(KJV) 1 Kings 201

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⥃Ben-hadad Attacks Samaria

[1] And Ben–hadad2 the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and [there were] thirty and two3 kings with him, and horses4, and chariots: and he went up and besieged5 Samaria, and warred against it.6 [2] And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben–hadad,7 [3] Thy silver and thy gold [is] mine; thy wives also and thy children, [even] the goodliest, [are] mine.8 [4] And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I [am] thine9, and all that I have. [5] And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben–hadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children; [6] Yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall search10 thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, [that] whatsoever is pleasant11 in thine eyes, they shall put [it] in their hand, and take [it] away. [7] Then the king of Israel called all the elders12 of the land, and said, Mark13, I pray you, and see how this [man] seeketh mischief14: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not15. [8] And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not [unto him], nor consent. [9] Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben–hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again. [10] And Ben–hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods16 do so unto me, and more also, if the dust17 of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me18. [11] And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell [him], Let not him19 that girdeth on [his harness20] boast himself as he that putteth it off. [12] And it came to pass, when [Ben–hadad] heard this message21, as he [was] drinking22, he and the kings in the pavilions23, that he said unto his servants, Set [yourselves in array]. And they set24 [themselves in array] against the city.

⥃Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad

[13] [¶]And, behold, there came25 a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou26 seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt27 know that I [am] the Lord. [14] And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the Lord, [Even] by the young men28 of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order29 the battle? And he answered, Thou. [15] Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred30 and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people, [even] all the children of Israel, [being] seven thousand31. [16] And they went out at noon. But Ben–hadad32 [was] drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty33 and two kings that helped him. [17] And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben–hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.34 [18] And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.35 [19] So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. [20] And they slew36 every one his man: and the Syrians37 fled; and Israel pursued them: and Ben–hadad the king of Syria escaped38 on an horse with the horsemen. [21] And the king of Israel went out39, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.

[22] And the prophet40 came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen41 thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return42 of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee. [23] And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods43 [are] gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. [24] And do this thing, Take the44 kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms: [25] And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost45, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, [and] surely46 we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.

⥃Another War with Ben-hadad

[26] And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben–hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek47, to fight against Israel48. [27] And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present49, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two50 little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.

[28] [¶]And there came51 a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because52 the Syrians have said, The Lord [is] God of the hills, but he [is] not God of the valleys, therefore will53 I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know54 that I [am] the Lord. [29] And they pitched one over against the other seven days55. And [so] it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand56 footmen in one day. [30] But the rest57 fled to Aphek, into the city; and [there] a wall58 fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men [that were] left. And Ben–hadad fled59, and came into the city, into an inner chamber60.

⥃Ahab Spares Ben-hadad

[31] And his servants61 said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel [are] merciful kings62: let us, I pray thee63, put sackcloth64 on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure65 he will save thy life. [32] So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and [put] ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant66 Ben–hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, [Is] he yet alive? he [is] my brother67. [33] Now the men68 did diligently observe whether [any thing would come] from him, and did hastily catch [it]: and they said, Thy brother Ben–hadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Ben–hadad came forth to him; and he caused69 him to come up into the chariot. [34] And [Ben–hadad] said unto him, The cities70, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then [said Ahab], I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant71 with him, and sent him away.

⥃A Prophet Reproves Ahab

[35] [¶]And a certain man of the sons72 of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word73 of the Lord, Smite me74, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him. [36] Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the Lord, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.75 [37] Then he found another man, and said, Smite me76, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that77 in smiting he wounded [him]. [38] So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised78 himself with ashes upon his face. [39] And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant79 went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life80 be for his life, or else81 thou shalt pay82 a talent of silver. [40] And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone83. And the king of Israel said unto him, So [shall] thy judgment [be84]; thyself hast decided [it]. [41] And he hasted, and took the ashes away85 from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he [was] of the prophets. [42] And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Because86 thou hast let go out of [thy] hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go87 for his life, and thy people for his people. [43] And the king of Israel went88 to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.

