1 Kings 21:25

1Ki 21:25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.

Ver. 25. But there was none like unto Ahab.] A very non-such, as is before noted, bipedum nequissimus, non scelestus sed ipsum scelus.

Which did sell himself, &c., whom Jezebel, &c.] She held him in such slavery, that, for a quiet life with her, and to enjoy her love, he was wholly at her service, not daring to deny anything that she would have done. This γυναικοκρατεια is a great mischief.

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.

1Ki_21:25

But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord.

Ahab

I. An illustration of the depths of human depravity.

1. Ahabs pre-eminence in sin (1Ki_16:30). There had been many instances of wickedness decked with the robes of royalty; but there was none like Ahab.

2. Ahabs bargain with hell. He stands before us as a self-sold slave of the devil. Ahab sold himself! What a bargain!

3. The daring character of Ahabs wickedness. In the sight of the Lord. Most strive to work wickedness under the covert of darkness--under the shades of night, or wearing the hypocrites mask. Not so Ahab.

II. An evidence of the unmanly servility of evil. Whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. This Syrian princess, whom Ahab had married, was a woman of the most consummate subtlety, duplicity, and cruelty.

III. A proof of the magnitude of the divine mercy. Great was the long-suffering of God in permitting Ahab to reign so long (2Pe_3:9). Great, too, was His mercy in regarding the humiliation of this guilty man (1Ki_21:29), i.e. the destruction of his posterity (Psa_86:15). God gives no repulse (says Bengel), when He gives good things: He neither upbraids us with our past folly and unworthiness, nor with future abuse of His goodness.

IV. The evanescent nature of merely selfish penitence. Ahab appeared by his fasting and humiliation to return to God; but his goodness proved like the morning cloud. He soon cast off the yoke of the Divine authority, and returned to his wallowing in the mire. In this he is the type of multitudes, who in their affliction say, Come, and let us return unto the Lord; but bring forth no fruits meet for repentance. (Patrick Morrison.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 21:25-26. There was none like unto Ahab — Among all the kings of Israel who had been before him. Whom Jezebel his wife stirred up — This is added to show that temptations to sin are no excuse to the sinner. He did very abominably in following idols, &c. — There was no abomination which the people of Canaan committed, (here called the Amorites, according to their ancient name, Gen 15:16,) which Ahab did not imitate.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Kg1 21:25, Kg1 21:26 contain a reflection on the part of the historian concerning Ahab's ungodly conduct, whereby he brought such an ignominious end upon himself and his house. וגו היה לא רק, "only there has not been (one) like Ahab," i.e., there was no one else like Ahab, "who sold himself," etc. הסתּה for הסיתה, from סוּת, to entice, to seduce or lead astray (cf. Ewald, 114, a., and Ges. 72, Anm. 6). ויּתעב, and he acted abominably. Amorites: for Canaanites, as in Gen 15:16, etc.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

21:25-26 The author interrupts his account to reemphasize (see 16:30-34) Ahab’s evil character, to denounce the king’s commitment to idolatry, and to condemn his weakness in allowing himself to be under the influence of his wife Jezebel. Wicked Jezebel would stop at nothing to achieve her own ends (18:4; 19:1-2; 21:5-10, 15). Though arrogant and defiant to the end (2 Kgs 9:30-31), she eventually met her predicted doom (1 Kgs 21:23; 2 Kgs 9:32-37).

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

By the wicked counsel of his wife he became a vile idolater, and cruel murderer, as one that gave himself wholly to serve sin.

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

Verse 25. Did sell himself to work wickedness] He hired himself to the devil for this very purpose, that he might work wickedness. This was to be his employment, and at this he laboured.

In the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.] A good wife is from the Lord; a bad wife is from the devil: Jezebel was of this kind; and she has had many successors.

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

(25) The dogs shall eat Jezebel.—In all his address to Ahab, Elijah has, as yet, disdained to name the instigator, on whom the coward king, no doubt, threw his guilt. Ahab stands revealed as the true culprit before God, without a shred of subterfuge to veil his ultimate responsibility. Now, briefly and sternly, the prophet notices the bolder criminal, pronouncing against her a doom of shame and horror, seldom falling upon a woman, but rightly visiting one who had forsworn the pity and modesty of her sex. In the “ditch” (see margin) outside the walls, where the refuse of the city gathers the half-wild dogs—the scavengers of Eastern cities—her dead body is to be thrown as offal, and to be torn and devoured.

