1 Reis 21

ARC · Chapter 21/22

1E succedeu depois d'estas coisas, tendo Naboth, o jezreelita uma vinha, que em Jezreel estava junto ao palacio de Achab, rei de Samaria,

2Que Achab fallou a Naboth, dizen-* *do: Dá-me a tua vinha, para que me sirva de horta pois está visinha ao pé da minha casa; e te darei por ella outra vinha melhor do que ella: ou, se parece bem aos teus olhos, dar-te-hei a sua valia em dinheiro.

3Porém Naboth disse a Achab: Guarde-me o Senhor de que eu te dê a herança de meus paes.

4Então Achab veiu desgostoso e indignado á sua casa, por causa da palavra que Naboth, o jezreelita, lhe fallara, dizendo: Não te darei a herança de meus paes. E deitou-se na sua cama, e voltou o rosto, e não comeu pão.

5Porém, vindo a elle Jezabel, sua mulher, lhe disse: Que ha, que está tão desgostoso o teu espirito, e não comes pão

6E elle lhe disse: Porque fallei a Naboth, o jezreelita, e lhe disse: Dá-me a tua vinha por dinheiro; ou, se te apraz, te darei outra vinha em seu logar. Porém elle disse: Não te darei a minha vinha.

7Então Jezabel, sua mulher lhe disse: Governas tu agora no reino de Israel? levanta-te, come pão, e alegre-se o teu coração: eu te darei a vinha de Naboth, o jezreelita.

8Então escreveu cartas em nome de Achab, e as sellou com o seu sinete; e mandou as cartas aos anciãos e aos nobres que havia na sua cidade e habitavam com Naboth.

9E escreveu nas cartas, dizendo: Apregoae um jejum, e ponde a Naboth acima do povo.

10E ponde defronte d'elle dois homens, filhos de Belial, que testemunhem contra elle, dizendo: Blasphemaste contra Deus e contra o rei: e trazei-o fóra, e apedrejae-o para que morra.

11E os homens da sua cidade, os anciãos e os nobres que habitavam na sua cidade, fizeram como Jezabel lhes ordenara, conforme estava escripto nas cartas que lhes mandara.

12Apregoaram um jejum, e pozeram a Naboth acima do povo.

13Então vieram dois homens, filhos de Belial, e pozeram-se defronte d'elle; e os homens, filhos de Belial, testemunharam contra elle, contra Naboth, perante o povo, dizendo: Naboth blasphemou contra Deus e contra o rei. E o levaram para fóra da cidade, e o apedrejaram com pedras, e morreu.

14Então enviaram a Jezabel, dizendo: Naboth foi apedrejado, e morreu.

15E succedeu que, ouvindo Jezabel que já fôra apedrejado Naboth, e morrera, disse Jezabel a Achab: Levanta-te, e possue a vinha de Naboth, o jezreelita, a qual te recusou dar por dinheiro; porque Naboth não vive, mas é morto.

16E succedeu que, ouvindo Achab, que já Naboth era morto, Achab se levantou, para descer para a vinha de Naboth, o jezreelita, para a possuir.

17Então veiu a palavra do Senhor a Elias, o tesbita, dizendo:

18Levanta-te, desce para encontrar-te com Achab, rei de Israel, que está em Samaria: eis que está na vinha de Naboth, aonde tem descido para a possuir.

19E fallar-lhe-has, dizendo: Assim diz o Senhor: Porventura não mataste e tomaste a herança? Fallar-lhe-has mais, dizendo: Assim diz o Senhor: No logar em que os cães lamberam o sangue de Naboth os cães lamberão o teu sangue, o teu mesmo.

20E disse Achab a Elias: Já me achaste, inimigo meu? E elle disse: Achei-te; porquanto já te vendeste para fazeres o que é mau aos olhos do Senhor.

21Eis que trarei mal sobre ti, e arrancarei a tua posteridade, e arrancarei de Achab a todo o homem, como tambem o encerrado e o desamparado em Israel;

22E farei a tua casa como a casa de Jeroboão, filho de Nebat, e como a casa de Baása, filho de Ahias: por causa da provocação, com que me provocaste e fizeste peccar a Israel.

23E tambem ácerca de Jezabel fallou o Senhor, dizendo: Os cães comerão a Jezabel junto ao antemuro de Jezreel.

24Aquelle que de Achab morrer na cidade os cães o comerão: e o que morrer no campo as aves do céu o comerão.

25Porém ninguem fôra como Achab, que se vendera para fazer o que era máu aos olhos do Senhor: porque Jezabel, sua mulher, o incitava.

26E fez grandes abominações, seguindo os idolos, conforme a tudo o que fizeram os amorrheos, os quaes o Senhor lançou fóra da sua possessão, de diante dos filhos de Israel.

27Succedeu pois que Achab, ouvindo estas palavras, rasgou os seus vestidos, e cobriu a sua carne de sacco, e jejuou: e jazia em sacco, e andava mansamente.

28Então veiu a palavra do Senhor a Elias tesbita, dizendo:

29Não viste que Achab se humilha perante mim? porquanto pois se humilha perante mim, não trarei este mal nos seus dias, mas nos dias de seu filho trarei este mal sobre a sua casa.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Ahab desires Naboth's vineyard, but Naboth refuses to sell it because it is his family inheritance. Jezebel schemes to falsely accuse Naboth of blasphemy, resulting in his execution by stoning. Elijah confronts Ahab in the very stolen vineyard, announcing severe judgment on his house.

