17:1 Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As certainly as the Lord God of Israel lives (whom I serve), 1 there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command.” 2
18:1 Some time later, in the third year of the famine, the Lord told Elijah, 3 “Go, make an appearance before Ahab, so I may send rain on the surface of the ground.”
21:4 So Ahab went into his palace, bitter and angry that Naboth the Jezreelite had said, 9 “I will not sell to you my ancestral inheritance.” 10 He lay down on his bed, pouted, 11 and would not eat.
21:8 She wrote out orders, 12 signed Ahab’s name to them, 13 and sealed them with his seal. She then sent the orders 14 to the leaders 15 and to the nobles who lived in Naboth’s city. 16
21:15 When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she 17 said to Ahab, “Get up, take possession of the vineyard Naboth the Jezreelite refused to sell you for silver, for Naboth is no longer alive; he’s dead.”
21:20 When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, 18 “So, you have found me, my enemy!” Elijah 19 replied, “I have found you, because you are committed 20 to doing evil in the sight of 21 the Lord. 21:21 The Lord says, 22 ‘Look, I am ready to bring disaster 23 on you. I will destroy you 24 and cut off every last male belonging to Ahab in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated. 25
22:39 The rest of the events of Ahab’s reign, including a record of his accomplishments and how he built a luxurious palace and various cities, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 29
22:51 In the seventeenth year of King Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah, Ahab’s son Ahaziah became king over Israel in Samaria. 30 He ruled for two years over Israel.
1 tn Heb “before whom I stand.”
2 tn Heb “except at the command of my word.”
3 tn Heb “the word of the
4 tn Heb “grass.”
5 tn Heb “to cut off.”
6 sn Your servant. By referring to Ben Hadad as Ahab’s servant, they are suggesting that Ahab make him a subject in a vassal treaty arrangement.
7 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ahab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
8 sn He is my brother. Ahab’s response indicates that he wants to make a parity treaty and treat Ben Hadad as an equal partner.
9 tn Heb “on account of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite spoke to him.”
10 tn Heb “I will not give to you the inheritance of my fathers.”
11 tn Heb “turned away his face.”
12 tn Heb “scrolls.”
13 tn Heb “in the name of Ahab.”
14 tn Heb “scrolls.”
15 tn Heb “elders.”
16 tn Heb “to the nobles who were in his city, the ones who lived with Naboth.”
17 tn Heb “Jezebel”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“she”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
18 tn Heb “and Ahab said to Elijah.” The narrative is elliptical and streamlined. The words “when Elijah arrived” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Elijah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
20 tn Heb “you have sold yourself.”
21 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
22 tn The introductory formula “the
23 sn Disaster. There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text. The word translated “disaster” (רָעָה, ra’ah) is similar to the word translated “evil” (v. 20, הָרַע, hara’). Ahab’s sins would receive an appropriate punishment.
24 tn Heb “I will burn after you.” Some take the verb בָּעַר (ba’ar) to mean here “sweep away.” See the discussion of this verb in the notes at 14:10 and 16:3.
25 tn Heb “and I will cut off from Ahab those who urinate against a wall, [including both those who are] restrained and let free [or “abandoned”] in Israel.” The precise meaning of the idiomatic phrase עָצוּר וְעָזוּב (’atsur vÿ’azuv, translated here “weak and incapacitated”) is uncertain. For various options see HALOT 871 s.v. עצר and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 107. The two terms are usually taken as polar opposites (“slaves and freemen” or “minors and adults”), but Cogan and Tadmor, on the basis of contextual considerations (note the usage with אֶפֶס (’efes), “nothing but”) in Deut 32:36 and 2 Kgs 14:26, argue convincingly that the terms are synonyms, meaning “restrained and abandoned,” and refer to incapable or incapacitated individuals.
26 tn “Dogs will eat the ones who belonging to Ahab who die in the city.”
27 tn Or “humbles himself.” The expression occurs a second time later in this verse.
28 tn Heb “I will not bring the disaster during his days, [but] in the days of his son I will bring the disaster on his house.”
29 tn Heb “As for the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the house of ivory which he built and all the cities which he built, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
30 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.