1 Kings 20 commentary

Benhadad sent Ahab a very insolent demand. Ahab sent a very disgraceful submission; sin brings men into such straits, by putting them out of the Divine protection. If God do not rule us, our enemies shall: guilt dispirits men, and makes them cowards. Ahab became desperate. Men will part with their most pleasant things, those they most love, to save their lives; yet they lose their souls rather than part with any pleasure or interest to prevent it. Here is one of the wisest sayings that ever Ahab spake, and it is a good lesson to all. It is folly to boast of any day to come, since we know not what it may bring forth. Apply it to our spiritual conflicts. Peter fell by self-confidence. Happy is the man who is never off his watch.

The proud Syrians were beaten, and the despised Israelites were conquerors. The orders of the proud, drunken king disordered his troops, and prevented them from attacking the Israelites. Those that are most secure, are commonly least courageous. Ahab slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. God often makes one wicked man a scourge to another.

Those about Benhadad advised him to change his ground. They take it for granted that it was not Israel, but Israel's gods, that beat them; but they speak very ignorantly of Jehovah. They supposed that Israel had many gods, to whom they ascribed limited power within a certain district; thus vain were the Gentiles in their imaginations concerning God. The greatest wisdom in worldly concerns is often united with the most contemptible folly in the things of God.

This encouragement sinners have to repent and humble themselves before God; Have we not heard, that the God of Israel is a merciful God? Have we not found him so? That is gospel repentance, which flows from an apprehension of the mercy of God, in Christ; there is forgiveness with him. What a change is here! The most haughty in prosperity often are most abject in adversity; an evil spirit will thus affect a man in both these conditions. There are those on whom, like Ahab, success is ill bestowed; they know not how to serve either God or their generation, or even their own true interests with their prosperity: Let favour be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness. The prophet designed to reprove Ahab by a parable. If a good prophet were punished for sparing his friend and God's when God said, Smite, of much sorer punishment should a wicked king be thought worthy, who spared his enemy and God's, when God said, Smite. Ahab went to his house, heavy and displeased, not truly penitent, or seeking to undo what he had done amiss; every way out of humour, notwithstanding his victory. Alas! many that hear the glad tidings of Christ, are busy and there till the day of salvation is gone.

CHAPTER 20

1Ki 20:1-12. Ben-hadad Besieges Samaria.

1. Ben-hadad the king of Syria--This monarch was the son of that Ben-hadad who, in the reign of Baasha, made a raid on the northern towns of Galilee (1Ki 15:20). The thirty-two kings that were confederate with him were probably tributary princes. The ancient kings of Syria and Phoenicia ruled only over a single city, and were independent of each other, except when one great city, as Damascus, acquired the ascendency, and even then they were allied only in time of war. The Syrian army encamped at the gates and besieged the town of Samaria.

2-12. Thus said Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine--To this message sent him during the siege, Ahab returned a tame and submissive answer, probably thinking it meant no more than an exaction of tribute. But the demand was repeated with greater insolence; and yet, from the abject character of Ahab, there is reason to believe he would have yielded to this arrogant claim also, had not the voice of his subjects been raised against it. Ben-hadad's object in these and other boastful menaces was to intimidate Ahab. But the weak sovereign began to show a little more spirit, as appears in his abandoning "my lord the king" for the single "tell him," and giving him a dry but sarcastic hint to glory no more till the victory is won. Kindling into a rage at the cool defiance, Ben-hadad gave orders for the immediate sack of the city.

13-21. behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab--Though the king and people of Israel had highly offended Him, God had not utterly cast them off. He still cherished designs of mercy towards them, and here, though unasked, gave them a signal proof of His interest in them, by a prophet's animating announcement that the Lord would that day deliver the mighty hosts of the enemy into his hand by means of a small, feeble, inadequate band. Conformably to the prophet's instructions, two hundred thirty-two young men went boldly out towards the camp of the enemy, while seven thousand more, apparently volunteers, followed at some little distance, or posted themselves at the gate, to be ready to reinforce those in front if occasion required it. Ben-hadad and his vassals and princes were already, at that early hour--scarcely midday--deep in their cups; and though informed of this advancing company, yet confiding in his numbers, or it may be, excited with wine, he ordered with indifference the proud intruders to be taken alive, whether they came with peaceful or hostile intentions. It was more easily said than done; the young men smote right and left, making terrible havoc among their intended captors; and their attack, together with the sight of the seven thousand, who soon rushed forward to mingle in the fray, created a panic in the Syrian army, who immediately took up flight. Ben-hadad himself escaped the pursuit of the victors on a fleet horse, surrounded by a squadron of horse guards. This glorious victory, won so easily, and with such a paltry force opposed to overwhelming numbers, was granted that Ahab and his people might know (1Ki 20:13) that God is the Lord. But we do not read of this acknowledgment being made, or of any sacrifices being offered in token of their national gratitude.