This verse and the next are evidently the reflection of the compiler, catching its inspiration from the words of Elijah in 1Ki_21:20. There is in them a tone not only of condemnation, but of contempt, for a king most unkingly—thus selling himself to a half-unwilling course of crime, against the warnings of conscience, not disbelieved but neglected, for the sake of a paltry desire—thus moreover, grovelling under the open dominion of a woman, which, to an Eastern mind, familiar enough with female intrigues, but not with female imperiousness, would seem especially monstrous.

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

25. to work wickedness] R.V. to do that which was evil. See above, 1Ki_21:20.

Ahab exceeded the wickedness of all the other kings in that he introduced Baal-worship, and allowed his wife to proceed to all lengths in her attempts to destroy any recognition of Jehovah, even such as remained in the corrupted worship of the northern kingdom.

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.

whom Jezebel stirred up - The history of Ahab’s reign throughout exhibits him as completely governed by his imperious wife. Instances of her influence are seen in 1Ki 21:7, 1Ki 21:15, marginal reference, 1Ki 18:4; 1Ki 19:2.

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

Now. Septuagint, "Moreover, Achab was foolishly sold, a man who was sold, &c., since Jezabel....changed him:" Greek: metetheken. His natural disposition was not perhaps so bad. But his unfortunate connexion with a most wicked wife involved him in ruin. Even when he began to relent, and was on the point of reforming his life, (ver. 27.) her influence spoiled all. (Haydock) --- He was sold to her, and she exercised a most severe tyranny over him, using his seal at pleasure, and treating him with indignity, ver. 7, 8. (Tirinus)

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).

There was none like unto Ahab; none among all the kings of Israel which had been before him.

Whom Jezebel his wife stirred up: this is added to show that temptations to sin are no excuse to the sinner.

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

25, 26. These two verses are parenthetically added by the writer of this history to intensify the thought of Ahab’s extreme wickedness, and to show the reason of the bitter judgments that were pronounced against him.

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

But Heb. Only there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord as in ver. 20, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up or as Marg., incited, instigated and urged to sin. (Cf. Deu_13:7 Hebrews; Job_36:18)

Vers. 25-29.

Ahab"s Repentance.

After the terrible sentence pronounced by Elijah upon Ahab for his enormities follows this account of his repentance. The record teachesI THAT THERE IS REPENTANCE FOR THE VILEST. I Ahab answered this description.

(1) He "wrought wickedness." So have we all. But his was evil of no common order. "He did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel." (See Gen_15:16; 2Ki_21:11)

(2) He wrought this wickedness "in the sight of the Lord," as the Amorites did not, for they had not the religious privileges of an Israelite. Ahab in particular had signal proofs of the presence of God. The shutting and opening of the heavens, to wit, together with the miracle on Carmel. Where much is given much is required.

(3) He had "sold himself" to work this wickedness. (See Rom_7:14) He was slave to Jezebel slave to Satan. He drudged hard in his serfdom.

(4) None of his predecessors had gone so far wrong. "There was none like unto Ahab". (see 1Ki_16:33) Jeroboam had "made Israel to sin," and Omri, at the instigation of Ahab, made "statutes" to confirm that sin. (Mic_6:16) Ahab went further, and established the worship of Baal, with its attendant abominations of Ashere. (See 1Ki_16:29-33)

(5) He was in the worst company. He had married a "cursed woman," and submitted to be led by her into the extremes of wickedness. "Whom Jezebel his wife stirred up." Under her instigation he consented to a wholesale massacre of the sons of the prophets; and now she makes him her accomplice in the murder of Naboth, with its attendant atrocities.

2. Yet Ahab took God"s message to heart.

(1) He believed the terrible sentence, as he had good reason to do, for it came by the hand of Elijah. In all his former experience he had found that the word of the Lord in Elijah"s mouth was truth.

(2) Now, with his death vividly before him, and the fearful doom of his house all the fruit of his crimes these crimes live up again, and pass in formidable order before his eyes. (See Ps 1 Ps 20) Conspicuous amongst the spectres that would move before him would be those of the newly murdered Naboth with his children.

