Bible Strands
1 Kings 21:27
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Ahab responds to Elijah’s condemnation after seizing Naboth’s vineyard, positioned between the judgment declaration in 1 Kings 21:26 and the subsequent divine message to Elijah in 1 Kings 21:28.
The words — וַ/יִּקְרַ֣ע (va/yik.Ra') translates "and he tore," paired with בְּגָדָ֔י/ו (be.ga.Da/v) "his clothes," to describe Ahab’s physical tearing of his garments in direct response to הַ/דְּבָרִ֤ים (ha./de.va.Rim) "the words" of judgment.
The thread — The same cultural markers of tearing garments and wearing sackcloth appear in Genesis 37:34, 2 Samuel 3:31, and 2 Kings 6:30 as documented responses to severe loss or prophetic confrontation.
Why it lands — The text records Ahab’s external fasting, sackcloth, and meek conduct without validating his interior state, requiring the reader to separate ritual performance from genuine repentance.
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
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.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 6:30 When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. And as he passed by on the wall, the people saw the sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.
- Genesis 37:34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
- 2 Samuel 3:31 Then David ordered Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the funeral bier.
- 2 Samuel 12:16 David pleaded with God for the boy. He fasted and went into his house and spent the night lying in sackcloth on the ground.
- 2 Kings 18:37 Then Hilkiah’s son Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the scribe, and Asaph’s son Joah the recorder came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and they relayed to him the words of the Rabshakeh.
- Job 16:15 I have sewn sackcloth over my skin; I have buried my horn in the dust.
- Isaiah 22:12 On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
- Isaiah 38:15 What can I say? He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done this. I will walk slowly all my years because of the anguish of my soul.
- Isaiah 58:5 Is this the fast I have chosen: a day for a man to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD?
- Joel 1:13 Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God, because the grain and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.