Introduction

The story of the kingdom of Israel up until the death of Solomon is contained in the paper Rule of the Kings Part III: Solomon and the Key of David (No. 282C).

This work is concerned with the fate of Israel after the division. God ordained the resulting division of Solomon’s Kingdom as punishment for his idolatry

Upon Solomon’s death in 932 BCE, his son Rehoboam was proclaimed king. Many in Israel showed their displeasure by supporting his rival, Jeroboam, the Ephraimite.

The Northern Kingdom soon became idolatrous also, and it was periodically invaded and most of its inhabitants were sent into captivity. The final Assyrian invasion and deportation of Israel occurred in 722 BCE.

These events can be seen ultimately as a means of preserving both Israel and Judah.

The restoration of a united Kingdom is prophesied.

The reigns of all 20 kings of the Northern Kingdom will be examined chronologically.

A suggested Chronology of the Kings of Israel is also appended.

Jeroboam

The first ruler of the breakaway Kingdom of Israel was Jeroboam the son of Nebath, from the tribe of Ephraim. The complete story of his life and reign, as recorded in 1Kings 12 and 13, is dealt with in the paper Jeroboam and the Hillel Calendar (No. 191).

We saw that Jeroboam had been involved in a rebellion against Solomon whereby, “he lifted up his hand against the king” (1Kgs. 11:26ff.; 2Chr. 2:6). He then fled to Egypt for sanctuary, just as many others had done before and since, including Messiah’s parents (cf. Hos. 11:1; Mat. 2:15).

In 1Kings 11:28 it is said that Jeroboam was a very industrious and capable man who had been put in charge of the forced labour of the House of Joseph during Solomon’s extensive building programs.

On his return from exile following the death of Solomon, Jeroboam and the congregation of Israel came before the new king, Rehoboam, to ask that he lighten the hard service imposed by his father (2Chr. 10:2ff.). The older and more experienced advisers approached Rehoboam with a plea on behalf of Israel.

1Kings 12:7 And they said to him, "If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants for ever." (RSV)

This fundamental principle of service to one’s people was reinforced by Christ in a rebuke to his disciples.

Mark 10:42b-44 "You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. ⁴³But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. (RSV)

The need sometimes to speak a good or gentle word, even to an oppressive and hard-hearted Pharaoh let alone the people of Israel, was enjoined upon Moses by the Angel of Yahovah, as the Qur’an records.

Surah 20:42 Go, thou and thy brother, with My tokens, and be not faint in remembrance of Me. 43 Go, both of you, unto Pharaoh. Lo! he hath transgressed (the bounds). 44 And speak unto him a gentle word, that peradventure he may heed or fear. (Pickthal)

According to God’s purpose, however, the burden upon the Israelites was not lightened by Rehoboam, so that the division between Judah and Israel was inevitably swift, decisive and permanent. Judah was told that the division of the kingdom had been ordered by God; hence, civil war was narrowly averted … for the time being. However, “there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life” (1Kgs. 15:6).

The united Kingdom of Saul, David and Solomon had lasted exactly 120 years, from 1052 to 932 BCE, while the Northern Kingdom of Israel was to survive for a further 210 years. Ahijah the prophet had already informed Jeroboam that he was to be given leadership over these northern ten tribes (v. 35).

The story of the Northern Kingdom continues in 2Chronicles 13, where Jeroboam and Abijah, the new king of Judah, are preparing for battle.

2Chronicles 13:1-22 In the eighteenth year of King Jerobo'am Abi'jah began to reign over Judah. ²He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Micai'ah the daughter of U'riel of Gib'e-ah. Now there was war between Abi'jah and Jerobo'am. ³Abi'jah went out to battle having an army of valiant men of war, four hundred thousand picked men; and Jerobo'am drew up his line of battle against him with eight hundred thousand picked mighty warriors. ⁴Then Abi'jah stood up on Mount Zemara'im which is in the hill country of E'phraim, and said, "Hear me, O Jerobo'am and all Israel! ⁵Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel for ever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt?

The covenant of salt could not be altered or rescinded (Num. 18:19) and Abijah is reminding Israel of this fact. Such a covenant is further explained in the paper Passover Questions and the Reasons for Our Faith (No. 51) under the heading ‘Salt’.

⁶Yet Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord; ⁷and certain worthless scoundrels gathered about him and defied Rehobo'am the son of Solomon, when Rehobo'am was young and irresolute and could not withstand them. ⁸"And now you think to withstand the kingdom of the LORD in the hand of the sons of David, because you are a great multitude and have with you the golden calves which Jerobo'am made you for gods. ⁹Have you not driven out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites, and made priests for yourselves like the peoples of other lands? Whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of what are no gods.

As a direct result of Jeroboam’s slide into idolatry many of the former priests and Levites found themselves destitute and deserted the Northern Kingdom for Jerusalem.

