1 Kings (Class Edit)
1 1: Now King David was old and advanced in years; and although they covered him with clothes, he could not get warm.
3: So they sought for a beautiful maiden throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Ab'ishag the Shu'nammite, and brought her to the king.
4: The maiden was beautiful and became the king's nurse; but the king knew her not.
In the Bible, "to know" someone is to have sex with them. We still use that phrase in legal speech, such as having "carnal knowledge" of someone, meaning have sex with them. The writer may be deliberately showing the old King David, famous for his love affair with Bathsheba, now unable to enjoy a woman right next to him in bed. The reference to Adonijah, "son of Haggith" (v. 5, below) refers to David's son by another wife (Haggith, not Bathsheba). Note the criticism of David for never teaching his son, thus causing his misconduct. The son is linked to another rebellious son, Absalom, by being "handsome."
5: Now Adoni'jah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king."
6: His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, "Why have you done so?" He was also a very handsome man; and he was born next after Ab'salom.
7: He plotted with Jo'ab the son of Zeru'iah and with Abi'athar the priest; they followed Adoni'jah and helped him.
11: Then Nathan said to Bathshe'ba the mother of Solomon, "Have you not heard that Adoni'jah has become king and David our lord does not know it?
12: Now let me give you counsel, so save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.
13: Go in to King David, and say, `Did not the king swear to your maidservant, saying, "Solomon your son shall reign after me"? Why then is Adoni'jah king?'
14: Then while you are still speaking with the king, I will come in after you and confirm your words."
There is no record of such a promise in the Bible; it's not clear if this is being made up to a senile (foolishly old) David.
15: So Bathshe'ba went to the king.
22: While she was speaking with him, Nathan the prophet came in.
24: And Nathan said, "My lord, have you said, `Adoni'jah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne'?
25: For he has invited the king's sons, Joab the commander of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and they are eating and drinking before him, and saying, `Long live King Adonijah!' These sacrifices of Adonijah would be a symbolic way of publicly claiming the crown (kingship), since the priest Abiathar is involved.
32: King David said, "Call Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada." So they came before the king.
33: And the king said, "Take the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon to ride on my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon;
34: and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; then blow the trumpet, and say, `Long live King Solomon!'
50: And Adoni'jah feared Solomon; and he arose, and went, and caught hold of the horns of the altar.
This was a plea for "sanctuary" (protection from the Temple, as later, from the Christian church). Note the symbolic actions involved in making Solomon king (he rides on his father's mule, etc.).
53: So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and did obeisance to King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, "Go to your house."
2 1: When David's time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying,
2: "I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man. . . .
5: "Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me.
This refers to Jaob's killing of Abner (Saul's general, later on David's side). This scene of "settling scores" inspired the ending of the Godfather movie, where Corleone's enemies are killed by the son.
6: Act according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace.
8: And there is also with you Shim'e-i, who cursed me when I went to Mahana'im; but when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the LORD, saying, `I will not put you to death with the sword.'
9: You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol."
Did David speak these words, or were they put in his mouth to justify Solomon's blood bath (the killing of his enemies)?
10: Then David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
12: So Solomon sat upon the throne of David his father, his kingdom established.
13: Then Adoni'jah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, mother of Solomon.
15: He said, "You know the kingdom was mine, and all Israel expected me to reign; but the kingdom become my brother's, for it was his from the LORD.
16: And now I have one request to make.
17: Ask King Solomon to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife."
18: Bathshe'ba said, "I will speak to the king."
By sleeping with King David's "concubine," like Absalom, Adonijah tries to show he is the true king. Bathsheba tells her son what Adonijah asks; but it's not clear if she knows what Solomon will do to remain king: kill Adonijah. Note, Adonijah agrees the kingdom was given to Solomon by the Lord (v. 15).
25: So King Solomon sent Benai'ah the son of Jehoi'ada; and he struck Adonijah down, and he died.
26: And to Abiathar the priest the king said, "Go to Anathoth, to your estate. You deserve death, but I will not now put you to death, because you bore the ark of the Lord GOD before David my father, and because you shared in all the affliction of my father."
