Ahab spake unto Naboth, &c.— The account of Ahab's coveting Naboth's vineyard is immediately set after his treatment of Ben-hadad, to shew his extreme great wickedness in sparing him, as Saul did Agag king of the Amalekites, and killing Naboth that he might get possession of his vineyard; for this was a high aggravation of his crime, that he basely murdered a just Israelite, and suffered an impious enemy to escape. It appears however, from this request of Ahab, that, though the kings of Israel ruled their subjects in a very arbitrary and despotic manner, they did not take the liberty to seize on their land and hereditaments; and, therefore, what Samuel prophesies of the kings of Israel, 1 Samuel 8:14 does not extend to any true and lawful, but a presumed and usurped right only in their kings. See Calmet and Patrick.
Related Commentaries of 1 Kings 21:2
1 Kings 21:2
2 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.