Bible Strands
1 Kings 21:25
(Surely there was never one like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, incited by his wife Jezebel.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Elijah pronounces this judgment to King Ahab immediately after the prophet’s confrontation over the seizure of Naboth’s vineyard. The statement concludes the divine decree against Ahab’s household.
The words — The text highlights הִתְמַכֵּ֔ר (hit.ma.Ker), literally “he sold himself,” and רַ֚ק (rak), meaning “certainly” or “surely.” These terms frame Ahab’s actions as a voluntary transaction of moral authority.
The thread — This theme of unprecedented royal evil connects to 1 Kings 16:30, which records Ahab doing more evil than all his predecessors. It also echoes the warning in Proverbs 22:14 about falling into the pit of divine wrath, and follows Elijah’s direct accusation in 1 Kings 21:20.
Why it lands — The text states that no prior king voluntarily surrendered to evil under a spouse’s incitement, marking Ahab’s unique complicity. It requires the reader to acknowledge that deliberate alignment with corrupt counsel forfeits divine protection and guarantees judgment.
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
King James Version
But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 22:14 The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the wrath of the LORD will fall into it.
- 1 Kings 21:20 When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, “So you have found me out, my enemy.” He replied, “I have found you out because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD.
- 1 Kings 16:30 However, Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.
- Ecclesiastes 7:26 And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.
- 1 Kings 21:7 But his wife Jezebel said to him, “Do you not reign over Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful, for I will get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
- Acts 14:2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
- Romans 6:19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to escalating wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
- 1 Kings 11:1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women.
- 1 Kings 18:4 for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
- 1 Kings 19:2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I have not made your life like the lives of those you killed!”