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Elijah: The Blood of Naboth · The Chosen People

0:00
Speaker 1: Previously on The Chosen People.
0:03
Speaker 2: We cannot win this fight.
0:06
Speaker 1: Jezebel didn't look at him.
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Speaker 3: Then you should pray that your god intervenes, if he
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Speaker 3: still listens to cowards.
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Speaker 1: Jezebel leaned against the balcony and threw her head back.
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Speaker 3: Elijah and the prophets of Yahweh decry me and my
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Speaker 3: prophets for our blood sacrifices. But I have come to
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Speaker 3: discover something.
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Speaker 4: What?
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Speaker 3: Your god is more bloodthirsty than mine.
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Speaker 5: You prophets always speak in riddles. What does it matter
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Speaker 5: why I fight so long as I win?
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Speaker 2: Because, my king, the Lord sees the heart, and yours
0:53
Speaker 2: is running out of places to hide.
1:02
Speaker 1: The royal chambers were dimly lit, the air thick with
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Speaker 1: the scent of spiced wine and the faint, cloying remnants
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Speaker 1: of incense. It was an atmosphere designed for brooding, and
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Speaker 1: as it turns out, brooding was one of the few
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Speaker 1: things Ahab excelled at. He lay sprawled on his bed,
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Speaker 1: limbs limp and useless, his face buried in the silk
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Speaker 1: pillow like a child sulking over a lost toy. And truly,
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Speaker 1: what greater burden was there than not getting what you want?
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Speaker 1: The king of Israel, God's anointed ruler of Samaria, conqueror
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Speaker 1: of nothing, lord of all except his own household. had
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Speaker 1: been outmaneuvered by a farmer. Ahab exhaled dramatically, shifting just
1:58
Speaker 1: enough to free his mouth from the pillow so he
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Speaker 1: could lament to the only person who might listen.
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Speaker 5: It's not fair.
2:08
Speaker 1: A pause, no response. He lifted his head slightly, glancing
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Speaker 1: toward the heavy drapery that marked the entrance to his chamber.
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Speaker 5: I said it's not fair.
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Speaker 1: Suddenly, she was there.
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Speaker 4: Jezebel.
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Speaker 1: The firelight flickered against her gold-threaded garments, dancing shadows curling
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Speaker 1: around her like loyal pets. She took one look at
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Speaker 1: her pitiful husband and let the silence stretch, an artist
2:41
Speaker 1: admiring a masterpiece of disappointment. Finally, she sighed. sharp and unimpressed.
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Speaker 3: Oh, is this any way for a king to act?
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Speaker 1: Ahab groaned and flopped onto his back, staring at the
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Speaker 1: ceiling like it had personally offended him.
3:00
Speaker 2: You don't understand, Jezebel. I wanted it. I offered him
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Speaker 2: a better vineyard. I offered him money. I was generous.
3:10
Speaker 2: But Naboth won't sell. He said it was his family's inheritance.
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Speaker 2: Some nonsense about Yahweh's law.
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Speaker 1: Jezebel's expression barely flickered, but something behind her eyes sharpened, calculating.
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Speaker 3: Oh, so let me make sure I understand this correctly. You,
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Speaker 3: the king of Israel, made a request of a commoner,
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Speaker 3: and he shoved your request right back at your face?
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Speaker 2: He wasn't so aggressive about it. It's more pleading and sentimental.
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Speaker 2: It was hideous.
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Speaker 3: Hideous indeed. And instead of doing something about it, you
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Speaker 3: came here to sulk? To pout? To starve yourself out
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Speaker 3: of sheer melodrama?
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Speaker 1: Ahab had, in fact, refused to eat dinner. A bold
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Speaker 1: protest indeed. Jezebel exhaled through her nose, slow and measured.
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Speaker 1: There were many things she could tolerate, but weakness was
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Speaker 1: not one of them. And her husband, her king, was
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Speaker 1: a spineless worm.
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Speaker 3: Get up.
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Speaker 1: Ahab didn't move.
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Speaker 3: I said, get up.
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Speaker 1: Ahab obeyed, albeit slowly. She stepped closer, trailing a single
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Speaker 1: finger along the edge of his bedpost, as though considering
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Speaker 1: whether to strangle him with his own sheets.
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Speaker 3: You're the king, Ahab. Act like it.
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Speaker 5: But what would you have me do? He won't sell it.