2Chronicles 11:13-16 And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him from all places where they lived. ¹⁴For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jerobo'am and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the LORD, ¹⁵and he appointed his own priests for the high places, and for the satyrs, and for the calves which he had made. ¹⁶And those who had set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the LORD, the God of their fathers. (RSV)

It may be that fully two-thirds of the people – a great multitude – sided with Jeroboam in his rebellion (cf. also the size of the armies). The ultimate defeat of the northern Israelites was sealed, firstly by taking to themselves the priestly duties reserved for those of Aaronic or Levitical descent and, secondly, from their idolatry in worship of the golden calves. The fact is, however, that the Levites did not all remove to Jerusalem and the twenty-four divisions of the Levites had to be reconstituted from the three full divisions left in Judah plus some returnees; and that remained the case after the Babylonian captivity also.

Continuing in 2Chronicles 13:

¹⁰But as for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him. We have priests ministering to the LORD who are sons of Aaron, and Levites for their service. ¹¹They offer to the LORD every morning and every evening burnt offerings and incense of sweet spices, set out the showbread on the table of pure gold, and care for the golden lampstand that its lamps may burn every evening; for we keep the charge of the LORD our God, but you have forsaken him. ¹²Behold, God is with us at our head, and his priests with their battle trumpets to sound the call to battle against you. O sons of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers; for you cannot succeed."

Judah continued to uphold the correct Temple service and was favoured by God for so doing. King Asa had also removed the sun images (Heb. chamman) from all the cities of Judah (2Chr. 14:5).

¹³Jerobo'am had sent an ambush around to come on them from behind; thus his troops were in front of Judah, and the ambush was behind them. ¹⁴And when Judah looked, behold, the battle was before and behind them; and they cried to the LORD, and the priests blew the trumpets. ¹⁵Then the men of Judah raised the battle shout. And when the men of Judah shouted, God defeated Jerobo'am and all Israel before Abi'jah and Judah. ¹⁶The men of Israel fled before Judah, and God gave them into their hand. ¹⁷Abi'jah and his people slew them with a great slaughter; so there fell slain of Israel five hundred thousand picked men. ¹⁸Thus the men of Israel were subdued at that time, and the men of Judah prevailed, because they relied upon the LORD, the God of their fathers.

Although the army of Judah was outnumbered two-to-one by the other Israelites in this battle, they correctly deduced that they had God (and moral right) on their side; and so prevailed. They inflicted losses of 500,000 men killed upon Israel – more than half of its warrior strength. Thus Judah was able to encroach upon Ephraim’s territory to the north and create a buffer zone.

¹⁹And Abi'jah pursued Jerobo'am, and took cities from him, Bethel with its villages and Jesha'nah with its villages and Ephron with its villages. ²⁰Jerobo'am did not recover his power in the days of Abi'jah; and the LORD smote him, and he died. ²¹But Abi'jah grew mighty. And he took fourteen wives, and had twenty-two sons and sixteen daughters. ²²The rest of the acts of Abi'jah, his ways and his sayings, are written in the story of the prophet Iddo. (RSV)

King Jeroboam was finally struck down by God and died. Although his name is forever synonymous with “evil”, the Hebrew word ra‘ or ra‘ah (SHD 7451) used can mean disaster or calamity (resulting from sin) and not just moral wickedness. Jeroboam’s reign, as well as those of subsequent kings, generally proved disastrous.

Nadab

Jeroboam was followed on the throne of Israel by his son Nadab (meaning generous) who reigned for only 2 years.

1Kings 15:25-31 Nadab the son of Jerobo'am began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah; and he reigned over Israel two years. ²⁶He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin which he made Israel to sin. ²⁷Ba'asha the son of Ahi'jah, of the house of Is'sachar, conspired against him; and Ba'asha struck him down at Gib'bethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel were laying siege to Gib'bethon. ²⁸So Ba'asha killed him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead. ²⁹And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jerobo'am; he left to the house of Jerobo'am not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the LORD which he spoke by his servant Ahi'jah the Shi'lonite; ³⁰it was for the sins of Jerobo'am which he sinned and which he made Israel to sin, and because of the anger to which he provoked the LORD, the God of Israel. ³¹Now the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? (RSV)

Little else is known of Nadab from either the Bible or secular sources. He was killed by Baasha at a place called Gibbethon just inside the border with Philistia.

Baasha

The second dynasty in Israel began with Baasha, son of Ahijah of the tribe of Issachar and from humble beginnings, who would certainly live up to his name (meaning wicked).

1Kings 15:32-34 And there was war between Asa and Ba'asha king of Israel all their days. ³³In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Ba'asha the son of Ahi'jah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jerobo'am and in his sin which he made Israel to sin. (RSV)

He reigned in the new capital Tirzah in the period ca. 909-886 BCE following its relocation from Shechem. Baasha’s idolatry was merely a continuation of what Jeroboam had begun.

