References (79)
And Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab (Hebr. Achav; meaning "father's brother"), his son, reigned in his place.
[The seventh king of Israel (the northern kingdom) – Ahab (874-853 BC)
His name Achav means "father's brother".]
Ahab (Hebr. Achav), son of Omri, became king of Israel [the eighth king of the northern kingdom]. This happened during the 38th year of Asa, king of Judah [the southern kingdom]. Ahab, son of Omri, reigned over Israel in Samaria for 22 years [874-853 BC].
And Ahab, son of Omri, did evil in the sight of the Lord (Yahweh), more than all who were before him.
And Ahab did much more to provoke the Lord (Yahweh), the God of Israel (Elohim), than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
Elijah the Tishbite [Hebr. Eliahu; meaning "Yahweh is my God"], from Tishbe in Gilead [east of the Jordan River], said to Ahab (Hebr. Achav): "As surely as the Lord (Yahweh), the God of Israel, whom I serve, lives, there shall be neither dew nor rain in the coming years until I say so."
[Ahab had introduced the worship of Baal. Baal was a god of fertility and lord of the rain clouds. By saying that it would not rain, Elijah challenged the very core of this false religion.]
And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord (Yahweh) came to Elijah in the third year, saying, "Go and show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain upon the land."
And Elijah went to show himself to Ahab.
And there was a great famine in Samaria
and Ahab called Obadiah [Hebr. Ovadjaho – meaning: "servant of the Lord"], who was in charge of the palace (literally: "was over the house") [in the city of Samaria]. And Obadiah greatly revered the Lord (Yahweh),
And Ahab said to Obadiah, "Go through the land to all the water sources and to all the streams, in case you find grass and save the lives of the horses and donkeys, so that we do not lose all the animals."
So they divided the land between them and went through it. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
And he said, "In what have I sinned, that you send your servant into the hand of Ahab to slay me?
And it will come to pass, as soon as I leave you, that the Spirit of the Lord (Yahweh) will carry you where I wouldn´t know; and when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he will slay me: but I, your servant, have feared the Lord (Yahweh) from my youth.
So Obadiah went and met Ahab and told him, and Ahab went and met Elijah.
And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, "Is it you, O troubler of Israel (who causes disorder, brings disaster upon the land – Hebr. achar)?
So Ahab [did as Elijah had suggested and] sent word to all the sons of Israel and gathered all the prophets at Carmel. [The traditional location for the following events is Muchraka on Mount Carmel.]
And Elijah said to Ahab, "Get up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain."
So Ahab got up and ate and drank. But Elijah went up to the top of Carmel and bent down over the ground with his head between his knees.[The usual position for prayer was standing or kneeling. Here Elijah knelt and then lowered his head to the ground, between his knees, until his forehead touched the ground. He assumes a posture reminiscent of that of a woman giving birth.]
And it came to pass on the seventh time that he [Elijah's unnamed servant] said, "Behold, a cloud rises out of the sea, small as a man's hand."
And he said, "Go up, tell Ahab: Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you."
And it came to pass after a little while that the heavens were black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and came to [his hometown] Jezreel.
And the hand of the Lord (Yahweh) was upon Elijah, and he girded up his clothes and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
Ahab (Hebr. Achav) told [his wife] Jezebel (Hebr. Izevel) in detail about everything Elijah had done. [How the prophets of Baal had failed to light the sacrificial fire, while Elijah had called down fire from heaven; how Elijah had prayed and it had begun to rain after three and a half years of drought.] Ahab also recounted the details of how Elijah had killed all the prophets with the sword [given the command that the 450 prophets of Baal should be executed].
And he sent messengers to Ahab (Hebr. Achav), king of Israel, into the city
And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, "Thus says the Lord (Yahweh): Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the Lord (Yahweh)."
Then Ahab asked, "By whom?"
And he [the prophet] answered, "Thus says the Lord (Yahweh): By the young men of the princes."
And he asked, "Who shall begin the battle?"
And he [the prophet] answered, "You."
[This passage is the central part of the chapters dealing with Elijah.]
And it came to pass after these things, that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, which was near the palace of Ahab (Hebr. Achavs), king of Samaria.
And Ahab spoke to Naboth and said, "Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near my house. I will give you a better vineyard in its place, or if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in silver."
And Naboth said to Ahab, "The Lord (Yahweh) forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my father."
