{"id":62811,"date":"2018-07-09T17:44:25","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-308\/"},"modified":"2023-04-11T10:49:37","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T07:49:37","slug":"wall-308","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-308\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-I Kings-21"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"308","date":"20261103","book":"I Kings","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"308","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"62227","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - I Kings Chapter 21 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - I Kings Chapter 21","slug":"jps-audio-bible-i-kings-chapter-21","old_id":"62227","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"308","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"I Kings Chapter 21","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Hear the daily chapter","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/JPS_Audio_Bible_I_Kings_Chapter_21","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"308","date":"20261103","wall_id":"308"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"114057","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"Ahab The Petulant ","post_title":"Ahab The Petulant","slug":"ahab-the-petulant","old_id":"114057","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"308","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"It\u2019s hard to know what is more important for Ahab: acquiring a small piece of real estate, or the fate of his kingship and of the entire nation\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Chapter 20 ended with the mystery prophet\u2019s prophecy of doom for Ahab and his household: \u201cThus said the LORD: Because you have set free the man whom I doomed, your life shall be forfeit for his life and your people for his people\u201d (20:42). Ahab\u2019s reaction makes sense for someone who just found out defeat and death were on the horizon: \u201cDispirited and sullen, the king of Israel left for home and came to Samaria\u201d (20:43).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Then, after tales of war and battle, chapter 21 turns to a seemingly innocuous story of the vineyard of Naboth. The point of the story seems to be about the evil ways of Jezebel, Ahab\u2019s wife. She devises a nefarious plot to have Naboth executed so that her husband can take over Naboth\u2019s vineyard. The story itself shows that the people in the Northern Kingdom did not have any respect for the king. Not only did Naboth not listen to the king, but his reason was also telling. He did not want his family plot to be associated with the evil king of Israel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This story parallels the story of David and the threshing floor at the end of II Samuel. There, Aravna was more than happy to give his threshing floor to David for free. Eventually it became the site of the Temple. Now, though, up north, things are very, very different.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Another question remains though. What does the story in chapter 20 have to do with the story in chapter 21? Why go from an epic battle scene to a story about a vineyard? The answer is in verse 4:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ahab went home dispirited and sullen because of the answer that Naboth the Jezreelite had given him: \u2018I will not give up to you what I have inherited from my fathers!\u2019 He lay down on his bed and turned away his face, and he would not eat.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In chapter 20, Ahab is told of his family and Israel\u2019s destruction, and he has the appropriate reaction. However, in chapter 21, he is told he cannot have his neighbors vineyard and he has the exact same reaction! Not only that, but he seems to have a worse reaction in chapter 21. He sulks in his room and does not eat or drink.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

These two stories provide a clear window into Ahab\u2019s heart. Ahab was more upset that he could not take his next-door neighbor\u2019s vineyard than the fact that his nation and he himself were doomed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

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Back By The Bay...","tile_main_caption":"I Kings 21: Ahab Learns The Limitations Of Kings \u2013 The Hard Way","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"With Shira Hecht-Koller and Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey 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","post_title":"What is Naboth\u2019s Vineyard Really About?","slug":"what-is-naboths-vineyard-really-about","old_id":"62944","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. He is one of the founders of the Heschel Center for Sustainability. He writes the MiliMiliM - Hebrew Corner on the site, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"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","post_main_content_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>\r\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>\r\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>\r\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>\r\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>\r\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>\r\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>\r\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>\r\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>","post_main_content_image":{"id":62945,"alt":"","title":"1kings21-ten commandments","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","width":295,"height":360,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments-246x300.jpg","medium-width":246,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","medium_large-width":295,"medium_large-height":360,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","large-width":295,"large-height":360,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","1536x1536-width":295,"1536x1536-height":360,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","2048x2048-width":295,"2048x2048-height":360,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","post_full_size-width":295,"post_full_size-height":360,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","home_baner-width":295,"home_baner-height":360}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"What is Naboth\u2019s Vineyard Really About?