Navot's Vineyard and Achav's Punishment/2

Navot's Vineyard and Achav's Punishment

Exegetical Approaches

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A Partner in Crime

Despite being absent from the actual proceedings, Achav completely supported Izevel's plot and was a full (though silent) partner in the crime.

Sources:Abarbanel, Metzudot, modern scholars

Responsible for Izevel

Though Achav played no role in the framing and death of Navot, in his dual role as king and husband, he was responsible for the actions of Izevel.

Punished for Other Crimes

Achav was not being punished solely for his role in the murder of Navot, but for his other sins as well, most notably his idolatry.

Sources:MalbimMelakhim I 21:2-25About R. Meir Leibush Weiser¹

"וַיַּתְעֵב מְאֹד לָלֶכֶת אַחֲרֵי הַגִּלֻּלִים" – Though Hashem's chastisement of Achav does indeed refer to the murder of Navot ("הֲרָצַחְתָּ וְגַם יָרָשְׁתָּ"), when Eliyahu rebukes the king, he focuses instead on Achav's foreign worship, never once mentioning the murder:

• "וַיַּתְעֵב...  לָלֶכֶת אַחֲרֵי הַגִּלֻּלִים" – These words contain an explicit reference to idolatry.
• "אֶל הַכַּעַס אֲשֶׁר הִכְעַסְתָּ וַתַּחֲטִא אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל" – Throughout Sefer Melakhim, phrases such as this refer to a king causing the nation to sin in idolatry.  Thus, here, too, Eliyahu is likely rebuking Achav, not for his leading the nation astray with regards to Navot, but for his swayingthem to sin in Baal worship.
• "יַעַן הִתְמַכֶּרְךָ לַעֲשׂוֹת הָרַע בְּעֵינֵי י"י" – TanchumaVaetchanan Appendix 2About the Tanchuma understands this to mean that Achav sold himself to idolatry. See the same words in Melakhim II 17:17 where the idolatrous context is explicit.

This focus on foreign worship suggests that though Achav's role in the murder of Navot was worthy of censure, without the accompanying sins of idolatry, he might not have been punished as severely.

Achav's desire for the vineyard: "וִיהִי לִי לְגַן יָרָק" – Malbim suggests that the verse shares that Achav wanted to make the vineyard into a "גַן יָרָק" to teach that his real desire was to use it as a place to worship idolatry.  He points to Yeshayahu 1:29 and Yeshayahu 66:17 as evidence that gardens were often homes to idol worship.

Navot's refusal:" חָלִילָה לִּי מֵי"י מִתִּתִּי אֶת נַחֲלַת אֲבֹתַי לָךְ" – Malbim posits that Navot recognized Achav's intentions and thus subtly chastised him, hinting that while he himself was unwilling to abandon "נַחֲלַת אֲבֹתַי," Achav had no qualms about leaving the "inheritance of his fathers," i.e. Hashem and Torah.  In invoking Hashem's name (חָלִילָה לִּי מֵי"י), Navot expresses that selling a plot so that it could be used for idolatry would be a sin against Hashem.

"סַר וְזָעֵף עַל הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֵלָיו" – According to Malbim, Achav's sullen reaction was a response to Navot's rebuke (עַל הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אֵלָיו) and not simply his failure to by the vineyard.² 

Achav's recounting of the incident – Malbim suggests that when Achav recounts the incident to Izevel, he omits Navot's words: "חָלִילָה לִּי מֵי"י מִתִּתִּי אֶת נַחֲלַת אֲבֹתַי לָךְ", and the allusion to his forsaking of Hashem, since he was embarrassed to let Izevel know that such a rebuke bothered him.

¹ Malbim combines this approach with the one above which holds him responsible for the actions of his wife.

² Interestingly, he has the same reaction when he is chastised by the prophet for setting Ben Hadad free in Melakhim I 20:43.  These are the only two place in Tanakh where the phrase "סַר וְזָעֵף"appear.