1 Kings 21:9

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
In the letters, she wrote:

Hebrew Names Version
She wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Navot on high among the people:

King James Version
And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:

English Standard Version
And she wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people.

New Century Version
The letter she wrote said: "Declare a day during which the people are to fast. Call the people together, and give Naboth a place of honor among them.

New English Translation
This is what she wrote: "Observe a time of fasting and seat Naboth in front of the people.

Amplified Bible
Now in the letters she wrote, "Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people;

New American Standard Bible
Now she had written in the letters, saying, "Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people;

Geneva Bible (1587)
And shee wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaime a fast, and set Naboth among the chiefe of the people,

Legacy Standard Bible
And she wrote in the letters, saying, "Call for a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people;

Complete Jewish Bible
In the letters she wrote, "Proclaim a fast, and give Navot the seat of honor among the people.

Darby Translation
And she wrote in the letter saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people;

Easy-to-Read Version
This is what the letter said: "Announce that there will be a day of fasting when the people will eat nothing. Then call all the people of the town together for a meeting. At the meeting we will talk about Naboth.

George Lamsa Translation
And she wrote in the letter, saying, Proclaim a fast and set Naboth on high among the people;

Good News Translation
The letters said: "Proclaim a day of fasting, call the people together, and give Naboth the place of honor.

Lexham English Bible
She had written in the letters, saying, "Call a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people.

Literal Translation
And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and wrote thus in ye letter: Proclame a fast, and set Naboth aboue in the people,

American Standard Version
And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:

Bible in Basic English
And in the letter she said, Let a time of public sorrow be fixed, and put Naboth at the head of the people;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And she wrote in the letter, saying: Proclayme a fast, and set Naboth on hye among the people:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And she wrote in the letters, saying: 'Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people;

King James Version (1611)
And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaime a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he said to the messengers of the son of Ader, Say to your master, All things that thou hast sent to thy servant about at first I will do; but this thing I shall not be able to do. And the men departed, and carried back the answer to him.

English Revised Version
And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:

Berean Standard Bible
In the letters she wrote: "Proclaim a fast and give Naboth a seat of honor among the people.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sotheli this was the sentence of the lettre; Preche ye fastyng, and make ye Naboth to sitte among the firste men of the puple;

Young's Literal Translation
and she writeth in the letters, saying, `Proclaim a fast, and cause Naboth to sit at the head of the people,

Update Bible Version
And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:

Webster's Bible Translation
And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:

World English Bible
She wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people:

New King James Version
She wrote in the letters, saying, 4 Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people;

New Living Translation
In her letters she commanded: "Call the citizens together for a time of fasting, and give Naboth a place of honor.

New Life Bible
She wrote in the letters, saying, "Tell the people that it is a time when they should not eat. And put Naboth in front of the people.

New Revised Standard
She wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now she wrote in the letters, saying, - Proclaim ye a fast, and cause Naboth to sit at the head of the people;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And this was the tenor of the letters: Proclaim a fast, and make Naboth sit among the chief of the people;

Revised Standard Version
And she wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now she wrote in the letters, saying, "Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people;

Contextual Overview

⁵ Jezebel his wife came to him. She said, "What's going on? Why are you so out of sorts and refusing to eat?" ⁶ He told her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite. I said, ‘Give me your vineyard—I'll pay you for it or, if you'd rather, I'll give you another vineyard in exchange.' And he said, ‘I'll never give you my vineyard.'" ⁷ Jezebel said, "Is this any way for a king of Israel to act? Aren't you the boss? On your feet! Eat! Cheer up! I'll take care of this; I'll get the vineyard of this Naboth the Jezreelite for you." ⁸She wrote letters over Ahab's signature, stamped them with his official seal, and sent them to the elders in Naboth's city and to the civic leaders. She wrote "Call for a fast day and put Naboth at the head table. Then seat a couple of stool pigeons across from him who, in front of everybody will say, ‘You! You blasphemed God and the king!' Then they'll throw him out and stone him to death." ¹¹And they did it. The men of the city—the elders and civic leaders—followed Jezebel's instructions that she wrote in the letters sent to them. They called for a fast day and seated Naboth at the head table. Then they brought in two stool pigeons and seated them opposite Naboth. In front of everybody the two degenerates accused him, "He blasphemed God and the king!" The company threw him out in the street, stoned him mercilessly, and he died. ¹⁵ When Jezebel got word that Naboth had been stoned to death, she told Ahab, "Go for it, Ahab—take the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for your own, the vineyard he refused to sell you. Naboth is no more; Naboth is dead." ¹⁶ The minute Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he set out for the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite and claimed it for his own.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Proclaim a fast: Genesis 34:13-17, Isaiah 58:4, Matthew 2:8, Matthew 23:14, Luke 20:47, John 18:28

on high among: Heb. in the top of

Reciprocal: Genesis 34:14 - uncircumcised Genesis 39:17 - General Exodus 32:5 - made proclamation 2 Samuel 14:30 - And Absalom's 2 Samuel 15:12 - while he offered Proverbs 7:14 - this Proverbs 18:5 - to overthrow Proverbs 24:28 - not Ecclesiastes 3:16 - General Joel 2:15 - sanctify Micah 7:3 - the great Mark 14:64 - General