27: So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, fulfilling the word of the LORD which he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
As a descendet of Eli, Abiathar's death would fulfill God's prophecy that none of Eli's family would prosper as priests. This uses God to justify human actions, as we do today.
28: When the news came to Joab -- for Joab had supported Adonijah -- Joab fled to the tent of the LORD and caught hold of the horns of the altar.
29: And when it was told King Solomon, "Joab has fled to the tent of the LORD," Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, "Go, strike him down."
33: "So shall their [Abner and Amasa, the two people Joab killed] blood come back upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his descendants for ever; but to David, and to his descendants, and to his house, and to his throne, there shall be peace from the LORD for evermore."
"Peace" [Hebrew: shalom] is another key word in the Bible (like "Sabbath" = "rest"). Solomon's name is related to "shalom" (peace).
35: The king put Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in place of Joab, and the king put Zadok the priest in the place of Abi'athar.
Now we have another line of priests, traced from Zadok from this point on. Most scholars believe that the religious group of Jesus' time, the Sadduces, got their name from Zadok.
36: Then the king summoned Shimei and said to him, "Build yourself a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there, and do not go forth from there to any place whatever.
37: Otherwise you shall die; your blood shall be upon your own head."
38: So Shim'e-i dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
The murders of Solomon's enemies are justified as coming from the dying King David (the orders probably did not come from him). Solomon's hands are clean. The story places the blame for the deaths of Abner and Amasa on Joab, not David, cleaning up David's image. The story of Shimei is similar to the story of Michael Corleone's brother-in-law in The Godfather movie, who is told to stay in Florida as punishment for an offense against the Corleone family. Michael tricks the brother-in-law and has him killed before he goes to Florida.
41: And when Solomon was told Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned,
46: the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and struck him down. So the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
There seems to be irony in the final verse (46): the kingdom was "established" on murders, not on righteousness!
3 5: At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask what I shall give you."
6: And Solomon said,
9: "Give thy servant an understanding mind to govern thy people, to discern between good and evil?"
11: And God said, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,
12: Behold, I give you a wise mind, so none like you has been before you and none shall arise after you.
God's remark that Solomon did not ask the life of his enemies is ironic: Solomon has killed all his enemies!
13: I give also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days.
14: And if you walk in my ways, keeping my commandments, as your father David did, I will lengthen your days."
Note how David is idealized ("as your father David walked"), despite his many abuses (Bathsheba, the murder of Uriah, etc.). The following is among the best-known stories in the Bible:
16: Two harlots came to the king, and stood before him.
17: The one woman said, "Oh, my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house.
18: Then this woman also gave birth; we were alone; there was no one else with us in the house, only we two were in the house.
19: And this woman's son died in the night, because she lay on it.
20: And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while your maidservant slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom.
21: When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, it was dead; but when I looked at it closely in the morning, behold, it was not the child that I had borne."
22: But the other woman said, "No, the living child is mine, and the dead child is yours." The first said, "No, the dead child is yours, and the living child is mine." Thus they spoke before the king.
23: Then the king said, "The one says, `This is my son that is alive, and your son is dead'; and the other says, `No; but your son is dead, and my son is the living one.'"
24: And the king said, "Bring me a sword." So a sword was brought before the king.
25: And the king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other."
26: Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her heart yearned for her son, "Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means slay it." But the other said, "It shall be neither mine nor yours; divide it."
27: Then the king answered and said, "Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means slay it; she is its mother."
28: And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they stood in awe of the king, because they saw the wisdom of God was in him, to give justice.
6 1: In the four hundred and eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, he began to build the house of the LORD.
38: And in the eleventh year, in the month of Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished in all its parts, and according to all its specifications. He was seven years in building it.
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6: Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, in the inner sanctuary of the house, in the most holy place, underneath the wings of the cherubim.
9: There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb [Sinai].
10: And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD,
11: so the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.
12: Then Solomon said, "The LORD has set the sun in the heavens, but has said he would dwell in thick darkness.
