And the men of his city, the elders and the nobles that dwelt in his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letter that she had sent to them
The men who killed Naboth were not strangers or soldiers, but his own neighbours and the leaders of his town, acting on a letter. Here a queen's private plot turns into a public, legal-looking procedure, and one question presses: why did no one refuse?
The letters carried a seal, and the seal is what gave them their force.
In 1 Kings 21:8, Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal. She sent them to the elders and the nobles in his city, the men who lived alongside Naboth. Those men read the letters as Ahab's own commands, and the seal showed that Ahab's power and authority stood behind them.
They were not fooled. The letters told them the plan, and they weighed what obeying would gain them.
Ahab lets the evil happen and lets the wickedness run its full course so that he can profit by it. The men of Jezreel, the elders and nobles, do it knowing the reason for it. The letters sent to them told them to choose two wicked men, sons of Belial, who would lie under oath to get rid of Naboth. They have hardly any scruples, for it is in their interests to please the king and to win his good will.
Silence, in this account, is not innocence.
The elders of the city were just as guilty as Jezebel and Ahab. They knew the charge against Naboth was false, yet no one would protest. Jezebel had already decided that Naboth must die by stoning, and that horrible injustice soon followed.
The letters ordered a religious ceremony, with Naboth in the seat of honour.
The elders and nobles were to proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the gathering. Then they were to bring in two sons of Belial (that is, sons of worthlessness) to charge him with having cursed God and the king. We understand this to mean that they were to pretend that God was displeased with their city. At the fast they would look into the cause, with Naboth presiding. Then they would denounce the man they pretended to honour as the "Achan" of the place, and hurry him off to execution. The whole business seems too horrible to believe. Yet Israel had sunk so low that queen and elders did all this in God's Name!
Achan was the Israelite whose hidden sin brought defeat on the nation, and he was stoned for it.
The wording was calculated. One charge would kill Naboth; only a second charge could take his land.
Jezebel knew the penalty for blasphemy against Jehovah was death (Lev. 24:16). So she would find helpers to prove Naboth guilty of it, and take revenge on the man who had dared to say No to power. But according to Jewish teachers, a man found guilty of blasphemy alone still left his property to his heirs, just as if he had died naturally. So to secure the vineyard, they had to invent a second charge: treason. In that case the estate of the condemned man went to the royal treasury. That is why they accused Naboth of blasphemy both against "God and the king."
The whole ceremony existed to produce evidence that everyone involved knew was false.
The ninth commandment reads, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." To bear false witness is cruel and gross evil. Yet too many Israelites coldly ignored this commandment. Jezebel deliberately bribed wicked men to falsely accuse Naboth to have him put to death. Even the chief priests of Israel sought false witnesses to testify against the Lord Jesus, the Son of God.
Everyone here acted as if the paperwork settled the matter. But one person had been left out, and He sent a prophet to the vineyard.
So far all concerned, except Naboth, had left God out of their calculations, and it seemed as if sin had triumphed. Naboth had been stoned, and Ahab was now free to take possession. He went down, and his feet at last stood in the vineyard of Naboth. But at the very moment he was about to lay his hand on the possession he had coveted, Elijah the Tishbite confronted him. The prophet's terrible words terrified his soul and taught him that there really is a God who judges the earth. "Have you [not Jezebel, but you, have you] killed and also taken possession?"
- Written — Jezebel's letters spelled out the whole plan, so the men who obeyed knew exactly what they were doing.
- Sealed — the king's seal, not the justice of the demand, is what made the town's leaders move at once.
- Silent — they knew the charge was false and said nothing. That left them as guilty as the queen who wrote.
- Sacred — they turned a fast held in God's Name into the cover for a legal murder. Two charges made sure the land fell to the crown.
- Seen — everyone left God out of the calculation. Elijah met Ahab in that very vineyard and charged him with the killing.
they proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people.
Naboth has refused to sell his vineyard, so Jezebel writes to the leaders of Jezreel under the king's seal. Their first move is not violence but worship — which raises the question of the chapter: why did murder need a religious ceremony?
Commentators read the fast as a staged inquiry: the town pretends God is angry with it, and the man it seats in the place of honour will be named the cause.
The elders and nobles were to proclaim a fast, set Naboth at the head of the gathering, and bring in two sons of Belial (that is, sons of worthlessness) to charge him with having cursed God and the king. We understand this to mean that they were to pretend God was displeased with their city. At the fast they would look into the cause, with Naboth presiding. Then they would denounce the man they claimed to honour as the "Achan" of the place — the one blamed for bringing God's anger on the town — and hurry him off to execution (Joshua 7:25). The whole business seems too horrible to believe. Yet Israel had sunk so low morally that queen and elders did all this in God's Name!
The fast was not decoration. A naked killing would have shocked the nation, so the crime needed a respectable face.
How base could such men be, to make themselves willing tools of her treacherous plan and carry out her instructions to the letter! Yet public conscience might rebel at open murder, so she had to give her act some appearance of justice. Besides, what had happened on Mount Carmel had probably not yet lost its moral effect on the nation, and this wicked patron of Baal had to move with some caution in her wickedness.