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Speaker 3: Then don't ask him. Just take it. Who's to stop you?
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Speaker 1: Ahab blinked, slow, dull. Jezebel suppressed the urge to strangle
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Speaker 1: him out of sheer annoyance.
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Speaker 3: Do you think other kings beg? Do you think Pharaoh
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Speaker 3: negotiates over land? Do you think Achish of Philistia grovels
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Speaker 3: for a plot of dirt like a sniveling child?
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Speaker 1: Ahab hesitated. She could see the gears turning in his
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Speaker 1: feeble little mind, the moral resistance sputtering out like a
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Speaker 1: candle in the wind. And then, in one fluid motion,
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Speaker 1: Jezebel plucked a parchment from the desk beside them, her
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Speaker 1: fingers moving with precise, practiced ease. She dipped a quill
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Speaker 1: into ink, the black liquid pooling against the page like
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Speaker 1: an open wound. With the flourish of someone who had
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Speaker 1: done this before, many, many times before, she wrote... A
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Speaker 1: decree in the name of the king. A death sentence
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Speaker 1: wrapped in legality. She pressed Ahab's royal seal against the wax,
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Speaker 1: her fingers lingering for just a breath longer than necessary,
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Speaker 1: watching as it hardened into permanence. Then she lifted the parchment,
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Speaker 1: tilting it so the firelight caught the words, illuminating the
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Speaker 1: moment where morality had finally drowned beneath ambition. There.
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Speaker 6: There.
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Speaker 3: That's how a ruler behaves.
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Speaker 2: Is it really that easy?
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Speaker 3: For a ruler with his manhood intact, yes, it is
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Speaker 3: that easy, Ahab.
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Speaker 1: Ahab watched Jezebel hand the sealed decree to an attendant.
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Speaker 1: He left with a nod. Ahab had the sneaking suspicion
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Speaker 1: that Jezebel had already planned this. She rarely did anything
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Speaker 1: without scheming first. The town square of Jezreel was sluggish
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Speaker 1: and lax, weighed down by heavy bellies and purses. The
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Speaker 1: elders sat in their designated places, their hands resting limply
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Speaker 1: in their laps, their mouths set in grim, knowing lines.
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Speaker 1: Jezebel had seen to their care, and they were loyal
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Speaker 1: to her for it. They had been medicated into an
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Speaker 1: apathetic and indifferent posture of power, Any time a king's
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Speaker 1: decree written with the queen's handwriting came, they didn't think twice.
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Speaker 1: These were not wicked men, not in the obvious way,
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Speaker 1: but apathy is its own kind of evil. And at
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Speaker 1: the centre of the elders was Naboth, the owner of
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Speaker 1: the vineyard Ahab so desperately coveted. The elders had called
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Speaker 1: him there to stand trial. For what, Naboth hadn't the
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Speaker 1: slightest clue. He had spent a lifetime believing that truth mattered,
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Speaker 1: that Yahweh's law was still the highest authority in Israel,
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Speaker 1: and that justice had a meaning beyond the whims of
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Speaker 1: those in power. But people consumed with lust for power
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Speaker 1: loathe the truth. It's inconvenient, messy. Naboth watched as two
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Speaker 1: men approached the dais to bear false witness against him,
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Speaker 1: Their faces were thin with hunger. They had clearly been
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Speaker 1: bribed with food. The first pointed, his nail dirty, his
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Speaker 1: lips curling into the smile of a predator who enjoys
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Speaker 1: the suffering of smaller things. You! Naboth's chest tightened. A
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Speaker 1: part of him still clung to disbelief. Surely not.
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Speaker 7: Surely they wouldn't.
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Speaker 5: You have blasphemed God and the king!
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Speaker 1: The words struck harder than any stone that would follow.
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Speaker 1: A murmur rippled through the crowd, an eager shuffling, the
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Speaker 1: beginning of movement, the first breath of something dark and
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Speaker 1: ugly uncoiling. Naboth stood, slowly, his eyes sweeping over the
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Speaker 1: gathered faces, looking for one, just one, that might hold
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Speaker 1: his gaze, but they all averted their eyes. The elders
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Speaker 1: sat rigid, their hands gripping the edges of their robes,
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Speaker 1: as if afraid of what might happen if they let go.
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Speaker 7: What?
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Speaker 5: No, no, this is false.
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Speaker 2: I've done nothing of the sort.
