John Gill Commentary 1 Kings 21

And it came to pass, after these things
After the two battles with the king of Syria, in which Ahab was victorious, and after he had let Benhadad, a blasphemer, and injurious to him, go free:

[that] Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel ;
of which place (See Gill on Hosea 1:5) or "who was in Jezreel"; that is Naboth, for the vineyard was in Samaria, (1 Kings 21:18)

hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria ;
that being the metropolis of the kingdom of Israel, is put for it, who, besides his palace in Samaria, had another in Jezreel; which, according to Bunting ^F25 , were sixteen miles distant from each other.

FOOTNOTES:

• F25: Travels p. 164.

And Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, give me your vineyard,
that I may have it for a garden of herbs
For a kitchen garden to produce eatables of the vegetable kind for his household, or for a flower garden; and perhaps for both, as Kimchi observes, it being customary to have such in court yards, or behind the house; perhaps he might take his notion of an herb garden from his neighbours the Syrians, who were very diligent and laborious in cultivating their gardens, as Pliny ^F26 .

From which ``multa Syrorum olera'', the many herbs of the Syrians, became a proverb with the Greeks:

because it is near to mine house ;
lay very convenient for him:

and I will give you for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it
seems good to you, I will give you the worth of it in money ;
which seems very well spoken, that he would either give him a better in exchange, or purchase it at its full value; he did not pretend to take it by usurpation, by force, against his will, as it was represented by Samuel kings would do, (1 Samuel 8:14) as yet such oppression and tyranny was not exercised.

FOOTNOTES:

• F26: Nat Hist. l. 20. c. 5.

And Naboth said to Ahab, the Lord forbid it me that I should
give the inheritance of my fathers to you .
] The inheritances of families were not to be alienated to another family, or tribe, nor even to be sold, unless in extreme poverty, and then to return at the year of jubilee, (Leviticus 25:23Leviticus 25:28) . Now Naboth was a man in good circumstances, and under no necessity of selling his vineyard; and, if he sold it, he might reasonably conclude, it becoming a part of the royal demesnes, would never revert to his family; and therefore, both out of regard to the law of God, and the good of his family, would not part with it at any rate:

This shows that he was a conscientious man, and therefore is thought to be one of those that would not bow his knee to Baal, and against whom Ahab had a grudge, and sought an opportunity against him.

And Ahab came into his house heavy and displeased
Just in the same humour he was after the prophet had delivered his message to him, (1 Kings 20:43) , where the same words are used as here:

because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him, for
he had said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers ,
neither by way of exchange nor of purchase: and such a denial he could not bear, since it looked like treating him with contempt, and taxing him with imprudence at least, if not with injustice, or both:

and he laid him down upon his bed ;
or couch, which might be not in his bedchamber, but in one of his halls, where his courtiers were:

and turned away his face ;
to the wall, not choosing to have conversation with any of his nobles:

and would eat no bread ;
the vexation took away his stomach, and he became melancholy, at least sullen.

But Jezebel his wife came unto him, and said, why is your spirit
so sad, that you eat no bread ?
She perceived he was low spirited, and supposed he had met with something that had ruffled him, and made him so uneasy that he could not eat his food; and she desired to know what it was, that she might relieve him if possible.