Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did more yet to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
Parallel Translations
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Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did more yet to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
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And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
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And Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did yet more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to 1 Kings 16:33 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Kings 13:6 Nevertheless they didn’t depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, with which he made Israel to sin, but walked in them; and the Asherah also remained in Samaria.)
- 1 Kings 21:25 But 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.
- Exodus 34:13 but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherah poles;
- 2 Kings 21:3 For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he raised up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel did, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served them.
- 1 Kings 14:9 but have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods, molten images, to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back;
- 1 Kings 16:29-30 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel. Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. Ahab the son of Omri did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight above all that were before him.
- 1 Kings 21:19 You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “Have you killed and also taken possession?” ’ You shall speak to him, saying, ‘Yahweh says, “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick your blood, even yours.” ’ ”
- 1 Kings 22:6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Should I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or should I refrain?” They said, “Go up; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.”
- 1 Kings 22:8 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh, Micaiah the son of Imlah; but I hate him, for he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” Jehoshaphat said, “Don’t let the king say so.”
- 2 Kings 17:16 They abandoned all the commandments of Yahweh their God, and made molten images for themselves, even two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshiped all the army of the sky, and served Baal.
- Jeremiah 17:1-2 “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond. It is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of your altars. Even their children remember their altars and their Asherah poles by the green trees on the high hills.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (6 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Ki 16:33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab…
1Ki 16:33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
Ver. 33. To provoke the Lord.] To defy him, and dare him do his worst.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Ahab made a grove, against God’s express prohibition, Deu…
Ahab made a grove, against God’s express prohibition, Deu 7:5.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 33. Ahab made a grove] אשרה Asherah, Astarte,…
Verse 33. Ahab made a grove] אשרה Asherah, Astarte, or Venus; what the Syriac calls an idol, and the Arabic, a tall tree; probably meaning, by the last, an image of Priapus, the obscene keeper of groves, orchards, and gardens.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 33. Made a grove — Literally, made the Asherah;…
33. Made a grove — Literally, made the Asherah; that is, he erected an idol-image of Asherah, another form of the name Ashtoreth or Astarte, the goddess of the Zidonians. See 1Ki_14:15. So he worshipped the male and female deities of Phenicia.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 33. And Ahab made a grove] R.V. the Ashêrah.…
33. And Ahab made a grove] R.V. the Ashêrah. That is, the image which was to represent the female divinity, of which Baal was the male.
to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger] Here the LXX. adds ‘and that his soul should be destroyed.’
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Ch. 1Ki_15:33)
Ch. 1Ki_15:33)
1. Baasha"s crime. Behind the slaughter of his master and his master"s house lay the threatening of God. The Divine decree seemed to legalize the crime. But God"s command did not come to him, nor was he moved by righteous indignation against the sins of the house of Jeroboam. He served his own passions, and it was sin to him before God, "because he killed him." The iniquity of those who rush in to smite wrong and hypocritically veil their hatred and spite and greed under the plea of zeal for God and righteousness. (Rom_2:1)
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2. His evil life. "He did evil in the sight of the Lord." State reforms are impossible for men whose own heart refuses God"s yoke. Our work can never rise higher than the level of our life. There is also a spiritual law of gravitation: the streams of our influence can only flow downward.
3. His hurtful reign. He "walked in the way of Jeroboam," etc. He may have condemned Jeroboam"s sin in regard to the calves, etc.; but when begirt with the same state exigencies he continued the course he himself had punished with death. It is easy to condemn the sins of others. God has nobler work for us: it is, when surrounded by their temptations to triumph over them, and to serve not by words only but by deeds.
II GOD"S MESSAGE TO BAASHA. (1Ki_16:1-7)
1. His exaltation was of God. "I exalted thee out of the dust." The throne was not secured by his wickedness. The Lord had stilled opposition and given him success.
1. It was great and unlooked for. His tribe had no claim to the throne, and his own place among his people was a mean one. But God had, step by step, advanced him, and was now enabling him to reign in peace. The Lord"s help is not withheld from those who do not know and do not serve Him. "Despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and long
2. suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" (Rom_2:4)
3. The return made to God. He had changed nothing. Israel was still being led down the path of darkness and judgment, "to provoke Me to anger with their sins." Every higher interest was sacrificed to the policy of keeping the ten tribes separated from the other two. Statesmen out of office condemn that which, when in office, they are afraid to change. And how many are there who are neglecting the trusts God has committed to them. Once they said, "If we had only place or wealth, etc., God would be served and men blessed." These have been given and what has been done? Has the vow been performed?
4. Baasha"s punishment worse than Jeroboam"s. "I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house" (see ver. 11, "Neither of his kindred nor of his friends"). The Divine justice is shown in the differing penalties of sin. J.U. And Ahab made a grove Heb. an Asherah, i.e., image of Astarte, a female figure corresponding to the male effigy just described. (See note on 1Ki_14:23) and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.