Ambrose of Milan, on 1Kgs 21:19

“And thou shalt speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast slain, moreover also thou hast taken possession. And after these words thou shalt add: Thus saith the Lord: In this place, wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall lick thy blood also.”

“Divine justice is moved by this and condemns the greedy with worthy severity, saying: 'You have killed and taken possession of the inheritance? For this reason, in the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, they will lick up your blood; and the prostitutes will wash themselves in your blood.' How just, how severe is this sentence, that the bitterness of death that he inflicted on another should be dissolved by the horror of his own death! God looks upon the unburied poor and therefore decrees that the rich should lie unburied; and so that the dead may suffer the torment of their own wickedness, he who did not think to spare the dead. Thus, the body soaked in the blood of his own wound revealed the cruelty of his life. When the poor endured these things, the rich were accused; when the rich received them, the poor were justified. But what does it mean that the prostitutes washed themselves in his blood? Unless, perhaps, it is to reveal that there was a kind of prostitution in that ferociousness of the king's treachery, or a bloody luxury, who was so indulgent that he desired a vegetable dish; so bloodthirsty that he would kill a man over a vegetable dish? Worthy punishment consumes the greedy, worthy punishment consumes greed.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.