1 Kings 21:2

Translations

Modern

So Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to use as a vegetable garden, since it is next to my palace. I will give you a better vineyard in its place—or if you prefer, I will give you its value in silver.”

Traditional

And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

Literal

And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give to me your vineyard, and it will be to me for a garden of green herbs, because it is nearby my house. And I will give to you in its place a better vineyard than it. Or if it is good in your eyes, I will give to you silver of the price of this one.”

Latin

Locutus est ergo Achab ad Naboth, dicens: Da mihi vineam tuam, ut faciam mihi hortum olerum, quia vicina est, et prope domum meam: daboque tibi pro ea vineam meliorem, aut si commodius tibi putas, argenti pretium, quanto digna est.

Original

Hebrew

English

So Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard to use as a vegetable garden, since it is next to my palace. I will give you a better vineyard in its place—or if you prefer, I will give you its value in silver.”

Notes

1 Kings 21:2–3

Naboth turned down Ahab's generous offer to buy or trade land for his vineyard. Naboth wanted to sell, but the law required inherited property to remain with the original family or tribe (Leviticus 25:23–28; Numbers 36:7–9). Unlike kings of nearby nations who could take any property they wanted (1 Samuel 8:11–17), Ahab had to follow Israel's law.

1 Kings 21:1–16

The writer shares another event where King Ahab reacted with anger and sulking (1 Kings 20:43; 21:4).

Theme notes and profiles

Ahab Elijah Jezebel Apostasy and Renewal Social Justice The Righteous Suffer

Related verses

1 Samuel 8:14
He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his servants.
1 Timothy 6:9
Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
James 1:14–15
But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.
Exodus 20:17
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
1 Samuel 8:6
But when they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” their demand was displeasing in the sight of Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.
Jeremiah 22:17
“But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”
Song of Solomon 4:15
You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon.
1 Samuel 29:6
So Achish summoned David and told him, “As surely as the LORD lives, you have been upright, and it seems right in my sight that you should march in and out with me in the army, because I have found no fault in you from the day you came to me until this day. But you are not good in the sight of the leaders.
Habakkuk 2:9–11
Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!
2 Kings 9:27
When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!” So they shot Ahaziah in his chariot on the Ascent of Gur, near Ibleam, and he fled to Megiddo and died there.
Deuteronomy 5:21
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house or field, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Genesis 3:6
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

People

Ahab: Wicked king of Israel; husband of Jezebel Naboth: Jezreelite vineyard owner, unjustly killed by Ahab and Jezebel

Glossary

Ahab (King) Ammi Archaeology and the Bible Jezebel Jezreel (Place) Jezreelite Kings, Books of First and Second Naboth Queen Witness

Topics

Covetousness: Ahab Covetousness: Ahab, in Desiring Naboth's Vineyard Dishonesty: Ahab Confiscates Naboth's Vineyard Gardens: Kinds of, Mentioned in Scripture: Herbs Herbs: Cultivated in Gardens Indictments: Naboth on the Charge of Blasphemy King: Profiting From: Confiscations of Property Money: Silver Used As Naboth: His Vineyard Forcibly Taken by Ahab; Stoned at the Instigation of Jezebel Women: Jezebel, in Her Conspiracy Against Naboth, to Cheat Him out of his Vineyard

1 Kings 21:2

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