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Speaker 1: Naboth took a step forward, directing his words to the elders,
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Speaker 1: the men he had respected. the men he had trusted
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Speaker 1: to uphold God's law rather than bow to the whims
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Speaker 1: of a palace that had forgotten him.
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Speaker 8: You know this is false. You know who I am.
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Speaker 8: You have sat with me in the synagogue. You have
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Speaker 8: heard me pray. You have heard me speak Yahweh's name
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Speaker 8: with reverence. And you have seen my offerings at the altar.
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Speaker 6: Look at me!
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Speaker 1: None of them did. They stared at the ground. A
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Speaker 1: few shifted uncomfortably, but none spoke. None would defend him.
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Speaker 1: None would risk themselves. And that was when he understood.
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Speaker 1: This had been decided long before he ever stepped into
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Speaker 1: this square. The elders had already signed their names, the
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Speaker 1: officials had already sent the orders, the stones had already
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Speaker 1: been gathered. The accusations were just a formality, a necessary
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Speaker 1: script to keep the illusion of righteousness intact. Jezebel had
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Speaker 1: written the lines, and these men, these good men, these
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Speaker 1: pious men, these men who should have known better... had
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Speaker 1: taken their parts without protest. Because survival mattered more than truth.
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Speaker 1: Because keeping their place at the table mattered more than justice.
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Speaker 1: Naboth's throat tightened, but he swallowed down the fear. He turned,
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Speaker 1: this time addressing the people. The merchants, the farmers, the
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Speaker 1: neighbors who had traded with him, who had borrowed from him,
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Speaker 1: who had laughed with him on quieter days.
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Speaker 4: You know me.
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Speaker 2: You know my house, my family, my father before me.
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Speaker 7: I have never.
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Speaker 8: Spoken a word against the Lord.
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Speaker 2: I have never dishonored the king.
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Speaker 5: Are you truly willing.
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Speaker 3: To let this happen?
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Speaker 7: To let these men speak lies?
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Speaker 5: You know our lies.
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Speaker 1: Naboth's eyes swept over the elders. But then, just for
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Speaker 1: a moment... they landed on three faces in the crowd,
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Speaker 1: faces he knew well, faces he had called friends. Yaqim
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Speaker 1: sat with his hands folded in his lap, his bald
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Speaker 1: head holding an expression carved from stone. Once they had
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Speaker 1: studied the law of Moses together, debating about justice and
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Speaker 1: righteousness in the late hours. Now Yaqim barely met his gaze.
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Speaker 4: Yakim, you know me.
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Speaker 8: You have seen my life, my faithfulness.
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Speaker 7: You of all people know that this is a lie.
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Speaker 4: I tried to put in the good word for you,
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Speaker 4: but the king has the right to do as he
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Speaker 4: sees fit, Naboth. You must understand that. We all do.
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Speaker 1: Naboth's stomach twisted. The words were precise, detached. spoken with
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Speaker 1: the efficiency of a man who had long since decided
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Speaker 1: which side was safer. He turned next to Ezra, the
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Speaker 1: man who had once laughed in his home, whose children
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Speaker 1: had played with his. Ezra would not meet his eyes.
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Speaker 1: He shifted in his seat, rubbing his temple as if
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Speaker 1: the very act of engaging in this moment was too
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Speaker 1: much for him.
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Speaker 6: Ezra, please speak. I... I can't, Naboth. It's already set
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Speaker 6: in motion. I don't have the strength for this fight.
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Speaker 1: It was worse than Yakim's coldness. It was cowardice wrapped
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Speaker 1: in weary resignation. Naboth's throat tightened as he turned to
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Speaker 1: the last man, Gadiel. Gadiel was already shaking his head
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Speaker 1: as if preparing an apology he would never say.
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Speaker 7: Gadiel, look.
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Speaker 5: I'll admit it, you've been wronged, but... Come on now,
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Speaker 5: you must have known.
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Speaker 2: We weren't going to stick our.
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Speaker 1: Necks out for you. The words hit harder than the
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Speaker 1: first stone that would come. Naboth felt his breath leave him,
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Speaker 1: not from the weight of accusation, but from the weight
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Speaker 1: of abandonment. No one objected. No one fought for him.
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Speaker 1: The people shifted, uneasy. but no one stood beside him.
