1 Kings 21:16
And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. And it came to pass, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab rose up to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
The vineyard was Naboth the Jezreelite's, lying hard by the king's palace, and Ahab had set his heart on it for a garden of herbs because it was near his house, first proposing to buy it for its worth in money or to give a better vineyard in exchange. The seizure took place while Elijah was still a prophet in Israel, during the years Elijah and Elisha labored together after the call of Elisha, when Elijah was God's instrument for the overthrow of gigantic evils. When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, killed through Jezebel's scheme, he rose up to go down to the vineyard to take possession of it.
His going was the fruit of a naturally covetous disposition carried into action into dominant and controlling selfishness. He could bear no refusal of his wishes and felt that what he desired should by right be his, and the taking was the result of coveting what he wanted to obtain. He was strengthened and sustained in wrongdoing by Jezebel, following his evil heart until fully controlled by selfishness, following her counsel and willingly letting her secure the coveted property through murder, false accusation, fraud and bloodshed. That taking bore fruit of the evil influence she had exercised over him from the first and continued through the later years of his life, so that he uniquely sold himself to work wickedness at his wife's stirring.
The act was a flagrant evil and a deed of shame and violence seldom equaled in sacred history. It was an example of murder committed for selfish gain and of a ruler benefiting from a crime that should be condemned and punished. He went to possess it heedless of the consequences and without regard for them. His controlling covetousness and selfishness disastrously affected the fortunes of the kingdom under his successors, while Elijah met the seizure with stern rebuke, prophesying the doom of Ahab and the doom of all his house. The taking stands as a comparison for people selfishly seeking another people's land.