Naboth's Vineyard

Text and Narrative

The account appears in 1 Kings 21. Naboth the Jezreelite owned a vineyard beside the royal palace. King Ahab wanted it for a vegetable garden and offered either to pay for it or to exchange it for a better vineyard. Naboth refused, saying that the LORD forbade him to give up the inheritance of his fathers (1 Kings 21:3). When Ahab grew sullen and would not eat, Queen Jezebel wrote letters in the king's name and sent them to the elders and nobles of the city. At her instruction they proclaimed a fast and set up two worthless men to testify that Naboth had cursed God and the king. Naboth was stoned to death outside the city, and Ahab went down to take possession of the vineyard (21:8–16).

Elijah then confronted Ahab and rebuked him: "Hast thou killed, and also taken possession?" Elijah declared that in the place where dogs had licked Naboth's blood, dogs would also lick Ahab's blood, and that dogs would eat Jezebel in Jezreel (21:17–24). When Ahab tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted, God said that He would postpone the calamity until the days of Ahab's son (21:27–29).

Background

Old Testament law regarded the land as belonging to God and prohibited the permanent sale of land allotted to tribes and families (Leviticus 25:23). The institutions of the Year of Jubilee and the kinsman-redeemer arose from the same conviction. Naboth's refusal is therefore read as flowing from this faith rather than from any judgment that the king's offer was a poor bargain. Jezebel, the daughter of the king of the Sidonians, was the one who brought Baal worship into Israel (1 Kings 16:31). Her actions reveal an understanding of kingship in which the king may take whatever he desires. She turned the law requiring two witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15) and the provisions for punishing blasphemy into instruments of murder. Samuel had earlier warned that a king would take the best of the people's fields and vineyards (1 Samuel 8:14).

Fulfillment of the Prophecy and Significance in Scripture as a Whole

Ahab died in the battle at Ramoth-gilead, and when his chariot was washed at the pool of Samaria, dogs licked up his blood (1 Kings 22:37–38). Later, Jehu killed Ahab's son Joram and threw his body onto Naboth's field. Jezebel was thrown down from a window and eaten by dogs (2 Kings 9:21–37). The episode is often cited as a classic example of breaking both the prohibition against coveting and the prohibition against false witness in the Ten Commandments. It is also frequently read alongside Micah 2:2 and Isaiah 5:8, which rebuke those who seize fields and houses. Naboth does not appear directly in the New Testament. However, Revelation 2:20 calls a false prophetess in the church at Thyatira "Jezebel." Interpreters also sometimes compare this episode with the trial of Jesus and the martyrdom of Stephen, in which false witnesses brought charges of blasphemy.

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• Ahab's responsibility: Although Jezebel devised the murder, the text says to Ahab, "Hast thou killed." Many interpreters take this to mean that one who tacitly consents to a crime and profits from it also bears responsibility.
• The discrepancy in the place of fulfillment: The prophecy referred to the place where Naboth died, yet Ahab's blood was licked up in Samaria. Some interpreters hold that the prophecy was deferred to his son's generation and fulfilled in Jezreel, while others do not press the location strictly.
• Repentance and deferral: The fact that Ahab's repentance did not cancel the punishment but only postponed it, with the result that his son was punished, is discussed in connection with Ezekiel 18:19–20, which speaks of individual responsibility.
• Jehu's bloodshed: 2 Kings 9:26 also mentions the blood of Naboth's sons, a detail absent from 1 Kings 21. In addition, Hosea 1:4 says that God will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, which has prompted discussion about how Jehu's purge should be evaluated.
• Some Jewish tradition is reported to identify the spirit that enticed Ahab in 1 Kings 22 as the spirit of Naboth. This is a later interpretation not found in the text.

In the Korean Church

Sermons generally take one of two approaches to the episode. One is personal-ethics preaching that warns against covetousness and its consequences; the other is social-ethics preaching that criticizes those in power who take the property and lives of the weak. Naboth is also frequently presented as an example of a believer who kept God's law even at personal cost.