What happens to the sentence against Achab’s house after he humbles himself?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

The Lord tells Elias that because Achab has humbled himself for his sake, he will not bring the evil in Achab’s days. He will bring it upon Achab’s house in his son’s days.

Chapter breakdown

After these things, Naboth the Jezrahelite has a vineyard in Jezrahel near the palace of Achab, king of Samaria. Achab asks for it to make a garden of herbs, because it is near and adjoins his house. He offers Naboth a better vineyard in exchange, or the vineyard’s worth in money if Naboth finds that more convenient.

Naboth asks the Lord to be merciful to him and not let him give Achab the inheritance of his fathers. Because of Naboth’s refusal to give that inheritance, Achab comes into his house angry and fretting. He casts himself on his bed, turns his face to the wall and will eat no bread.

Jezabel, Achab’s wife, goes in and asks why his soul is so grieved and why he eats no bread. He tells her he asked Naboth for the vineyard in return for money or, if he pleased, a better vineyard. He reports Naboth’s answer as a refusal to give him the vineyard. Jezabel speaks of Achab’s great authority and his governing Israel’s kingdom well. She tells him to rise, eat bread and be of good cheer, promising to give him Naboth the Jezrahelite’s vineyard.

Jezabel writes letters in Achab’s name, seals them with his ring and sends them to the ancients and chief men in Naboth’s city who dwell with him. The letters order a fast and a seat for Naboth among the chief of the people. They direct that two men, sons of Belial, be brought against him to bear false witness that he has blasphemed God and the king. Naboth is then to be carried out and stoned so that he dies.

The men of Naboth’s city, the ancients and nobles who live there with him, do as Jezabel commands in her letters. They proclaim a fast and seat Naboth among the chief of the people. They bring two men, described as sons of the devil, seat them against Naboth and have them bear witness before the people that he has blasphemed God and the king. They take Naboth outside the city and stone him to death. They send Jezabel word that he has been stoned and is dead.

On hearing that Naboth has been stoned and is dead, Jezabel tells Achab to rise and take possession of Naboth the Jezrahelite’s vineyard. She says he would not agree to give it for money and is now dead rather than alive. Achab hears that Naboth is dead, rises and goes down into the vineyard to take possession.

The Lord’s word comes to Elias the Thesbite, telling him to rise and go down to meet Achab, king of Israel, who is in Samaria and is going down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard. Elias is to say that Achab has slain and also taken possession. He is then to announce that in the place where the dogs have licked Naboth’s blood, they will lick Achab’s blood too. Achab asks Elias whether he has found him, his enemy. Elias answers that he has found him because Achab is sold to do evil in the Lord’s sight.

Challoner’s separate note explains being sold to do evil as being so addicted to evil that it is as if a person had sold himself to the devil to be his slave and work all kinds of evil.

The announced sentence is that the Lord will bring evil upon Achab, cut down his posterity, and kill of Achab “him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and the last in Israel.” He will make Achab’s house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nabat and the house of Baasa son of Ahias, because Achab has provoked him to anger and made Israel sin.

The Lord also speaks of Jezabel: dogs will eat her in the field of Jezrahel. If Achab dies in the city, dogs will eat him; if he dies in the field, the birds of the air will eat him.

The chapter says there was no other like Achab, who was sold to do evil in the Lord’s sight, for his wife Jezabel set him on. He became abominable by following the idols the Amorrhites had made. The Lord had destroyed those people before the children of Israel.

When Achab hears these words, he tears his garments, puts haircloth on his flesh, fasts, sleeps in sackcloth and walks with his head cast down. The Lord’s word again comes to Elias the Thesbite. The Lord asks whether he has seen Achab humbled before him. Because Achab has humbled himself for the Lord’s sake, the Lord will not bring the evil in his days, but will bring it upon his house in his son’s days.

The story inside

The vineyard’s nearness explains Achab’s request for a herb garden, and he offers either a better vineyard or money. Naboth’s appeal concerns his fathers’ inheritance. Achab’s anger, turned face and refusal of bread lead to Jezabel’s questions and promise. Her letters specify the fast, Naboth’s seat, two false witnesses, the accusation and death by stoning. The city’s ancients and nobles carry out those orders and report the death. That report leads Jezabel to tell Achab to take possession, and he goes down to the vineyard. The Lord sends Elias with a charge joining killing and possession and a consequence concerning the dogs and Achab’s blood. Achab’s enemy question is answered with his being sold to evil; Challoner separately explains that comparison. The further sentence names Achab’s posterity, the houses of Jeroboam and Baasa, Jezabel and the city-or-field conditions. After the chapter’s account of Achab’s evil and Jezabel’s influence, his hearing the words leads to the five acts of humbling. The Lord recognizes his humbling and delays the evil upon his house to his son’s days.