The Sinai moment is repeated here, to "legitimate" the new Temple; and is repeated in the scene of Elijah on Mount Carmel; and then repeated in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. The Sabbath, the Passover, and Sinai are the three founding moments of Jewish identity. The Sabbath = rest; Passover = Freedom; Sinai = the Law (Torah). Jesus and St. Paul repeat these 3 motifs: Jesus = the final rest; Jesus = the Law (the fulfillment of the Law, in Spirit and perfect obedience); Jesus = freedom from slavery to sin. As for the "cloud," this could be a symbolic displacement of the Sun god of other religions. The Deuteronomist says that God "set the sun in the heavens" (thus denying the sun is a god) but has chosen to dwell in darkness: this takes power and glory from the sun. Something similar happens when Elijah, the prophet, hears "the still, small voice," depriving thunder and lightning (identified with gods in other religions) of their power; the Jews don't need thnder and lightning; their god speaks in a small voice.
13: I have built thee an exalted house, a place for thee to dwell in forever.
25: Now O LORD, God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father what thou hast promised him, saying, `There shall never fail you a man before me to sit upon the throne of Israel, if only your sons take heed to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.'
Note the tension (conflict) between giving God a house and knowing God cannot reside in a house! This is the special genius of the Hebrew religion, which has been passed to other cultures; this sense that God must never be limited by idols, by buildings, etc. Note v. 27. Still the house is built to preserve the religion! This is the paradox the Deuteronomist is aware of: form is necessary to preserve substance. Centralized worship is important to preserve the Shema: know the Lord your God is ONE. If people worship God in many places, there will be many gods! The paradox is that God must be limited, to one place, in order to insure his unity! This conflict will never be resolved and will lead to the end of Israel as a nation; but not to "Israel" as God's people. The irony is that only after the fall of "Israel" (the nation) does "Israel" (God's chosen people) take over the world ("Israel" now identified with gentiles [non-Jews] as well as Jews, as St. Paul showed).
27: "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!
33: "When thy people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against thee, if they turn again to thee, and acknowledge thy name, and pray and make supplication to thee in this house;
This seems post-Exilic; that is, after the Exile, or at least after the exile of the Northern kingdom. Note the theme of universalism in v. 41ff. (following verses). Israel pleads for non-Jews as well as Jews. This theme of universalism becomes important in the prophetic writings, leading to the Jewish sect called Christianity.
34: then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again to the land which thou gavest to their fathers.
41: "Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of thy people Israel, comes from a far country for thy name's sake
42: (for they shall hear of thy great name, and thy mighty hand, and of thy outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house,
43: hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to thee; in order that all the peoples of the earth may know thy name and fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.
The following is prophecy after the fact (at least after the fall of the northern kingdom in 722):
44: "If thy people
46: sin against thee -- there is no man who does not sin -- and thou art angry with them, and give them to an enemy, so they are captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near;
48: if they repent and pray to thee toward their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;
49: then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
Note the reference to the founding moment of the Jewish people: the escape from slavery in Egypt; and, before that, the choosing of Abraham to found God's chosen people; then, in v. 56, there's the motif of "rest" repeated. Other motifs are the "promise" and univeralism.
53: For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be you heritage, as you declared through Moses, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt.
56: "Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to his people Israel; not one word has failed of all his good promise,
60: that all the peoples of the earth may know the LORD is God; there is no other."
9 1: When Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD and the king's house and all that Solomon desired to build,
2: the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.
3: And the LORD said to him,
4: If you will walk before me, as David your father walked, with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you, and keeping my statutes and my ordinances,
5: then I will establish your royal throne over Israel for ever, as I promised David your father, saying, `There shall not fail you a man upon the throne of Israel.'
6: But if you or your children do not keep my commandments which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,
7: I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and the house which I have consecrated for my name I will cast out of my sight; and Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
8: And this house will become a heap of ruins; everyone passing by it will be astonished, and will hiss; and they will say, `Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?'
9: Then they will say, `Because they forsook the LORD their God who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore the LORD has brought all this evil upon them.'"
Prophecy after the fact; this text is usually dated around the middle of the 6th century BCE, near or after the fall of Judah & after the fall of the northern kingdom, called Israel (dated 722 BCE).