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A brilliant literary presentation of the foundations of a moral society","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":62945,"alt":"","title":"1kings21-ten commandments","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","width":295,"height":360,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments-246x300.jpg","medium-width":246,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","medium_large-width":295,"medium_large-height":360,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","large-width":295,"large-height":360,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","1536x1536-width":295,"1536x1536-height":360,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","2048x2048-width":295,"2048x2048-height":360,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","post_full_size-width":295,"post_full_size-height":360,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","home_baner-width":295,"home_baner-height":360}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"308","date":"20261103","wall_id":"308"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"391","name":"In\/Justice","old_id":"791"},{"term_id":"573","name":"Righteousness","old_id":"973"},{"term_id":"652","name":"Commandments","old_id":"1052"},{"term_id":"654","name":"Coveting","old_id":"1054"},{"term_id":"927","name":"Ahab","old_id":"1327"}]},{"order":5,"id":"62947","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Did The King Have Eminent Domain? ","post_title":"Did The King Have Eminent Domain?","slug":"did-the-king-have-eminent-domain","old_id":"62947","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36277,"post_title":"Yedidya Sinclair","slug":"yedidya-sinclair","old_id":"36277","first_name":"Yedidya","last_name":"Sinclair","description":"Rabbi Yedidya Sinclair serves as Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon, the leading US Jewish environmental organization. From 2011-16 he was Vice President for Research and Senior Economist at Energiya Global, a Jerusalem-based solar energy company focused on the developing world and he continues to consult on renewable energy and climate change preparedness. In 2014 he published together with Hazon, a translation of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's great work on shmitta, the Sabbatical year, \"Introduction to Shabbat Ha'aretz.\" Yedidya holds a BA from Oxford University, an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and lives with his family in Jerusalem.","short_description":"Yedidya Sinclair is a Jerusalem-based rabbi and economist, and is Senior Rabbinic Scholar at Hazon. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36278,"alt":"","title":"yedidya sinclair","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","width":200,"height":200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","medium_large-width":200,"medium_large-height":200,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","large-width":200,"large-height":200,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","1536x1536-width":200,"1536x1536-height":200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","2048x2048-width":200,"2048x2048-height":200,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","post_full_size-width":200,"post_full_size-height":200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/yedidya-sinclair.jpg","home_baner-width":200,"home_baner-height":200}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"308","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Some rabbis thought so; the Bible clearly does not...","post_main_content_content":"

Ahab and Jezebel\u2019s judicial murder of Naboth in order to seize his vineyard is arguably the most heinous act of tyranny in the books of Kings. Because Naboth wouldn\u2019t sell him his ancestral vineyard that Ahab coveted, the king and queen had Naboth framed on false charges and stoned to death.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Yet there is a strong strand of Jewish thought and law about the monarchy suggesting that Ahab had a right to Naboth\u2019s field. Back when the people came to Samuel demanding that he appoint a king, the prophet gave a long description of the rapacious ways of kings including this: \u201che will seize your choice fields vineyards and olive groves and give them to his courtiers\u201d (I Samuel 8:14).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Wasn\u2019t Ahab just behaving exactly in the way that Samuel had predicted?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is a fundamental dispute in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 20a) about how to understand Samuel\u2019s speech. The talmudic sage Shmuel opined that the king is actually allowed to do all that the prophet Samuel details. This includes the exercising of the right of eminent domain over people\u2019s land. Rav disagreed, arguing that the Samuel (who was clearly not a fan of monarchy) was not giving normative assent to the king\u2019s exploiting these sweeping prerogatives, but rather was warning the people: \u201cthis is how kings act: are you really sure you want one?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It is fascinating then, that in our chapter, as Rav Elchanan Samet shows, nobody thinks that Ahab has a right to take Naboth\u2019s vineyard. The text therefore helps us understand how the relationship between land, people and king were actually understood. First, note that when Ahab importunes Naboth to sell his vineyard, the latter replies, \u201cThe Lord forbid that I should give up what I inherited from my fathers!