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| 1 And it cometh to pass, after these things, a vineyard hath been to Naboth the Jezreelite, that [is] in Jezreel, near the palace of Ahab king of Samaria, |
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| 2 and Ahab speaketh unto Naboth, saying, 'Give to me thy vineyard, and it is to me for a garden of green herbs, for it [is] near by my house, and I give to thee in its stead a better vineyard than it; if good in thine eyes, I give to thee silver its price.' |
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| 3 And Naboth saith unto Ahab, 'Far be it from me, by Jehovah, my giving the inheritance of my fathers to thee;' |
Give the inheritance – Jewish Law forbade the selling of family inheritances; but he could have given a lease for a time to the king's pleasement. R5770:6, R4741:3
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| 4 and Ahab cometh in unto his house, sulky and wroth, because of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite hath spoken unto him when he saith, 'I do not give to thee the inheritance of my fathers,' and he lieth down on his bed, and turneth round his face, and hath not eaten bread. |
And Ahab – Type of the Roman empire. B256; R3408:3
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| 5 And Jezebel his wife cometh in unto him, and speaketh unto him, 'What [is] this thy spirit sulky, and thou art not eating bread!' |
But Jezebel – Type of the apostate church of Rome and her false spirit in Protestant sects. R5629:1; B256
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| 6 And he saith unto her, 'Because I speak unto Naboth the Jezreelite, and say to him, Give to me thy vineyard for money, or if thou desire, I give to thee a vineyard in its stead; and he saith, I do not give to thee my vineyard.' |
Give me thy vineyard – The crime of covetousness is now not only general and common, but almost approved as proper. It seems to be generally practiced. R2340:1
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| 7 And Jezebel his wife saith unto him, 'Thou now dost execute rule over Israel! rise, eat bread, and let thy heart be glad, I do give to thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.' |
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| 8 And she writeth letters in the name of Ahab, and sealeth with his seal, and sendeth the letters unto the elders, and unto the freemen, who are in his city, those dwelling with Naboth, |
With his seal – The emblem of authority. R360:4*
Unto the elders – Ahab's covetousness was of the most approved kind, in that it sought to act through others, and stoned Naboth by proxy. R2340:3
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| 9 and she writeth in the letters, saying, 'Proclaim a fast, and cause Naboth to sit at the head of the people, |
Proclaim a fast – To make a mockery of religion. R4741:5
Seemingly in honor of God's laws and his justice. R5771:2
Set Naboth on high – Religion has often been injured by being made the tool of hypocrisy and covetousness. R2340:4, R4741:6
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| 10 and cause two men sons of worthlessness to sit over-against him, and they testify of him, saying, Thou hast blessed God and Melech; and they have brought him out, and stoned him, and he dieth.' |
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| 11 And the men of his city, the elders and the freemen who are dwelling in his city, do as Jezebel hath sent unto them, as written in the letters that she sent unto them, |
Even the elders It is doubtful whether our disgust should be greater with the queen who instigated the evil, or with the elders who so supinely became the tool to accomplish it. R2339:6
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| 12 they have proclaimed a fast, and caused Naboth to sit at the head of the people, |
Set Naboth on high – Covetousness sometimes strikes the dagger of scandal under professions of love and esteem, or of pity and sympathy. R2340:2
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| 13 and two men sons of worthlessness come in, and sit over-against him, and the men of worthlessness testify of him, even Naboth, before the people, saying, 'Naboth blessed God and Melech;' and they take him out to the outside of the city, and stone him with stones, and he dieth; |
Naboth did blaspheme – Sometimes covetousness has the hypocritical mask of duty, religion and fidelity to God. R2340:2
And stoned him – Jewish Law provided that any blasphemy against God's name should be punished by stoning. R5771:1, R4741:6
That he died – Wars of commercialism show a spirit of willingness to kill our neighbors in order to enlarge our own properties. R5853:2, R4741:6
Sharp, competitive business practices are covetousness of the same kind. R4741:6
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| 14 and they send unto Jezebel, saying, 'Naboth was stoned, and is dead.' |
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| 15 And it cometh to pass, at Jezebel's hearing that Naboth hath been stoned, and is dead, that Jezebel saith unto Ahab, 'Rise, possess the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, that he refused to give to thee for money, for Naboth is not alive but dead.' |
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| 16 And it cometh to pass, at Ahab's hearing that Naboth is dead, that Ahab riseth to go down unto the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to possess it. |
To take possession – Thus he fully endorsed the conduct of Jezebel. R2340:3
As though he did not recognize that there is a God of justice to whom he must ultimately account. R4742:4
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| 17 And the word of Jehovah is unto Elijah the Tishbite, saying, |
Came to Elijah – Type of the true Church in the flesh. B256; R5629:1
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| 18 'Rise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who [is] in Samaria, lo, in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he hath gone down to possess it, |
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| 19 and thou hast spoken unto him, saying, Thus said Jehovah, Hast thou murdered, and also possessed and thou hast spoken unto him, saying, Thus said Jehovah, In the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, do the dogs lick thy blood, even thine.' |
Thou shalt speak – So it is our place to speak the word of God that the antitypical Ahab shall be slain. R235:5
Dogs lick thy blood – This prophecy was fulfilled to the letter very shortly after. R4742:4
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| 20 And Ahab saith unto Elijah, 'Hast thou found me, O mine enemy ' and he saith, 'I have found because of thy selling thyself to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah; |
Ahab – The Roman empire. R235:5
Hast thou found me – Inclined to ignore the Lord and to think merely of the prophet. R4742:4
Sold thyself – If God denounced Ahab, what would the Lord's verdict be on some of the customs of our day? R4742:1
Covetousness is one of the most crying evils of our day. R4742:4
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| 21 lo, I am bringing in unto thee evil, and have taken away thy posterity, and cut off to Ahab those sitting on the wall, and restrained, and left, in Israel, |
Thy posterity – Empires succeeding the Roman. R235:5
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| 22 and given up thy house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah, for the provocation with which thou hast provoked [Me], and dost cause Israel to sin. |
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| 23 'And also of Jezebel hath Jehovah spoken, saying, The dogs do eat Jezebel in the bulwark of Jezreel; |
The dogs – The degraded. R235:5
Eat Jezebel – The church and world united system shall be cast down and consumed. R235:5
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| 24 him who dieth of Ahab in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth in a field do fowl of the heavens eat; |
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| 25 surely there hath none been like Ahab, who sold himself to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, whom Jezebel his wife hath moved, |
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| 26 and he doth very abominably to go after the idols, according to all that the Amorite did whom Jehovah dispossessed from the presence of the sons of Israel.' |
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| 27 And it cometh to pass, at Ahab's hearing these words, that he rendeth his garments, and putteth sackcloth on his flesh, and fasteth, and lieth in sackcloth, and goeth gently. |
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| 28 And the word of Jehovah is unto Elijah the Tishbite, saying, |
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| 29 'Hast thou seen that Ahab hath been humbled before Me because that he hath been humbled before Me, I bring not in the evil in his days; in the days of his son I bring in the evil on his house.' |
Because he humbleth himself – On account of this degree of repentance. R2340:5
In his son's days – A mark of God's patience and forbearance. R2340:6
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