10 1: Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions.
6: And she said to the king, "The report was true which I heard in my own land of your affairs and of your wisdom."
24: And the whole earth sought Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind.
The writer praises Solomon but hints of betrayal of the prophetic class, opposed to "chariots and horsemen," "silver," etc. This criticism becomes stronger in the next chapters. The king relied on the prophets for legitimacy, but aslo resented the limits prophets placed on their rule. Prophets, of course, would prefer to rely on God rather than horsemen!
26: And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen.
27: And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone.
28: And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Ku'e.
11 1: Now King Solomon loved many foreign women: the daughter of Pharaoh, and Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
2: from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, "You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods"; Solomon clung to these in love.
To insure the glory of his kingdom, Solomon must oppose God's will, which is the centralized worship of one God. These wives insured political alliances which made Israel strong. To be friendly with other nations, Solomon had to be friendly with their gods too! The kings are judged not by their military or economic success, but by whether they maintained centralized worship and avoided idolatry (worship in high places, etc.). Note, "Solomon clung to these in love" (v. 2) suggests they stole his heart from God (v. 4).
3: He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
4: For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
5: Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
6: So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done.
7: Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem.
8: And so he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
11: Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, "Since you have not kept my covenant, I will tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant.
Prophecy after the fact: the writer knows the kingdom will be split in two; he knows Judah will survive hundreds of years after the northern kingdom (Israel) falls; this is "for the sake of David." Note, v. 14, God is in control of history, even when his people suffer:
13: However I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen."
14: And the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite; he was of the royal house in Edom.
26: Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite, also lifted up his hand against the king.
29: And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had clad himself with a new garment; and the two of them were alone in the open country.
30: Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces.
This is what is called a symbolic action: showing the future by acting it out. So the prophet acts out how the 12 tribes will be divided.
31: And he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'I will tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes
32: (but Solomon shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel),
33: because he has forsaken me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the Ammonites, and has not walked in my ways, doing what is right, as David his father did.
38: And if you walk in my ways, and do right as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you.
39: And I will for this afflict the descendants of David, but not for ever.'"
40: Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam; but Jeroboam fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
42: And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over Israel forty years.
43: And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
The year of Solomon's death is usually given as 933 BCE.
12 1: Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
3: And Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam,
4: "Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke upon us, and we will serve you."
6: Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men, who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, "How do you advise me to answer this people?"
7: And they said to him, "If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them, and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants for ever."
Note the wisdom of the elders' advice; but Rehoboam foolishly ignores it.
10: But the young men who had grown up with him said, "Thus shall you speak to this people who said to you, `Your father made our yoke heavy, but do you lighten it for us'; thus shall you say to them, `My little finger is thicker than my father's loins.
11: My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.'"
16: And when all Israel saw the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, "What portion have we in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David." So Israel departed to their tents.
To go to their tents means they are willing to fight alone, as separate people.
17: But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who dwelt in the cities of Judah.
18: Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, taskmaster over forced labor, and Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam made haste to mount his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem.
The people escaped from Egypt to freedom, but now the House of David has made them slaves again, to maintain luxury.
20: And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David, but the tribe of Judah only.
26: And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David;
27: if this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehobo'am king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehobo'am king of Judah."
28: So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, "You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt."
29: And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
30: And this thing became a sin, for the people went to the one at Bethel and to the other as far as Dan.
31: He also made houses on high places, and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites.
Jeroboam, king of the northern kingdom (Israel) made a reasonable political decision, to insure the people did not go to Jerusalem and be influenced by Judah's politics, so turn against him. But the prophet party could not compromise. Worship that was outside the Temple in Jerusalem was considered idolatry and forbidden. So Jeroboam gets bad marks in the D history. The "calves" were "bulls" and suggested bull worhip of other nations. One can also see how the story of the Golden Calf (where two calves are mentioned) was written backwards from this later incident; that is, the story of the Golden Calf, which caused Moses to break the tablets of the Law (thus breaking the Sinai Covenant that God had with his Chosen People) referred to this later political conflict between the two kingdoms (north and south) and was a way to make the attack on the worship of the "two calves" seem worse, by locating a similar incident in the time of Moses, who condemned such worship as idolatry.