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Speaker 1: The machine was already in motion, and it was easier,
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Speaker 1: so much easier, to let it crush someone else than
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Speaker 1: to risk being caught in it themselves. Suddenly, the weight
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Speaker 1: of the accusation felt real, even though every soul present
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Speaker 1: had heard the lie for what it was. But it
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Speaker 1: didn't matter now. What mattered was that Jezebel's orders be
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Speaker 1: carried out, What mattered was that the king be given
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Speaker 1: what he wanted, and that the rest of them could
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Speaker 1: sleep soundly, knowing they had done what was necessary.
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Speaker 5: Lord God, strengthen me.
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Speaker 1: The first stone was thrown, and it struck Naboth's shoulder,
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Speaker 1: knocking him off balance. The second hit his ribs, knocking
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Speaker 1: the wind from his lungs. Then came the third, then
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Speaker 1: the fourth, The frenzy overtook them. They descended on him
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Speaker 1: in a storm of rock and fury, and Naboth fell
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Speaker 1: to the ground. The dust settled. His blood pooled into
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Speaker 1: the dirt. Then came the dogs. They slunk forward, thin
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Speaker 1: and hungry, drawn by the scent of death. They lapped
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Speaker 1: at the blood, indifferent to the weight of the moment,
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Speaker 1: indifferent to the crime that.
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Speaker 7: Had been committed.
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Speaker 1: Dogs do not care for justice. Far away, behind the
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Speaker 1: walls of the palace, Jezebel received the message. She barely
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Speaker 1: looked up from the goblet in her hand as she listened.
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Speaker 1: When the report was finished, she let a small, satisfied smirk.
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Speaker 7: Curl her lips.
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Speaker 1: She turned to Ahab, who had been waiting in the
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Speaker 1: shadows like a man who did not want to know
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Speaker 1: what price had been paid for his desires.
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Speaker 3: The vineyard is yours now.
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Speaker 1: Ahab swallowed but said nothing. He did not ask how
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Speaker 1: it had been done. He did not ask what had
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Speaker 1: become of Naboth or whether the accusations had been true.
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Speaker 1: He did not even ask if Yahweh had been watching.
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Speaker 1: He only stood slow and silent and prepared himself to
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Speaker 1: ride out and claim his prize. Somewhere beneath the earth,
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Speaker 1: Naboth's blood seeped into the soil of the very land
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Speaker 1: he had refused to sell, and the Lord saw. Ahab
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Speaker 1: stood in his vineyard, surveying his prize, though the taste
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Speaker 1: of victory was already turning sour in his mouth. The
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Speaker 1: sun beat down and the dust clung to his skin
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Speaker 1: like the guilt he refused to acknowledge. He ran a
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Speaker 1: hand over a vine, rolling a plump grape between his fingers,
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Speaker 1: imagining the fine wines he would command, the legacy he
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Speaker 1: would build. Jezebel had seen to everything. She always did.
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Speaker 1: The dirt had settled, the nuisance erased. This was how
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Speaker 1: kings ruled. And why shouldn't he have it? He had
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Speaker 1: thought about it, justified it to himself a hundred different ways.
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Speaker 2: Why shouldn't I own this land? Who else in Israel
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Speaker 2: is more deserving?
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Speaker 5: I'm the king. This vineyard, this whole city exists because
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Speaker 5: I allow it to.
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Speaker 2: You think Naboth wouldn't have had the luxury of tending
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Speaker 2: those vines without me?
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Speaker 5: Without my armies, my protection, my leadership?
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Speaker 1: His fingers traced the rough bark of the vine, his
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Speaker 1: mind spinning, grasping at whatever scraps of righteousness he could
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Speaker 1: weave together into a reason, any reason, that this wasn't theft.
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Speaker 2: Naboth was stubborn. That was his problem. Couldn't see past
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Speaker 2: his own little patch of dirt. I offered him a
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Speaker 2: better vineyard.
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Speaker 5: Gold, whatever he wanted, but no, he had to be
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Speaker 5: a zealot. talking about God's law, as if I.
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Speaker 2: I, the anointed king of Israel, am not the one
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Speaker 2: responsible for upholding Yahweh's kingdom.
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Speaker 5: I do more for this land than Naboth ever did.
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Speaker 1: The words came fast now, tumbling over each other, desperate,
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Speaker 1: trying to fill the silence before it swallowed him whole.
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Speaker 5: What? Was I supposed to just accept his no?
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Speaker 2: Let some self-righteous farmer defy the king? What kind of
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Speaker 2: ruler would that make me?
