1 Kings 16:31
New International Version
He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him.

New Living Translation
And as though it were not enough to follow the sinful example of Jeroboam, he married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and he began to bow down in worship of Baal.

English Standard Version
And 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.

Berean Standard Bible
And as if it were not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he even married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and he then proceeded to serve and worship Baal.

King James Bible
And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

New King James Version
And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him.

New American Standard Bible
And as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.

NASB 1995
It came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went to serve Baal and worshiped him.

NASB 1977
And it came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went to serve Baal and worshiped him.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now it happened, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians as a wife, and went and served Baal and worshiped him.

Amplified Bible
It came about, as if it had been a trivial thing for Ahab to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him.

Christian Standard Bible
Then, as if following the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat were not enough, he married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and then proceeded to serve Baal and bow in worship to him.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then, as if following the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat were a trivial matter, he married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and then proceeded to serve Baal and worship him.

American Standard Version
And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And whatever small thing it was in his eyes to walk in the sins of Yorbaam son of Nebat, he went and he took a wife Izabeil, daughter of Ithabel, King of the Tsidonians, and he went on and he served Baal and he bowed down to it.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And it was not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, but he took to wife, Jezabel the daughter of Jethebaal king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal, and worshiped him.

Contemporary English Version
He acted just like Jeroboam. Even worse, he married Jezebel the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon and started worshiping Baal.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Nor was it enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat: but he also took to wife Jezabel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians. And he went, and served Baal, and adored him.

English Revised Version
And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
It wasn't enough that he committed the same sins as Jeroboam (Nebat's son). He also married Jezebel, daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon. Ahab then served and worshiped Baal.

Good News Translation
It was not enough for him to sin like King Jeroboam; he went further and married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon, and worshiped Baal.

International Standard Version
In fact, as if it were nothing for him to live like Nebat's son Jeroboam, Ahab married Jezebel, the daughter of King Ethbaal of Sidon. Then he went out to serve Baal and worship him.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

Literal Standard Version
And it comes to pass, as if it had been trivial—his walking in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat—that he takes a wife, Jezebel daughter of Ethba‘al, king of the Zidonians, and goes and serves Ba‘al, and bows himself to it,

Majority Standard Bible
And as if it were not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he even married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and he then proceeded to serve and worship Baal.

New American Bible
It was not enough for him to follow the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat. He even married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal, and worship him.

NET Bible
As if following in the sinful footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat were not bad enough, he married Jezebel the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians. Then he worshiped and bowed to Baal.

New Revised Standard Version
And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he took as his wife Jezebel daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.

New Heart English Bible
It happened, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.

Webster's Bible Translation
And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him.

World English Bible
As if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him.

Young's Literal Translation
And it cometh to pass -- hath it been light his walking in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat? -- then he taketh a wife, Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, and goeth and serveth Baal, and boweth himself to it,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Ahab Reigns in Israel, Marries Jezebel
30However, Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him. 31And as if it were not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he even married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and he then proceeded to serve and worship Baal. 32First, Ahab set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria.…

Cross References
Revelation 2:20
But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols.

Deuteronomy 7:1
When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, and He drives out before you many nations--the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you--

Judges 18:7
So the five men departed and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living securely, like the Sidonians, tranquil and unsuspecting. There was nothing lacking in the land and no oppressive ruler. And they were far away from the Sidonians and had no alliance with anyone.

1 Kings 11:1
King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh--women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women.

1 Kings 18:18
"I have not troubled Israel," Elijah replied, "but you and your father's house have, for you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals.

2 Kings 3:2
And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not as his father and mother had done. He removed the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made.

2 Kings 9:34
Then Jehu went in and ate and drank. "Take care of this cursed woman," he said, "and bury her, for she was the daughter of a king."


Treasury of Scripture

And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

Genesis 30:15
And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.

Numbers 16:9
Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them?

