1 Kings 21:19

Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — God commands Elijah to deliver a message to King Ahab while Ahab stands at the vineyard of Naboth, whom he had recently had killed to seize.

The words — הֲ/רָצַ֖חְתָּ (ha./ra.Tzach.ta) = have you murdered [H7523] and כֹּ֚ה (koh) = thus [H3541] frame the divine indictment and authoritative declaration.

The thread — The structure of divine questioning and judgment recurs in 2 Samuel 12:9 and Genesis 3:11, while the specific blood imagery is later noted in 1 Kings 22:38.

Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment of direct divine accountability for seizing property through violence, leaving no room for royal immunity.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְדִבַּרְתָּ֨ve./di.bar.Taand/ you will speak אֵלָ֜יו'e.La/vto/ him לֵאמֹ֗רle./Mor<to>/ saying כֹּ֚הkohthus אָמַ֣ר'a.Marhe says יְהוָ֔הYah.wehYahweh הֲרָצַ֖חְתָּha./ra.Tzach.ta¿/ have you murdered וְגַם־ve./gam-and/ also יָרָ֑שְׁתָּya.Ra.she.tahave you taken possession?וְדִבַּרְתָּ֨ve./di.bar.Taand/ you will speak אֵלָ֜יו'e.La/vto/ him לֵאמֹ֗רle./Mor<to>/ saying כֹּ֚הkohthus אָמַ֣ר'a.Marhe says יְהוָ֔הYah.wehYahweh בִּמְק֗וֹםbi/m.Komin/ [the] place אֲשֶׁ֨ר'a.Sher<of> where לָקְק֤וּla.ke.Kuthey licked up הַכְּלָבִים֙ha./ke.la.Vimthe/ dogs אֶת־'et-<obj.>דַּ֣םdam[the] blood of נָב֔וֹתna.VotNaboth יָלֹ֧קּוּya.Lo.kuthey will lick up הַכְּלָבִ֛יםha./ke.la.Vimthe/ dogs אֶת־'et-<obj.>דָּמְךָ֖da.me./Khablood/ your גַּם־gam-also אָֽתָּה׃'A.tahyou

King James Version

And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.

Cross-references

1 Kings 22:38 And the chariot was washed at the pool of Samaria where the prostitutes bathed, and the dogs licked up Ahab’s blood, according to the word that the LORD had spoken.
2 Samuel 12:9 Why then have you despised the command of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You put Uriah the Hittite to the sword and took his wife as your own. You have slain him with the sword of the Ammonites.
Genesis 3:11 “Who told you that you were naked?” asked the LORD God. “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
Genesis 4:9 And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I do not know!” he answered. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
Judges 1:7 Then Adoni-bezek said, “Seventy kings with their thumbs and big toes cut off have gathered the scraps under my table. As I have done to them, so God has repaid me.” And they brought him to Jerusalem, where he died.
2 Samuel 12:11 This is what the LORD says: ‘I will raise up adversity against you from your own house. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to another, and he will lie with them in broad daylight.
2 Kings 9:25 And Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, “Pick him up and throw him into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember that when you and I were riding together behind his father Ahab, the LORD lifted up this burden against him:
Esther 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.
Psalms 7:15 He has dug a hole and hollowed it out; he has fallen into a pit of his own making.
Psalms 9:16 The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah

People named

Naboth