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Speaker 5: No, no, this is justice. This is order. The strong rule,
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Speaker 5: the weak obey. That's the way of the world.
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Speaker 1: But even as he said it, he felt it. The gnawing,
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Speaker 1: the hollowness, the lie in his own voice. The sun
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Speaker 1: burned hotter, the air thickened, the vines seemed to twist
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Speaker 1: under his hands, curling away from him as if they knew.
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Speaker 1: And then the air shifted. The wind kicked up, dry
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Speaker 1: and sudden, rumbling. the leaves the hair on ahab's arms
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Speaker 1: stood on end a shadow flickered in the heat haze
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Speaker 1: a presence that did not belong and before he even
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Speaker 1: turned before he even saw he knew elijah That ragged lunatic,
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Speaker 1: that living thorn in his side, that wild-eyed, God-haunted, insufferable
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Speaker 1: prophet who always showed up just when Ahab thought he
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Speaker 1: could finally enjoy something. And there he was, storming across
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Speaker 1: the field, his tattered cloak whipping behind him, dust curling
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Speaker 1: at his heels like the fury of God. His face
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Speaker 1: was gaunt, all sharp angles and contempt, hair and beard
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Speaker 1: wild and unwashed, eyes burning with the kind of righteous
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Speaker 1: hatred that made Ahab's stomach tighten. The man never looked normal.
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Speaker 1: He looked like a man who lived on locusts and spite,
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Speaker 1: and at this moment, all of it was directed at Ahab.
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Speaker 1: Ahab felt the blood drain from his face. His fingers
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Speaker 1: twitched toward the hilt of his sword, not to use it,
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Speaker 1: of course, but just to hold something, anything, as if
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Speaker 1: steel could protect him from the judgment that walked toward
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Speaker 1: him on sandaled feet.
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Speaker 5: So, you found me, my enemy.
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Speaker 1: Elijah didn't even pause, didn't flinch, just kept walking like
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Speaker 1: a man who had already won the fight before it
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Speaker 1: even started.
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Speaker 7: Found you, Ahab. You bloated sack of wine and cowardice.
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Speaker 7: I didn't have to look. You reek of guilt. The
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Speaker 7: Lord pointed, and there you were, sloshing through stolen dirt
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Speaker 7: like the overfed pig you are.
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Speaker 2: Mind your tongue, prophet.
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Speaker 5: Or what?
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Speaker 7: You'll throw another tantrum? Run home to your wife? so
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Speaker 7: she can kill a poor servant boy and write me
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Speaker 7: a nasty letter in his blood.
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Speaker 1: Ahab hated him, hated the way he spoke, hated the
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Speaker 1: way he moved, hated the way he never bowed, never
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Speaker 1: simpered like the spineless elders and priests. Most of all,
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Speaker 1: Ahab hated how his stomach curled inward at Elijah's words,
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Speaker 1: because deep down, he knew they were true. Elijah stopped
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Speaker 1: just short of him, eyes flicking over the vineyard, letting
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Speaker 1: the silence stretch. Then he laughed. Not a friendly laugh,
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Speaker 1: not even a mocking one. It was worse than that.
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Speaker 1: It was the laugh of a man who had already
22:49
Speaker 1: seen the ending of the story, who knew that all
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Speaker 1: the power Ahab thought he had was nothing but sand
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Speaker 1: through his fingers.
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Speaker 9: First murder, then theft. What's next, Ahab? Will you steal
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Speaker 9: a cripple's crutch? Snatch a widow's last coin? Maybe ransack
23:15
Speaker 9: an orphanage while you're at it?
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Speaker 3: Enough!
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Speaker 7: Look at you, standing here like a fool. Like you'll
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Speaker 7: think this place belongs to you. Like you'll work this soil.
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Speaker 5: Like you'll shed sweat for these vines.
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Speaker 7: But we both know how you got it, don't we?
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Speaker 9: We both know who bled for this land, and so
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Speaker 9: does the Lord.
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Speaker 1: The wind howled, the sun darkened, and suddenly Ahab felt small.
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Speaker 1: Elijah took a step forward, his voice louder now, like
23:53
Speaker 1: a crack of thunder splitting the heavens.
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Speaker 7: Thus says the Lord God of heaven and earth, the
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Speaker 7: God of the nation you claim to rule. In the
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Speaker 7: very spot where the dogs licked up Neboth's blood, they
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Speaker 7: will lap up your blood. Yes, yours, Ahab.
