English Standard Version
1 Kings 16:33
33And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
1 Kings 16:33 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)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.
- New International Version (NIV)Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Then he set up an Asherah pole. He did more to provoke the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him.
Context of 1 Kings 16:33
31And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
Read all of 1 Kings 161 Kings 16:33 word by word
וַיַּ֥עַשׂ אַחְאָ֖ב אֶת־הָאֲשֵׁרָ֑ה וַיּ֨וֹסֶף אַחְאָ֜ב לַעֲשׂ֗וֹת לְהַכְעִיס֙ אֶת־יְהֹוָה֙ אֱלֹהֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מִכֹּ֨ל מַלְכֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הָי֖וּ לְפָנָֽיו׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And Ahabאַחְאָב'ach'âb 'echâb · AhabH256
- madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
- a groveאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
- didעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
- moreיָסַףyâsaph · to addH3254
- to provoke the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- of Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
- to angerכָּעַסka‛as · to provokeH3707
- than all the kingsמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
- that were beforeפָּנֶהpânîym · face: beforeH6440
Cross-references for 1 Kings 16:33
- Exodus 34:13You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim
- 2 Kings 13:6Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin, but walked in them; and the Asherah also remained in Samaria.)
- 2 Kings 17:16And they abandoned all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves; and they made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal.
- 2 Kings 21:3For he rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.
- Jeremiah 17:1"The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars,
- 1 Kings 16:30And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.
- 1 Kings 21:19And you shall say to him, 'Thus says the Lord, "Have you killed and also taken possession?"' And you shall say to him, 'Thus says the Lord: "In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood."'"
- 1 Kings 22:6Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, "Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?" And they said, "Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king."
Commentaries on 1 Kings 16:33
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 33Ahab 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.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 29-34Verses 29-34 Ahab did evil above all that reigned before him, and did it with a particular enmity both against Jehovah and Israel. He was not satisfied with breaking the second commandment by image-worship, he broke the first by worshipping other gods: making light of lesser sins makes way for greater. Marriages with daring offenders also imbolden in wickedness, and hurry men on to the greatest excesses. One of Ahab's subjects, following the example of…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 31-33Ahab is considered the worst king of Israel in terms of spirituality. People later blamed his bad actions on his wife Jezebel's influence (1 Kings 21:25). Ahab and Jezebel promoted Canaanite religious practices, which led Israel away from God. Combined with Jeroboam's false worship, these actions eventually brought disaster to Israel.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 29-3329-33. Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him--The worship of God by symbols had hitherto been the offensive form of apostasy in Israel, but now gross idolatry is openly patronized by the court. This was done through the influence of Jezebel, Ahab's queen. She was "the daughter of Eth-baal, king of the Zidonians." He was priest of Ashtaroth or Astarte, who, having murdered Philetes, king of Tyre, ascended the…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Kings 16:33
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Kings 16
- 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
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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Commentaries