22-26. the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said--The same prophet who had predicted the victory shortly reappeared, admonishing the king to take every precaution against a renewal of hostilities in the following campaign.

at the return of the year--that is, in spring, when, on the cessation of the rainy season, military campaigns (2Sa 11:1), were anciently begun. It happened as the prophet had forewarned. Brooding over their late disastrous defeat, the attendants of Ben-hadad ascribed the misfortune to two causes--the one arose from the principles of heathenism which led them to consider the gods of Israel as "gods of the hills"; whereas their power to aid the Israelites would be gone if the battle was maintained on the plains. The other cause to which the Syrian courtiers traced their defeat at Samaria, was the presence of the tributary kings, who had probably been the first to take flight; and they recommended "captains to be put in their rooms." Approving of these recommendations, Ben-hadad renewed his invasion of Israel the next spring by the siege of Aphek in the valley of Jezreel (compare 1Sa 29:1, with 1Sa 28:4), not far from En-dor.

27-31. like two little flocks of kids--Goats are never seen in large flocks, or scattered, like sheep; and hence the two small but compact divisions of the Israelite force are compared to goats, not sheep. Humanly speaking, that little handful of men would have been overpowered by numbers. But a prophet was sent to the small Israelite army to announce the victory, in order to convince the Syrians that the God of Israel was omnipotent everywhere, in the valley as well as on the hills. And, accordingly, after the two armies had pitched opposite each other for seven days, they came to an open battle. One hundred thousand Syrians lay dead on the field, while the fugitives took refuge in Aphek, and there, crowding on the city walls, they endeavored to make a stand against their pursuers; but the old walls giving way under the incumbent weight, fell and buried twenty-seven thousand in the ruins. Ben-hadad succeeded in extricating himself, and, with his attendants, sought concealment in the city, fleeing from chamber to chamber; or, as some think it, an inner chamber, that is, a harem; but seeing no ultimate means of escape, he was advised to throw himself on the tender mercies of the Israelitish monarch.

32-34. put ropes on their heads--Captives were dragged by ropes round their necks in companies, as is depicted on the monuments of Egypt. Their voluntary attitude and language of submission flattered the pride of Ahab, who, little concerned about the dishonor done to the God of Israel by the Syrian king, and thinking of nothing but victory, paraded his clemency, called the vanquished king "his brother," invited him to sit in the royal chariot, and dismissed him with a covenant of peace.

35-38. Smite me--This prophet is supposed (1Ki 20:8) to have been Micaiah. The refusal of his neighbor to smite the prophet was manifestly wrong, as it was a withholding of necessary aid to a prophet in the discharge of a duty to which he had been called by God, and it was severely punished [1Ki 20:36], as a beacon to warn others (see on 1Ki 13:2-24). The prophet found a willing assistant, and then, waiting for Ahab, leads the king unconsciously, in the parabolic manner of Nathan (2Sa 12:1-4), to pronounce his own doom; and this consequent punishment was forthwith announced by a prophet (see on 1Ki 21:17).

39. a talent of silver--£342.

Ben-hadad - Several MSS., and some early printed editions, have Ben-hadar, or the son of Hadar, as the Septuagint. He is supposed to be the same whom Asa stirred up against the king of Israel, 1Kgs 15:18; or, as others, his son or grandson.

Thirty and two kings - Tributary chieftains of Syria and the adjacent countries. In former times every town and city had its independent chieftain. Both the Septuagint and Josephus place this war after the history of Naboth.

I am thine, and all that I have - He probably hoped by this humiliation to soften this barbarous king, and perhaps to get better conditions.

Whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes - It is not easy to discern in what this second requisition differed from the first; for surely his silver, gold, wives, and children, were among his most pleasant or desirable things. Jarchi supposes that it was the book of the law of the Lord which Ben-hadad meant, and of which he intended to deprive Israel. It is however evident that Ben-hadad meant to sack the whole city, and after having taken the royal treasures and the wives and children of the king, to deliver up the whole to be pillaged by his soldiers.

Hearken not unto him - The elders had every thing at stake, and they chose rather to make a desperate defense than tamely to yield to such degrading and ruinous conditions.

If the dust of Samaria shall suffice - This is variously understood. Jonathan translates thus: "If the dust of Shomeron shall be sufficient for the soles of the feet of the people that shall accompany me;" i.e., I shall bring such an army that there will scarcely be room for them to stand in Samaria and its vicinity.

Let not him that girdeth on - This was no doubt a proverbial mode of expression. Jonathan translates, "Tell him, Let not him who girds himself and goes down to the battle, boast as he who has conquered and returned from it.

In the pavilions - This word comes from papilio, a butterfly, because tents, when pitched or spread out, resembled such animals; partly because of the mode of their expansion, and partly because of the manner in which they were painted.

Set yourselves in array - The original word, שימו simu, which we translate by this long periphrasis, is probably a military term for Begin the attack, Invest the city, Every man to his post, or some such like expression.

There came a prophet - Who this was we cannot tell; Jarchi says it was Micaiah, son of Imlah. It is strange that on such an occasion we hear nothing of Elijah or Elisha. Is it not possible that this was one of them disguised?

By the young men of the princes of the provinces - These were probably some chosen persons out of the militia of different districts, raised by the princes of the provinces; the same as we would call lord-lieutenants of counties.

Two hundred and thirty-two - These were probably the king's life or body guards; not all the militia, but two hundred and thirty of them who constituted the royal guard in Samaria. They were therefore the king's own regiment, and he is commanded by the prophet to put himself at their head.

Seven thousand - How low must the state of Israel have been at this time! These Jarchi thinks were the seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal.

Take them alive - He was confident of victory. Do not slay them; bring them to me, they may give us some useful information.

The Syrians fled - They were doubtless panic-struck.

Their gods are gods of the hills - It is very likely that the small Israelitish army availed itself of the heights and uneven ground, that they might fight with greater advantage against the Syrian cavalry, for Ben-hadad came up against Samaria with horses and chariots, 1Kgs 20:1. These therefore must be soon thrown into confusion when charging in such circumstances; indeed, the chariots must be nearly useless.

Let us fight against them in the plain - There our horses and chariots will all be able to bear on the enemy, and there their gods, whose influence is confined to the hills, will not be able to help them. It was a general belief in the heathen world that each district had its tutelary and protecting deity, who could do nothing out of his own sphere.

Take the kings away - These were not acquainted with military affairs, or they had not competent skill. Put experienced captains in their place, and fight not but on the plains, and you will be sure of victory.

Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek - There were several towns of this name; see the notes on Jos 12:18. It is supposed that the town mentioned here was situated in Libanus, upon the river Adonis, between Heliopolis and Biblos.

Because the Syrians have said - God resents their blasphemy, and is determined to punish it. They shall now be discomfited in such a way as to show that God's power is every where, and that the multitude of a host is nothing against him.

Slew a hundred thousand footmen in one day - This number is enormous; but the MSS. and versions give no various reading.

A wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand - From the first view of this text it would appear that when the Syrians fled to Aphek, and shut themselves within the walls, the Israelites immediately brought all hands, and sapped the walls, in consequence of which a large portion fell, and buried twenty-seven thousand men. But perhaps the hand of God was more immediately in this disaster; probably a burning wind is meant. See at the end of the chapter, 1Kgs 20:43 (note).

Came into the city, into an inner chamber - However the passage above may be understood, the city was now, in effect, taken; and Ben-hadad either betook himself with his few followers to the citadel or to some secret hiding-place, where he held the council with his servants immediately mentioned.

Put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads - Let us show ourselves humbled in the deepest manner, and let us put ropes about our necks, and go submitting to his mercy, and deprecating his wrath. The citizens of Calais are reported to have acted nearly in the same way when they surrendered their city to Edward III., king of England, in 1346. See at the end, 1Kgs 20:43 (note).