Cross-References

Genesis 16:1
Sarai, Abram's wife, hadn't yet produced a child. She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar. Sarai said to Abram, " God has not seen fit to let me have a child. Sleep with my maid. Maybe I can get a family from her." Abram agreed to do what Sarai said.

Genesis 17:20
"And Ishmael? Yes, I heard your prayer for him. I'll also bless him; I'll make sure he has plenty of children—a huge family. He'll father twelve princes; I'll make him a great nation. But I'll establish my covenant with Isaac whom Sarah will give you about this time next year."

Genesis 21:1
God visited Sarah exactly as he said he would; God did to Sarah what he promised: Sarah became pregnant and gave Abraham a son in his old age, and at the very time God had set. Abraham named him Isaac. When his son was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded.

Genesis 21:5
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born. Sarah said, God has blessed me with laughter and all who get the news will laugh with me!

Genesis 21:14
Abraham got up early the next morning, got some food together and a canteen of water for Hagar, put them on her back and sent her away with the child. She wandered off into the desert of Beersheba. When the water was gone, she left the child under a shrub and went off, fifty yards or so. She said, "I can't watch my son die." As she sat, she broke into sobs.

Genesis 21:24
Abraham said, "I swear it."

2 Chronicles 30:10
So the couriers set out, going from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, as far north as Zebulun. But the people poked fun at them, treated them as a joke. But not all; some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun weren't too proud to accept the invitation and come to Jerusalem. It was better in Judah—God worked powerfully among them to make it unanimous, responding to the orders sent out by the king and his officials, orders backed up by the word of God .

Job 30:1
"But no longer. Now I'm the butt of their jokes— young ruffians! whippersnappers! Why, I considered their fathers mere inexperienced pups. But they are worse than dogs—good for nothing, stray, mangy animals, Half-starved, scavenging the back alleys, howling at the moon; Homeless guttersnipes chewing on old bones and licking old tin cans; Outcasts from the community, cursed as dangerous delinquents. Nobody would put up with them; they were driven from the neighborhood. You could hear them out there at the edge of town, yelping and barking, huddled in junkyards, A gang of beggars and no-names, thrown out on their ears.

Psalms 22:6
And here I am, a nothing—an earthworm, something to step on, to squash. Everyone pokes fun at me; they make faces at me, they shake their heads: "Let's see how God handles this one; since God likes him so much, let him help him!"

Proverbs 20:11
Young people eventually reveal by their actions if their motives are on the up and up.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And she wrote in the letters, saying, proclaim a fast,.... Pretending fears of some dreadful calamity coming upon the nation, and therefore fasting and humiliation were necessary to avert it, and it would be right to inquire what crimes were committed by men among them, and punish them for them; and intimated to them that Naboth should be chosen as the great offender, and be accused, condemned, and put to death, R. Joseph Kimchi a thinks the phrase signifies "call an assembly or congregation"; convene a court of judicature, from the use of the word in the Talmudic language b; and so it is thought it is used in Jeremiah 36:6 and indeed it can hardly be thought that Jezebel should have much notion of fasting; and besides, if it was a public fast, why should it be proclaimed only in Jezreel, and not throughout the kingdom?

and set Naboth on high among the people; the court being set, bring him to the bar and arraign him; perhaps in their courts of judicature there was a high place above the heads of the people, where criminals accused used to stand when they took their trials, that they might be seen and heard by all in court.

a Apud David. Kimchium in loc. b Vid. Buxtorf. Talmud. Lexic. in rad צסת

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The object of this fast was at once to raise a prejudice against Naboth, who was assumed by the elders to have disgraced the town; and at the same time to give an air of religion to the proceedings, which might blind persons to their real injustice.

Set Naboth on high among his people - This was not an order to do Naboth any, even apparent, honor; but simply a command to bring him forward before a court or assembly, where he might be seen by all, tried, and condemned.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 21:9. Proclaim a fast — Intimate that there is some great calamity coming upon the nation, because of some evil tolerated in it.

Set Naboth on high — Bring him to a public trial.