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of the palace, may be judged from the lemon-groves still existing in the near
neighborhood. But Naboth, the owner of the coveted piece of land, could not be
tempted to part with it by the king's offer of either a better vineyard or an equivalent
in money. It was the ancestral possession of the family of Naboth, and piety towards
God combined with reverence for the memory of his fathers to forbid the unholy
bargain. It is a healthy sign to find such stern assertion of principle so fearlessly
uttered. Israel could not be wholly sunken in corruption and idolatry, so long as it
numbered among its peasant-proprietors men like Naboth, nor could the service of
Jehovah have left its households when even in Jezreel a burgher could appeal from
the demands of an Ahab to the authority and law of his God. And it affords happy
evidence of what the legislation of the Pentateuch had secured for Israel, that even in
the worst times an Ahab dared not, like a heathen monarch, lay hands on Naboth, nor
force him to surrender the inheritance of his fathers.
It is another mark of that self-willed and uncontrolled frame of mind which had
determined the bearing of Ahab towards Ben-hadad, and then towards the prophet
sent to rebuke him, that he could not brook the refusal of Naboth. It was utter and
childish petulance, as well as unbridled selfishness, to act as he did on his return to
Samaria. He turned his face to the wall and refused to eat bread. In Samaria at least
all was submissive to his will - thanks to the strong hand of Jezebel. But, outside her
sway, he was always encountered and opposed by Jehovah: now by His prophets,
then by His worshippers. Here was a power which he dared not resist, yet to which
he would not submit. But Jezebel shared neither the feelings nor the scruples of her
husband. She dared what she would, and she would what she dared. She now spoke
to the king as a strong unscrupulous woman to a weak and unprincipled man. She
must have known what had prompted the refusal of Naboth - although it deserves
notice that, in his account of what had passed, the king had studiously omitted all
reference to it (ver. 6). Similarly, Ahab must have known that when Jezebel
demanded the royal signet, with which official documents coming directly from the
king were stamped, she must have had in view some scheme of violence. And often
does it seem more convenient - certainly more easy- to remain in willful ignorance,
than to learn what would call for our active resistance, or, in the absence of it, fill our
conscience with uneasiness. And while remaining in willful ignorance, Ahab may
have flattered himself that he had not incurred responsibility in the murder of
Naboth.
The measures of Jezebel were at least plain and straightforward. The old Mosaic civil
order still continued in Israel by which jurisdiction, even in matters of life and death,
lay in the first instance with the "judges and officers" of a place (Deuteronomy
16:18). This local "senate," consisting partly of elected life-members, partly of what
may be designated a hereditary aristocracy, might in times of corruption become
subject to court influence, especially in a small royal borough such as Jezreel.
(^)