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Prophecy

Ahab, Jezebel and Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21; 2 Kings 9)

Ahab and Jezebel meeting Elijah in Naboth’s vineyard: artist’s impression by Frank Dicksee (19th century).
Artist’s impression Ahab and Jezebel meeting Elijah in Naboth’s vineyard: artist’s impression by Frank Dicksee (19th century). — Frank Dicksee (1853-1928), Wikimedia Commons · Domaine public

○ Written after the events, according to historians; tradition dates it before

Written c. 860–853 BC according to tradition; c. 640–560 BC according to historians. Event: 853–841 BC.

See the full entry: sources, objections, answers

In short

The announcement. The prophet Elijah, in the first book of Kings, around 860–853 BC, announces to King Ahab, after Naboth was murdered for his vineyard, that dogs will lick his blood where they licked Naboth's, and that disaster will strike his family.

What happened. Ahab dies in 853 BC and, in 841, Jehu overthrows his dynasty, as Assyrian documents confirm. The announced details, the dogs licking the blood and Jezebel's body devoured, are told only by the Bible.

What is still debated. the account places the scene of Ahab's blood in Samaria and not at the announced place, and it may serve to justify Jehu's coup.

What would be striking if the text came first

Israel’s Assyrian enemies attest the change of dynasty at the very moment the Bible places it. The most striking details, the dogs and the blood, come only from the Bible, in an account written around 640–560 BC according to historians.

Main objection (in French for now)

Les détails macabres (chiens, sang, crâne et mains de Jézabel) ne sont attestés que par le texte qui les annonce, rédigé bien après les faits.

The text (World English Bible)

You shall speak to him, saying, ‘The LORD says, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ You shall speak to him, saying, ‘The LORD says, “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick your blood, even yours.”’” Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do that which is evil in the LORD’s sight. Behold, I will bring evil on you, and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab everyone who urinates against a wall, and him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son …

1 Kgs 21:19-24

“See how Ahab humbles himself before me? Because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days; but I will bring the evil on his house in his son’s day.”

1 Kgs 21:29

Sources