1 Kings 21:13
“And there came in two men, children of Belial, and sat before him: and the men of Belial witnessed against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did blaspheme God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →False witnesses accuse Naboth of blasphemy, and he is dragged out and executed by stoning.
Context
The assembly convenes. The false witnesses deliver their accusations. The sentence is carried out immediately and publicly, ending Naboth's life.
What Does 1 Kings 21:13 Mean?
The speed is terrible. The accusation is made, and Naboth is carried forth and stoned before he can mount a defense, before the shock can wear off, before anyone has time to think. The law required two witnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6), and they are provided, false witnesses speaking a lie that bears the weight of law. Naboth dies 'with stones,' a method of execution that was communal and public; many hands were required to kill him, binding the community to the deed. The people who came to the fast, thinking they were gathering for something sacred, have instead become the instruments of his death.
This is how evil works at its most devastating: not through obvious villainy but through the perversion of law and community. Naboth spoke the truth ('The LORD forbid it'), and the truth got him killed. The irony is shattering. Yet this pattern repeats itself throughout Scripture and history: the righteous are persecuted, the prophets are killed, and truth-telling becomes dangerous. But the pattern also makes clear what we are meant to do: like Naboth, to refuse complicity, to speak truth, and to trust God with the outcome, knowing that even death cannot undo the faithfulness of the righteous.
Application
Numbering yourself among the righteous may cost you something. The world persecutes those who refuse to compromise. Yet in Christ, that cost is redeemed; He ransomed us with His own blood and rose to break the power of death.