The third and final scene of 1 Kings 21 introduces the prophet Elijah to the narrative: “Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,‘Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of
7Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, 3:271.
8Ibid.
Naboth where he has gone down to take possession of it.’” (21:17-18). Elijah is last seen in 1 Kings 19 in Damascus, along with the anointing of his successor Elisha. The biblical text does not specify the location of Elijah in chapter 21; however, Damascus is north of Jezreel, and Elijah would have to “go down” (yarad, ח ָּ֖תסֵ ‘to come or go down, descend’ – Strong’s Hebrew 3381) as is stated in the text.
The prophetic language infers that Elijah knows the whole saga of Ahab, Naboth, and Jezebel. God says to Elijah, “You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, ‘‘Have you murdered and also taken possession?”’ And you shall speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, “In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth the dogs will lick up your blood, even yours.”’ (21:19).
The scene then shifts immediately to the confrontation of the two foes in the vineyard of the deceased Naboth: “Ahab said to Elijah, ‘Have you found me, O my enemy?’ And Elijah answered, ‘I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord’” (21:20). The prophet begins to unfurl a proclamation of the Lord’s word against the nefarious king: “Behold, I will bring evil (raah, ר סת, ‘evil’-
Strong’s Hebrew 7451) upon you, and will utterly sweep you away, and will cut off (carat, רתת, ‘cut off, destroy’ - Strong’s Hebrew 3772) from Ahab every male, both bond and free in Israel” (21:21). Elijah continues the prophecy from the Word of the Lord, affixing names of past Israelite kings to denote their accompanying fates: “And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have
provoked Me to anger, and because you have made Israel sin” (21:22). The two Israelite kings were steeped in sinful behavior that dishonored God. Jeroboam is the first king of Israel following the division from Judah. As a result of his fear that the kingdoms would reunite due to joint worship in Jerusalem, he becomes an idolater and leads the nation to do the same. According to Rev. A. Rowland, “To prevent his people from turning again to the house of David, [Jeroboam] set up two golden calves, one in Beth-el and the other in
Dan, saying ‘these are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of
Egypt.’”9 Baasha, a violent successor of the throne of Jeroboam, unfortunately follows in the same manner: “Baasha, The third king of the separate kingdom of Israel, usurped the throne of son of Jeroboam and exterminated the house of Jeroboam. . . . He is told by the prophet Jehu that because of his sinful reign the fate of his house would be like that of Jeroboam.”10
Elijah then addresses Jezebel in his proclamation against Ahab. This prophecy also envelops their son Joram, who will reign in Israel, as well as his contemporary, Ahaziah, king of Judah: “Of Jezebel also has the Lord spoken, saying, ‘The dogs will eat Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.’ The one belonging to Ahab, who dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and the one who dies in the field the birds of heaven will eat” (21:23-24).
Their fates are revealed in 2 Kings 9.
The next two scriptures in the chapter provide a character summary of Ahab which transitions to his response in verse 27: “Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife incited him. He acted very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the sons of Israel” (21:25-26). Ahab’s abomination is given a connection to Mosaic covenantal language, which is found in Genesis 15:12-16.
Ahab’s response to the prophecy of Elijah is one of humility: “It came about when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about despondently” (21:27). Interestingly, Ahab’s means of showing contrition points to his understanding of the Pentateuch; also, Ahab’s contrition entreats a stay of judgment for the remaining state of his kingship: “Then the
9A. Rowland, “The Sin of Jeroboam,” The Pulpit Commentary, accessed December 4, 2018.
https://biblehub.com/sermons/auth/rowland/the_sin_of_jeroboam.htm
10A. L. Breslich, “Baasha,” in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, accessed December 4, 2018. https://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/baasha.html
word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but I will bring the evil upon his house in his son’s days’” (21:28-29).
The entire chapter of 2 Kings 9 reveals what happens to Jezebel when Elisha the prophet raises up Jehu to take back the throne of Israel. That narrative fulfills this prophecy of Elijah against Ahab and Jezebel (as well as Joram and Ahaziah) found in verses 21-24 and verse 29 of 1 Kings 21.