Story · 5 · Ahab and Jezebel
Jezebel and the stolen vineyard
When a farmer named Naboth refuses to sell his ancestral vineyard, King Ahab sulks in bed. Queen Jezebel arranges a fake treason trial, has Naboth stoned, and hands her husband the land.
Ancestral land was worth more than a king's offer.
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This is one of many unflattering portraits of Ahab and the Omride dynasty in the book of Kings. The harshness of the polemic is itself a clue: these rulers achieved far more than the Bible lets on.
Bible reference: 1 Kings 21
Source: Why the Bible Began, pp. 72–73
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