Ahab Is Condemned By Elijah For Both His Past Behaviour And For What Jezebel Has Done And Repents Before YHWH (1 Kings 21:1-26).
We now come to what the account has been building up to, the condemnation of Ahab by Elijah for what he has done, and the condemning of him above all who have gone before him. This is why the story is introduced at all. To illustrate how YHWH' covenant was being broken and to underlines His subsequent condemnation of those who broke His covenant.
Analysis.
a And the word of YHWH came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who dwells in Samaria. Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it” (1 Kings 21:17-18).
b “And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says YHWH, Have you killed and also taken possession?' And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says YHWH. In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth will dogs lick your blood, even yours' ” (1 Kings 21:19).
c And Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” And he answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of YHWH” (1 Kings 21:20).
d “Behold, I will bring evil on you, and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah for the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger, and have made Israel to sin” (1 Kings 21:21-22).
e And of Jezebel also spoke YHWH, saying, “The dogs will eat Jezebel by the rampart of Jezreel” (1 Kings 21:23).
d “Him who dies of Ahab in the city the dogs will eat, and him who dies in the field will the birds of the heavens eat” (1 Kings 21:24).
c (But there was none like Ahab, who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of YHWH, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up, and he did very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites did, whom YHWH cast out before the children of Israel) (1 Kings 21:25-26).
b And it came about, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went tenderly (1 Kings 21:27).
a And the word of YHWH came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Do you see how Ahab humbles himself before me? Because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but in his son's days will I bring the evil on his house” (1 Kings 21:28).
Note that in ‘a' Elijah is called on to go to Ahab as he stands proudly and arrogantly amidst the vineyard that he has falsely taken possession of, and in the parallel he is later to be spared the worst of the judgment because he has humbled himself before YHWH. In ‘b' Elijah comes to Ahab with the words of YHWH, and in the parallel Ahab hears the words of YHWH and humbles himself before YHWH. In ‘c' he is described as having done evil in the sight of YHWH, and in the parallel the same applies. In ‘d' Ahab's whole house is to be punished, and in the parallel the same applies. Centrally in ‘e' the greatest judgment is to come on Jezebel.
‘ And the word of YHWH came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who dwells in Samaria. Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it.” '
What Ahab and Jezebel had done did not go unnoticed with YHWH. That was the problem for the kings of Israel and Judah. No other nation had gods who were concerned about the behaviour of kings as long as they fulfilled their religious duties, but YHWH was very concerned. And the result was that YHWH came to Elijah the Tishbite and told him to go and see ‘Ahab who dwells in Samaria'. There is an indication here that Ahab was really to be seen as alien to the rest of Israel. He had established his Baal sanctuary in Samaria, so let him have it, but thereby he lost any right to the rest of Israel. By thus ‘dwelling in Samaria' he had had no right to make claims in Jezreel. But he had made such claims, and he had made them on land that belonged to YHWH, and had taken possession of the vineyard of Naboth, which YHWH had given to Naboth.