Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator records the immediate aftermath of King Ahab’s battlefield death, following his burial in Samaria (1 Kings 22:37). The account describes the royal chariot being cleaned and the king’s blood being consumed by scavengers.
The words — The Hebrew verbs וַיִּשְׁטֹף (va/yish.tof, "and he washed") and וַיָּלֹקּוּ (va/ya.lo.ku, "and they licked") frame the scene’s concrete actions. The nouns הָרֶכֶב (ha/re.khev, "the chariot") and הַכְּלָבִים (ha/ke.la.vim, "the dogs") specify the exact objects and agents of the fulfillment.
The thread — This event executes the specific warning in 1 Kings 21:19 that dogs would lick Ahab’s blood. It reinforces the biblical pattern that prophetic declarations stand firm, a theme later summarized in Joshua 23:14 and Matthew 24:35.
Why it lands — The text presents a literal, unembellished fulfillment of a prior divine statement. It requires the reader to accept that spoken judgments operate independently of human status or comfort.
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 one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the Lord which he spake.
Cross-references
- 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!’”
- Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
- Joshua 23:14 Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know with all your heart and soul that not one of the good promises the LORD your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed.
- Isaiah 44:25 who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,
- Isaiah 48:3 I foretold the former things long ago; they came out of My mouth and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
- Jeremiah 44:21 “As for the incense you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem—you, your fathers, your kings, your officials, and the people of the land—did the LORD not remember and bring this to mind?
- Zechariah 1:4 Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the LORD.