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  1. 1Kgs 20:1, Ben–hadad, not content with Ahab’s homage, besieges Samaria; 1Kgs 20:13, By the direction of a prophet, the Syrians are slain; 1Kgs 20:22, As the prophet forewarned Ahab, the Syrians, trusting in the valleys, come against him in Aphek; 1Kgs 20:28, By the word of the prophet, and God’s judgment, the Syrians are smitten again; 1Kgs 20:31, The Syrians submitting themselves, Ahab sends Ben–hadad away with a covenant; 1Kgs 20:35, The prophet, under the parable of a prisoner, making Ahab judge himself, denounces God’s judgment against him. ↩

  2. 1Kgs 15:18, 1Kgs 15:20; 2Kgs 8:7-10; 2Chr 16:2-4; Jer 49:27; Amos 1:4 ↩

  3. 1Kgs 20:16, 1Kgs 20:24; Gen 14:1-5; Judg 1:7; Ezra 7:12; Isa 10:8; Ezek 26:7; Dan 2:37 ↩

  4. Exod 14:7; Deut 20:1; Judg 4:3; 1Sam 13:5; Isa 37:24 ↩

  5. Lev 26:25; Deut 28:52; 2Kgs 6:24-29, 2Kgs 17:5-6 ↩

  6. am 3103, bc 901 ↩

  7. 2Kgs 19:9; Isa 36:2-22, Isa 37:9-10 ↩

  8. Exod 15:9; Isa 10:13-14 ↩

  9. Lev 26:36; Deut 28:48; Judg 15:11-13; 1Sam 13:6-7; 2Kgs 18:14-16 ↩

  10. 1Sam 13:19-21; 2Sam 24:14; 2Kgs 18:31-32 ↩

  11. Heb. desirable, Gen 27:15; Ezra 8:27; Isa 44:9; Jer 25:34; Lam 1:7, Lam 1:10; Hos 13:15; Joel 3:5 *marg. ↩

  12. 1Kgs 8:1; 2Kgs 5:7; 1Chr 13:1, 1Chr 28:1; Prov 11:14 ↩

  13. 2Kgs 5:7 ↩

  14. Job 15:35; Ps 7:14, Ps 36:4, Ps 62:3, Ps 140:2; Prov 6:14, Prov 11:27, Prov 24:2; Dan 11:27; Rom 3:13-18 ↩

  15. Heb. kept not back from him, 1Kgs 20:4 ↩

  16. 1Kgs 19:2; Acts 23:12 ↩

  17. 2Sam 17:12-13; 2Kgs 19:23-24; Isa 10:13-14, Isa 37:24-25 ↩

  18. Heb. are at my feet, Exod 11:8 *marg. Judg 4:10 ↩

  19. etc. This was no doubt a proverbial mode of expression. Jonathan renders it: "Let not him who girds himself, and goes down to battle, boast as one who has conquered and returned from it." 1Sam 14:6, 1Sam 14:12-13, 1Sam 17:44-47; Prov 27:1; Eccl 9:11; Isa 10:15-16; Matt 26:33-35, Matt 26:75 ↩

  20. The word harness is an obsolete word for armour, derived from the French harnois. See note on Exod 13:18. ↩

  21. Heb. word ↩

  22. 1Kgs 20:16, 1Kgs 16:9; 1Sam 25:36; 2Sam 13:28; Prov 31:4-5; Dan 5:2, Dan 5:30; Luke 21:34; Eph 5:18 ↩

  23. or, tents, That persons of regal dignity regaled themselves in this manner, we may learn from Dr. Chandler, who, when he went to visit the Aga of Suki, after his return from hawking, found him vexed and tired; and "a couch was prepared from him beneath a shed made against a cottage, and covered with green boughs to keep off the sun. He entered as we were standing by, and fell down on it to sleep, without taking any notice of us." Jer 43:10 ↩

  24. etc. or, Place the engines, And they placed engines ↩

  25. Heb. approached ↩

  26. 2Kgs 6:8-12, 2Kgs 7:1, 2Kgs 13:23; Isa 7:1-9; Ezek 20:14, Ezek 20:22 ↩

  27. 1Kgs 20:28, 1Kgs 18:37; Exod 14:18, Exod 16:12; Ps 83:18; Isa 37:20; Ezek 6:7; Joel 3:17 ↩

