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.
Ver. 2. That I may have it for a garden of herbs.] He longed for a salad out of Naboth's vineyard, saith one: he had taken an excess, saith another, of Naboth's grapes, which marreth his appetite, and threateneth his life.
Because it is near unto my house.] Hence some make Naboth to have been Ahab's uncle; but that is uncertain: the contiguity stirred up his concupiscence, which had no sooner "conceived, but it brought forth sin; and the sin when finished brought forth death." Jam 1:15 Principiis obsta. This coveting of other men's possessions hath been noted as a great fault in our nation. Because holdeth, but falsely, that the English were called Angli, because they were good anglers, and had skill to lay various baits when they fished for other men's livings.
And I will give thee for it a better vineyard.] Covetousness is always cloaked, as here with the pretext of a lawful contract, 1Th 2:5 and is seldom without feigned words. 2Pe 2:3
I will give thee the worth of it in money.] Hence we may give an answer to that question, An omnia sint regum? and, An in facultates subditorum involare liceat Principibus? Whether the king hath right to all? and, May he pillage his subjects at his pleasure? As for that place, 1 Samuel 8:14. See Trapp on " 1Sa 8:14 "