Thy servant Ben-hadad - See the vicissitude of human affairs! A little before he was the haughtiest of all tyrants, and Ahab calls him his lord; now, so much is he humbled, that he will be glad to be reputed Ahab's slave!

Did hastily catch it - They were watching to see if any kind word should be spoken by him, from which they might draw a favorable omen; and when they heard him use the word brother, it gave them much encouragement.

Thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus - It appears that it was customary for foreigners to have a place assigned to them, particularly in maritime towns, where they might deposit and vend their merchandise. This was the very origin of European settlements in Asiatic countries: "The people gave an inch to those strangers; and in consequence they took an ell." Under the pretense of strengthening the place where they kept their wares, to prevent depredations, they built forts, and soon gave laws to their entertainers. In vain did the natives wish them away; they had got power, and would retain it; and at last subjected these countries to their own dominion.

It was customary also, in the time of the crusades, to give those nations which were engaged in them streets, churches, and post dues, in those places which they assisted to conquer. The Genoese and Venetians had each a street in Accon, or St. Jean d'Acre, in which they had their own jurisdiction; with oven, mill, bagnio, weights, and measures. - See William of Tyre, and Harmer's Observations.

He made a covenant with him - According to the words recited above, putting him under no kind of disabilities whatsoever.

In the word of the Lord - By the word or command of the Lord; that is, God has commanded thee to smite me. Refusing to do it, this man forfeited his life, as we are informed in the next verse.

By this emblematical action he intended to inform Ahab that, as the man forfeited his life who refused to smite him when he had the Lord's command to do it; so he (Ahab) had forfeited his life, because he did not smite Ben-hadad when he had him in his power.

A lion found him, and slew him - This seems a hard measure, but there was ample reason for it. This person was also one of the sons of the prophets, and he knew that God frequently delivered his counsels in this way, and should have immediately obeyed; for the smiting could have had no evil in it when God commanded it, and it could be no outrage or injury to his fellow when he himself required him to do it.

Disguised himself with ashes upon his face - It does not immediately appear how putting ashes upon his face could disguise him. Instead of אפר apher, dust, Houbigant conjectures that it should be אפד aphad, a fillet or bandage. It is only the corner of the last letter which makes the difference; for the ד daleth and ר resh are nearly the same, only the shoulder of the former is square, the latter round. That bandage, not dust, was the original reading, seems pretty evident from its remains in two of the oldest versions, the Septuagint and the Chaldee; the former has Και κατεδησατο εν τελαμωνι τους οφθαλμους αυτου, "And he bound his eyes with a fillet." The latter has וכריך במעפריאעינוהי ukerich bemaaphira einohi; "And he covered his eyes with a cloth." The MSS. of Kennicott and De Rossi contain no various reading here; but bandage is undoubtedly the true one. However, in the way of mortification, both the Jews and Hindoos put ashes upon their heads and faces, and make themselves sufficiently disgusting.

Keep this man - The drift of this is at once seen; but Ahab, not knowing it, was led to pass sentence on himself.

Took the ashes away - He took the bandage from off his eyes: see on 1Kgs 20:38 (note). It was no doubt of thin cloth, through which he could see, while it served for a sufficient disguise.

Thy life shall go for his life - This was fulfilled at the battle of Ramoth-gilead, where he was slain by the Syrians; see 1Kgs 22:34, 1Kgs 22:35.

Heavy and displeased - Heavy or afflicted, because of these dreadful tidings; and displeased with the prophet for having announced them. Had he been displeased with himself, and humbled his soul before God, even those judgments, so circumstantially foretold, might have been averted.

1. We have already seen, in 1Kgs 20:30, that according to our text, twenty-seven thousand men were slain by the falling of a wall. Serious doubts are entertained concerning the legitimacy of this rendering. I have, in the note, given the conjecture concerning sapping the foundation of the wall, and thus overthrowing them that were upon it. If instead of חומה chomah, a wall, we read חומה confusion or disorder, then the destruction of the twenty-seven thousand men may appear to have been occasioned by the disorganized state into which they fell; of which their enemies taking advantage, they might destroy the whole with ease.

But חומה chomah, a wall, becomes, as Dr. Kennicott has observed, a very different word when written without the ו vau, חמה which signifies heat; sometimes the sun, vehement heat, or the heat of the noon-day sun; and also the name of a wind, from its suffocating, parching quality.