Explanation

This is one of the clearest accounts of judicial injustice in the Bible, showing how political power can be used to completely subvert the legal system for personal gain. Naboth's refusal to sell ancestral land reflects the Israelite law of tribal inheritance (Leviticus 25:23), which viewed the land as entrusted by God, not just another commodity. Elijah's severe response shows that God cares deeply about social injustice and the abuse of power against the vulnerable, even when committed by kings. It is notable that when Ahab humbles himself (even if only partially), God postpones part of the judgment — showing room for repentance even after serious sins.

Fun facts

  • The fabricated charge against Naboth — blasphemy against God and the king — followed exactly the legal procedure required in Deuteronomy 17:6-7 (the need for two witnesses), showing how Jezebel cynically manipulated the very forms of the law to commit an injustice.
  • The fulfillment of the prophecy against Ahab (dogs licking his blood) happens in a partial, symbolic way in 1 Kings 22:38, when his war chariot is washed at the same pool where prostitutes bathed.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 1 Reis 21:1Naboth of Jezreel had a vineyard right next to Ahab’s palace — the setting that sets off the whole chapter’s injustice.
  2. 1 Reis 21:2Ahab asks for the vineyard to use as a vegetable garden, since it is close to the palace, and offers a better vineyard in exchange, or its value in money.
  3. 1 Reis 21:3Israelite law treated family land as something that could not be sold permanently; it had to stay within the family line. That is why Naboth refuses even the king’s generous offer — not out of stubbornness, but because he sees the vineyard as sacred inheritance, not negotiable property.
  4. 1 Reis 21:4Ahab goes home sulking and angry over Naboth’s refusal, lies down on his bed, turns his face away, and refuses to eat — a king throwing a tantrum because he could not get land that was never rightfully his.
  5. 1 Reis 21:5Jezebel comes to ask why he is so downcast that he will not eat.
  6. 1 Reis 21:6He explains: I asked for Naboth’s vineyard, and he refused to give it to me.
  7. 1 Reis 21:7Jezebel mocks him: Are you not the king of Israel? Get up, eat, and be cheerful — I myself will get you Naboth’s vineyard.
  8. 1 Reis 21:8She writes letters in Ahab’s name, seals them with his seal, and sends them to the elders and nobles living in Naboth’s city.
  9. 1 Reis 21:9The law required two witnesses to condemn someone to death. Jezebel manipulates that exact legal mechanism, arranging two false witnesses to give a fair trial’s appearance to a contracted murder.
  10. 1 Reis 21:10Her instructions: set two worthless men opposite Naboth to falsely testify that he cursed God and the king, then take him out and stone him to death.
  11. 1 Reis 21:11The elders and nobles of the city do exactly what Jezebel commanded in the letters.
  12. 1 Reis 21:12They proclaim a fast and set Naboth in a prominent place before the people — a staged trial meant to look legitimate.
  13. 1 Reis 21:13Two worthless men falsely testify against Naboth before the people, and he is taken outside the city and stoned to death — the text stays fully on his side, showing the injustice plainly, without softening it.
  14. 1 Reis 21:14Jezebel had staged it all: she had Naboth falsely accused of blasphemy purely to get his vineyard. The news of his death arrives exactly as she had planned.
  15. 1 Reis 21:15As soon as she hears the news, Jezebel tells Ahab to go take possession of the vineyard Naboth refused to sell, since he is no longer alive.
  16. 1 Reis 21:16As soon as he learns Naboth is dead, Ahab gets up and goes to take possession of the vineyard.
  17. 1 Reis 21:17The word of the Lord comes to Elijah the Tishbite, interrupting Ahab’s moment in the stolen vineyard.
  18. 1 Reis 21:18God sends Elijah to meet Ahab, who is in Naboth’s vineyard, right in the act of taking possession of it.
  19. 1 Reis 21:19Elijah’s sentence applies the era’s common principle of equivalent justice: the same kind of death and disgrace Naboth suffered will fall on Ahab. The text describes this judgment as fulfilled, though delayed, in the chapters that follow.
  20. 1 Reis 21:20Ahab greets Elijah with hostility: “Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?” — and Elijah answers: I have found thee, because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord.
  21. 1 Reis 21:21God’s judgment: I will bring disaster on you and cut off your descendants, eliminating every male in Ahab’s line, slave or free.
  22. 1 Reis 21:22I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam and the house of Baasha, because you provoked me and made Israel sin.
  23. 1 Reis 21:23About Jezebel specifically, God says: the dogs will eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel — a judgment that is especially cruel and tied directly to the scheme she orchestrated.
  24. 1 Reis 21:24Whoever of Ahab’s line dies in the city, the dogs will eat; whoever dies in the open field, the birds will eat.
  25. 1 Reis 21:25The narrator comments: there was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by his own wife Jezebel.
  26. 1 Reis 21:26He acted in the vilest way, going after idols, just as the Amorites had done — the very people the Lord drove out before Israel.
  27. 1 Reis 21:27Even though he was complicit in the crime, Ahab reacts by tearing his clothes and fasting. The text records that God delays the punishment to his son’s generation because of this humbling — a rare moment where a condemned king gets a kind of partial reprieve.
  28. 1 Reis 21:28The word of the Lord comes to Elijah again, this time with different news.
  29. 1 Reis 21:29God notices that Ahab humbled himself before Him; because of that, the disaster will not come in Ahab’s own lifetime, but in his son’s days — a partial reprieve because of a late but genuine repentance.

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