1 Kings 22 · a question people ask
The LORD sent Elijah to tell Ahab that dogs would lick his blood "in the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth" (21:19). Is that what 22:38 tells?
Here are the verses side by side. In the chapter before, the LORD sent Elijah to Ahab with these words: "In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick your blood, even yours" (21:19). Naboth's vineyard "was in Jezreel" (21:1). When Ahab humbled himself, the LORD said, "Because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days; but I will bring the evil on his house in his son’s day" (21:29). Here, after the king's death, "They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood where the prostitutes washed themselves, according to the LORD’s word which he spoke" (22:38). Chapter 21's honest question on whether the word about the dogs was kept at Ahab's death or later sets out the two main ways Christians read these verses, each resting on its verses, together with 2 Kings 9:25-26. These notes don't repeat them, and don't choose.
The verses
“You shall speak to him, saying, ‘The LORD says, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”’ You shall speak to him, saying, ‘The LORD says, “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs will lick your blood, even yours.”’””
“After these things, Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria.”
““See how Ahab humbles himself before me? Because he humbles himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days; but I will bring the evil on his house in his son’s day.””
“They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood where the prostitutes washed themselves, according to the LORD’s word which he spoke.”