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Ahab Humbles Himself

25 (A)Surely there was no one who sold himself to do what is evil in the sight of Yahweh like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. 26 (B)And he acted very abominably in following idols, (C)according to all that the Amorites had done, whom Yahweh dispossessed before the sons of Israel.

27 Now it happened when Ahab heard these words, that (D)he tore his clothes and put [a]on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about [b]despondently. 28 Then the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “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 (E)in his son’s days.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 21:27 Lit sackcloth on his flesh
  2. 1 Kings 21:27 Or softly

25 (There had never been anyone like Ahab, who was firmly committed[a] to doing evil in the sight of[b] the Lord, urged on by his wife Jezebel.[c] 26 He was so wicked he worshiped the disgusting idols,[d] just as the Amorites[e] whom the Lord had driven out from before the Israelites.)

27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He slept in sackcloth and walked around dejected. 28 The Lord’s message came to Elijah the Tishbite, 29 “Have you noticed how Ahab shows remorse[f] before me? Because he shows remorse before me, I will not bring disaster on his dynasty during his lifetime, but during the reign of his son.”[g]

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 21:25 tn Heb “who sold himself.”
  2. 1 Kings 21:25 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
  3. 1 Kings 21:25 tn Heb “like Ahab…whom his wife Jezebel incited.”
  4. 1 Kings 21:26 tn The Hebrew word used here, גִלּוּלִים (gillulim) is always used as a disdainful reference to idols. It is generally thought to have originally referred to “dung pellets” (cf. KBL 183 s.v. גִלּוּלִים). It is only one of several terms used in this way, such as אֱלִילִים (ʾelilim, “worthless things”) and הֲבָלִים (havalim, “vanities” or “empty winds”).
  5. 1 Kings 21:26 tn Heb “He acted very abominably by walking after the disgusting idols, according to all which the Amorites had done.”
  6. 1 Kings 21:29 tn Or “humbles himself.” The expression occurs a second time later in this verse.
  7. 1 Kings 21:29 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.”