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Speaker 1: Ahab felt the weight of something far bigger than himself
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Speaker 1: press down.
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Speaker 7: On his chest.
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Speaker 1: But Elijah wasn't done.
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Speaker 7: And your lovely wife, Jezebel.
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Speaker 5: Oh.
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Speaker 7: Jezebel, don't think you've always forgotten her. You know what's
24:33
Speaker 7: coming for her.
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Speaker 1: Elijah leaned in close, lowering his voice, the words dripping
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Speaker 1: with venom.
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Speaker 7: The dogs, they will fight for the last scraps of
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Speaker 7: her corpse. Ahab gasped.
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Speaker 1: He took a step back before he could stop himself,
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Speaker 1: before he could remember that he was the king and
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Speaker 1: Elijah was just some half-mad prophet who should have been
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Speaker 1: afraid of him. But he wasn't.
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Speaker 7: He never was.
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Speaker 1: The words settled into Ahab's bones, filling the cracks of
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Speaker 1: his conscience like rot. For a long, terrible moment, everything
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Speaker 1: was still.
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Speaker 5: And then.
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Speaker 1: Ahab collapsed. He fell, knees slamming into the dirt, hands
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Speaker 1: gripping at his robe like he could tear the guilt
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Speaker 1: out of himself if he just ripped hard enough. His
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Speaker 1: crown slid off, forgotten. His shoulders shook. He ripped his clothes,
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Speaker 1: the fine fabric tearing like the illusion of his invincibility.
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Speaker 1: His lips cracked as he whispered words he barely understood.
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Speaker 1: A plea, a prayer, a curse upon himself. He had
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Speaker 1: not even noticed his servants watching, wide-eyed, uncertain if they
25:54
Speaker 1: should step forward or step back. Elijah watched him, arms crossed.
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Speaker 1: He was unmoved. But then, something unexpected happened. For reasons
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Speaker 1: that would never make sense to Elijah... Ahab's utter desperation
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Speaker 1: stirred the Lord's mercy ever so slightly. The voice of
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Speaker 1: Yahweh came, not in the fire of judgment, not in
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Speaker 1: the roar of finality, but in the quiet unseen spaces
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Speaker 1: between Ahab's whimpering breaths. The Lord saw, and so saw.
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Speaker 1: The punishment was delayed. Not erased, not forgotten, not undone.
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Speaker 7: Only delayed.
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Speaker 1: Elijah exhaled, shaking his head, almost annoyed at Yahweh's mercy.
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Speaker 1: He turned, ready to leave, but cast one final glance
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Speaker 1: at the sniveling heap of a king at his feet.
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Speaker 7: Enjoy the wine, Ahab. It won't last.
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Speaker 1: Ahab did not respond. He could not. The prophet walked away,
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Speaker 1: his cloak snapping behind him, his silhouette swallowed by the
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Speaker 1: dust and heat. Ahab remained in the dirt, his body trembling,
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Speaker 1: his face streaked with dust and tears. He had seen
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Speaker 1: the end, and he knew he would not escape. The
27:29
Speaker 1: sun dipped lower, the vineyard stood empty, and on the wall,
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Speaker 1: perched in the growing shadows, a lone raven watched, waiting.
27:40
Speaker 1: The wind carried the echoes of Elijah's words. Judgment always
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Speaker 1: comes back. This Pray.com production is only made possible by
28:03
Speaker 1: our dedicated team of creative talents. Steve Katina, Max Bard,
28:07
Speaker 1: Zach Schellewager, and Ben Gammon are the executive producers of
28:11
Speaker 1: The Chosen People, narrated by Paul Coltofianu. Characters are voiced
28:16
Speaker 1: by Jonathan Cotton, Aaron Salvato, Sarah Seltz, Mike Reagan, Stephen Ringwald,
28:22
Speaker 1: Sylvia Zaradok, Thomas Copeland Jr., Rosanna Pilcher, and Mitch Lashinsky.
28:28
Speaker 1: Music by Andrew Morgan Smith. Written by Aaron Salvato, Brie Rosely,
28:33
Speaker 1: and Chris Baig. You can hear more Prey.com productions on
28:37
Speaker 1: the Prey.com app, available on the Apple App Store and
28:40
Speaker 1: Google Play Store. If you enjoyed The Chosen People, please
28:43
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