  28. or, servants, Gen 14:14-16; Judg 7:16-20; 1Sam 17:50; 1Cor 1:27-29 ↩

  29. Heb. bind, or tie, 1Kgs 18:44 ↩

  30. Judg 7:7, Judg 7:16; 1Sam 14:6; 2Chr 14:11 ↩

  31. 1Kgs 19:18; 1Sam 14:2; 2Kgs 13:7; Ps 106:40-43 ↩

  32. 1Kgs 20:11-12, 1Kgs 16:7; Prov 23:29-32; Eccl 10:16-17; Hos 4:11 ↩

  33. Isa 54:15; The Syrians, the besiegers, had their directions from a drunken king, who gave orders over his cups, while he was drinking at noon. Drunkenness is a sin which is most detestable in all, but more so in a king than in a private individual, inasmuch as the greater weight a man's situation carries, whether from accumulated riches, family connections, hereditary authority, or invested command, so is the influence which his vices must have on those around him. Perhaps it may be said, from past experience, that drunkenness, which is a most heinous sin in the sight of God, may be charged on those who indulge only now and then in that which may eventually lead them into drunkenness; for they shut their eyes against the most palpable facts, and rather than give up the paltry gratification of a debauch, involve thousands by their example to positive harm. Ben–hadad's drunkenness was the forerunner of his fall. Belshazzar also, we read, drank wine with his princes, his wives, and his concubines, and praised the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone, and in the same hour came forth the finger of a man's hand and wrote his doom on the plaster of the wall. Those who fancy themselves perfectly secure, and above the possibility of falling, are commonly nearest their destruction. There is always an Ahab read to take advantage of and improve the self-imposed imbecility. ↩

  34. 1Kgs 20:14-15, 1Kgs 20:19 ↩

  35. 1Sam 2:3-4, 1Sam 14:11-12, 1Sam 17:44; 2Kgs 14:8-12; Prov 18:12 ↩

  36. 2Sam 2:16; Eccl 9:11 ↩

  37. Lev 26:8; Judg 7:20-22; 1Sam 14:13-15; 2Kgs 7:6-7; Ps 33:16, Ps 46:6 ↩

  38. 1Sam 30:16-17; 2Kgs 19:36 ↩

  39. Judg 3:28, Judg 7:23-25; 1Sam 14:20-22, 1Sam 17:52; 2Kgs 3:18, 2Kgs 3:24 ↩

  40. 1Kgs 20:13, 1Kgs 20:38, 1Kgs 19:10, 1Kgs 22:8; 2Kgs 6:12 ↩

  41. 2Chr 25:8, 2Chr 25:11; Ps 27:14; Prov 18:10, Prov 20:18; Isa 8:9; Joel 3:9-10; Eph 6:10 ↩

  42. 1Kgs 20:26; 2Sam 11:1; 1Chr 20:1; Ps 115:2-3; Isa 26:11, Isa 42:8 ↩

  43. It was the general belief in the heathen world, that each district had its tutelary and protecting deity, who could do nothing out of his own province. 1Kgs 20:28, 1Kgs 14:23; 1Sam 4:8; 2Kgs 19:12; 2Chr 32:13-19; Ps 50:21-22, Ps 121:1-2; Isa 42:8 ↩

  44. 1Kgs 20:1, 1Kgs 20:16, 1Kgs 22:31; Prov 21:30 ↩

  45. Heb. was fallen ↩

  46. Ps 10:3 ↩

  47. Supposed to be the Aphek near the river Adonis, between Heliopolis and Biblos, and probably the same place that Paul Lucas mentions in his Voyage to the Levant. It was swallowed up by an earthquake, and formed a lake about nine miles in circumference, in which he says there were several houses still to be seen entire, under the water. 1Kgs 20:30; Josh 13:4, Josh 19:30; Judg 1:31, Aphik, 1Sam 4:1, 1Sam 29:1; 2Kgs 13:17 ↩

  48. Heb. to the war with Israel ↩

  49. or, were victualled, Josh 1:11; Judg 7:8 ↩

  50. Deut 32:30; Judg 6:5; 1Sam 13:5-8, 1Sam 14:2; 2Chr 32:7-8; Eccl 9:11 ↩

  51. 1Kgs 20:13, 1Kgs 20:22, 1Kgs 13:1, 1Kgs 17:18; 2Chr 20:14-20 ↩

  52. 1Kgs 20:23; Isa 37:29-37 ↩

  53. 1Kgs 20:13; Deut 32:27; Josh 7:8-9; Job 12:16-19; Ps 58:10-11, Ps 79:10; Isa 37:29, Isa 37:35; Jer 14:7; Ezek 20:9, Ezek 20:14, Ezek 36:21-23, Ezek 36:32 ↩

  54. 1Kgs 20:13; Exod 6:7, Exod 7:5, Exod 8:22; Deut 29:6; Ezek 6:14, Ezek 11:12, Ezek 12:16, Ezek 36:22, Ezek 39:7 ↩