\u201d (v.3) Naboth\u2019s outrage at the idea suggests a self-evident presumption that people should retain their ancestral land and that this trumped any claim of the king\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Next, it was evident to the actors in the story that Ahab could not simply kick Naboth off his land by force but could only get what he wanted by subterfuge. The seizure needs a veneer of legal process, without which it would have been seen as blatant tyranny. The elders and nobles who are complicit in the plot do too. No one questions why it is necessary to go to these lengths of deception to take Naboth\u2019s property. Even Jezebel a daughter of the Phoenician king who was apparently not subject to such niceties of due process realizes that in Israel, the king cannot simply take what he wants by force.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This broad, shared understanding of the limits to kings\u2019 legitimate power shows how remarkably deep-rooted was the biblical conception of each family\u2019s inalienable attachment to their own land, reinforced, for example by the laws of shmita and the Jubilee. In smashing this consensus, Ahab and Jezebel\u2019s tyranny was all the more egregious.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":62948,"alt":"","title":"1kings21-Eminent-Domain","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain.jpg","width":724,"height":437,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain-300x181.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":181,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain.jpg","medium_large-width":724,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain.jpg","large-width":724,"large-height":437,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain.jpg","1536x1536-width":724,"1536x1536-height":437,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain.jpg","2048x2048-width":724,"2048x2048-height":437,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain.jpg","post_full_size-width":724,"post_full_size-height":437,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain-696x420.jpg","home_baner-width":696,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Did The King Have Eminent Domain?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Some rabbis thought so; the Bible clearly does not...","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":62948,"alt":"","title":"1kings21-Eminent-Domain","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain.jpg","width":724,"height":437,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain-300x181.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":181,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain.jpg","medium_large-width":724,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain.jpg","large-width":724,"large-height":437,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain.jpg","1536x1536-width":724,"1536x1536-height":437,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain.jpg","2048x2048-width":724,"2048x2048-height":437,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain.jpg","post_full_size-width":724,"post_full_size-height":437,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-Eminent-Domain-696x420.jpg","home_baner-width":696,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"308","date":"20261103","wall_id":"308"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"414","name":"Law","old_id":"814"},{"term_id":"503","name":"Power","old_id":"903"},{"term_id":"835","name":"King","old_id":"1235"},{"term_id":"927","name":"Ahab","old_id":"1327"}]},{"order":6,"id":"62950","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"What Did Naboth Do Wrong and What Did Ahab Do Right? ","post_title":"What Did Naboth Do Wrong And What Did Ahab Do Right?","slug":"what-did-naboth-do-wrong-and-what-did-ahab-do-right","old_id":"62950","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. He is the author of TANAKH: An Owner\u2019s Manual (Jerusalem: Urim\/Ktav, 2015).\r\n\r\n","short_description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34244,"alt":"","title":"sokolow","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","width":302,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow-300x298.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":298,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","medium_large-width":302,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","large-width":302,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","1536x1536-width":302,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","2048x2048-width":302,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","post_full_size-width":302,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/sokolow.jpg","home_baner-width":302,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"308","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Exploring the suffering of the righteous, and the prospering of the not-at-all righteous","post_main_content_content":"

In our chapter, wicked King Ahab and wicked Queen Jezebel conspire to acquire a desirable piece of private property (a vineyard) by eliminating its owner (Naboth) and then exercising their royal prerogative to make it their own. This unholy transaction provided the prophet Elijah with the opportunity to utter a singular accusation: \u201cWould you murder and take possession?\u201d (19), an expression that has been utilized throughout the ages to designate a particularly nefarious deed that has illicitly enriched its perpetrator.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A question not often asked of this episode involves the victim: Naboth the Jezreelite. Based on the assumption that God is always just, Naboth\u2019s death begs justification beyond the obvious wickedness of Ahab and Jezebel. What did he do to deserve to be the victim of this conspiracy? A classical Midrash (Pesikta Rabbati 25) provides an answer:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cHonor the Lord from your treasure\u201d [<\/span>hon\u2019kha<\/span><\/i>] (Proverbs 3:9) is to be read as \u201cfrom your gifts\u201d [c<\/span>hen\u2019kha<\/span><\/i>]. If you have a pleasant voice and you are present in a synagogue, honor the Lord with your voice. Naboth [the Jezreelite] had a pleasant voice. At pilgrimage times, all Israel would gather in Jerusalem to hear his voice. Once upon a time, he didn\u2019t make the pilgrimage and the corrupt witnesses testified against him and he was a goner. What caused this? His failure to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to honor God with what He had gifted him<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The continuation of the story also demands interpretation:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When Ahab heard these words [Elijah\u2019s prophecy of doom], he rent his clothes and put sackcloth on his body. He fasted and lay in sackcloth and walked about subdued\u201d (27),
