{"id":62944,"date":"2019-09-16T11:34:49","date_gmt":"2019-09-16T08:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=62944"},"modified":"2023-04-10T17:27:55","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T14:27:55","slug":"what-is-naboths-vineyard-really-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/what-is-naboths-vineyard-really-about\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Naboth\u2019s Vineyard Really About?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[927,652,654,391,573],"acf":{"old_id":"62944","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34011,"related_cahpter":"308","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A brilliant literary presentation of the foundations of a moral society","content":"

The story of Naboth\u2019s vineyard is an amazing piece of literature on several levels. First of all, it is hard to beat it for its show of sheer ruthless villainy. While it is Ahab who has his eye on a piece of real estate, setting things in motion, he just gets a little moody when he can\u2019t close the deal. It is Jezebel who shows herself to be the evil Machiavellian queen, using all the royal prerogatives, trampling truth, decency and God\u2019s law, to get poor Ahab the object of his desire, after his failed negotiation. As such, it is a morality tale about the ultimate royal power couple – who, truth be told, we already know set records for royal badness (see 1 Kings 16: 30,33).<\/span><\/p>\n

But on another level, this story is a well-crafted commentary on a different Biblical text. It is a literary illustration of a central legal corpus, perhaps THE distillation of Biblical law and morality, to wit, the Ten Commandments. In this reading, it is Ahab\u2019s inner emotional life that is key to understanding the unfolding of the story, the complete crumbling of moral standards that the story represents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is Ahab\u2019s sin? He wants something (the vineyard) and tries to buy it for a fair price. What\u2019s the harm in that? Things get out of hand when he can\u2019t let go, when his \u201cmere\u201d desire becomes obsessive; when he begins <\/span>to covet<\/span><\/i>. In so doing he breaks #10 of the Ten Commandments. This we will see is literally and figuratively the root of all evil. The countdown begins.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How does Naboth respond to Ahab\u2019s request? He justifies his refusal with \u201c\u201cThe LORD forbid that I should give up to you what I have inherited from my fathers!\u201d Naboth, the victim, the good guy, fulfills #5 – honoring his parents.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does Jezebel do to procure the coveted parcel of land? She engineers a kangaroo court and gets two no-goodniks to testify that Naboth reviled God (and king), and so he is executed. Voila, the vineyard can be taken by the king.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In so doing, Jezebel violates #9, giving false testimony, while using God\u2019s name in vain, or mocking it as a crime (#3), and gets an innocent man killed – #6, murder. They can then take the vineyard (#8 – robbery). Acting on Ahab\u2019s coveting, laws and standards fall like dominoes.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of this takes place against the background of Jezebel actively promoting Baal worship, her life consisting of flagrant violations of commandments\u00a0 #1 and #2, regarding the singularity of the God of freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 16 verses, the Biblical author has given us a memorable \u201canti-vision\u201d of the ideal society: how indulging the very personal act of coveting can cause civilization to unravel. This story, then, is not about Ahab and Jezebel and poor Naboth – but about ourselves and how we build a just, compassionate society, or not.<\/span><\/p>\n

(For an interpretation of how coveting and its encouragement is not personal at all, but societal and political – <\/span>see here<\/span><\/a>).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":62945,"id":62945,"title":"1kings21-ten commandments","filename":"1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/what-is-naboths-vineyard-really-about\/1kings21-ten-commandments\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"1kings21-ten-commandments","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":62944,"date":"2019-09-16 08:34:36","modified":"2022-05-29 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