1 Kings 16:31

1Ki 16:31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

Ver. 31. He took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal.] Whom Diodorus Siculus calleth Jeobalus. The very name of this king and his daughter ending in Bel and Baal, show how greatly they were addicted to that idolatry.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16:31-33 The spiritual evaluation of Ahab is the worst yet among the kings of Israel. Later, Ahab’s evil behavior was attributed to his being “under the influence of his wife Jezebel” (21:25). Ahab and Jezebel propagated Canaanite worship rites, leading Israel further from the Lord. Added to Jeroboam’s false worship system, these sins eventually spelled disaster for Israel.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

By whose means he fell to all wicked and strange idolatry, and cruel persecution.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 31. He took to wife Jezebel] This was the head and chief of his offending; he took to wife, not only a heathen, but one whose hostility to the true religion was well known, and carried to the utmost extent.

1. She was the idolatrous daughter of an idolatrous king;

2. She practised it openly;

3. She not only countenanced it in others, but protected it, and gave its partisans honours and rewards; 4.

She used every means to persecute the true religion;

5. She was hideously cruel, and put to death the prophets and priests of God; 6.

And all this she did with the most zealous perseverance and relentless cruelty.

Notwithstanding Ahab had built a temple, and made an altar for Baal, and set up the worship of Asherah, the Sidonian Venus, which we, 1Kg 16:33, have transformed into a grove; yet so well known was the hostility of Jezebel to all good, that his marrying her was esteemed the highest pitch of vice, and an act the most provoking to God, and destructive to the prosperity of the kingdom.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(31) Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians.—The mention of Ethbaal, clearly the Eithobalus of Menander (see Jos. against Apion i. 18), affords another comparison of Israelite with Tyrian history. He is said to have assassinated Pheles, king of Tyre, within fifty years after the death of Hiram, and to have founded a new dynasty. He was a priest of Astarte, and it is notable that he is called, not, like Hiram, “king of Tyre,” but “king of the Sidonians,” thus reviving the older name of “the great Zidon,” which had been superseded by Tyre. His priestly origin, and possibly also this revival of the old ideas and spirit of the Phœnician race, may account for the fanatic devotion to Baal visible in Jezebel and Athaliah, which stands in marked contrast with the religious attitude of Hiram (1Ki_5:7; 2Ch_2:12). The marriage of Ahab with Jezebel was evidently the fatal turning-point in the life of a man physically brave, and possibly able as a ruler, but morally weak, impressible in turn both by good and by evil. The history shows again and again the contrast of character (which it is obvious to compare with the contrast between Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Lady Macbeth), and the almost complete supremacy of the strong relentless nature of Jezebel.

2. The Baal here referred to is, of course, the Zidonian god, worshipped as the productive principle in nature, in conjunction with Astarte, the female or receptive principle. The name itself only signifies “Lord” (in which sense, indeed, it is applied, in Hos_2:16, to Jehovah Himself), and is marked as being a mere title, by the almost invariable prefix of the article. Being, therefore, in no sense distinctive, it may be, and is, applied to the supreme god of various mythologies. Thus we find that in Scripture the plural Baalim is first used, of “the gods many and lords many” of Canaanitish worship (see Jdg_2:11; Jdg_3:7; Jdg_10:6; 1Sa_7:4); and we have traces of the same vague use in the Baal-peor of Numbers 25, the Baal-berith of Jdg_8:33; Jdg_9:4, the Baal-zebub of 2Ki_1:2-3, and in the various geographical names having the prefix Baal. The worship of the Phœnician Baal—variously represented, sometimes as the Sun, sometimes as the planet Jupiter, sometimes half-humanised as the “Tyrian Hercules”—was now, however, introduced on a great scale, with profuse magnificence of worship, connected with the Asherah (“grove”), which in this case, no doubt, represented the Phœnician Astarte, and enforced by Jezebel with a high hand, not without persecution of the prophets of the Lord. The conflict between it and the spiritual worship of Jehovah became now a conflict of life and death.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31. as if it had been a light thing] i.e. He was unwarned by all the visitations which had befallen the kings before him for their worship of the calves. He went further than this and introduced the worship of a false god into the land.

he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians] It was perhaps the taste for building, which manifested itself both in Omri and in Ahab, that brought them into closer alliance with Zidon; but no doubt an intercourse had been kept up ever since the days of Solomon between the two nations. But this marriage of Ahab was most fatal both to Israel and Judah. The family of Jezebel were devoted to the worship of Baal and Astarte. Josephus (cont. Apion. i. 18) mentions Eithobalus (i.e. Ethbaal) as ‘the priest of Astarte’ as well as king, and Pygmalion and Dido as being contemporaries of Jezebel. There was therefore great vigour in the race, and when Jezebel became queen of Israel she ruled her husband and the nation, and established the worship to which her family was so devoted. After the death of her husband, as queen-mother, she maintained her influence in the court of her son, and through her daughter Athaliah, who was married to the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, she wrought much evil in the southern kingdom and all but exterminated the royal race. The doings of Jezebel form a great part of the history till her death, which is related in 2 Kings 9. The various scenes in which she appears and the evil influence which she exercised will be best noticed as the history goes on.