Isaiah 7:13
And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?

took to wife

Genesis 6:2
That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

Deuteronomy 7:3,4
Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son…

Joshua 23:12,13
Else if ye do in any wise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of these nations, even these that remain among you, and shall make marriages with them, and go in unto them, and they to you: …

Jezebel

1 Kings 18:4,19
For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) …

1 Kings 19:1,2
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword…

1 Kings 21:5-14,25
But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said unto him, Why is thy spirit so sad, that thou eatest no bread? …

the Zidonians

1 Kings 11:1
But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;

Judges 10:12
The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.

Judges 18:7
Then the five men departed, and came to Laish, and saw the people that were therein, how they dwelt careless, after the manner of the Zidonians, quiet and secure; and there was no magistrate in the land, that might put them to shame in any thing; and they were far from the Zidonians, and had no business with any man.

and went

1 Kings 11:4-8
For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father…

served Baal

1 Kings 21:25,26
But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up…

Judges 2:11
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:

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1 Kings 16
1. Jehu's prophecy against Baasha
5. Elah succeeds him
8. Zimri, conspiring against Elah, succeeds him
11. Zimri executes Jehu's prophecy
15. Omri, made king by the soldiers, forces Zimri desperately to burn himself
21. The kingdom being divided, Omri prevails against Tibni
23. Omri builds Samaria
25. His wicked reign
27. Ahab succeeds him
29. Ahab's most wicked reign
34. Joshua's curse upon Hiel the builder of Jericho














(31) Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians.--The mention of Ethbaal, clearly the Eithobalus of Menander (see Jos. against Apion i. 18), affords another comparison of Israelite with Tyrian history. He is said to have assassinated Pheles, king of Tyre, within fifty years after the death of Hiram, and to have founded a new dynasty. He was a priest of Astarte, and it is notable that he is called, not, like Hiram, "king of Tyre," but "king of the Sidonians," thus reviving the older name of "the great Zidon," which had been superseded by Tyre. His priestly origin, and possibly also this revival of the old ideas and spirit of the Ph?nician race, may account for the fanatic devotion to Baal visible in Jezebel and Athaliah, which stands in marked contrast with the religious attitude of Hiram (1Kings 5:7; 2Chronicles 2:12). The marriage of Ahab with Jezebel was evidently the fatal turning-point in the life of a man physically brave, and possibly able as a ruler, but morally weak, impressible in turn both by good and by evil. The history shows again and again the contrast of character (which it is obvious to compare with the contrast between Shakespeare's Macbeth and Lady Macbeth), and the almost complete supremacy of the strong relentless nature of Jezebel.

2. The Baal here referred to is, of course, the Zidonian god, worshipped as the productive principle in nature, in conjunction with Astarte, the female or receptive principle. The name itself only signifies "Lord" (in which sense, indeed, it is applied, in Hosea 2:16, to Jehovah Himself), and is marked as being a mere title, by the almost invariable prefix of the article. Being, therefore, in no sense distinctive, it may be, and is, applied to the supreme god of various mythologies. Thus we find that in Scripture the plural Baalim is first used, of "the gods many and lords many" of Canaanitish worship (see Judges 2:11; Judges 3:7; Judges 10:6; 1Samuel 7:4); and we have traces of the same vague use in the Baal-peor of Numbers 25, the Baal-berith of Judges 8:33; Judges 9:4, the Baal-zebub of 2Kings 1:2-3, and in the various geographical names having the prefix Baal. The worship of the Ph?nician Baal--variously represented, sometimes as the Sun, sometimes as the planet Jupiter, sometimes half-humanised as the "Tyrian Hercules"--was now, however, introduced on a great scale, with profuse magnificence of worship, connected with the Asherah ("grove"), which in this case, no doubt, represented the Ph?nician Astarte, and enforced by Jezebel with a high hand, not without persecution of the prophets of the Lord. The conflict between it and the spiritual worship of Jehovah became now a conflict of life and death. . . .