In King Asa’s 36^th year on the throne of Judah, and while that kingdom was enjoying relative peace, Baasha began a military campaign against him (2Chr. 16:1ff.). Asa called for help from the Syrian king Ben-hadad of Damascus (Heb. Darmesek) who attacked several Israelite cities in order to relieve the pressure on Judah (v. 4). However, Asa had forgotten his covenant of reliance upon God; consequently, he was told by the prophet Hanani: “henceforth, you shall have wars!” (v. 9).

During this turbulent period King Asa built a fortress at Mizpah on the main route north from Jerusalem (1Kgs. 15:22; 2Chr. 16:6). It was built partly from the materials Baasha had been using to fortify Ramah of Benjamin on the same road. The walls of Mizpah were discovered to be an impressive 26 feet (8 metres) thick in a 1930s American excavation of the site – now Tell en-Nasbe, seven miles (11 km) north of Jerusalem. This massive construction hints at the intensity and bitterness of the wars between the rival kingdoms.

1Kings 16:1-7 And the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hana'ni against Ba'asha, saying, ²"Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jerobo'am, and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, ³behold, I will utterly sweep away Ba'asha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat. ⁴Any one belonging to Ba'asha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat; and any one of his who dies in the field the birds of the air shall eat." ⁵Now the rest of the acts of Ba'asha, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁶And Ba'asha slept with his fathers, and was buried at Tirzah; and Elah his son reigned in his stead. ⁷Moreover the word of the LORD came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hana'ni against Ba'asha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jerobo'am, and also because he destroyed it. (RSV)

Although Baasha was the instrument for fulfilling Ahijah’s prophecy by killing Nadab (14:1ff.), it was still a regicide that had to be punished (see the paper Genealogy of the Messiah (No. 119)). It was subsequently returned upon Baasha’s own family by his ‘servant’ Zimri when he became king.

Despite his wickedness, Baasha enjoyed the third longest reign in Israel’s history (24 years) and died a natural death.

Elah

Elah the son of Baasha became the fourth king on Israel’s throne. His reign of two years was cut short by his own chariot-force commander, Zimri, during a bout of drunkenness. It is not unreasonable to suppose that Arza was party to the conspiracy to murder Elah.

1Kings 16:8-10 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Ba'asha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and reigned two years. ⁹But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, ¹⁰Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead. (RSV)

Tirzah was an ancient Canaanite city of particular beauty. Solomon had compared his Shulammite woman to Tirzah in Song of Songs 6:4 (see the paper Song of Songs (No. 145)). It is now called Tell el-Farah and lies about 9 miles (14 km) north of modern Sabastiyeh (formerly Samaria).

While Judah at this time was enjoying relative stability under King Asa (who reigned a total of 41 years), Israel experienced the second murder of their incumbent king. In fact, during his reign Asa saw no fewer than seven kings come and go on the throne of Israel.

Zimri

Zimri was a successful cavalry officer and commanded half of Israel’s chariot force. His name means my music. Once he became king, however, Zimri belied his melodious name and set about fulfilling Jehu’s prophecy concerning the house of Baasha with ruthless efficiency.

1Kings 16:11-20 When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he killed all the house of Ba'asha; he did not leave him a single male of his kinsmen or his friends. ¹²Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Ba'asha, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke against Ba'asha by Jehu the prophet, ¹³for all the sins of Ba'asha and the sins of Elah his son which they sinned, and which they made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols. ¹⁴Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ^15aIn the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah.

When Israel heard that Zimri had murdered the king in a conspiracy the army commander Omri was declared king and they took the city.

Zimri committed suicide by deliberately setting fire to the king’s house while still inside (v. 18). The destruction of the palace may have been one reason for the subsequent transfer of the capital to Samaria (renamed Sebaste by the Romans).

^15b Now the troops were encamped against Gib'bethon, which belonged to the Philistines, ¹⁶and the troops who were encamped heard it said, "Zimri has conspired, and he has killed the king"; therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷So Omri went up from Gib'bethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king's house, and burned the king's house over him with fire, and died, ¹⁹because of his sins which he committed, doing evil in the sight of the LORD, walking in the way of Jerobo'am, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. ²⁰Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the conspiracy which he made, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? (RSV)

Gibbethon (the mound), the Philistine city in the tribal lands of Dan that was given to the Kohathite Levites, again figured in the story of transfer of the kingship. It was the same city of the siege in which Nadab was killed by Baasha.

Tibni and Omri

In verse 16 we saw another military commander, Omri (heaping), being made king by all Israel. However, Tibni (probably originally Tabni), the son of Ginath, garnered enough support from half of Israel to also be proclaimed king. What followed was a three-year civil war where Tibni was killed and Omri ascended the throne of all Israel.

The Jewish Encyclopedia claims that he “was regent over half the kingdom of Israel for a period of four years” (art. ‘Zimri’), while David Rohl, the Egyptologist and historian, says in The Lost Testament (Century, London, 2002) that Tibni reigned for 2 years and died in battle. Ward (The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible art. ‘Tibni’, Vol. 4, p. 641) says the civil war was three years. The Bible states simply that he “died”.