(3) This ghastly phantasmagoria would be to him a premonition of the solemnities of the final judgment in which the thousands injured, whether in body or soul, by his bad conduct and influence, would cry to God"s justice for vengeance upon the royal culprit.

3. He humbled himself accordingly.

(1) Before Jehovah. He "rent his clothes" in token of deep grief. (See Gen_37:34; Job_1:20; Ezr_9:8) He put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. Here were all the signs of deep contrition before God. They were symbols of the prayer of the heart for mercy.

(2) Before men. To put on sackcloth he laid aside those robes of state in which he had prided himself. Instead of moving with his former kingly tramp he now "went softly." (Compare Isa_38:15) He moved withthe timid step of a culprit.

(3) Who will say his repentance was not genuine? God did not say so. He afterwards, indeed, professed to "hate" a faithful servant of God. (1Ki_22:8) But what does this prove? Simply that he afterwards relapsed into sin. And it admonishes us not to presume upon any dogma of infallible final perseverance, but, by the help of God, to "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.

II THAT THERE IS MERCY FOR THE PENITENT.

1. God observed the repentance of Ahab.

(1) He observed it before man haft. He saw its first motions in the depths of his heart. He saw the prodigal "while yet a great way off". (Luk_15:20)

(2) Doubtless He graciously encouraged these motions so that they ripened into confession. And does not the goodness of God still lead men to repentance, even the vilest?

2. He called the attention of Elijah to it.

(1) To the prophet he said, "Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me." This was an encouragement to the man of God. His labour was not in vain. Ahab required some moral courage to humble himself before Jehovah in the presence of Jezebel.

(2) God in His goodness directs His servants to those who are penitent that they may minister words of encouragement to them. Ananias was sent to. (Act_9:11)

3. He extended His mercy to the supplicant.

(1) "Because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son"s days will I bring the evil upon his house." The mercy is not a reversal of the mischief, neither was the repentance. The mischief is done, and cannot be reversed. Early piety is therefore earnestly to be desired that the mischief of an evil life may be avoided.

(2) It was a substantial benefit nevertheless.

(a) To Ahab personally. It was something to be spared the pain of witnessing the judgments of God upon his wicked house; but, what is still more considerable, this mercy contained a promise respecting the world to come; for, and especially in prophecy, things visible are signs or portents of things spiritual.

(b) It was also a benefit to his nation. For after this, probably, came the war with Ben-hadad, in which God interposed in a very remarkable manner on behalf of His people. In the Septuagint, which translation was made from much older copies of the Hebrew Bible than any now extant, this chapter and that here before it change places; and the order in the Septuagint is also followed by Josephus.

(3) This fact is very important, for it shows also where the backsliding of Ahab commenced. It was evidently in the false mercy which he showed to Ben-hadad. After this relapse God forsook him and handed him over to evil spirits and lying prophets, who wrought his ruin. "He that endureth to the end shall be saved. J.A.M.

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

who sold himself to do what was evil

A person being committed to doing what is evil is spoken of as if that person had sold himself to evil. See how you translated this idea in 1 Kings 21:20. AT: "who dedicated himself to doing what was evil" (See: Metaphor)

what was evil in the sight of Yahweh

The phrase, "in the sight of" refers to someone's opinion. See how you translated this in 1 Kings 11:6. AT: "what Yahweh considers to be evil" (See: Metaphor)

removed before the people of Israel

Here "Israel" refers to all twelve tribes of Israel and not just to the northern kingdom. AT: "removed from the presence of the people of Israel" or "drove out of the land before the people of Israel" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

translationWords

evil

Yahweh

works

false god

Amorite

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.

But there was none likes of Achov. Scripture testifies about him that there was none among the kings like him, for Yerovom and all those after him worshiped the calves out of fear, that if the people would go up to Yerusholayim, the kingdom would revert to the House of Dovid, but this one added the Baal and the Asheirah to anger [God].

Sold himself. He was sold to idolatry. I saw in [Talmud] Yerushalmi that Chieil from the house of Eili was his advisor, and every day he would estimate his value and give it to the pagan deities.

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.