Naboth

Naboth was a man of Jezreel who owned a field the king wanted, and the story of what that cost him echoes long after. The verses gathered here come from the day Jehu rode against Joram and met him “in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.” Jehu remembered that the LORD had said, “I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons,” and had promised to pay it back. The same chapter ends with Jezebel’s fall, as Elijah had foretold. Read together, they say that an innocent man’s blood was not forgotten. The full account of the vineyard itself is in 1 Kings 21.

16 verses

2 Kings

2 Kings 9:21

And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.

2 Kings 9:22

And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?

2 Kings 9:23

And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah.

2 Kings 9:24

And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.

2 Kings 9:25

Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden upon him;

2 Kings 9:26

Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD.

2 Kings 9:27

But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.

2 Kings 9:28

And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.

2 Kings 9:29

And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.

2 Kings 9:30

And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.

2 Kings 9:31

And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?

2 Kings 9:32

And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.

2 Kings 9:33

And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.

2 Kings 9:34

And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king's daughter.

2 Kings 9:35

And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.

2 Kings 9:36

Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel:

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

Fruits, “the Jezreelite,” was the owner of a portion of ground on the eastern slope of the hill of Jezreel (2 Kings 9:25, 26). This small “plat of ground” seems to have been all he possessed. It was a vineyard, and lay “hard by the palace of Ahab” (1 Kings 21:1, 2), who greatly coveted it. Naboth, however, refused on any terms to part with it to the king. He had inherited it from his fathers, and no Israelite could lawfully sell his property (Lev. 25:23). Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, was grievously offended at Naboth’s refusal to part with his vineyard. By a crafty and cruel plot she compassed his death. His sons also shared his fate (2 Kings 9:26; 1 Kings 21:19). She then came to Ahab and said, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” Ahab arose and went forth into the garden which had so treacherously and cruelly been acquired, seemingly enjoying his new possession, when, lo, Elijah suddenly appeared before him and pronounced against him a fearful doom (1 Kings 21:17-24). Jehu and Bidcar were with Ahab at this time, and so deeply were the words of Elijah imprinted on Jehu’s memory that many years afterwards he refers to them (2 Kings 9:26), and he was the chief instrument in inflicting this sentence on Ahab and Jezebel and all their house (9:30-37). The house of Ahab was extinguished by him. Not one of all his great men and his kinsfolk and his priests did Jehu spare (10:11).

Read the full entry

Ahab humbled himself at Elijah’s words (1 Kings 21:28, 29), and therefore the prophecy was fulfilled not in his fate but in that of his son Joram (2 Kings 9:25).

The history of Naboth, compared with that of Ahab and Jezebel, furnishes a remarkable illustration of the law of a retributive providence, a law which runs through all history (comp. Ps. 109:17, 18).

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(fruits), the victim of Ahab and Jezebel, was the owner of a small vineyard at Jezreel, close to the royal palace of Shab. (1 Kings 21:1,2) (B.C. 897.) It thus became an object of desire to the king, who offered an equivalent in money or another vineyard. In exchange for this Naboth, in the independent spirit of a Jewish landholder, refused: "The Lord forbid it me that I should give the inheritance of my father unto thee." Ahab was cowed by this reply; but the proud spirit of Jezebel was aroused. She took the matter into her own hands. A fast was proclaimed, as on the announcement of some impending calamity. Naboth was "set on high" in the public place of Samaria; two men of worthless character accused him of having "cursed God and the king." He and his children, (2 Kings 9:26) were dragged out of the city and despatched; the same night. The place of execution there was by the large tank or reservoir which still remains an the slope of the hill of Samaria, immediately outside the walls. The usual punishment for blasphemy was enforced: Naboth and his sons were stoned; and the blood from their wounds ran down into the waters of the tank below. For the signal retribution taken on this judicial murder --a remarkable proof of the high regard paid in the old dispensation to the claims of justice and independence --see AHAB; JEHU; JEZEBEL.