1Kings 16:21-28 Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts; half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. ²²But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath; so Tibni died, and Omri became king. ²³In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah. ²⁴He bought the hill of Sama'ria from Shemer for two talents of silver; and he fortified the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, Sama'ria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

The most notable achievement of Omri was the building of a new capital at Samaria, for which site at Shomeron he paid a mere two talents of silver, the same amount given by Naaman to Elisha’s mercenary servant Gehazi (2Kgs. 5:23).

Omri reigned six years in Tirzah, before relocating to Samaria in about 880 BCE. In The Bible as History, Werner Keller gives details of the site of the new city.

The choice of a site revealed the expert who was guided by strategic considerations. Samaria lies on a solitary hill, about 300 feet high, which rises gently out of a broad and fertile valley and is surrounded by a semi-circle of higher mountains. A local spring makes the place ideal for defence. (Bantam Books, Hodder & Stoughton, 1980; pp. 243-4)

Great military planner or not, Omri found little favour with God. He has the distinction of having done more evil than all previous kings, excepting Jeroboam perhaps.

²⁵Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him. ²⁶For he walked in all the way of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, and in the sins which he made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols.

He was the Omri mentioned in the inscription on the famous Moabite Stone (now in the Louvre Museum, Paris) attributed to King Mesha of Moab whose capital was at Kir-Haresheth, the modern Kerak/Karak. Part of the inscription on the stone reads:

Omri [was] king of Israel, and he oppressed Moab many days, for Chemosh was angry with his land. His son followed him and he also said, ‘I will oppress Moab.’ In my days Che[mosh] said, ‘I will see my desire on him and his house. And Israel surely perished forever! (lines 4-7)

Israel was indeed effectively ‘to perish’ from off their land when they were deported by their Assyrian conquerors beyond the Araxes River. Chemosh here is the god associated with the golden calves that Jeroboam erected and to which children were sacrificed (see the paper The Golden Calf (No. 222)).

The Assyrians had already shown their intentions during Omri’s reign by attacking and pillaging the Phoenician cities of Tyre, Sidon and Byblos. An inscription of King Ashurnasir-pal II proclaimed triumphantly:

I marched from the Orontes … I conquered the cities … I caused great slaughter, I destroyed, I demolished, I burned. I took their warriors prisoner and impaled them on stakes before their cities. I settled Assyrians in their place … I washed my weapons in the Great Sea.

The Orontes is the main river flowing through Syria and is about 400 miles (640 km) long. Both Israel and Syria were to suffer the same fate at the hands of the determined Assyrians during the reign of Hoshea, although the invasions had actually begun as early as Menahem’s reign, as seen below.

The moral corruption that was to develop in Israel included adherence to the so-called statutes of Omri and the wicked ways of his successor, King Ahab, and was denounced by the prophet Micah.

Micah 6:16 For you have kept the statutes of Omri, and all the works of the house of Ahab; and you have walked in their counsels; that I may make you a desolation, and your inhabitants a hissing; so you shall bear the scorn of the peoples." (RSV)

1Kings 15 ends:

²⁷Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁸And Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Sama'ria; and Ahab his son reigned in his stead. (RSV)

Unlike several of his predecessors and despite being an unrepentant idolatrous king it seems that Omri died in peace.

Ahab

Although one of the most notorious of all the kings of Israel, Ahab had one of the longest reigns at 22 years, from ca. 874 to 853 BCE. He had the singular dishonour of doing more evil than all that were before him (vv. 30,33) and was also the first king to come into conflict with the Assyrians in the time of Shalmaneser III. Perhaps the two events were linked. The more evil they became the more prone to invasions they were to become.

1Kings 16:29-34 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Sama'ria twenty-two years. ³⁰And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD more than all that were before him. ³¹And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, he took for wife Jez'ebel the daughter of Ethba'al king of the Sido'nians, and went and served Ba'al, and worshiped him. ³²He erected an altar for Ba'al in the house of Ba'al, which he built in Sama'ria. ³³And Ahab made an Ashe'rah. Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ³⁴In his days Hi'el of Bethel built Jericho; he laid its foundation at the cost of Abi'ram his first-born, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun. (RSV)

Ahab (whose name means brother/friend of his father) married Jezebel (Yezebul) the daughter of Ethbaal (Ittobaal) king of Sidon. Ahab’s Phoenician wife inevitably led him into serving her gods, namely Baal and Astarte/Ishtar, in the same way that Solomon had been enticed by his foreign wives. The Baal here has been identified as either Baal Shamem (lord of heaven) or Melqart, ‘king of Tyre’ (or king of the underworld).

Hiel (God lives) of Bethel seems to have had a literal death-wish (v. 34), not for himself but for his two sons when he planned to rebuild the foundations and raise the gates of Jericho (see the curse in Jos. 6:26). David Rohl states that from this time onwards “the ruin-mound of Jericho was reoccupied on a permanent basis”. In The Lost Testament he gives an alternative and plausible reason for Hiel’s sacrifice of his sons.

