NABOTH'S VINEYARD

317

that were in his city, that dwelt with Naboth. And she wrote in the letter, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people: and set two worthless men before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst curse God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he die. And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as it was written in the letter which she had sent unto them. They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. And the two worthless men came in and sat before him: and they bare witness against him in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did curse God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, Naboth is stoned, and is dead.

And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth was stoned, and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead. And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that he rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who dwelleth in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? and thou shalt speak unto him, saying, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee. Because thou hast sold thyself to do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord, behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will utterly sweep thee away, and will cut off from Ahab every man child and I will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and hast made Israel to sin. And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Seest thou how Ahab

humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house.

As to the last words of this striking story it is enough for me to refer to what I said as to the death of David's son after the murder of Uriah. The prediction that dogs shall lick up the blood of Ahab is, perhaps, not cancelled by the further announcement that the evil is to come in the days of his son, for according to old Israelite notions the same blood which flows in the veins of the father flows also in the veins of the son. In Elijah's answer to Ahab he does not repeat the words which he has been bidden to say. Apparently the compiler has here substituted his own stereotyped phrases in the place of the earlier narrative.

§ 5. We now have to hear some quite different stories about the life and history of Ahab, written by a different pen. Ahab will appear to us in them in a more favourable light. Elijah is not mentioned.

And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine. And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have. And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children. And I will send my servants unto thee to-morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the house of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in their eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away. Then the king of Israel called all the elders, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he hath sent unto me for my wives and my children; my silver and my gold I denied him not. And the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent. Wherefore

he said unto the messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again.

AHAB AND BEN-HADAD

319

And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me. And the king of

Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his armour boast himself as he that putteth it off. And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the huts, that he said unto his servants, Set the engines in position. And they set the engines in position against the city.

Then Ahab numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand. And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out from Samaria. And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive. And the king of Israel went out, and took the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. And the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse.

And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their god is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we: but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And do this thing; take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put governors in their room and number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so. And a man of God came and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys; therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. And the children of Israel were numbered, and were victualled, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little

flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country. And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day. But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand men that were left.

And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city. And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, we pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life. So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother. Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it; and they said, Is thy brother Ben-hadad? Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities which my father took from thy father I will restore; and thou shalt have a quarter in Damascus, as my father had in Samaria: and as for me, do thou send me away with this covenant. So Ahab made a covenant with him, and sent him away.

And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth-gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria? And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramothgilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses. And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to-day. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here one more prophet

A PROPHET OF EVIL

321

of the Lord, that we might inquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one more man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah': but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Fetch quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah. Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said, Thus saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Syrians until they be consumed. And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the king's hand.

And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the prophets speak good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak thou that which is good. And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak. So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go up, and prosper; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king. And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou speak unto me nothing but that which is true in the name of the Lord? And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in peace.

And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? And he said, Not so; hear thou the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, Who will beguile Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner; and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will beguile him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt beguile him, and shalt

Y