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CHAPTER 4: The Vineyard of Naboth - Murder of Naboth - The
Divine Message by Elijah - Ahab's Repentance. (1 Kings 21)
IT is significant that the words describing Ahab's state of mind on returning from
Jezreel to Samaria after his unsuccessful negotiation with Naboth for his vineyard,
are precisely the same as those formerly used in regard to the impression made on
him by the prophet's message (1 Kings 20:43). On both occasions he "was much [and
rebelliously] excited and angry." The identity of terms indicates identity of feelings.
The same self-assertion, independence of God, and want of submissiveness which
had led to his release of, and covenant with, Ben-hadad, and inspired feelings of
rebellion and anger on hearing the Divine message, now prompted his resentment of
Naboth's conduct.
The summer palace of Jezreel was the favorite retreat of King Ahab and Jezebel. The
present somewhat marshy plain of Esdraelon, the almost bare mountains of Gilboa,
and the miserable village which now occupies the site of Jezreel, and overlooks the
ruins of Bethshan, can afford no adequate idea of what the place was in the days of
Ahab and Jezebel and of their immediate successors. Then the mountains of Gilboa
were richly wooded, and sweet springs brought freshness to the air and luxurious
beauty to the vegetation of Jezreel, even as they carried fertility down into the great
plain beneath, which in the summer light shimmered and trembled like a sea of
golden corn. At the northern declivity of Gilboa, where it descends, steep and rocky,
on a knoll about 500 feet high, stood Jezreel. Protected from the fierce southern sun
by the delicious shade of Gilboa, that rises up behind, it looked - as suited to a
summer-residence in the East - northwards, across the plain to the mountains of
Galilee, to Tabor, and in the distance to snow-capped Hermon. The height descended
into the valley of Jezreel, where a sweet spring rippled, and close by gathered into a
pool. Eastwards, you would look down on Bethshan, and, across the deep depression
of the Jordan valley, to the mountains on the other side, on which rested the blue and
purple light. To the west you might sweep those fifteen miles to Mount Carmel, and
perchance the westerly breeze might carry up the plain the fresh scent of the sea.
Such was the Jezreel of Ahab and Jezebel - the nearest, the safest, the sweetest
summer-retreat from Samaria.
On the east and south-east, where the hot limestone rock shelves into the valley
beneath, are to this day wine-presses. They mark the neighborhood of where the
vineyards of Jezreel must have been, among them that of Naboth. Right above was
the royal palace, narrowed and cramped within the city walls, of which indeed it
seems to have formed part. Manifestly it would be object of desire to acquire the land
nearest to the palace, with the view of converting it into a garden. What such a
garden might bear, and what sweet outlook on it could be enjoyed from the windows
(^)