Useful Bible Studies > 1 Kings Commentary > chapter 22
As God showed Elijah, Ahab only suffered part of the punishment for his evil deeds (21:29). The rest of the punishment happened about 14 years after his death. It ended the rule of his son Joram (2 Kings chapters 9 and 10); and, in the end, it destroyed the whole of Ahab’s family.
So, after Ahab’s death, his guards brought his body back to Samaria, the capital city. There, they buried him, with the honour that is due to a great king. His grave was by the grave of his father Omri, who made Samaria his capital city (16:28).
However, Ahab had bled to death. His blood completely covered his royal chariot, a vehicle that horses pulled. Although by modern standards we would consider that a simple vehicle, at that time it was an expensive object. So, the soldiers prepared it for the next king to use. They took it to a pool where they carefully washed it.
As they worked, dogs came. Those dogs tasted Ahab’s blood, even as God said in 1 Kings 21:19. That was the first part of the punishment in 1 Kings 21:17-24. The rest happened when Jehu left the body of Joram on Naboth’s field. Jehu did that on purpose, so that dogs would eat it (2 Kings 9:24-26).
Joram suffered for his father Ahab’s evil deeds because he (Joram) continued his own evil deeds (2 Kings 3:1-3). Ahab did not suffer the full punishment because, for a time, he was genuinely humble in front of God (21:27-29). In other words, at that time he was truly sorry for his evil behaviour.
Next part: The greatness of Ahab (1 Kings 22:39-40)
Please use the links at the top of the page to find our other articles in this series. You can download all our articles if you go to the download page for our free 1000+ page course book.
© 2024, Keith Simons.