Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 21:3

"And Naboth said to Ahab, Jehovah forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee." — 1 Kings 21:3 (ASV)

The Lord forbid it me — or, “Yahweh forbid it me.” Naboth, as a worshipper of Yahweh, not of Baal, considers it would be wrong for him to comply with the king’s request, as it was contrary to the Law (see margin). His was not a mere refusal arising out of a spirit of sturdy independence, or one based upon the sentiment that attaches people to ancestral estates.