While the text explicitly states that God mitigates Ahav’s punishment as a result of his repentance, various opinions exist as to the depth of the repentance. His repentance is evaluated in the actual description of his humbled reaction, in God’s response to Eliyahu and in Ahav’s behavior in the subsequent chapter.

Courtesy of the Virtual Beit Midrash, Yeshivat Har Etzion