1 Kings 21.1-4:
| 21.1ויהי אחר הדברים האלה | This is after those words: |
|---|---|
| כרם היה | A gardenα is owned |
| לנבות היזרעאלי | by Navoth the Yitzre’eli,β |
| אשר ביזרעאל | which is in Yitzre’el,γ |
| אצל היכל אחאב | near the courtδ of Achav,ε |
| מלך שמרון׃ | king of Shomron.ζ |
| 21.2וידבר אחאב אל נבות לאמר | Achav speaks to Navoth, saying, |
| תנה לי את כרמך | “Give me your garden. |
| ויהי לי לגן ירק | It becomes to me a herb garden, |
| כי הוא קרוב אצל ביתי | because it is close, near my house. |
| ואתנה לך תחתיו כרם | I give you instead a garden |
| טוב ממנו | better than it. |
| אם טוב בעיניך | If it is good to your eye |
| אתנה לך כסף מחיר זה׃ | I give you silver to buy it.” |
| 21.3ויאמר נבות אל אחאב | Navoth says to Achav, |
| חלילה לי מיהוה | “May Yahweh never let me |
| מתתי את נחלת | give the ancestral land |
| אבתי לך׃ | my fathers gave to me.” |
| 21.4ויבא אחאב אל ביתו | Achav goes to his house, |
| סר וזעף | rebellious and furious |
| על הדבר אשר דבר אליו | for the message which is messaged to him |
| נבות היזרעאלי | by Navoth the Yitzre’eli. |
| ויאמר לא אתן לך | He says, “I won’t give you |
| את נחלת אבותי | the ancestral land of my fathers.” |
| וישכב על מטתו | Achavη lies down on his couch. |
| ויסב את פניו | He surrounds his face. |
| ולא אכל לחם׃ | He won’t eat bread. |
“After those words” means after the previous Syrian War battle where Ahab let Hadadezer go. (1Ki 20) Interestingly, in the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament), that battle follows this story; chapter 20 becomes chapter 21 and vice-versa. So which story really comes first? My tendency is to stick with the Hebrew OT; you’ll notice that this story segues into chapter 22 better than does chapter 20.
Anyway. Ahab was home in Jezreel, the suburb of Samaria that contained his court, his house, and his gardens. “Gardens” in Israel weren’t decorative flowerbeds; they were what we’d call victory gardens in the U.S.—a small plot of land that you used to grow food for your household. Many gardens grew grapes, which is why “garden” is usually rendered “vineyard.” Some grew olives, as did Gethsemane. Some grew cucumbers, onions, chickpeas, lettuce... whatever balanced out a diet of mostly bread and meat.
One of Ahab’s neighbors was Naboth, who owned a small garden connected to his, and Ahab wanted to buy it off him and connect it with his gardens—use it for herbs. Possibly Ahab’s cooks bought herbs off Naboth on a regular basis, and Ahab figured he’d cut out the middleman. So he offers him a sweet deal: Find another garden, a better garden, any better garden, and Ahab will give him the money to buy it.
It is a very good deal, but Naboth doesn’t sell.
You have to understand the value that Hebrews put on ancestral land. Back during the time of Joshua, the conquered land of Canaan was divided up among the Israeli tribes, and that land was further divided up among clans. Each clan had their own land, and wouldn’t give it up for anything. They might be forced to sell it for debt—but every seven years the debts would be cancelled and everyone would get their land back. Land meant stability. It was where you were born and raised. It was where you buried your parents. It was home, dangit, and no one could take it away from you. Even a king.
Naboth wasn’t selling; and his oath before God indicated that he wasn’t trying a bargaining ploy either. He wasn’t selling. At all. Period.
Ahab’s emotional reaction was exactly the same as when God chastises him for letting Hadadezer go: He was rebellious and furious. It’s a dangerous attitude to be in; it’s an attitude that gets you into trouble.
But rather than accept reality, Ahab coveted.
To covet—a term we really don’t use enough, mainly because we don’t condemn it enough—is to want what you can’t have. In our culture, you can usually have whatever you want. If you want a new iPhone, save up your money and get one. But not everything is for sale, and that’s what God’s command against coveting (Ex 20.17, Dt 5.21) points out. He lists spouses, slaves, and animals that belong to your neighbor—typically these things (particularly spouses) aren’t for sale. It’s not wrong to get your own; it is wrong to continue to want them when they’re not available.
Naboth made it clear that his garden wasn’t available, and Ahab, rather than deal with it and move on, sulked. He went to his room, lay down on his couch, “surrounds his face”—that is, wouldn’t see or talk to anyone—and refused food. He acted like a spoiled little kid who can’t have his way. Which he sorta was.
Ahab coveted, big-time. Worse, his bad attitude towards God, and his equally bad attitude towards Naboth, only drove him to accept some pretty twisted means of getting what he wanted.
Application. This is one of the stories in which we see the consequences of coveting: Ahab wants what he can’t have. Yet rather than recognize that he’s coveting, and stop it, Ahab also has a bad attitude—rebelliousness and a lack of self-control—that lets him wallow in his covetousness rather than fight it. The bad attitude makes it harder to resist the sin. That’s why we must likewise check our attitude, constantly, before it exacerbates the situation as it does here.
α. Usu. “vineyard.”
β. Naboth of Jezreel.
γ. Jezreel.
δ. Usu. “palace.” The idea is that it’s a civic building, not necessarily the king’s house; it’s where Ahab would meet and judge the people.
ε. Ahab.
ζ. Samaria.
η. Lit. “he.”
