Naboth of Jezreel had a vineyard in Jezreel, close to the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. Ahab spoke to Naboth and asked for the vineyard. Since it was near the palace, he wanted to make it into a vegetable garden. He offered Naboth a better vineyard in exchange or money if that was what Naboth preferred.
Naboth answered that God forbade him to give his ancestral inheritance to the king. Ahab went home resentful and angry at this answer. He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and refused to eat.
Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, asked why he was troubled and would not eat. Ahab said he had offered Naboth money or another vineyard, but Naboth had refused. Jezebel asked whether he governed Israel. She told him to rise, eat, and be cheerful, promising to give him Naboth’s vineyard.
Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal. She sent them to the city’s elders and nobles. They were to proclaim a fast, during which people would not eat, and seat Naboth in a prominent place. Two wicked men were to accuse him falsely of cursing God and the king. The letters then ordered them to take him outside and stone him to death.
The elders and nobles of the city did what Jezebel’s letters ordered. They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. Two men came in and sat opposite Naboth. Before the people, they testified that Naboth had cursed God and the king. The people took Naboth outside the city and stoned him to death.
Word came to Jezebel that Naboth was dead. She told Ahab to arise and take possession of Naboth’s vineyard. Naboth had not given the vineyard for money, she said, and now he was dead. When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he went down to the vineyard in Jezreel to take possession of it.
Then the word of God came to Elijah the Tishbite. He was sent down to meet Ahab, king of Samaria, who had gone to Naboth’s vineyard to take possession of it. Elijah was told to ask Ahab whether he had killed and also taken possession.
Elijah told Ahab that where dogs had licked Naboth’s blood, dogs would also lick Ahab’s blood. God would bring disaster upon Ahab’s house and cut off its males. Ahab’s house would become like the house of Jeroboam and the house of Baasha. Dogs would eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel, while dogs would eat those of Ahab’s house who died in the city and birds would eat those who died in the open country.
Ahab is described as one who sold himself to do evil before God. Jezebel stirred him up, and he acted abominably by following idols, like the Amorites whom God had driven out before Israel. When Ahab heard Elijah’s words, he tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his bare body, and fasted. He slept in sackcloth and walked about dejectedly.
The word of God came again to Elijah. God asked whether Elijah had seen how Ahab had humbled himself before him. Because Ahab had humbled himself, God said that he would not bring the disaster in Ahab’s own days. He would bring the disaster upon Ahab’s house in the days of his son.