemed against God and cursed the king.²<i class=“footnote”>Thus making him liable to death for either offense. The reason for mentioning both offenses is to arouse the people’s anger against Navos and thereby he would be executed quickly. See Maseches Sanhedrin 48b.—Metzudas Dovid</i></html>

<html><b>Get up and take possession.</b> Some of our Sages say that the property of those executed by the king [belong] to the king. And some of them say³<i class=“footnote”>Some are of the opinion that even those executed by the king do not lose their right of having their property inherited by their closest of kin. Therefore they suggest that Achov was the son of, etc.</i> that he was the son of his father’s brother. He killed him and his children and was therefore the legal heir to inherit his property.⁴<i class=“footnote”>See Maseches Sanhedrin 48b.</i></html>

<html><b>You have sold yourself.</b> You sold yourself to anger your Creator,⁵<i class=“footnote”>You made yourself like a stranger. Achov went so far as to erase God’s Name from the Torah and he replaced it with Baal’s name throughout.—Radak</i> התמכרת [=you have sold yourself], as in, “and there you will attempt to sell yourselves [והתמכרתם] to your enemies.”⁶<i class=“footnote”>Devarim 28:68.</i></html>

<html><b>In the valley of Yizreil.</b> In the valley of Yizreil. “בחיל” is the Aramaic translation of “valley.”</html>

<html><b>But there was none likes of Achov.</b> Scripture testifies about him that there was none among the kings like him,⁷<i class=“footnote”>Achov surpassed all his predecessors in doing evil.</i> for Yerovom and all those after him worshiped the calves out of fear, that if the people would go up to Yerusholayim, the kingdom would revert to the House of Dovid, but this one added the Baal and the Asheirah to anger [God]. <b>Sold himself.</b> He was sold to idolatry. I saw in [Talmud] Yerushalmi that Chieil from the house of Eili was his advisor, and every day he would estimate his value and give it to the pagan deities.⁸<i class=“footnote”>Talmud Yerushalmi Maseches Sanhedrin 10:2.</i></html>

<html><b>And walked barefoot.</b> [He walked] barefoot.⁹<i class=“footnote”>Alternatively, Achov walked slowly [לאט], like a mourner or like one who is under a ban.—Ralbag </i></html>

<html><b>I will not bring the evil.</b> The disaster of this house I will not bring in his days, but the decree that the dogs will lick his blood is not possible to come in the days of his son, but upon him.</html>