1 Kings 21.8-10:
| 21.8ותכתב ספרים | Itzevelα writes scrolls |
|---|---|
| בשם אחאב | with Ahab’s name. |
| ותחתם בחתמו | She stamps with his stamp. |
| [ותשלח הספרים [ספרים | She sends out the scrolls |
| אל הזקנים ואל החרים | to the elders and the nobles |
| אשר בעירו הישבים את נבות׃ | who dwell in Navoth’sβ city. |
| 21.9ותכתב בספרים לאמר | She writes in the scrolls, saying, |
| קראו צום | “Call a fast. |
| והושיבו את נבות בראש העם׃ | Make Navoth sit at the people’s head. |
| 21.10והושיבו שנים אנשים | Make two men sit |
| בני בליעל | —sons of Belial— |
| נגדו | in front of him. |
| ויעדהו לאמר | Make them counter him, saying |
| ברכת אלהים ומלך | he praises God and the king. |
| והוציאהו | Make him go out. |
| וסקלהו וימת׃ | Stone him and he dies.” |
Jezebel’s plan to get Naboth’s garden was, as you’ll notice, to kill Naboth.
With Ahab’s permission—’cause she couldn’t use Ahab’s stamp, or royal seal, without his permission—she wrote messages, on scrolls, to the leaders of Jezreel, telling them to call a fast. Naboth was to be put at the head, in a place of honor. Two “sons of Belial” were to accuse him of a capital crime, whereupon the leaders were to have him stoned to death.
The bit that threw me was in v10: The sons of Belial were to accuse Naboth of praising God and the king. The traditional interpretation is that these guys accused Naboth of cursing God and the king; and that’s how it’s said in every English translation I found. I had assumed ברך meant to praise, but a quick peek in the dictionary indicates that it sometimes also means to curse... which doesn’t make sense. How can something be both praising and cursing, and how do you know when it’s one or the other? The Greek OT also has praise; so I concluded something was wrong here. In every other instance ברך means praise. It is only in 1 Kings 21.10 and 13 that the English translations say it doesn’t.
Cursing the king wasn’t a capital crime, so that wouldn’t be enough to get a person stoned. Cursing God was—it was considered blasphemy—so I can see how people might go with the interpretation “cursed” for ברך.
But let’s assume that ברך still means praised. What, then, does that mean? Only one thing: The people of Jezreel were still following Ba’al. The name of God was anathema to them. Anyone who praised God—despite also praising the king—would be praising the wrong god. In a predominantly Ba’alite culture, where people would still be upset that Ahab forsook Ba’al to serve the one true God, praising God and the king would get you lynched. Or, in bible times, stoned.
So what Jezebel was actually having these leaders do was declare a fast for Ba’al, put Naboth—a guy who obviously followed God, since he referred to Him when he told Ahab he wasn’t selling—in a place of honor that he would never seek for himself. Make him nice and uncomfortable.
Then get these “sons of Belial.” Usually “sons of Belial” is rendered “worthless men.” Belial, over time, became known in Jewish and Christian mythology as a demon, Satan’s chief lieutenant, sometimes put in charge of hell. More likely he was a minor god in the Ba’alist pantheon; so these “sons of Belial” were likely just two loyal pagans. (Still worthless men, but not in the way you’d think.)
So, in the middle of a great fast declared for Ba’al, take the guy in the most prominent position, and accuse him of worshiping Yahweh—and accuse him of uncomfortably reminding all these Ba’alists that the king does so too. That’ll get him lynched. Or stoned to death, the negative-9th century equivalent.
Now, I’m a little uncomfortable pitching this hypothesis, since I can’t find any other Christian who has attempted a similar interpretation, and I can’t believe that the Holy Spirit would point out this detail to me and no one else. The translator of the Greek OT obviously agreed that ברך meant blessed. John Parkhurst and Adam Clarke, 19th century commentators, believed Naboth was accused of blessing pagan gods, since the word אלהים, meaning God, can also mean “gods.” Young’s Literal Translation interprets king, מלך, literally as “Melech,” as if Naboth is blessing both God and Molech—which, to be fair, is a possibility.
I could be completely wrong, of course, but I think my interpretation is more politically plausible than the others. Jezebel is not telling the leaders of Jezreel to do anything they wouldn’t do ordinarily: She’s pointing out an outsider in their midst, and giving them a practical method to bump him off. She’s not ordering them to lie, conspire with people they don’t approve of, or do anything that might incriminate them later. It’s still evil, though.
Application. There are many parts of the world, and our country, where Christianity isn’t popular—usually ’cause people aren’t big fans of “organized religion,” or have otherwise had bad experiences with obnoxious Christians. From time to time, anti-Christians and the devil will take advantage of this animosity to get us in trouble. Elsewhere in the scriptures, Jesus points out that we Christians need to make nice with the pagans so that when such times come, we’ll have allies. (Lk 16.1-13) But such times will come to everyone who tries to spread the gospel, and here we can see an example of both how such things can be initiated, and for what unbelievably petty reasons that people might initiate them.
α. Jezebel; lit. “she.”
β. Naboth.