\r\nwhereupon God declared
\r\n\u201cBecause he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the disaster in his lifetime; I will bring the disaster upon his house in his son\u2019s time\u201d (29). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Naboth, an ostensibly righteous man, misses a single pilgrimage and suffers death, while Ahab, of whom our chapter says \u201cthere never was anyone like Ahab, who committed himself to doing what was displeasing to the LORD\u201d (25) experiences momentary regret and gets his sentence suspended.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

No wonder the question of theodicy\u2014commonly phrased as \u201cthe righteous suffer while the wicked prosper\u201d\u2014remains a perennial challenge to believers.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":62951,"alt":"","title":"1kings21-right wrong","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong.jpg","width":1920,"height":1483,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong-768x593.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong-1024x791.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":791,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1483,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong-1200x927.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":927,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong-544x420.jpg","home_baner-width":544,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"What Did Naboth Do Wrong And What Did Ahab Do Right?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Exploring the suffering of the righteous, and the prospering of the not-at-all righteous","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":62951,"alt":"","title":"1kings21-right wrong","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong.jpg","width":1920,"height":1483,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong-768x593.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong-1024x791.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":791,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1483,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong-1200x927.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":927,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-right-wrong-544x420.jpg","home_baner-width":544,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"308","date":"20261103","wall_id":"308"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"383","name":"Death","old_id":"783"},{"term_id":"400","name":"Sin","old_id":"800"},{"term_id":"547","name":"Punishment","old_id":"947"},{"term_id":"573","name":"Righteousness","old_id":"973"}]},{"order":7,"id":"114064","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Tanakh Podcast-IKings21","post_title":"The Tanakh Podcast-IKings21","slug":"the-tanakh-podcast-ikings21","old_id":"114064","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. 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King Ahab goes down in history as one of the very worst kings Israel ever produced. He and his wicked wife Jezebel (the only \u201cJezebel\u201d in history whose name was actually Jezebel!) are a power couple of the worst kind. Yet his kind of wickedness only unfolds across these two chapters. His wife is just evil through and through. Consistently she offers torture and death to those she dislikes, or even to those merely standing in her way. But her husband is weak in ways that play out badly in every direction.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Back in Chapter 20, King Ahab goes to war against one of Israel\u2019s perennial enemies, the Arameans. Under its powerful King Ben-haddad, Israel faces the threat of total annihilation. Ben-haddad assembles a coalition of local kings intent on taking every woman and child captive, and then destroying every village and settlement. It was only with the sage counsel of his advisors, the intervention of God, and the unity of his terrified people that King Ahab was able to resist the enemy\u2019s assault and turn the tide to victory. And then, having been told not to let his enemy escape, he does worse than that: he calls Ben-haddad his brother, he consults with him in his chariot, and releases Ben-haddad who gets not only to stay alive, but continues to rule Aram as king! Kind to the cruel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If the story stopped there, it would be of a king too weak to impose consequences. A monarch so fickle that he literally lets his people\u2019s enemies get away with murder (and live to tell of it another day, or to try again at a later date).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

