But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sad, that you eat no bread?”
Parallel translations
- KJV But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread?
- BSB Soon his wife Jezebel came in and asked, “Why are you so sullen that you refuse to eat?”
- NKJV But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”
- NASB But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, “How is it that your spirit is so sullen that you are not eating food?”
- NLT “What’s the matter?” his wife Jezebel asked him. “What’s made you so upset that you’re not eating?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jezebel comes and asks Ahab why he is so sullen that he will not eat. Her question sets in motion her ruthless plan.
Overview
Ahab's queen, Jezebel, finds him dejected and inquires after the cause of his depressed refusal to eat. Her concern is not for righteousness but for restoring her husband's contentment by any means. The exchange introduces Jezebel as the driving force of evil who will manipulate law and power to gratify Ahab's covetousness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Esth 4:5Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs, whom he had appointed to attend her, and commanded him to go to Mordecai, to find out what this was, and why it was.
- 1 Kgs 16:31As if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.
- 1 Kgs 21:25But there was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
- Neh 2:2The king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing else but sorrow of heart.” Then I was very much afraid.
- 2 Sam 13:4He said to him, “Why, son of the king, are you so sad from day to day? Won’t you tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”
- Gen 3:6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too.
- 1 Kgs 18:4for when Jezebel cut off Yahweh’s prophets, Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
- 1 Kgs 19:2Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I don’t make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time!”
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 21:5 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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