As had been the custom for centuries in the ancient Levant, Hiel ritually sacrificed his eldest and youngest sons, Abiram and Segub, in order to lay their bodies as foundation deposits beneath the chieftain’s new residence and town gate. … Hiel’s new town is represented in the archaeological record by Iron Age pottery found at Jericho, the succeeding phases of which continue on down into Byzantine times. Now that the Holy Land stratigraphical timeline has been re-synchronised [by Rohl] with the New Chronology historical timeline (and therefore biblical history), the pattern of archaeological remains at Tell es-Sultan (the ruin-mound of Jericho) corresponds remarkably with the biblical narrative (op. cit., p.401).

It was to be that Jericho was not to be rebuilt but the words of God were disobeyed, with the prophesied penalty. Jericho, or Moon City, was a rebuilt on these ancient practices and sacrifices.

The Subjugation of Israel

King Shalmaneser III was sent against Israel, which was forced to pay annual tribute to avoid immediate conquest. Shalmaneser reigned ca. 858-824 BCE and his Annals record that he came up against Ahab and Israel in the 6^th, 11^th and 14^th years of his reign. He refers to Ahab of Israel as Akhabbu of Sir’ala in these campaign records.

Elijah’s Prophecy

The significance of Elijah being a Gileadite or Gadite is explained in the paper Measuring the Temple (No. 137) and is shown to have relevance to the Last Days. The brook Cherith (SHD 3747) has the meaning cutting, derived from karath (3772), as in to cut a covenant.

1Kings 17:1-24 Now Eli'jah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." ²And the word of the LORD came to him, ³"Depart from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is east of the Jordan. ⁴You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." ⁵So he went and did according to the word of the LORD; he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. ⁶And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook. ⁷And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. ⁸Then the word of the LORD came to him, ⁹"Arise, go to Zar'ephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwellthere. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you."

In this text we see a demonstration of the promise by God that he would feed His servants even in times of famine, both physical and spiritual (cf. also Isa. 49:10). Isaiah 33 confirms that the righteous will have their bread and water supplied; and there were none more righteous than Elijah at this time.

Isaiah 33:15-16 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil, ¹⁶he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him, his water will be sure. (RSV)

Elijah was then sent to Zarephath, the Sarepta of Luke 4:26, now known as Surafend. Its name means refinery, from the root meaning to smelt, refine or test.

¹⁰So he arose and went to Zar'ephath; and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink." ¹¹And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." ¹²And she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a cruse; and now, I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." ¹³And Eli'jah said to her, "Fear not; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make for yourself and your son. ¹⁴For thus says the LORD the God of Israel, `The jar of meal shall not be spent, and the cruse of oil shall not fail, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'" 15 And she went and did as Eli'jah said; and she, and he, and her household ate for many days. ¹⁶The jar of meal was not spent, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD which he spoke by Eli'jah. ¹⁷After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill; and his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. ¹⁸And she said to Eli'jah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!" ¹⁹And he said to her, "Give me your son." And he took him from her bosom, and carried him up into the upper chamber, where he lodged, and laid him upon his own bed. ²⁰And he cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, hast thou brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?" ²¹Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's soul come into him again." ²²And the LORD hearkened to the voice of Eli'jah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. ²³And Eli'jah took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house, and delivered him to his mother; and Eli'jah said, "See, your son lives." ²⁴And the woman said to Eli'jah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth." (RSV)

The city lived up to its name by being a place of testing for the widow: she was shown undeniably who was the man of God, i.e. His spokesman rather than simply a prophet as a foreteller of events. This incident also shows that even God’s greatest prophets are required to be persistent in prayer, and that an answer may not be given immediately. Although He hears all prayer, God responds according to His own timing.

As noted earlier, God also ensures that His servants are fed and watered at all times, in this case by a woman, but also by birds (v. 5) and an angel (19:5-6).

1Kings 18:1-46 After many days the word of the LORD came to Eli'jah, in the third year, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth." ²So Eli'jah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Sama'ria. ³And Ahab called Obadi'ah, who was over the household. (Now Obadi'ah revered the LORD greatly; ⁴and when Jez'ebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, Obadi'ah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)

Bullinger notes that this is the first recorded instance of civil power being used against the true religion (Companion Bible), although the civil power was used in Egypt against the covenant people. It is here being used to suppress the prophets of God within Israel itself. This was to continue for centuries wherever Israel was established, either along with or mingled with other nations.

⁵And Ahab said to Obadi'ah, "Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys; perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive, and not lose some of the animals." ⁶So they divided the land between them to pass through it; Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadi'ah went in another direction by himself. ⁷And as Obadi'ah was on the way, behold, Eli'jah met him; and Obadi'ah recognized him, and fell on his face, and said, "Is it you, my lord Eli'jah?" ⁸And he answered him, "It is I. Go, tell your lord, `Behold, Eli'jah is here.'" ⁹And he said, "Wherein have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? ¹⁰As the LORD your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom whither my lord has not sent to seek you; and when they would say, `He is not here,' he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation, that they had not found you.

