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Case file s846 · Scripture and the ancient world · 860 BCE
860 BCE
Naboth in his Vineyard title QS:P1476,en:"Naboth in his Vineyard "label QS:Len,"Naboth in his Vineyard ": Naboth in his Vineyard title QS:P1476,en:"Naboth in his Vineyard "label QS
Naboth in his Vineyard title QS:P1476,en:"Naboth in his Vineyard "label QS:Len,"Naboth in his Vineyard ". James Smetham. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
Naboth the Jezreelite, in the reign of Ahab, placed at 860 BC
Place
Jezreel, Israel
Field
family vineyard · Royalty and nobility on the timeline
Legal tradition
Israelite ancestral land (nachalah); forged royal letters and false witnesses · Jewish and biblical law · Royal and church law
Historical event
Jehu's coup against the house of Ahab

Scripture: this account comes from a sacred text. Court and archive records of it do not exist.

Kings says Naboth refused to sell King Ahab "the inheritance of my fathers," and Queen Jezebel had him and his sons killed for it

The first book of Kings says Naboth owned a vineyard beside King Ahab's palace in Jezreel. Ahab offered him a better vineyard or its price in money. Naboth said, "The LORD forbid it me, that I should give the inheritance of my fathers unto thee." Ahab went home and would not eat. His wife Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab's name, sealed them with his seal and sent them to the town's elders. They proclaimed a fast, set Naboth at the head of the people and seated two worthless men opposite him. The men testified that Naboth had cursed God and the king. He was taken out and stoned. Ahab went to take possession of the vineyard. The prophet Elijah met him there and said dogs would lick his blood where they had licked Naboth's, and dogs would eat Jezebel. The second book of Kings says the general Jehu later killed Ahab's son Joram and threw his body onto Naboth's plot, citing "the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons." His men threw Jezebel from a window, and only her skull, feet and palms were found. Since 2012 the Jezreel Expedition under Norma Franklin of the University of Haifa has excavated a rock-cut winery east of Tel Jezreel, with a treading floor 3.2 metres square and two vats over a metre deep. Franklin says it cannot be dated closely, only that it is pre-Hellenistic, and that the story's author knew Jezreel had a vineyard and winery.

What the law took from it

With Naboth's sons dead there was no heir to claim the land, which is why the killing included them.

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Kings says Naboth refused to sell King Ahab "the inheritance of my fathers," and Queen Jezebel had him and his sons killed for it,” story s846, https://www.celebrity.estate/naboths-vineyard-860-bc, updated 30 October 2026.

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