14 Jeroboam asks his wife to consult, Ahijah, the prophet who anointed him before his apostasy (allowing idolatry). The prophet gives the following answer (vv. 14-16). (This is prophecy after the fact, since the northern kingdom, called Israel, fell to the Assyrians in 722 BCE.)
14: The LORD will
16: give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and which he made Israel to sin."
20: And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years; and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.
The book of kings is in three parts: 1. The United Kingdom, 2. The divided kingdoms; 3. Judah (after Israel's fall in 722 BCE). From now on (Part 2) the writer alternates between a northern ruler and a southern ruler of the same period:
21: Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah.
22: And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy by their sins more than all that their fathers had done.
23: For they built high places, and pillars, and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree;
24: and there were male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.
To do evil meant idolatry. That was the standard the D writer had; but kings had other worries: to maintain an army, to make allies, etc. V. 30 (below) links Judah's apostasy (betrayal of God) with a war between north and south:
30: And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually.
31: And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.
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23: In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and reigned for twelve years.
24: He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; and he fortified the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.
25: Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him.
Omri was one of the greatest kings of the time; in fact, Israel was called the House of Omri. But that didn't mean anything to the D writer, who judged kings based on the principle of centralized worship. A king of the northern kingdom would get a bad grade from the D writer, who favored centralized worship, which was only possible in the southern kingdom (Jerusalem)! "Jeroboam" (v. 26) becomes the model of evil kings, because he was the first to build the two calves (bulls) against centralized worship.
26: For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam.
28: And Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.
29: In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Sama'ria twenty-two years.
30: And he did evil in the sight of the LORD more than all that were before him.
31: And he took for wife Jezebel, and served Baal, and worshiped him.
17 The following are part of the Elijah/Elisha cycle of stories, imitated in Christian hagiography (holy writings; writings about saints). Elijah's first two miracles look ahead to Jesus feeding the multitude and reviving the dead.
1: Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word."
8: Then the word of the LORD came to him,
9: "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you."
10: And when he came to the gate of the city, a widow was gathering sticks; he called to her and said, "Bring me water."
11: And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me some bread."
12: And she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a cruse; and now, I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."
13: And Eli'jah said to her, "Go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make for yourself and your son.
14: For thus says the LORD the God of Israel, `The jar of meal shall not be spent, and the oil shall not fail, until the day the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'"
15: And she went and did as Elijah said; and her household ate for many days.
16: The jar of meal was not spent, neither did the oil fail, according to the word of the LORD.
17: After this the son of the woman became ill; and there was no breath in him.
18: And she said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to cause the death of my son!"
19: And he said to her, "Give me your son." And he took him from her bosom, and carried him up into the upper chamber, where he lodged, and laid him upon his own bed.
21: Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this child's soul come into him again."
22: And the LORD heard Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
18 1: After many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth."
The stress on rain from God suggests that God, not the Canaanite storm god, Ba'al ("Lord"), whom Ahab worships, controlled the rain.
17: When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said, "Is it you, troubler of Israel?"
18: And he answered, "I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father's house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals.
19: Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
20: So Ahab gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
21: And Eli'jah said, "How long will you go limping with two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him."
22: Then Elijah said to the people, "I only am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
23: Bring two bulls; let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; and I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, and put no fire to it.
24: And you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, he is God."
25: Then Elijah said to the prophets of Ba'al, "Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it."
26: And they did so and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, "O Ba'al, answer us!" But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped about the altar which they had made.
27: And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, "Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is musing, or he has gone aside, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened."
"He has gone aside" means their god has gone to relieve himself ("gone to the bathroom"). Elijah is making fun of idols. Later, the triple use of water shows that even with wet wood, the real God can start a fire.
28: And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.
29: And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice; no one answered, no one heeded.
30: Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me"; and all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down;
31: Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, "Israel shall be your name";
32: and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.