We see here the lengths to which the false religious system goes to find (and, where possible, kill) the prophets of God. However, the system is only permitted certain power for a specific time as all nations and peoples are ultimately in God’s hands. He may also choose to delegate power over the nations to His prophets, such as Elijah here and Jeremiah (Jer. 1:10).

2Chronicles 20:6 "O LORD, God of our fathers, art thou not God in heaven? Dost thou not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? In thy hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee. (RSV)

Continuing in 1Kings 18:

¹¹And now you say, `Go, tell your lord, "Behold, Eli'jah is here."' ¹²And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of the LORD will carry you whither I know not; and so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I your servant have revered the LORD from my youth. ¹³Has it not been told my lord what I did when Jez'ebel killed the prophets of the LORD, how I hid a hundred men of the LORD'S prophets by fifties in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? ¹⁴And now you say, `Go, tell your lord, "Behold, Eli'jah is here"'; and he will kill me."¹⁵And Eli'jah said, "As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today." ¹⁶So Obadi'ah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Eli'jah. ¹⁷When Ahab saw Eli'jah, Ahab said to him, "Is it you, you troubler of Israel?" ¹⁸And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father's house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and followed the Ba'als. ¹⁹Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Ba'al and the four hundred prophets of Ashe'rah, who eat at Jez'ebel's table." (RSV)

The full text (vv. 20-40) of Elijah’s test of spiritual strength with the 450 priests of Baal is given in the paper Law and the Second Commandment (No. 254). Following the killing of all these idolatrous priests by Elijah and the people at the brook Kishon, the prophet appeared again before King Ahab.

1Kings 18:41-46 And Eli'jah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of the rushing of rain." ⁴²So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Eli'jah went up to the top of Carmel; and he bowed himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees. ⁴³And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." And he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go again seven times." ⁴⁴And at the seventh time he said, "Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising out of the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, `Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.'" ⁴⁵And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. ⁴⁶And the hand of the LORD was on Eli'jah; and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. (RSV)

Carmel, meaning garden-land and hence a particularly fertile area of Israel, was referred to in the records of Pharaoh Thutmosis III in the 15^th century BCE as Holy Head, and so has always had some spiritual significance. Mount Carmel was supposedly the location of an oracle, which the Roman Emperor Vespasian consulted before besieging Jerusalem.

Elijah is said to have lived in a particular cave (of the Sons of the Prophet; 1Kgs.19:9), located on the outskirts of modern Haifa. Even today the cave is a place of pilgrimage and prayer for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. There is also a perennial fountain on the Carmel range said to be that used by Elijah, and in the southeast tip of the range is the supposed site of the testing of Baal, called in Arabic, El-Muhraka, the place of burning. The nearby river Kishon rises in Mt. Tabor and empties into the Mediterranean.

1Kings 19:1-21 Ahab told Jez'ebel all that Eli'jah had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. ²Then Jez'ebel sent a messenger to Eli'jah, saying, "So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow." ³Then he was afraid, and he arose and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

Queen Jezebel was now extremely vexed because her prophets had not only been shown to be powerless before the single priest of God but also had been destroyed. She was determined to take revenge on Elijah, who literally ran for his life into a remote area. The symbols of the rain and the power exercised by Elijah are important to the function of the elect in the Last Days. Elijah will again be sent to Israel in the Last Days and he will exercise the power of the Holy Spirit as the Seven Spirits of God in command of the Seven Churches, culminating in the Laws of God being developed and the nexus of the Law being restored (see the paper Seven Spirits of God (No. 64)). Why then did Elijah run to Judah from Israel after performing such a miracle? Was he entirely afraid or simply weary of the work of God? The symbol is that He will deal with Israel and the false religions and then also with Judah, who is separate to the nation of Israel but is to be rejoined to it. In the strength and power of God he will rebuke Israel and the nations of the world following that.

⁴But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers." ⁵And he lay down and slept under a broom tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat." ⁶And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again. ⁷And the angel of the LORD came again a second time, and touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, else the journey will be too great for you." ⁸And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

Exactly as Moses had done and Christ would do in the future, Elijah fasted for 40 days and nights in the wilderness (cf. Ex. 34:28; Mat. 4:1-2). It is significant that these three met together in the transfiguration scene witnessed by a select few disciples during the demonstration of the Kingdom of God in power (Mk. 9:1-4). See also the paper The Angel of YHVH (No. 24).

Mark 9:1-4 And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power." ²And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves; and he was transfigured before them, ³and his garments became glistening, intensely white, as no fuller on earth could bleach them. ⁴And there appeared to them Eli'jah with Moses; and they were talking to Jesus. (RSV)

Continuing in 1Kings 19:

⁹And there he came to a cave, and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, "What are you doing here, Eli'jah?" ¹⁰He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

Bullinger’s comment here is that “there were lay altars (local) for customary individual offerings by laymen, as well as at Jerusalem. These had no horns.” (ibid.) The tribes of Israel sacrificed locally and conducted prayer services locally while their priestly divisions were on duty at the Tabernacle and later at the Temple under Solomon.

