And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food.
A subject has just told Ahab, king of Israel, no, and the king goes home, lies on his bed facing the wall and refuses to eat. Why does one small refusal flatten a powerful man, and what was he refused?
What Naboth's Refusal Really Was
Ahab's offer looked generous — a better vineyard, or the cash value. But the exchange asked Naboth to hand over something that was never his to sell.
H. L. RossierAn exchange, or even a cash payment for the land, would give Ahab full and final possession of his neighbour's vineyard. An Israelite who feared God could not accept such terms. He would keep the inheritance of his fathers because they had received it from the Lord. But there was a reason even stronger than that. The land, the ground itself, did not belong to the people but to the Lord: "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me."
So Naboth was not being stubborn about a property line. Commentators say he was standing up for rights that were not his own.
C. KnappThis was not stubbornness on Naboth's part, as some have supposed. He was not merely clinging to his legal rights rather than doing his king a favour. He was standing not for his own rights — that hardly suits a man who owes everything to God's free grace — but for God's rights, and for the rights of those who came after him.
The Real Name for Ahab's Desire
Ahab was already an idol worshipper. Writers say his craving for this vineyard was the same sin in a new form.
H. L. RossierCovetousness overruns his heart, eager greed for something God had not given him. Now this is idolatry just as well as the worship of Baal (Col. 3:5). Ahab, dominated by the enemy, has simply passed from one form of idolatry to another.
Sulking at the Will of God
The face turned to the wall is not aimed at Naboth. Behind his answer stood something Ahab could not move.
H. L. RossierAhab is sullen because what he wants is out of his reach. He is vexed by a will that blocks him, a will he cannot make give way — because, in short, it is the will of God.
This was not a one-off mood. The same words describe Ahab at the end of the previous chapter, after a prophet announced God's judgement on him.
Edward DennettWeakness and wickedness often go together. Both times the king was angry because the will of God stood against his own and interfered with his plans. But note the lesson: whenever the heart is set on evil, Satan is always at hand to open the way for the deed.
A Child's Behaviour on a Throne
A king lies on his bed and refuses his dinner. It is not a dignified picture.
C. KnappThis sulking did not suit a man, much less a king. It was the behaviour of a spoiled child, irritable and in a bad mood because one of his subjects had refused him what he wanted.
There was fear under the sulking, not just temper.
The Christian's FriendUtterly weak and irresolute, he wailed and sulked because he did not dare to commit the sins that would let him satisfy his greed.
Jezebel's Offer
Jezebel now steps in, and her offer is the exact opposite of Naboth's answer.
H. L. RossierNaboth had said, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." Jezebel comes and says, "I will give you the vineyard of Naboth." She takes Ahab by the hand and leads him down her own path, a path of lying and murder. All the while she appears to be his benefactress.
The Unseen Witness
Ahab's bed felt private. It was not.
The Christian's FriendWhile Ahab was lying on his bed, irritated by Naboth's refusal to sell his vineyard, and while the wicked Jezebel was devising the means of bringing about Naboth's destruction, God was watching. If He is not in all the thoughts of the sinner, the day of reckoning will come just as surely.
God kept a record of this small, embarrassing scene. Ahab's public achievements get one sentence.
Eugene P. Vedder Jr.God weighs actions. Men might make much of "the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the ivory house that he built and all the cities that he built." God shows us this wicked man as He saw him.
Summary
- Refused — Naboth said no because the land belonged to the Lord. He defended God's rights and his children's, not his own.
- Craving — Ahab wanted what God had not given him. Commentators call that greed idolatry, the same sin as Baal worship in a new form.
- Sulking — Turning his face to the wall was not anger at a neighbour but anger at a will he could not bend: God's.
- Opening — A heart set on evil never waits long. Jezebel offers what God withheld, and Ahab's weakness ends in murder.
- Watched — God saw the private bed the whole time. He kept this scene, not the ivory palace, as the true measure of the man.