And Ahab went into his house sullen (bitter, sulky) and furious (stormy; breathing heavily – Hebr. ) because of the word that Naboth, the Jezreelite, had spoken to him when he replied, "I will not give you my father's inheritance." [Ahab broods and repeats the words that Naboth said to himself.] And he lay down on his bed and turned his face away and would not eat any bread.
[Ahab acts immaturely; he knows that an Israeli king should be kind to both strangers and his own people, see ; . The same phrase "angry and furious" as in recurs here.]
And she wrote a letter in Ahab's (Hebr. Achavs) name and sealed it with his seal and sent the letter to the elders and to the nobles who were in the city and who lived with Naboth.
And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, "Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for silver, for Naboth is not alive, but dead."
And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab arose and went down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, and took possession of it.
Go up, go down and meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it.
And Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, my enemy?" [The greeting is similar to that in , but now it is no longer "troublemaker" but "enemy".]
And Elijah answered, "I have found you because you have set your heart to do evil in the sight of the Lord (Yahweh).
Behold, I will bring evil upon you and will utterly sweep away you and Ahab [his descendants], and I will cut off from Ahab [his descendants] every male in Israel, both bond and free [a derogatory term for a man; an unclean dog, ]. []
He who dies with Ahab in the city shall be eaten by dogs, and he who dies in the field shall be eaten by the birds of the air."
There was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord (Yahweh), as his wife Jezebel (Hebr. Izevel) encouraged him.
And it came to pass, when Ahab heard these words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his body, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly (crept, moved silently).
"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 the days of his sons I will bring the evil upon his house."
And the Lord (Yahweh) said, 'Who shall entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead? And one said, 'In this way,' and another said, 'In that way.
And the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the house of ivory that he built, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
And Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah (Hebr. Achazijaho), his son, reigned in his place.
And Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa, began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab, king of Israel.
At that time, Ahaziah (Hebr. Achazijaho), son of Ahab, said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my servants go with your servants on the ships." But Jehoshaphat would not.
Ahaziah, son of Ahab, began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the 70th year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel.
[The First and Second Books of Kings were originally one book. Here continues the passage that began in the previous four verses, see . Moab, east of the Dead Sea, had previously ruled over Israel (), but had been defeated by David (). Now, just over a hundred years later, the Moabites seize the opportunity and revolt when Ahab has just died. On the Mesha Stele (also called the "Moabite Stone"; found in Dibon in Jordan in 1868), which dates from 840 BC, there is a description of this war by Mesha, king of Moab, see also . The sixth king of the Southern Kingdom, Ahaziah, now faces adversity both politically and personally: Moab revolts and he is injured in an accident. Ahaziah was king of Israel for a short period from 853 to 852 BC.] And Moab
[east of the Dead Sea] rebelled against Israel after the death of
Ahab (Hebr. Achav).
And Jehoram, son of Ahab (Hebr. Achav), began to reign in Israel in Samaria, in the 18th year of King Jehoshaphat of Judah, and reigned for 12 years. [Jehoram is the 9th king of the Northern Kingdom.]
But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
[Jehoram reigned over Judah for eight years (848-841 BC). He sins by marrying Ahab's daughter Athaliah, .]
In the fifth year of Jehoram, son of Ahab, king of Israel [in the north], while Jehoshaphat was king of Judah [in the south], Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, became king of Judah.
And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he had Ahab's daughter [Athaliah] as his wife, and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord (Yahweh). [Athaliah was Jezebel's daughter; she would eventually seize power and seek to rule, just like her mother; see .]
[Ahaziah began to reign in 841 BC.]
And in the twelfth year of Joram, son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah, son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign. [In the first year, Joram reigned with his father Ahab, see also .]
He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the Lord (Yahweh), as the house of Ahab did, for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
And he went with Joram, the son of Ahab, to fight against Hazael, king of Aram, at Ramoth-Gilead, and the Arameans wounded Joram.
And King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had inflicted on him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael, king of Aram. And Ahaziah, son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Joram, son of Ahab, in Jezreel, because he was sick.
And you shall strike down the house of your master Ahab (Hebr. Achav), that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord (Yahweh) from the hand of Jezebel.
And all the house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab [his descendants] every male in Israel, both bond and free [a derogatory term for a man; an unclean dog, ]. []
And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah.