  55. Josh 6:15; 1Sam 17:16; Ps 10:16 ↩

  56. 2Sam 10:18; 2Chr 13:17, 2Chr 20:23-25, 2Chr 28:6; Isa 37:36 ↩

  57. Ps 18:25 ↩

  58. Isa 24:18; Jer 48:44; Amos 2:14-15, Amos 5:19, Amos 9:3; Luke 13:4 ↩

  59. 1Kgs 20:10, 1Kgs 20:20; Dan 4:37 ↩

  60. or, from chamber to chamber, Heb. into a chamber within a chamber. 1Kgs 22:25; 2Chr 18:24 ↩

  61. 1Kgs 20:23; 2Kgs 5:13 ↩

  62. Prov 20:28; Isa 16:5; Eph 1:7-8 ↩

  63. Six of the citizens of Calais are reported to have acted nearly in the same manner, when they surrendered their city to Edward the Third, king of England, in 1346. See the whole story circumstantially related by Sir John Froissart (who lived in that time), with that simplicity and detail that give it every appearance of truth. ↩

  64. 1Kgs 21:27-29; Gen 37:34; 2Sam 3:31, 2Sam 14:2; 2Kgs 19:1-2; Esth 4:1-3; Isa 22:12; Isa 37:1; Jonah 3:5-6; Rev 11:3 ↩

  65. 2Kgs 7:4; Esth 4:16; Job 2:4; Matt 10:28 ↩

  66. 1Kgs 20:3-6; Job 12:17-18, Job 40:11-12; Isa 2:11-12, Isa 10:12; Dan 5:20-23; Obad 1:3-4 ↩

  67. 1Kgs 20:42; 1Sam 15:8-20 ↩

  68. Prov 25:13; Luke 16:8 ↩

  69. 2Kgs 10:15; Acts 8:31 ↩

  70. 1Kgs 15:20; 2Chr 16:4 ↩

  71. One of the conditions of this covenant, we learn, was, that Ahab should have "streets (chutzoth) in Damascus;" a proposal better relished by Ahab then understood by the generality of commentators. This, however, is well illustrated by Mr. Harmer, from William of Tyre, the great historian of the Crusades; from whom it appears that it was customary to give those nations which were engaged in them, churches, streets, and great jurisdiction therein, in those places which they assisted to conquer. The Genoese and Venetians had each a street in Acon, or Acre, in which they had their own jurisdiction, with liberty to have an oven, mill, baths, weights, and measures, etc. 1Kgs 20:42, 1Kgs 22:31; 2Chr 18:30; Isa 8:12, Isa 26:10 ↩

  72. 1Kgs 20:38; 1Sam 10:12; 2Kgs 2:3, 2Kgs 2:5, 2Kgs 2:7, 2Kgs 2:15, 2Kgs 4:1, 2Kgs 4:38; Amos 7:14 ↩

  73. 1Kgs 13:1-2, 1Kgs 13:17-18 ↩

  74. 1Kgs 20:37; Isa 8:18, Isa 20:2-3; Jer 27:2-3; Ezek 4:3; Matt 16:24 ↩

  75. 1Kgs 13:21-24, 1Kgs 13:26; 1Sam 15:22-23 ↩

  76. 1Kgs 20:35; Exod 21:12 ↩

  77. etc. Heb. smiting and wounding ↩

  78. 1Kgs 14:2, 1Kgs 22:30; 2Sam 14:2; Matt 6:16 ↩

  79. Judg 9:7-20; 2Sam 12:1-7, 2Sam 14:5-7; Mark 12:1-12 ↩

  80. 1Kgs 20:42; 2Kgs 10:24 ↩

  81. Exod 21:30; Job 36:18; Ps 49:7; Prov 6:35, Prov 13:8; 1Pet 1:18-19 ↩

  82. Heb. weigh ↩

  83. Heb. he was not ↩

  84. 2Sam 12:5-7; Job 15:6; Matt 21:41-43, Matt 25:24-27; Luke 19:22 ↩

  85. 1Kgs 20:38; 2Sam 13:19; Job 2:8; Jer 6:26 ↩

  86. 1Kgs 20:34, 1Kgs 22:31-37; 1Sam 15:9-11 ↩

  87. 1Kgs 22:31-37; 2Kgs 6:24, 2Kgs 8:12; 2Chr 18:33-34 ↩

  88. 1Kgs 21:4, 1Kgs 22:8; Esth 5:13, Esth 6:12-13; Job 5:2; Prov 19:3 ↩