This verse reminds of Joshua entering the Promised Land at the ancient city of Jericho about 500 years ago. At that time the walls of this strong city collapsed when the people of Israel walked around it seven times (see Joshua 6:12–27). On that day Joshua had pronounced this curse: “Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho.
‘At the cost of (literally, in
) his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of (literally, in
) his youngest son shall he set up its gates.”
The walls of Jericho had not been rebuilt since, and perhaps the debris was still there. This sent out a message for everyone who entered the territory of Israel or Judah via this border-crossing: you are now entering the land that has YHWH as God. He is the protector there. This land does not need a fortified border-city with walls and gates (see Psalm 48:1–14).
The rebuilding of the walls and gates in the days of Ahab is significant. It is a clear act of contempt against the God of Israel, meaning we do not trust that protection; we prefer to take care of our own safety. At the same time, it also betrays fear. You never know, so let us build a wall anyway.
The master builder Hiel lost two sons with the construction, Abiram and Sequb—as Joshua had foretold. In
(the Hebrew prefix “be”) his eldest son he laid the foundations, and in
his youngest son he fixed the gates. This formulation leaves open what exactly happened. Was it a deadly disease, an unexplained sudden death? Does in
mean with
(the blood of) his eldest and youngest? But it is also possible—or even probable—that the reference here is to two children sacrificed during the construction. Baal was a greedy god and demanded an excessive sacrifice for his favours and gifts.
Between the lines we see two types of religion illustrated here: the belief in YHWH, the God of Israel and Judah—a religion of faith, trust, love, and freedom; opposite the religion of Baal—a religion of strength, manhood, and fertility, but at the same time of fear, violence, cruelty, lust, and sensuality. This also leads to two kinds of societies: one is based on trust, charity, care for the weak, a good and generous God; the other is characterized by distrust, fear of a greedy demanding god, creating your own security, the right
of the strongest, the manliest.
34 De son temps, Hiel de Béthel bâtit Jéricho; il en jeta les fondements au prix d'Abiram, son premier-né, et il en posa les portes au prix de Segub, son plus jeune fils, selon la parole que l'Eternel avait dite par Josué, fils de Nun.