went and served Baal] This was very different from the sin of Solomon who out of indulgence to his foreign wives permitted temples for their gods to be set up in his land, but himself took no share in the idolatrous worship. Jezebel had a greater and worse influence over Ahab.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam - Idolatries are not exclusive. Ahab, while he detested the pure worship of Yahweh, and allowed Jezebel to put to death every “prophet of the Lord” whom she could find 1Ki 18:4, readily tolerated the continued worship of the “calves,” which had no doubt tended more and more to lose its symbolic character, and to become a thoroughly idolatrous image-worship.

Eth-baal - Identified with the Ithobalus of Menander, who reigned in Tyre, probably over all Phoenicia, within 50 years of the death of Hiram. This Ithobalus, whose name means “With him is Baal,” was originally priest of the great temple of Astarte, in Tyre. At the age of 36 he conspired against the Tyrian king, Pheles (a usurping fratricide), killed him, and seized the throne. His reign lasted 32 years, and he established a dynasty which continued on the throne at least 62 years longer. The family-tree of the house may be thus exhibited:

Lineage of Eth-Baal

Eth-baal

Badezor

Jezebel

Matgen (Belus of Virgil)

Pygmalion

Dido (founder of Carthage)

Hence, Jezebel was great-aunt to Pygmalion and his sister Dido.

Served Baal - The worship of Baal by the Phoenicians is illustrated by such names as IthoBAL, HanniBAL, etc. Abundant traces of it are found in the Phoenician monuments.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Jezabel, whose name is become proverbial, to designate a proud, lewd, cruel, and impious woman, Apocalypse ii. 20. Grotius compares her with Tullia, Fulvia, and Eudoxia, the respective wives of Tarquin, Anthony, and Arcadius. She was the chief promoter of all the evils of Achab’s reign. He did not insist that she should embrace the true religion, when he married her; as it is supposed former kings had done, when they espoused women who had been brought up in idolatry. (Calmet) --- He even introduced her country’s idols, and thus enhanced upon the wickedness of his predecessors. (Haycock) --- Ethbaal. Menander (following Josephus, contra Apion i.) calls him Ithobaal, and remarks that his reign was memorable for a year’s drought; probably that of three years, under Achaz, chap. xvii. 1. Ethbaal was king of Tyre, and ruled over the Sidonians likewise, chap. v. 6.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

As if it had been a light thing for him; as if that sin were not big enough to express his contempt of God; as if he thought it below his wit and dignity to content himself with such a vulgar fault. But the Hebrew runs thus, Was it a light thing, &c.? i.e. was this but a small sin, that therefore he needed to add more abominations? where the question, as is usual among the Hebrews, implies a strong denial; and intimates that this was no small sin, but a great crime, and might have satisfied his wicked mind without any additions. Jezebel; a woman infamous for her idolatry, and cruelty, and sorcery, and filthiness. See 1Ki 18:4; 21:8; 2Ki 9:22; Rev 2:20.

Ethbaal, called Ithobalus, or Itobalus, in heathen writers.

King of the Zidonians; so she was of a heathenish and idolatrous race, and such whom the kings and people of Israel were expressly forbidden to marry.

Baal, i.e. the idol which the Zidonians worshipped, which is thought to be Hercules, or false gods, for this name is common to all such. And this idolatry was much worse than that of the calves; because in the calves they worshipped the true God, but in these, false gods or devils, as is evident from 1Ki 18:21.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

31. As if… a light thing… to walk in the sins of Jeroboam — With him “it was nothing to break the second commandment by image-worship; he would set aside the first also by introducing other gods; his little finger should fall heavier upon God’s ordinances than Jeroboam’s loins.” — Henry.

Jezebel — From which name comes the modern Isabella. This is the first recorded instance of an Israelitish king choosing his chief with from among the Canaanites, and her marriage with Ahab has well been called a turning point in the history of Israel. Her character, as portrayed in the following chapters, is an embodiment of all that is most awful and terrible in the Clytemnestra of the Greek tragedians, and in the Lady Macbeth of Shakspeare.

Ethbaal — Probably identical with Eithobalus, priest of Astarte, of whom Menander, the Ephesian, speaks in Josephus, Apion 1Ki_1:18. He assassinated Pheles, the reigning king, usurped the throne, and reigned thirty-two years. His position as priest of Astarte, whose worship was similar to that of Baal, may serve to explain the zeal which his daughter showed in introducing Phenician idolatry into the kingdom of Israel.