Jezebel drafted the charge with care. She needed two accusations, not one, because she wanted more than Naboth's death. She wanted his land.
Jezebel had got her way. But how dreadful it is to use something God set up to serve the will of the flesh! She knew the penalty for blasphemy against Jehovah was death (Lev. 24:16). She would find helpers to prove Naboth guilty of this... But, according to Jewish teachers, if he were found guilty of blasphemy alone, his property would still pass to his heirs, just as if he had died a natural death. So to secure the vineyard, they had to invent a further charge against him — treason. In such a case the condemned man's estate went to the royal treasury.
Jezebel gave the order. Naboth's own neighbours carried it out, and they had their reasons.
Surely there would be conscience, we might think, in some of Jezreel's elders! Alas! The men of Naboth's city, "the elders and the nobles," were fellow-citizens of this faithful man. Yet they hurried to obey the queen's command. They brought in false witnesses, as happened to our blessed Lord and to Stephen, and got him condemned.
They have hardly any scruples, for it is in their interests to please the king and to gain his good will.
The plot worked because it looked lawful. That danger did not end with Naboth.
At times men can look wonderfully careful about the letter of Scripture when it suits their own ungodly ends. They can quote its sacred words to defend blatant wrongdoing and shocking immorality. Two witnesses accused Naboth of blaspheming God and the king. That faithful Israelite lost his inheritance and his life on the word of two liars, hired at the direction of a godless, cruel woman.
The fast changed nothing about how God saw the event.
Jezebel would gladly put a fair cloak on her shocking wickedness... But how did the Lord view it? "Thus says the Lord, Have you killed, and also taken possession?" (in other words, Have you committed murder and robbery?) God deals with realities. In His estimation, men and things get their proper place and value; there is no gilding, no pretence, no assumption — all is real.
- Cover made. The elders staged a day of seeking God so that a murder could pass as justice done in His Name.
- Cover needed. Open murder would have stirred the nation's conscience, so Jezebel dressed her cruelty as justice and moved with care.
- Cover drafted. Even the wording was cover: the blasphemy charge took his life, the treason charge took his vineyard for the royal treasury.
- Cover shared. The cover needed accomplices, and Naboth's own neighbours supplied it for nothing more than the king's good will.
- Cover stripped. God tore the cover off in one question — murder and robbery — because He deals with realities, not appearances.
And there came the two men, sons of Belial, and sat before him; and the men of Belial witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth blasphemed God and the king. And they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.
The town holds a fast, two hired men tell their lie, and the leaders drag Naboth outside and stone him — all in good religious order. So how could murder look like piety, and where was God while it happened?
The whole scene was staged. Orders under the royal seal turned a day of fasting into a place of execution.
Her orders were especially devilish. The elders and nobles were to proclaim a fast, set Naboth at the head of the gathering, and bring in two sons of Belial (that is, sons of worthlessness) to charge him with having cursed God and the king. We understand this to mean that they were to claim that God was displeased with their city. At the fast they would look into the cause, with Naboth presiding. The man they pretended to honour would then be named the "Achan" of the place — the one whose sin had brought God's anger on everyone — and hurried off to execution. The whole business seems too horrible to believe. Yet Israel had sunk so low morally that the queen and the elders did all this in God's Name!
The charge named God and the king. That second half was not extra spite. It was the legal path to the vineyard.
Jezebel had had her will, but oh, the dreadfulness of using God's institution to carry out the will of the flesh! She knew the penalty for blasphemy against Jehovah was death (Lev. 24:16). She would find helpers to prove Naboth guilty of this. That way she would take revenge on the man who had dared to say No to the desire of power. But according to Jewish teachers, a man guilty of blasphemy alone still left his property to his heirs, just as if he had died in the usual way. So to secure the vineyard, they had to invent a second charge: treason. In such a case the estate of the condemned man went to the royal treasury.
Jezebel wrote the letters, but other hands picked up the stones. The men of the city knew exactly what they were doing.
Of course the evil men were paid for their lies. The elders of the city were just as guilty as Jezebel and Ahab. They knew the charge against Naboth was false, yet no one would protest. Jezebel had already decided that Naboth must die by stoning, and the city carried out this horrible injustice at once.
Their motive was not fear alone but advantage:
They have hardly any scruples, for it is in their interests to please the king and to gain his good will.
The refusal that cost him his life was not stubbornness over property values. He was holding to a command about the land.
But the land was God's and He had forbidden His people to sell it permanently. Moreover, the land was to remain within the tribe to which God had assigned it. So Naboth's refusal to give up his inheritance was a matter of simple obedience to God. His faithfulness cost him his life through Jezebel's scheming.
Naboth was not the last man killed this way. Others kept the words of Scripture and used them to cover the same crime.
Alas! When it suits their own ungodly ends, men can at times look remarkably careful about the letter of Scripture. They can quote its sacred words to defend the most flagrant unrighteousness and shocking immorality. Two witnesses accused Naboth of blaspheming God and the king. That faithful Israelite lost his inheritance and his life on the word of two liars, hired at the direction of a godless, cruel woman. Stephen, a man full of the Holy Spirit, was stoned to death for blasphemy. The great religious leaders of the day took the word of false witnesses and acted on it.