But the story continues. Today's chapter tells of an innocent Israelite man named Naboth (the Talmud sees him as a cousin of the king). Ahab wants Naboth\u2019s ancestral lands, and makes an offer to acquire them, which Naboth refuses, adamantly. What does the too-compassionate king do this time? He sulks and pouts and turns to the wall. His wicked wife (that Jezebel!) intervenes to have Naboth stoned to death for crimes he did not commit. Then King Ahab confiscates his murdered cousin\u2019s estate. Cruel to the kind.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Talmud correctly sees these traits as linked: one who is kind to the cruel will wind up being cruel to the kind. That\u2019s Ahab \u2013 he has a brutal mass murderer under his control and he lets him go do damage again later. Then he finds an innocent relative and subjects him to a gruesome death just to take his property.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Kind to the cruel; cruel to the kind. Not the sort of legacy a King of Israel should bequeath.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Copper engraving of the death of Naboth by Caspar Luiken, 1712 \/ 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","post_title":"Is The Land Ours To Sell?","slug":"is-the-land-ours-to-sell","old_id":"62676","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. His first book \"I Kings - Torn in Two\" was published in 2013. See his website www.alexisrael.org, and his podcasts at https:\/\/elmad.pardes.org\/ and https:\/\/tanachstudy.com\/ \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33693,"alt":"","title":"alex israel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","width":1657,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":679,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","large-width":679,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1018,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1357,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-795x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":795,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"308","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"In refusing Ahab, Naboth has firm ground to stand on","post_main_content_content":"

In the opening lines of the chapter, the protagonists are depicted as products of their geography: \"Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel\" \u2014 he is a Jezreelite; it is the cornerstone of his identity. He is contrasted with \"Ahab, king of Samaria,\" a city far from Jezreel, who is nonetheless the king. This description transmits two contrasting perceptions. First, Naboth is way out of his depth; he, a commoner, is defying the king! Second, conversely, this king resides in Samaria; he is a foreign implant in Jezreel. His jurisdiction is elsewhere, and it is Naboth who is the local fixture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Naboth refuses the king on principle: \"God forbid I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you.\" In other words, I cannot sell you my vineyard even if I wish, because God has mandated me to preserve this tract of land in my family. This response reflects no lack of respect for Ahab or disregard for the high office of the king. Naboth simply sees the issue as a matter of faith. But is Naboth correct? Is a Jew forbidden to sell land?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In parashat Behar, the selling of land in Eretz Yisrael is permitted only under dire financial duress. Moreover, if unfortunate circumstances lead to the sale of the ancestral estate, the family of the land's original tribal owner is to \"redeem\" that land, restoring it to the family (see Lev. 25:25). This practice is seen in the book of Ruth, when Boaz redeems the property of Elimelech.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In the Torah, this mitzva is preceded by the following verses: \u201cThe land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is Mine, and you are sojourners and residents with Me. And throughout the land of your possession, you shall give redemption to the land\u201d (Lev. 25:23-24).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Moreover, we read in the book of Numbers: \u201cAn inheritance shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for each person of the children of Israel shall cleave to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers, that the children of Israel may inherit, each individual the inheritance of his fathers\u201d (36:7-8).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is the origin of the phrase spoken by Naboth, \"the inheritance of my fathers.\" The land is not ours to sell. God has entrusted it to us, returning it to the ancestral family unit each Jubilee (yovel) year if we have sold it in the intervening years. A Jew sells his inheritance only as a last resort!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Alex Israel, 1 Kings: Torn in Two,<\/em> Maggid Books, 2013, A Perfect Murder\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61437,"alt":"","title":"alex israel - kings 1","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","width":1020,"height":1304,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-235x300.jpg","medium-width":235,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-768x982.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":982,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-801x1024.jpg","large-width":801,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1020,"1536x1536-height":1304,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1020,"2048x2048-height":1304,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-939x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":939,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-329x420.jpg","home_baner-width":329,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Excerpts from: 1 Kings - Torn in Two","tile_main_caption":"Is The Land Ours To Sell?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"In refusing Ahab, Naboth has firm ground to stand on","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61437,"alt":"","title":"alex israel - kings 1","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","width":1020,"height":1304,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-235x300.jpg","medium-width":235,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-768x982.