1 Kings 21:7

Jezebel's words are a mixture of mockery and seduction. 'Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel?', the question is barbed, implying that a real king would simply take what he wanted. She offers him back his appetite ('arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry'), a sensory return to normalcy, but only on condition that he accept her offer. The promise 'I will give thee the vineyard' is not made with the resources of the crown; it is made with unspecified means, and Ahab, in his despair, asks no questions. She is saying, in effect, 'I will solve this problem your kingship cannot solve.' She is positioning herself as more powerful, more capable, more willing to do what is necessary.

This is the voice of the tempter: flattery mixed with shame, a promise to fulfill what you desire, and an implicit suggestion that normal scruples are for weaker people. Ahab accepts. He does not ask how Jezebel will deliver the vineyard, and that refusal to ask is itself a kind of knowing. He has, at this moment, crossed from coveting into complicity. Jesus warned, 'No man can serve two masters.' Ahab has now taken Jezebel as a master, placing himself under her will and her methods.