And he said to Bidkar, his commander, "Pick him up and throw him on the field of Naboth the Jezreelite, for remember how you and I rode together after Ahab his father, and the Lord (Yahweh) proclaimed this message (prophecy, this burden—Hebr. masa) against him;
Ahaziah had begun to reign over Judah [the Southern Kingdom] in the 11th year of [the 9th king of the Northern Kingdom] Joram, son of Ahab.
[In the first year, Joram probably reigned together with his father. The year of accession was usually counted in the Southern Kingdom, while the year of accession was not counted in the Northern Kingdom. Hence the indication of 12 years in .]
But Ahab (Hebr. Achav) had 70 sons in Samaria. [All of these had a greater right than Jehu to succeed Joram.] So Jehu wrote several letters and sent them to Samaria, to the leaders of Jezreel, to the elders and guardians [who were responsible for the upbringing and education] of Ahab's sons, saying:
Now know that none of the provisions of the Lord (Yahweh) shall fall to the ground that the Lord (Yahweh) has spoken concerning Ahab. For the Lord (Yahweh) has done what he spoke through his servant Elijah."
And Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and his close friends and his priests, until there was no one left.
And they came to Samaria, and he struck down all who remained of Ahab in Samaria until he had destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord (Yahweh) which he spoke to Elijah.
And Jehu gathered all the people together and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much.
And the Lord (Yahweh) said to Jehu, "Because you have done well (Hebr. tóv) and done what is right (straight – Hebr. jashar) in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel for four generations."
[Jehu both did what was good and what was right. So it is possible to do what is right, but not everyone is in harmony with God's heart and also does what is good. In the list of kings that follows, this combination with good is not used, but only with the word right six times, see ; ; , ; ; and once what is not right ().]
And he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down [], and he erected an altar to Baal and made an Asherah [a pole for idol worship, see ] as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he worshiped all the hosts of heaven (demonic powers) and served them.
And I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line [to measure length] that I used over Samaria and the plumb line [to measure depth] that I used on the house of Ahab (lineage). I will wash Jerusalem clean as one washes a dish and then turns it upside down. [The Lord is likened to a skilled builder who plans and builds according to a blueprint. God uses the same yardstick for his judgment against Jerusalem as he did against Samaria.]
Jehoshaphat had gained great wealth and honor, and through marriage he became related to Ahab (Hebr. Achav).
After a few years, he went down to Ahab in Samaria. Ahab slaughtered a large number of sheep and oxen for him and the people who were with him, and he tried to persuade him to go up to Ramoth in Gilead.
Ahab, king of Israel, asked Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, "Will you go with me to Ramoth Gilead?"
He replied, "I am as you are, and my people as your people. I will be with you in the battle."
And the Lord (Yahweh) said, 'Who will entice Ahab, king of Israel, to go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead? One said this, and another said that.
But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for his wife was a daughter of Ahab. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.
but you have walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and led the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem into idolatry, as the house of Ahab has done. You have killed your brothers [compatriots], those who belonged to your father's house and were better than you.
He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, because his mother led him astray to live wickedly.
He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father's death he took his counselors from there, to his own destruction.
It was also their advice that he followed when he went out with Joram, king of Israel, the son of Ahab, and fought against Hazael, king of Aram, at Ramoth Gilead.
But Joram was wounded by the Arameans.
So he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he had received at Ramah in the battle against Hazael, king of Aram. And Ahaziah,king of Judah , son of Joram, went down to visit Joram, son of Ahab, in Jezreel, because he was ill.
But it was to Ahaziah's destruction that God had determined he should come to Joram. When he arrived there, he went with Joram to meet Jehu, the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.
And it came to pass, when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, that he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah who were in Ahaziah's service, and he killed them.
[The evil king] Omri's decrees (literally "things engraved") are obeyed
and all the customs of [his son] Ahab's house
and you walk according to their counsel,
so that I must make you something that arouses wonder
and your inhabitants a hissing,
and you shall bear the reproaches of my people.
[Omri and his son Ahab (married to Jezebel) ruled the northern kingdom in the early 800s BC. Omri and Ahab did more evil than all the kings before them, see , ; . The expression "the decrees of Omri" serves as a title for the kingdom's apostasy and idolatry. Omri's dynasty ruled until a generation before Mic., when Zechariah died, see .]