Lessons worth keeping

1
Naboth’s reason and Achab’s report are different in detail. Naboth appeals to the Lord and calls the vineyard his fathers’ inheritance. Achab tells Jezabel about the money or exchange he offered and reports only that Naboth would not give him the vineyard. Keeping both speeches shows what each actually says, without supplying a land-law explanation from outside this chapter.
2
The killing follows a written set of orders, and possession follows the report of death. Jezabel uses Achab’s name and ring, names two false witnesses and directs stoning. The ancients and nobles carry those orders out. Achab then goes to take the vineyard, and the Lord’s message charges him with both killing and taking possession. These particular actions support the chapter’s charge without an invented general rule about every ruler or court.
3
The Lord states a change in timing after Achab humbles himself. Achab tears his garments, wears haircloth, fasts, sleeps in sackcloth and walks with his head down. The Lord acknowledges his humbling for his sake and says the evil upon his house will come in his son’s days. The closing words preserve the future consequence while changing when it comes.

Test your recall

How do Jezabel’s letters, the city’s report of Naboth’s death and Achab’s taking possession lead to Elias’s charge, and what later action causes the stated delay?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 37612–37626
3 Kings Chapter 21 Naboth, for denying his vineyard to king Achab, is by Jezabel’s commandment, falsely accused and stoned to death. For which crime Elias denounceth to Achab the judgments of God: upon his humbling himself the sentence is mitigated. 21:1. And after these things, Naboth the Jezrahelite, who was in Jezrahel, had at that time a vineyard, near the palace of Achab, king of Samaria. 21:2. And Achab spoke to Naboth, saying: Give me thy vineyard, that I may make me a garden of herbs, because it is nigh, and adjoining to my house; and I will give thee for it a better vineyard: or if thou think it more convenient for thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.
Lines 37628–37634
21:3. Naboth answered him: The Lord be merciful to me, and not let me give thee the inheritance of my fathers. 21:4. And Achab came into his house angry and fretting, because of the word that Naboth, the Jezrahelite, had spoken to him, saying: I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And casting himself upon his bed, he turned away his face to the wall, and would eat no bread.
Lines 37636–37647
21:5. And Jezabel, his wife, went in to him, and said to him: What is the matter that thy soul is so grieved? and why eatest thou no bread? 21:6. And he answered her: I spoke to Naboth, the Jezrahelite, and said to him: Give me thy vineyard, and take money for it: or if it please thee, I will give thee a better vineyard for it. And he said: I will not give thee my vineyard. 21:7. Then Jezabel, his wife, said to him. Thou art of great authority indeed, and governest well the kingdom of Israel. Arise, and eat bread, and be of good cheer; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite.
Lines 37649–37658
21:8. So she wrote letters in Achab’s name, and sealed them with his ring, and sent them to the ancients, and the chief men that were in his city, and that dwelt with Naboth. 21:9. And this was the tenor of the letters: Proclaim a fast, and make Naboth sit among the chief of the people; 21:10. And suborn two men, sons of Belial, against him, and let them bear false witness; that he hath blasphemed God and the king: and then carry him out, and stone him, and so let him die.
Lines 37660–37673
21:11. And the men of his city, the ancients and nobles, that dwelt with him in the city, did as Jezabel had commanded them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them; 21:12. They proclaimed a fast, and made Naboth sit among the chief of the people. 21:13. And bringing two men, sons of the devil, they made them sit against him: and they, like men of the devil, bore witness against him before the people: saying: Naboth hath blasphemed God and the king. Wherefore they brought him forth without the city, and stoned him to death. 21:14. And they sent to Jezabel, saying: Naboth is stoned, and is dead.
Lines 37675–37682
21:15. And it came to pass, when Jezabel heard that Naboth was stoned, and dead, that she said to Achab: Arise, and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite, who would not agree with thee, and give it thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead. 21:16. And when Achab heard this, to wit, that Naboth was dead, he arose, and went down into the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite, to take possession of it.
Lines 37684–37697
21:17. And the word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying: 21:18. Arise, and go down to meet Achab, king of Israel, who is in Samaria: behold he is going down to the vineyard of Naboth, to take possession of it: 21:19. And thou shalt speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast slain: moreover also thou hast taken possession. And after these words thou shalt add: Thus saith the Lord: In this place, wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall lick thy blood also. 21:20. And Achab said to Elias: Hast thou found me thy enemy? He said: I have found thee because thou art sold, to do evil in the sight of the Lord.
Lines 37699–37701
Sold, to do evil in the sight, etc.... That is, so addicted to evil, as if thou hadst sold thyself to the devil, to be his slave to work all kinds of evil.
Lines 37703–37709
21:21. Behold I will bring evil upon thee, and I will cut down thy posterity, and I will kill of Achab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and the last in Israel. 21:22. And I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahias: for what thou hast done to provoke me to anger, and for making Israel to sin.
Lines 37711–37715
21:23. And of Jezabel also, the Lord spoke, saying: The dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezrahel. 21:24. If Achab die in the city, the dogs shall eat him: but if he die in the field, the birds of the air shall eat him.
Lines 37717–37722
21:25. Now, there was not such another as Achab, who was sold to do evil in the sight of the Lord: for his wife, Jezabel, set him on, 21:26. And he became abominable, insomuch that he followed the idols which the Amorrhites had made, whom the Lord destroyed before the face of the children of Israel.
Lines 37724–37734
21:27. And when Achab had heard these words, he rent his garments, and put haircloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and slept in sackcloth, and walked with his head cast down. 21:28. And the word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying: 21:29. Hast thou not seen Achab humbled before me? therefore, because he hath humbled himself, for my sake, I will not bring the evil in his days, but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.