¹¹And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; ¹²and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. ¹³And when Eli'jah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Eli'jah?" ¹⁴He said, "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

The still small voice was that of an angelic being (cf. The Angel of YHVH (No. 24)). The word for word repetition of Elijah’s explanation to this Angel indicates its importance (vv. 10,14).

¹⁵And the LORD said to him, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, you shall anoint Haz'ael to be king over Syria; ¹⁶and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel; and Eli'sha the son of Shaphat of A'bel-meho'lah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. ¹⁷And him who escapes from the sword of Haz'ael shall Jehu slay; and him who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Eli'sha slay. ¹⁸Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Ba'al, and every mouth that has not kissed him."

Elijah is given the task of anointing two kings, of Syria and Israel, and one prophet, Elisha, who was eventually to take over from him.

The practice of bending the knee and kissing the images of Baal is carried on to this day in a number of religions including the churches that purport to be Christian.

Elisha anointed

¹⁹So he departed from there, and found Eli'sha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Eli'jah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. ²⁰And he left the oxen, and ran after Eli'jah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you." And he said to him, "Go back again; for what have I done to you?" ²¹And he returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Eli'jah, and ministered to him. (RSV)

Elisha the son of Shaphat has the composite meaning of “God is salvation: He has judged”. Elisha demonstrated the same unwillingness to go immediately with Elijah, as did some of Jesus’ potential disciples (Lk. 9:57-62). A similar reluctance followed by obedience, as required by God, is found in the parable of the two sons (Mat. 21:28ff.).

Israel’s War with Syria

Syria was also known as Aram or the Aramaean Kingdom of Damascus. 1Kings 20 details the war that developed between Ben-hadad of Syria and his thirty-two allies on one side and Israel on the other.

1Kings 20:1-43 Ben-ha'dad the king of Syria gathered all his army together; thirty-two kings were with him, and horses and chariots; and he went up and besieged Sama'ria, and fought against it. ²And he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, and said to him, "Thus says Ben-ha'dad: ³`Your silver and your gold are mine; your fairest wives and children also are mine.'" ⁴And the king of Israel answered, "As you say, my lord, O king, I am yours, and all that I have." ⁵The messengers came again, and said, "Thus says Ben-ha'dad: `I sent to you, saying, "Deliver to me your silver and your gold, your wives and your children"; ⁶nevertheless I will send my servants to you tomorrow about this time, and they shall search your house and the houses of your servants, and lay hands on whatever pleases them, and take it away.'" ⁷Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, "Mark, now, and see how this man is seeking trouble; for he sent to me for my wives and my children, and for my silver and my gold, and I did not refuse him." ⁸And all the elders and all the people said to him, "Do not heed or consent." ⁹So he said to the messengers of Ben-ha'dad, "Tell my lord the king, `All that you first demanded of your servant I will do; but this thing I cannot do.'" And the messengers departed and brought him word again. ¹⁰Ben-ha'dad sent to him and said, "The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Sama'ria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me." ¹¹And the king of Israel answered, "Tell him, `Let not him that girds on his armor boast himself as he that puts it off.'" ¹²When Ben-ha'dad heard this message as he was drinking with the kings in the booths, he said to his men, "Take your positions." And they took their positions against the city. ¹³ And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, "Thus says the LORD, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day; and you shall know that I am the LORD." ¹⁴And Ahab said, "By whom?" He said, "Thus says the LORD, By the servants of the governors of the districts." Then he said, "Who shall begin the battle?" He answered, "You." ¹⁵Then he mustered the servants of the governors of the districts, and they were two hundred and thirty-two; and after them he mustered all the people of Israel, seven thousand. ¹⁶And they went out at noon, while Ben-ha'dad was drinking himself drunk in the booths, he and the thirty-two kings who helped him. ¹⁷The servants of the governors of the districts went out first. And Ben-ha'dad sent out scouts, and they reported to him, "Men are coming out from Sama'ria." ¹⁸He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them live; or if they have come out for war, take them alive." ¹⁹So these went out of the city, the servants of the governors of the districts, and the army which followed them. ²⁰And each killed his man; the Syrians fled and Israel pursued them, but Ben-ha'dad king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. ²¹And the king of Israel went out, and captured the horses and chariots, and killed the Syrians with a great slaughter. ²²Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said to him, "Come, strengthen yourself, and consider well what you have to do; for in the spring the king of Syria will come up against you."

Springtime was traditionally the time to begin military campaigning. 2Samuel 11:1 reads: “In the spring of the year, the time when kings go forth to battle …” (RSV); although the literal Hebrew is at the return of the year, indicating precisely when the year begins in God’s true Calendar, namely, March/April in the northern hemisphere. It will be so also in the Last Days that the Spring offensives will determine the conduct of some theatre operations such as of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2007. The major offensives will be from Spring to Summer and the King of the South will push at the King of the North from Spring to Summer, and many of the sons of Shem will die in that war.

