Transcript
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Ahab is asking a man to trade his
grandchildren's inheritance for the
king's salad.
For the king's whim of whether he wants
broccoli or cabbage that year. And
Naboth answers in verse three, "Halila
li Hashem." Far be it from me, by
Hashem, that I should give the
inheritance of my fathers to you.
Nachalat avotai, the inheritance of my
fathers. He doesn't simply tell him that
it isn't for sale. He says, "Halila, far
be it from me." That's the language of a
man who's just been asked to do
something which is, at least in his
mind, forbidden.
Perhaps not forbidden by law, but
forbidden by his own code, forbidden by
loyalty. I think to Naboth, it would be
it would be a betrayal of something
sacred that has been entrusted to him by
his fathers for him just to give it
over.
>> You know, a lot of people, they read
that and they see that Naboth is kind of
being a little bit stubborn. But like
you said, I don't think he's being
stubborn. I think he's being obedient.
He's connected to the land spiritually.
He's connected to the land emotionally.
And he has like a Torah command behind
him. You know, it's not only his own
code. I think he's being obedient to the
code of the Torah. That that land was
appointed under Joshua, tribe by tribe,
family by family, by lot. And the Torah
plainly says that the land cannot be
sold permanently because the actual
owner was never the farmer. The land
belongs to Hashem. And he we just hold
it as tenants. And so Naboth doesn't
believe he even has the authority to say
yes. In his mind, it was never his to
give away. And I think there is a real
Torah basis for him to feel that way.
And you know, you look and that tells
you something about the king standing in
his doorway. I mean, all the other
nations, in Egypt, in Assyria, and every
empire around them, the king owns
everything and everyone in it. Pharaoh
just takes what he wants. That's what a
king is out there. But in the kingdom of
Israel, Ahab has to request it. He can't
simply take it by force because deep
down he knows it. And when the farmer
says no, the commander of the armies of
Israel, the king himself, goes home and
lies down on his bed sulking and
depressed because a king of Israel
stands under the Torah, not above it.
And in that way, one man with a vineyard
can look the king of Israel in the eye
and say, "No."