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":982,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-801x1024.jpg","large-width":801,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1020,"1536x1536-height":1304,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1020,"2048x2048-height":1304,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-939x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":939,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-329x420.jpg","home_baner-width":329,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"308","date":"20261103","wall_id":"308"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"403","name":"Redemption","old_id":"803"},{"term_id":"497","name":"Land","old_id":"897"},{"term_id":"927","name":"Ahab","old_id":"1327"}]},{"order":11,"id":"62556","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Jezebel\u2019s Treachery ","post_title":"Jezebel\u2019s Treachery","slug":"jezebels-treachery","old_id":"62556","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":54356,"post_title":"Robert Alter","slug":"robert-alter","old_id":"54356","first_name":"Robert ","last_name":"Alter","description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has taught since 1967. He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 - from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":54357,"alt":"","title":"robert alter","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","width":184,"height":275,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium-width":184,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","medium_large-width":184,"medium_large-height":275,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","large-width":184,"large-height":275,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","1536x1536-width":184,"1536x1536-height":275,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","2048x2048-width":184,"2048x2048-height":275,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","post_full_size-width":184,"post_full_size-height":275,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/robert-alter.jpg","home_baner-width":184,"home_baner-height":275}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"308","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Setting the stage to frame Naboth","post_main_content_content":"

21:9 \u201cAnd she wrote in the letters, saying, \u2018Proclaim a fast and seat Naboth at the head of the people.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A common function of an ad hoc communal fast was to supplicate God when some ill had befallen the community because of an offense committed within the community. In all likelihood, the occasion of the fast, which would have been a reason for assembling the community, sets the stage for exposing the purported crime committed by Naboth.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible<\/em>, vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"Jezebel\u2019s Treachery","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Setting the stage to frame Naboth","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"308","date":"20261103","wall_id":"308"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":12,"id":"62494","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- I Kings 21 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- I Kings 21","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-i-kings-21","old_id":"62494","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. 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\u201cTenth Commandment: Do Not Covet\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Elisheva Urbas: Explore sources on jealousy.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cJudaism and Democracy\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Mendy K.: Jewish texts about government.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Source Sheets - I Kings 21","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"308","date":"20261103","wall_id":"308"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":14,"id":"62957","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points to Ponder - I Kings 21 ","post_title":"Points to Ponder - I Kings 21","slug":"points-to-ponder-i-kings-21","old_id":"62957","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"308","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Quote, unquote.<\/em> The conversation in verses 2-3 between Ahab, who wants to buy the vineyard, and Naboth, who refuses to sell, changes as Ahab\u2019s mood darkens (verses 4 through 6). Naboth\u2019s refusal seems less and less justified to Ahab.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Now that\u2019s how you rule!<\/em> Ahab offers a fair price for Naboth\u2019s vineyard. Receiving a rebuff, he gets depressed and gives up. Jezebel goes into high gear and says: \u201cNow is the time to show yourself king over Israel!\u201d (verse 7). According to her, \u201cshow yourself a king\u201d means to take it by force. But she also understands the rules of the game of the Israelite law. He can\u2019t just take the vineyard, he has to trump up charges in a fake trial, and blame Naboth of rebellion.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. And that\u2019s how you do a trial<\/em>. The sham trial that was conducted, is described in great detail, allowing us to gain insight into how trials were actually held. The judges are elders, two witnesses need to testify, and when circumstances demand, a fast and a solemn assembly are decreed.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. The king\u2019s law - not very legal<\/em>. 68 chapters ago Samuel warned about kings who would \u201cseize your choice fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his courtiers\u201d (1 Samuel 8:14). In this chapter, the kings seizes a vineyard, but it\u2019s also clear he has no legal right to do so.<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  5. Avoiding responsibility<\/em>. Ahab lays low when Jezebel sends out letters in his name in order to create the fake trial. Jezebel doesn\u2019t exactly take responsibility, either, when she dryly notes \u201cNaboth is no longer alive, he is dead\u201d (verse 15). Elijah passes on the message that the murder of Naboth is the complete responsibility of Ahab (but Jerzebel too will be punished\u2026).<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"I Kings 21","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"21","chapter_main_number":"308","date":"20261103","wall_id":"308"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/62811"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}