1 Kings 16 · Verse 31

1 Kings 16:31

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.
1 Kings 16:31, King James Version

1 Kings 16:31 in other translations

BSBAnd 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.
WEBAs 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.
ASVAnd 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.
YLTAnd 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,
DARBYAnd it came to pass, as if it was 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 Zidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshipped him.
BBEAnd as if copying the evil ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was a small thing for him, he took as his wife Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Zidon, and became a servant and worshipper of Baal.
WebsterAnd 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.

What does 1 Kings 16:31 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 16:29-33

29-33. Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him--The worship of God by symbols had hitherto been the offensive form of apostasy in Israel, but now gross idolatry is openly patronized by the court. This was done through the influence of Jezebel, Ahab's queen. She was "the daughter of Eth-baal, king of the Zidonians." He was priest of Ashtaroth or Astarte, who, having…

Read the full comment on 1 Kings 16:29-33 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 31 He took to wife Jezebel - This was the head and chief of his offending; he took to wife, not only a heathen, but one whose hostility to the true religion was well known, and carried to the utmost extent. 1. She was the idolatrous daughter of an idolatrous king; 2. She practiced it openly; 3. She not only countenanced it in others, but protected it, and gave its partisans honors and rewards; 4. She used every means to persecute the true religion; 5. She was hideously cruel, and put to death the prophets and priests of God; 6. And all this she did with the most zealous perseverance and relentless cruelty. Notwithstanding Ahab had built a temple, and made an altar for Baal, and set up the worship of Asherah, the Sidonian Venus, which we, 1Kgs 16:33, have transformed into a grove; yet so well known was the hostility of Jezebel to all good, that his marrying her was esteemed the highest pitch of vice, and an act the most provoking to God, and destructive to the prosperity of the kingdom.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Kings 16:29-34

Ahab did evil above all that reigned before him, and did it with a particular enmity both against Jehovah and Israel. He was not satisfied with breaking the second commandment by image-worship, he broke the first by worshipping other gods: making light of lesser sins makes way for greater. Marriages with daring offenders also imbolden in wickedness, and hurry men on to the greatest excesses. One of Ahab's subjects…

Read the full comment on 1 Kings 16:29-34 →

1 Kings 16:31 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיְהִי֙vay.Hiand it wasH1961
הֲנָקֵ֣לha.na.Kel¿ was it triflingH7043
לֶכְתּ֔וֹlekh.Toto walk heH1980
בְּחַטֹּ֖אותbe.cha.Totin [the] sins ofH2403
יָרָבְעָ֣םya.ra.ve.'AmJeroboamH3379
בֶּן\־ben-[the] son ofH1121
נְבָ֑טne.VatNebatH5028
וַיִּקַּ֨חvai.yi.Kachand he tookH3947
אִשָּׁ֜ה'i.Shaha wifeH802
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
אִיזֶ֗בֶל'i.Ze.velJezebelH348
בַּת\־bat-[the] daughter ofH1323
אֶתְבַּ֙עַל֙'et.Ba.'alEthbaalH856
מֶ֣לֶךְMe.lekh[the] king ofH4428
צִידֹנִ֔יםtzi.do.Nim[the] SidoniansH6722
וַיֵּ֙לֶךְ֙vai.Ye.lekhand he wentH1980
וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֣דvai.ya.'a.Vodand he servedH5647
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הַבַּ֔עַלha.Ba.'al<the> BaalH1168
וַיִּשְׁתַּ֖חוּvai.yish.Ta.chuand he bowed downH7812
לֽוֹ\׃loto it

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Kings 16:31

  • 2 Kings 17:16

    And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

  • 2 Kings 10:18

    And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much.

  • 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.

  • Judges 2:11

    And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim:

  • 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. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.

  • 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. And he did very abominably in following idols, according to all things as did the Amorites, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.

  • Ezekiel 16:20

    Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,

  • 1 Kings 18:4

    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.)

  • 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: Know for a certainty that the Lord your God will no more drive out any of these nations from before you; but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you.

  • Judges 3:7

    And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgat the Lord their God, and served Baalim and the groves.

  • Ezekiel 8:17

    Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.

  • 2 Kings 9:30-37

    And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window. And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
as if it had been a light thing. Heb. was it a light thing.
Ge 30:15; Nu 16:9; Isa 7:13; Eze 8:17; 16:20,47; 34:18
took to wife.
Ge 6:2; De 7:3,4; Jos 23:12,13; Ne 13:23-29
Jezebel.
18:4,19; 19:1,2; 21:5-14,25; 2Ki 9:30-37; Re 2:20
the Zidonians.
11:1; Jud 10:12; 18:7
and went.
11:4-8
served Baal.
21:25,26; Jud 2:11; 3:7; 10:6; 2Ki 10:18; 17:16

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Kings 16:30

    And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.

  • 1 Kings 16:31

    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.

  • 1 Kings 16:32

    And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

Read all of 1 Kings 16

1 Kings 16:31 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Porque le fué ligera cosa andar en los pecados de Jeroboam hijo de Nabat, y tomó por mujer á Jezabel hija de Ethbaal rey de los Sidonios, y fué y sirvió á Baal, y lo adoró.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et il arriva que, comme si c’était peu de chose qu’il marche dans les péchés de Jéroboam, fils de Nebath, il prit pour femme Jézabel, fille d’Ethbaal, roi des Sidoniens, et alla et servit Baal, et se prosterna devant lui,
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und es geschah-war es zu wenig, daß er in den Sünden Jerobeams, des Sohnes Nebats, wandelte? -daß er Isebel, die Tochter Ethbaals, des Königs der Zidonier, zum Weibe nahm; und er ging hin und diente dem Baal und beugte sich vor ihm nieder.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Nec suffecit ei ut ambularet in peccatis Jeroboam filii Nabat: insuper duxit uxorem Jezabel filiam Ethbaal regis Sidoniorum. Et abiit, et servivit Baal, et adoravit eum.