Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 22:38
And [one] washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armor; according unto the word of the LORD which he spoke.
38. And one [R.V. they ] washed the chariot in [R.V. by ] the pool of Samaria ] The first change substitutes an English for a Hebrew idiom; the second renders more exactly the preposition of the original. It was necessary in the East to provide large reservoirs outside each town that the supplies of water in the rainy season might be kept for times of drought. Many such pools are mentioned in Scripture, and some, for example those at Bethlehem, remain to the present day. To the side of such a tank the royal equipage was brought to be washed. Thus Ahab’s blood came to be licked up by the dogs in the same sort of spot, outside the city walls, as that where Naboth’s blood was licked up near Jezreel.
and the dogs licked, &c.] Here as above in 1Ki 21:19 the LXX. adds ‘the swine’ to the dogs.
and they washed his armour ] R.V. Now the harlots washed themselves there. This change, which is the rendering of the LXX., is no doubt correct. The Hebrew word occurs often in the O. Test. and means nothing else but ‘harlots,’ while the verb in the sentence is not one applied to washing articles that need cleaning but to bathing the body. Cf. Exo 30:19; Exo 30:21; Exo 40:12; Exo 40:31; Lev 16:4; Lev 16:24; Lev 16:26; Lev 16:28, and in Num 19:19 another verb is used for ‘wash his clothes’ and the present verb rendered ‘bathe himself,’ and in the verse before us another verb is employed to describe the washing of the chariot.
The R.V. by placing this clause in a parenthesis seems to treat it as a subsidiary feature in the description. This was the place to which they usually came to bathe. Some have however suggested that the women alluded to were those attached (as such persons were) to the temples of Baal and Ashtoreth, and that thus a greater indignity still was offered to this fosterer of idolatrous worship. This interpretation however reads a good deal into the text which is not there. And surely it was indignity enough for the royal blood to be washed into the waters of the harlots’ bath. It should be mentioned that Josephus, and, among the Fathers, Theodoret, support the rendering of R.V. The A.V. is derived from the Chaldee and the Syriac versions.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They washed his armour – Rather, the harlots bathed in it. The pool of Samaria, which was stained with Ahabs blood by the washing of his chariot in it, was, according to Josephus, the usual bathing-place of the Samaritan harlots. A large tank or reservoir, probably identical with this pool, still remains on the slope of the hill of Samaria, immediately outside the walls.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 38. The dogs licked up his blood] Some of the rabbins think that this was in the very place where Naboth was stoned; see on 1Kg 21:19. The Septuagint translates this verse strangely: “And the swine and the dogs licked his blood, and the whores bathed themselves in his blood, according to the word of the Lord.” It is certain that the Hebrew words, hazzonoth rachatsu, “washed his armour,” might be translated as the Septuagint have done; “and the whores (or public women) washed,” c. And so the rabbins seem to have understood the words but then they suppose that Jezebel had made him two images of prostitutes, which he had with him in the chariot. It is not worth inquiring into the use for which they say these images were made. See Kimchi and Jarchi.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The dogs licked up his blood, together with the water wherewith it was mixed.
According unto the word of the Lord; of which See Poole “1Ki 21:19“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria,…. After the body was taken out, very likely the chariot driver, who drove it into the pool, and plunged it into it, as the word signifies, to cleanse it from the blood of his master:
and the dogs licked up his blood; mixed with the water of the pool; the Septuagint adds, “the swine”, which is not probable, such creatures not being bred in the land of Israel:
and they washed his armour; his coat of mail, through the joints of which the blood issued, and ran upon it. The word is sometimes used for whores, and is so translated here in the Greek version, and by Munster and Castalio; and both Ben Gersom and Abarbinel say, that women, who were harlots, washed here in his blood, mixed with water; and so Josephus u writes, that afterwards it was a custom for whores to wash in this pool; though some say w two whores were painted on Ahab’s chariot, by the order of Jezebel, to inflame his lust, and these were what were washed; but the word signifies armour, or rather ornaments, clothes, jewels, c.
and now all this was according to the word of the Lord which he spake both by Elijah, that as the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, so they should his, as they now did, though not in the same place; nor was it necessary to fulfil the prophecy, [See comments on 1Ki 21:19], though some have thought x that his blood, mixed with the water of the pool of Samaria, was carried in a stream down to Jezreel, and there licked by the dogs, where Naboth’s was; but chiefly what was spoken by Micaiah is here respected, that thus Ahab fell at Ramothgilead, as he had prophesied, 1Ki 22:17 and his life went for the life of Benhadad, as he had before declared, 1Ki 20:42.
u Antiqu. l. 8. c. 15. sect. 6. w See Jarchi & Kimchi in loc. x Kimchi in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(38) They washed his armour.There seems little doubt that this is a mistranslation, and that the LXX. rendering (supported also by Josephus) is correct: And the harlots bathed in it, that is, in the bloodstained pool, the usual public bathing-place of their shamelessness. The dog and the harlot are the animal and human types of uncleanness.
According unto the word of the Lord.The reference to the emphatic prophecy of Elijah is unmistakable, and the context fixes its fulfilment plainly as having taken place in Samaria. The difficulty is, of course, the notice in 2Ki. 9:25, where the dead body of Jehoram is cast in the portion of the field of Naboth, evidently at Jezreel; with quotation of the burden of the Lord laid upon him, I will requite thee in this plot, saith the Lord. The reconcilement is, with our knowledge, difficult, if not impossible. But the reference in the text is so much clearer, that it must outweigh the other. Naboth, in any case, is likely to have had land in his native place, which would be forfeited to the king; and there would still be an appropriate judgment in making it also the scene of the dishonoured death of the last king of Ahabs house. We may notice, moreover, that the quotation in 2 Kings 9 is not taken from Elijahs words against Ahab, nor does it contain the characteristic notice of the dogs licking the blood; though it is noticed as a fulfilment of the subsequent prophecy of chapter 21:24 against Ahabs house.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
38. Dogs licked up his blood The blood which all that day had been trickling through his armour and falling down upon the chariot. Thus was partially fulfilled the words of Elijah. 1Ki 21:19.
And they washed his armour Rather, and harlots bathed; that is, harlots came and bathed in the water of the pool while it was yet stained with the blood of the fallen king. This fact is recorded to show the unconcern and contempt with which the death of Ahab was regarded even in his own metropolis.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
(38) And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the LORD which he spake. (39) Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? (40) So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.
The Holy Ghost is particular in causing to be related the circumstance of dogs licking his blood, by way of fulfilling his servant the Prophet’s word, showing with what contempt his death was followed. And thus ended the life of this worthless, unprincipled man!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Ki 22:38 And [one] washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the LORD which he spake.
Ver. 38. In the pool of Samaria. ] So the pool in Jezreel might be called, for the reason above given, on 1Ki 21:19 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
and the dogs: 1Ki 21:19, Jos 23:14, Jos 23:15, Isa 44:25, Isa 44:26, Isa 48:3-5, Jer 44:21-23, Zec 1:4-6, Mat 24:35
Reciprocal: Psa 68:23 – the tongue
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 22:38. The dogs licked up his blood Together with the water wherewith it was mixed. This circumstance is noticed because it was the accomplishment of one part of Elijahs prophecy concerning him. Now Naboths blood was avenged!