²³And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, "Their gods are gods of the hills, and so they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. ²⁴And do this: remove the kings, each from his post, and put commanders in their places; ²⁵and muster an army like the army that you have lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot; then we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they." And he hearkened to their voice, and did so. ²⁶In the spring Ben-ha'dad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. ²⁷And the people of Israel were mustered, and were provisioned, and went against them; the people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country. ²⁸And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, "Thus says the LORD, `Because the Syrians have said, "The LORD is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys," therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.'" ²⁹And they encamped opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the people of Israel smote of the Syrians a hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day. ³⁰And the rest fled into the city of Aphek; and the wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand men that were left. Ben-ha'dad also fled, and entered an inner chamber in the city. ³¹And his servants said to him, "Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings; let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life." ³²So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and went to the king of Israel and said, "Your servant Ben-ha'dad says, `Pray, let me live.'" And he said, "Does he still live? He is my brother." ³³Now the men were watching for an omen, and they quickly took it up from him and said, "Yes, your brother Ben-ha'dad." Then he said, "Go and bring him." Then Ben-ha'dad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. ³⁴And Ben-ha'dad said to him, "The cities which my father took from your father I will restore; and you may establish bazaars for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Sama'ria." And Ahab said, "I will let you go on these terms." So he made a covenant with him and let him go.

Note that they encamped seven days and joined battle on the seventh day. This is the same as it was at Jericho and has a similar symbolism (see the paper The Fall of Jericho (No. 42)).

Ahab actually sinned by sparing the defeated Ben-hadad’s life and this subsequently brought great trouble to the whole of Israel (1Kgs. 20:20-43).

The story continues in verse 35.

³⁵And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow at the command of the LORD, "Strike me, I pray." But the man refused to strike him. ³⁶Then he said to him, "Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as you have gone from me, a lion shall kill you." And as soon as he had departed from him, a lion met him and killed him.

Josephus identified this certain man with Micaiah in 1Kings 22:8. Severe and sometimes immediate consequences result from failure to obey a directive from God through His servants the prophets.

³⁷Then he found another man, and said, "Strike me, I pray." And the man struck him, smiting and wounding him. ³⁸So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes. ³⁹And as the king passed, he cried to the king and said, "Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and behold, a soldier turned and brought a man to me, and said, `Keep this man; if by any means he be missing, your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.' ⁴⁰And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone." The king of Israel said to him, "So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it." ⁴¹Then he made haste to take the bandage away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. ⁴²And he said to him, "Thus says the LORD, `Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.'" ⁴³And the king of Israel went to his house resentful and sullen, and came to Sama'ria. (RSV)

Naboth’s Vineyard

1Kings 21:1-29 Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Sama'ria. ²And after this Ahab said to Naboth, "Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money."

This is precisely the type of situation that Samuel had warned Israel about when, in their faithlessness, they had asked for a flesh-and-blood king like the surrounding nations (1Sam. 8:11,14). In accordance with the Law (Lev. 25:23; Num. 36:7,8), Naboth quite rightly refused to part with his inheritance, even to a king of Israel.

³But Naboth said to Ahab, "The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers." ⁴And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him; for he had said, "I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers." And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. ⁵But Jez'ebel his wife came to him, and said to him, "Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?" ⁶And he said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, `Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it'; and he answered, `I will not give you my vineyard.'" ⁷And Jez'ebel his wife said to him, "Do you now govern Israel? Arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." ⁸So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who dwelt with Naboth in his city. ⁹And she wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people; ¹⁰and set two base fellows opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, `You have cursed God and the king.' Then take him out, and stone him to death." ¹¹And the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who dwelt in his city, did as Jez'ebel had sent word to them. As it was written in the letters which she had sent to them, ¹²they proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. ¹³And the two base fellows came in and sat opposite him; and the base fellows brought a charge against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." So they took him outside the city, and stoned him to death with stones.

The matter of swearing an oath falsely (vv. 10-13) is dealt with in the paper Law and the Third Commandment (No. 255).

¹⁴Then they sent to Jez'ebel, saying, "Naboth has been stoned; he is dead." ¹⁵As soon as Jez'ebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jez'ebel said to Ahab, "Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead." ¹⁶And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. ¹⁷Then the word of the LORD came to Eli'jah the Tishbite, saying, ¹⁸"Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Sama'ria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. ¹⁹And you shall say to him, `Thus says the LORD, "Have you killed, and also taken possession?"' And you shall say to him, `Thus says the LORD: "In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood."'" ²⁰Ahab said to Eli'jah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?" He answered, "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD.²¹Behold, I will bring evil upon you; I will utterly sweep you away, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel; ²²and I will make your house like the house of Jerobo'am the son of Nebat, and like the house of Ba'asha the son of Ahi'jah, for the anger to which you have provoked

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The Subjugation of Israel