Some writers go further. They see in Naboth's death a picture of Christ's own death — the rightful Heir killed so that others could seize His inheritance.
Our blessed Lord was the righteous one in Israel in His day, as Naboth had been. He was properly the Heir of all the nation's greatness... The vineyard, the inheritance was His; but the wicked tenants, though admitting His title, refused Him possession, and said, "This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance." And they did so.
Everyone in the room had left God out of the reckoning. That was the one mistake that undid all the others.
Ahab lay on his bed, irritated by Naboth's refusal to sell his vineyard. The wicked Jezebel worked out how to destroy Naboth. All the while, God was watching. If He is not in all the thoughts of the sinner, the day of reckoning will come just the same.
- Blood — two paid lies killed Naboth. The elders knew better and said nothing. Silence made them guilty too.
- Cloak — a fast, a seat of honour, a charge, two witnesses. They dressed murder up as religion and did it in God's own Name.
- Motive — the double charge killed the man and handed his field to the crown. Greed wrote the script.
- Cost — Naboth died refusing to sell what God had given his fathers. Obedience on one point can cost everything.
- Reckoning — the one guest they never invited was God. He watched it all. Innocent blood is never forgotten.
And they sent to Jezebel saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.
A short message reaches the palace, and it reports a murder as if it were ordinary city business. Behind those few words lie a fast, two hired witnesses, and city elders who did just what the queen's letters told them.
This was no back-alley crime. Jezebel planned the murder as an act of worship.
Her orders were especially evil. The elders and nobles were to proclaim a fast, set Naboth at the head of the gathering, and bring in two sons of Belial (that is, sons of worthlessness) to charge him with having cursed God and the king. We understand this to mean that they were to pretend God was angry with their city. At the fast they would ask what had caused His anger, with Naboth presiding. Then they would denounce the man they claimed to honour as the "Achan" of the place, and hurry him off to execution (Joshua 7:25). The whole business seems too horrible to believe. Yet Israel had sunk so low morally that queen and elders did all this in God's Name!
Jezebel chose the charges with care. One of them decided who would own the vineyard.
She knew the penalty for blasphemy against Jehovah was death (Lev. 24:16). She would find helpers to prove Naboth guilty of this. So she would take revenge on the man who had dared to say No to the desire of power. But Jewish teachers tell us that if he were found guilty of blasphemy alone, his property would pass to his heirs, just as if he had died a natural death. To secure the vineyard, she had to invent a further charge of treason. In such a case the estate of the condemned man went to the royal treasury. So Naboth was accused of blasphemy against both "God and the king." See Ex. 22:28.
Jezebel wrote the letters. The men of Jezreel threw the stones, and they knew why.
Ahab lets the evil go on and the sin be carried through, so that he can profit from it. The men of Jezreel, the elders and nobles, act knowing the reason for it. The letters told them to choose two wicked men, sons of Belial, to lie under oath and so get rid of Naboth. They have few scruples, because it is in their interests to please the king and to gain his good will.
They did not stop with one man.
Not only was Naboth murdered, but his sons with him (2 Kings 9:26). The wicked elders would make certain that no heirs should arise to challenge what they had done.
The form was legal. The substance was murder, and Naboth was not the last to suffer it.
At times men can look wonderfully careful about the letter of Scripture when it suits their own evil ends. They can quote its sacred words in defence of blatant unrighteousness and shocking immorality. Two witnesses accused Naboth of blaspheming God and the king. That faithful Israelite lost his inheritance and his life on the word of two liars, hired at the direction of a godless, cruel woman. Stephen, a man full of the Holy Spirit, was stoned to death for blasphemy. The great religious leaders of the day believed and acted on false witnesses, and they could no doubt quote Deuteronomy 17 as their authority.
The report cleared the way for Ahab to take the land. It did not close the case.
Notice this: Jezebel brought about the death of Naboth, yet Ahab is held responsible for the crime. He let another act under his authority, and he was willing to profit by her wickedness. So Jehovah charges him with the murder. The guilt of the act was traced home to Ahab, to the lust of his own heart. He had let that desire draw him on to covet his neighbour's possession... Innocent blood had been shed without cause. God looked upon it, and required it from the guilty king.
Naboth lost his vineyard and his life. He did not lose his name.
Naboth refused to let his fathers' inheritance become "a garden of herbs" (1 Kings 21). He died rather than lower the standard. But his name lives on, written in the divine records!
- Covetousness starts it: Ahab wants a neighbour's field for a vegetable garden, and a man dies for saying no.
- Religion covers it: Jezebel orders a fast, two hired witnesses lie, and the killing goes ahead in God's Name.
- Law is twisted to complete it: the charge names God and the king. Blasphemy alone would leave the land to Naboth's heirs; treason sends it to the crown.
- Consent spreads it: the elders of Jezreel obey without protest. They kill Naboth's sons so no heir can object, then report it as ordinary business.
- God answers it: He charges Ahab with a murder he did not commit, requires the innocent blood from him, and keeps Naboth's name in the divine record.