1 Kings 21:1

EXPOSITION

THE STORY OF NABOTH . THE DOOM OF AHAB 'S HOUSE . HIS PENITENCE .—

And it came to pass after these things [These words are omitted in the Vat. LXX ; which, as before remarked, transposes 1 Kings 20:1-43 . and 21. See introductory note, 1 Kings 20:1-43 .], that Naboth ["Fruit," "produce" (Gesen). Wordsworth sees in him a type of Christ, cast out of the vineyard ( Matthew 21:39 ) and slain] the Jezreelite [The Alex. LXX . here, and throughout the chapter, reads ὁ ἰσραηλίτης . Josephus (Ant. 8.13. 8) says that Naboth was of illustrious family] had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel [See note on 1 Kings 18:46 ], hard by the palace [ LXX . threshing-floor . Stanley, arguing from this word, would reject the Hebrew text of this narrative, which places both the vineyard and the plot of ground ( 2 Kings 9:25 , 2 Kings 9:26 ) in Jezreel, and would locate the vineyard on the hill of Samaria, in the "void place" of 1 Kings 22:10 ] of Ahab king of Samaria. [It is clear from these last words that Jezreel had not replaced Samaria as the capital. It was a "palace" only that Ahab had there. No doubt the beauty of the situation had led to its purchase or erection. As Jezreel is only twenty-five miles distant from Samaria, it is obvious that it might be readily visited by the court.]