Zidonians — This term seems to have been used among the Hebrews with as much latitude as was the term Phenicians among the Greeks. According to 1Ki_5:6, Hiram, king of Tyre, controls the Zidonian workmen, and Josephus calls Ethbaal king of the Tyrians and Zidonians. It is probable that both Tyre and Zidon, with the adjacent towns, were often under one government.

Served Baal — As Solomon’s heathen wives turned his heart after strange gods, (1Ki_11:4,) so Ahab’s marriage with Jezebel leads him into Baal-worship. Baal was the chief male divinity among the Phenicians, as Ashtoreth was their female divinity. See on Jdg_2:13.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him Heb. as marg. was it a light thing? Ewald (362 a) explains this to mean "because it was." But it seems better to understand, "was it such a light thing that he must needs also?" etc. to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat i.e., the sins of heresy and schism, that he took to wife Jezebel =" Without cohabitation," "chaste," Gesenius, who compares it with Agnes. It is hardly the original of Isabella the daughter of Ethbaal =" With Baal." The Greek form jIqobalov or Eijqwbalov, found in Jos., Ant. 8:13.1; cf. Contr. Rev_1:18, suggests as its original L"b" wOTai i.e., "with him is Baal." In either case the name well became him, for, according to Menander, (apud Jos l: 100:) he was the priest of Astarte, who gained for himself the throne of the Zidonians by the assassination of Pheles. He is further said to have reigned thirty-two years, and to have lived sixty-eight years. He would therefore be thirty-six years old at the time of his accession. It does not appear that (Keil) he was the brother of Pheles. Pheles, however, was certainly a fratricide. (Rawlinson reminds us that Jezebel was great-aunt to Pygmalion and Dido.) This statement helps to explain Jezebel"s fierce and sanguinary character, and at the same time accounts for her great devotion to the gods of her country, and for her determined efforts to establish their impure rites in her husband"s kingdom. It was only what one would expect from the child of such a parent king of the Zidonians This alliance, it is extremely probable, was made for purely political reasons, as a counterpoise against the active, ambitious, and encroaching power which had arisen in Damascene Syria. The army which had already humbled Omri (1Ki_20:34) could not fail to be a source of danger to Tyre, and went and served Baal Heb. the Baal, i.e., the lord or master; cf. oJ kuriov. The name appears among the Babylonians as Bel (Isa_46:1) Greek bhlov. Reference has already been made to the frequent recurrence of the word in different compound names, and in different parts of Palestine, as showing how widespread must have been his worship at an earlier age. We are also familiar with the word in the names Hanni bal, Hasdru bal, etc. Baal was the supreme male god of the Canaanitish races, as Ashtoreth was their great female divinity. The former was regarded, not only as the possessor, but as the generator, of all, worshipped him

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A light thing - The Hebrew runs, was it a light thing,&c., that is, was this but a small sin, that therefore he needed to add more abominations? Where the question, as is usual among the Hebrew, implies a strong denial; and intimates, that this was no small sin, but a great crime; and might have satisfied his wicked mind, without any additions. Jezebel - A woman infamous for her idolatry, and cruelty, and sorcery, and filthiness. Eth-baal - Called Ithbalus, or Itobalus in heathen writers. So she was of an heathenish and idolatrous race. Such as the kings and people of Israel were expressly forbidden to marry. Baal - The idol which the Sidonians worshipped, which is thought to be Hercules. And this idolatry was much worse than that of the calves; because in the calves they worshipped the true God; but in these, false gods or devils.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

It was to Ahab a trivial thing to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat

This implies that Ahab wanted to commit worse sins. The full meaning of this statement can be made explicit. AT: "It was as if Ahab thought that walking in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat was not enough" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

It was to Ahab a trivial thing

This is an idiom. The phrase "to Ahab" means that Ahab considered or thought something. AT: "Ahab considered it a trivial thing" or "Ahab thought that it was not enough" (See: Idiom)

a trivial thing

"an insignificant thing" or "not enough"

to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat

Walking in Jeroboam's sins represents sinning as Jeroboam had sinned. AT: "to sin as Jeroboam son of Nebat had sinned" (See: Metaphor)

worshiped Baal and bowed down to him

These two phrases mean the same thing. The phrase "bowed down to him" describes the posture that people used in worship. (See: Parallelism)

the God of Israel

Here the word "Israel" refers to the nation of Israel, which consisted of twelve tribes.

the kings of Israel

Here the word "Israel" refers to the kingdom of Israel, which consisted of ten tribes.

translationWords

walk

sin

Jeroboam

Jezebel

Sidon

worship

Baal

bow

altar

house

Asherah

Yahweh

God

Israel

kingdom of Israel

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And worshiped the [idol] Baal. In addition to Yerovom’s calves.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.