More than Just Naboth’s Vineyard Reflections on the Implications of the Community on Exploitation and Corruption in the Context of I Kings 21

There is an old saying that “A fish rots from the head.” It means that when a society starts degrading, it must be the fault of the leadership or the government. The thesis of this paper is that this is not the case today, nor has it ever been. It is the community, the body of the fish, that must get the blame and take responsibility for its actions. This paper reflects largely on the effect the community has when partnering with the leadership to exploit and corrupt itself. The paper also offers a fresh reading of a well known passage, that of Naboth’s Vineyard in 1 Kings 21. Through a number of analyses, the paper discovers the problem that faced Naboth’s society, the nature of the problem which is that of exploitation and corruption, and extends the blame not only to the leadership, but to the community who voluntarily follows royal instructions to commit a major crime against Naboth, itself, and God. The paper concludes with the problem being resolved by human and divine intervention, and with a call for solidarity against such shameful actions that have paralyzed our communities, societies, countries, and world.