Verse 31. - And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him [Heb. as marg. was it a light thing? Ewald (362 a) explains this to mean "because it was." But it seems better to understand, "was it such a light thing... that he must needs also?" etc.] to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat [i.e., the sins of heresy and schism], that he took to wife Jezebel [ = "Without cohabitation," "chaste," Gesenius, who compares it with Agnes. It is hardly the original of Isabella] the daughter of Ethbaal [ = "With Baal." The Greek form Ἰθόβαλος or Αἰθώβαλος, found in Jos., Ant. 8:13.1; cf. Contr. Ap. 1:18, suggests as its original אִתּו בַּעַל i.e., "with him is Baal." In either case the name well became him, for, according to Menander (apud Jos. l.c.), he was the priest of Astarte, who gained for himself the throne of the Zidonians by the assassination of Pheles. He is further said to have reigned thirty-two years, and to have lived sixty-eight years. He would therefore be thirty-six years old at the time of his accession. It does not appear that (Keil) he was the brother of Pheles. Pheles, however, was certainly a fratricide. (Rawlinson reminds us that Jezebel was great-aunt to Pygmalion and Dido.) This statement helps to explain Jezebel's fierce and sanguinary character, and at the same time accounts for her great devotion to the gods of her country, and for her determined efforts to establish their impure rites in her husband's kingdom. It was only what one would expect from the child of such a parent] king of the Zidonians [This alliance, it is extremely probable, was made for purely political reasons, as a counterpoise against the active, ambitious, and encroaching power which had arisen in Damascene Syria. The army which had already humbled Omri (ch. 20:34) could not fail to be a source of danger to Tyre], and went and served Baal [Heb. the Baal, i.e., the lord or master; cf. ὁ κύριος. The name appears among the Babylonians as Bel (Isaiah 46:1) - Greek βῆλος. Reference has already been made to the frequent recurrence of the word in different compound names, and in different parts of Palestine, as showing how widespread must have been his worship at an earlier age. We are also familiar with the word in the names Hannibal, Hasdrubal, etc. Baal was the supreme male god of the Canaanitish races, as Ashtoreth was their great female divinity. The former was regarded, not only as the possessor, but as the generator, of all], worshipped him

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And as if it were
וַיְהִי֙ (way·hî)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

not enough
הֲנָקֵ֣ל (hă·nā·qêl)
Verb - Nifal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7043: To be slight, swift or trifling

for him to walk
לֶכְתּ֔וֹ (leḵ·tōw)
Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

in the sins
בְּחַטֹּ֖אות (bə·ḥaṭ·ṭō·wṯ)
Preposition-b | Noun - feminine plural construct
Strong's 2403: An offence, its penalty, occasion, sacrifice, expiation, an offender

of Jeroboam
יָרָבְעָ֣ם (yā·rā·ḇə·‘ām)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3379: Jeroboam -- 'the people increase', the name of two Israelites kings

son
בֶּן־ (ben-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1121: A son

of Nebat,
נְבָ֑ט (nə·ḇāṭ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 5028: Nebat -- father of Jeroboam

he even married
וַיִּקַּ֨ח (way·yiq·qaḥ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3947: To take

Jezebel
אִיזֶ֗בֶל (’î·ze·ḇel)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 348: Jezebel -- queen of Israel with King Ahab

the daughter
בַּת־ (baṯ-)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 1323: A daughter

of Ethbaal
אֶתְבַּ֙עַל֙ (’eṯ·ba·‘al)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 856: Ethbaal -- 'with Baal', a king of Sidon

king
מֶ֣לֶךְ (me·leḵ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4428: A king

of the Sidonians,
צִידֹנִ֔ים (ṣî·ḏō·nîm)
Noun - proper - masculine plural
Strong's 6722: Sidonians -- an inhabitant of Sidon

and then he proceeded
וַיֵּ֙לֶךְ֙ (way·yê·leḵ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

to serve
וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֣ד (way·ya·‘ă·ḇōḏ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5647: To work, to serve, till, enslave

and worship
וַיִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּ (way·yiš·ta·ḥū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hitpael - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7812: To depress, prostrate

[Baal].
לֽוֹ׃ (lōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew


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OT History: 1 Kings 16:31 It happened as if it had been (1Ki iKi i Ki 1 Kg 1kg)
1 Kings 16:30
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