33: And he put the wood in order, and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, "Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering, and on the wood."
34: And he said, "Do it a second time"; and they did it a second time. And he said, "Do it a third time"; and they did it a third time.
35: And the water ran round about the altar, and filled the trench also with water.
36: And Elijah said, "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and have done these things at thy word."
38: Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39: And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, he is God; the LORD, he is God."
40: And Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape." And they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and killed them there.
43: And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." And he went up and looked, and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go again seven times."
44: And at the seventh time he said, "Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising out of the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, `Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.'"
"A little cloud like a man's hand" is a famous phrase, suggesting a small sign for a big event. Mt. Carmel is famous as the later site of the Christian Carmelite nuns (about 12th century). Another miracle occurs in v. 46 when, God's spirit allows Elijah to run faster than Ahab's chariot (v. 46):
45: And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
46: And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
19 1: Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
2: Then Jez'ebel sent a messenger to Eli'jah, saying, "So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow."
3: Then he was afraid, and he arose and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4: But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die/
5: And he slept under a broom tree; and behold, an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat."
6: And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank, and lay down again.
7: And the angel of the LORD came again a second time, and touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, else the journey will be too great for you."
8: And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
The D writer links Elijah to Moses: both are in the wilderness 40 days and nights (Moses on the mountain); both go to the same mountain to hear the word of God. But the voice of God has changed into "a still, small voice," a sign of a more rational idea of how God speaks. Today, our conscience is called the still small voice, through which God speaks. This denies the Canaanite storm god's (Ba'al) power (through storm and thunder).
9: And there he lodged in a cave; and the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
10: He said, "I have been jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."
11: And he said, "Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake;
12: and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
15: And the LORD said, "Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria;
16: and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel; and Eli'sha the son of Shaphat of A'bel-meho'lah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place."
God is in control of history, appointing even the head of Syria, Israel's enemy.
19: So he found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Eli'jah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him.
This passing of the mantle is part of idiomatic English: "the mantle has passed to X," for example. Jesus improves this story (v. 20), by saying, "Anyone who sets his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God."
20: And he left the oxen, and ran after Eli'jah, and said, "Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you." And he said to him, "Go back again; for what have I done to you?"
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5: Now Jezebel his wife came to Ahab and said, "Why is your spirit vexed that you eat no food?"
6: And he said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, `Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it'; and he answered, `I will not give you my vineyard.'"
7: And Jezebel his wife said to him, "Do you now govern Israel? Arise, and eat bread, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite."
8: So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal, and she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who dwelt with Naboth in his city.
9: And she wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people;
10: and set two base fellows opposite him, and let them bring a charge against him, saying, `You have cursed God and the king.' Then take him out, and stone him to death."
15: As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, "Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is dead."
16: And as soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab arose to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
17: Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
18: "Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in the vineyard of Naboth, to take possession.
Note the device as in the Tower of Babel story: even as Jezebel and Ahab "arise" to enjoy the fruit of their sin (the vineyard), Elijah "arises" to warn Ahab of certain punishment.
19: And you shall say to him, `Thus says the LORD, "Have you killed, and also taken possession?"' And you shall say to him, `Thus says the LORD: "In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood."'"
20: Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?" He answered, "I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD.
23: And of Jezebel the LORD also said, `The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the bounds of Jezreel.'
22 1: For three years Syria and Israel continued without war.
2: But in the third year Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel (Ahab).
3: And the king of Israel said to his servants, "Do you know that Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we keep quiet and do not take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?"
4: And he said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?"
A battle ensues; Ahab tries to disguise himself but is accidentally killed anyway:
34: But a certain man drew his bow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate; therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, "Turn about, and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded."
35: And the battle grew hot that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, until at evening he died; and the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot.
36: And about sunset a cry went through the army, "Every man to his city, and every man to his country!"
37: So the king died, and was brought to Sama'ria; and they buried the king in Sama'ria.
38: And they washed the chariot by the pool of Sama'ria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and the harlots washed themselves in it, according to the word of the LORD which he had spoken.
Ahab could not save himself; even disguised, an arrow found him. The prophecy came true.
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