EasyEnglish Bible 2018
1 Kings 21:27
27When Ahab heard Elijah's message, he tore his clothes into pieces. He dressed himself in sackcloth and he did not eat any food. He even wore sackcloth when he slept on his bed. He walked slowly with a sad face.
1 Kings 21:27 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly.
- New International Version (NIV)When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly.
- New King James Version (NKJV)So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning.
Context of 1 Kings 21:27
25Ahab had decided to do everything that the Lord said was evil. He was more wicked than any other person who had lived. His wife Jezebel helped him to be like that. 26Ahab was so wicked that he worshipped useless idols, as the Amorites did. The Lord had chased those people out of the land so that the Israelites could live there. When Ahab heard Elijah's message, he tore his clothes into pieces. He dressed himself in sackcloth and he did not eat any food. He even wore sackcloth when he slept on his bed. He walked slowly with a sad face. 28Then the Lord said to Elijah, 29‘You have surely seen that Ahab now respects me. Because he has become humble, I will not destroy his family while he is alive. I will wait until his son rules as king. Then I will bring great trouble on Ahab's descendants.’
Read all of 1 Kings 211 Kings 21:27 word by word
וַיְהִי֩ כִשְׁמֹ֨עַ אַחְאָ֜ב אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֤ים הָאֵ֙לֶּה֙ וַיִּקְרַ֣ע בְּגָדָ֔יו וַיָּֽשֶׂם־שַׂ֥ק עַל־בְּשָׂר֖וֹ וַיָּצ֑וֹם וַיִּשְׁכַּ֣ב בַּשָּׂ֔ק וַיְהַלֵּ֖ךְ אַֽט׃ סRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And it came to pass, when Ahabאַחְאָב'ach'âb 'echâb · AhabH256
- heardשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
- those wordsדָּבָרdâbâr · wordH1697
- that he rentקָרַעqâra‛ · to tearH7167
- his clothesבֶּ֫גֶדbeged · garmentH899
- and putשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: putH7760
- sackclothשַׂקώaq · sackclothH8242
- upon his fleshבָּשָׂרbâώâr · fleshH1320
- and fastedצוּםtsûm · to fastH6684
- and layשָׁכַבshâkab · to lie down: lay downH7901
- and wentהָלַךְhâlak · to go: wentH1980
- softlyאַט'aţ · softlyH328
Cross-references for 1 Kings 21:27
- Genesis 37:34Jacob was so upset that he tore his own clothes. He put on clothes made from sackcloth to show how sad he was. He wept for many days because his son had died.
- 2 Kings 6:30When the king heard the woman's words, he was very upset. He tore his clothes. As he walked along the wall, people could see what he was wearing. They saw that he was wearing sackcloth under his other clothes.
- 2 Kings 18:37Then King Hezekiah's three officers, Eliakim, Shebna and Joah, went back to Hezekiah. They had torn their clothes because they were very upset. They told the king what the Assyrian officer had said.
- Jonah 3:6The king of Nineveh heard about God's message. He got up from his throne and he removed his royal clothes. He dressed himself in sackcloth and he sat in ashes on the ground.
- 2 Samuel 12:17His palace officers stood around him. They tried to help him to get up from the ground. But he refused and he would not eat anything with them.
- Job 16:15I have used sackcloth to make my clothes. I am no longer proud of my strength, and I sit in the dust.
- Isaiah 22:12At that time, the Lord Almighty told you to be very sad and weep. He told you to cut all the hair off your heads and to wear rough clothes.
- Isaiah 58:5The way that you fast does not please me at all: You make yourselves humble for a day. You bend down your head, like a piece of weak grass. You lie down on sackcloth and ashes. Do you think that you are really fasting when you do that? Do you think that it pleases me, the Lord?
- Joel 1:13You priests, wear clothes that are not comfortable. That will show that you are sad. You cry, you who serve the Lord in his temple. Come, you who serve in front of my God. Sleep in the clothes that are not comfortable. Cry for the gifts of food and drink. Cry because they do not come to the house of your God any longer.
- Isaiah 38:15I do not know what I can say. The Lord has told me what must happen. He has done what he decided to do. I will live quietly for the rest of my life, because I am very sad and upset.
Commentaries on 1 Kings 21:27
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 27He rent his clothes - He was penetrated with sorrow, and that evidently unfeigned. Put sackcloth upon his flesh - He humbled himself before God and man. And fasted - He afflicted his body for his soul's benefit. Lay in sackcloth - Gave the fullest proof that his repentance was real. And went softly - Walked barefooted; so the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic. The Vulgate has demisso capite, "with his head hanging down." Houbigant translates went groaning…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 27The repentance of Ahab resembles that of the Ninevites Jonah 3:5. It has the same outward signs - fasting and sackcloth - and it has much the same inward character. It springs, not from love, nor from hatred of sin, but from fear of the consequences of sin. It is thus, although sincere and real while it lasts, shallow and exceedingly short-lived. God, however, to mark His readiness to receive the sinner who turns to Him, accepted the imperfect offering…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 17-29Verses 17-29 Blessed Paul complains that he was sold under sin, Ro 7:14, as a poor captive against his will; but Ahab was willing, he sold himself to sin; of choice, and as his own act and deed, he loved the dominion of sin. Jezebel his wife stirred him up to do wickedly. Ahab is reproved, and his sin set before his eyes, by Elijah. That man's condition is very miserable, who has made the word of God his enemy; and very desperate, who reckons the…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 27-29Ahab was a complicated person. He was rightly criticized for his evil actions, but he did repent when a prophet delivered a message of rebuke (1 Kings 21:27). Because Ahab repented, the Lord sent Elijah to delay the terrible punishment meant for Ahab and instead place it on his equally wicked sons (2 Kings 1:17; 9:24–26; 10:1–11).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 27-2927-29. Ahab ... rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly--He was not obdurate, like Jezebel. This terrible announcement made a deep impression on the king's heart, and led, for a while, to sincere repentance. Going softly, that is, barefoot, and with a pensive manner, within doors. He manifested all the external signs, conventional and natural, of the deepest sorrow. He was wretched, and so…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Kings 21:27
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Kings 21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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