The same noun, from יחם yacham, Dr. Castel explains by excandescentia, furor, venenum; burning, rage, poison. These renderings, says Dr. Kennicott, all concur to establish the sense of a burning wind, eminently blasting and destructive. I shall give a few instances from the Scripture: - We read in Job 27:21 : The east wind carrieth him away; where the word קדים kadim is καυσων, burning, in the Septuagint; and in the Vulgate, ventus urens, a burning wind. In Eze 19:12 : She was plucked up בחמה she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit; her strong rods were withered, and the fire consumed them. Hosea (Hos 13:15) mentions the desolation brought by an east wind, the wind of the Lord. What in Amo 4:9 is, I have smitten you with blasting, in the Vulgate is, in vento vehemente, "with a vehement wind;" and in the Syriac, with a hot wind.

Let us apply these to the history: when Ben-hadad, king of Syria, was besieging Samaria the second time, the Israelites slew of the Syrians one hundred thousand footmen in one day; and it follows, that when the rest of the army fled to Aphek, twenty-seven thousand of the men that were left were suddenly destroyed by החומה hachomah, or החמה hachamah, a burning wind. That such is the true interpretation, will appear more clearly if we compare the destruction of Ben-hadad's army with that of Sennacherib, whose sentence is that God would send upon him a Blast, רוח ruach, a wind; doubtless such a wind as would be suddenly destructive. The event is said to be that in the night one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians were smitten by the angel of the Lord, 2Kgs 19:7, 2Kgs 19:35. The connection of this sentence with the execution of it is given by the psalmist, who says, Psa 104:4 : God maketh his angels רחות ruchoth, winds; or, maketh the winds his angels, i.e., messengers for the performance of his will. In a note on Psa 11:6, Professor Michaelis has these words: Ventus Zilgaphoth, pestilens eurus est, orientalibus notissimus, qui obvia quaevis necat; "The wind Zilgaphoth is a pestilent east wind, well known to the Asiastics, which suddenly kills those who are exposed to it." Thevenot mentions such a wind in 1658, that in one night suffocated twenty thousand men. And the Samiel he mentions as having, in 1665, suffocated four thousand persons. "Upon the whole, I conclude," says the doctor, 'that as Thevenot has mentioned two great multitudes destroyed by this burning wind, so has holy Scripture recorded the destruction of two much greater multitudes by a similar cause; and therefore we should translate the words thus: But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and The Burning Wind fell upon the twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left."

2. On the case of Ben-hadad and his servants coming out to Ahab with sackcloth on their loins and ropes about their necks, 1Kgs 20:31, I have referred to that of the six citizens of Calais, in the time of Edward III. I shall give this affecting account from Sir John Froissart, who lived in that time, and relates the story circumstantially, and with that simplicity and detail that give it every appearance of truth. He is the only writer, of all his contemporaries, who gives the relation; and as it is not only illustrative of the text in question, but also very curious and affecting, I will give it in his own words; only observing that, King Edward having closely invested the city in 1346, and the king of France having made many useless attempts to raise the siege, at last withdrew his army, and left it to its fate. "Then," says Froissart, chap. cxliv., "after the departure of the king of France with his army, the Calesians saw clearly that all hopes of succor were at an end; which occasioned them so much sorrow and distress that the hardiest could scarcely support it. They entreated therefore, most earnestly, the lord Johns de Vienne, their governor, to mount upon the battlements, and make a sign that he wished to hold a parley. "The king of England, upon hearing this, sent to him Sir Walter Manny and Lord Basset. When they were come near, the lord de Vienne said to them: 'Dear gentlemen, you, who are very valiant knights, know that the king of France, whose subjects we are, has sent us hither to defend this town and castle from all harm and damage. This we have done to the best of our abilities; all hopes of help have now left us, so that we are most exceedingly straitened; and if the gallant king, your lord, have not pity upon us, we must perish with hunger. I therefore entreat that you would beg of him to have compassion upon us, and to have the goodness to allow us to depart in the state we are in; and that he will be satisfied with having possession of the town and castle, with all that is within them, as he will find therein riches enough to content him.' To this Sir Walter Manny replied: 'John, we are not ignorant of what the king our lord's intentions are, for he has told them to us; know then, that it is not his pleasure that you should get off so, for he is resolved that you surrender yourselves wholly to his will, to allow those whom he pleases their ransom, or to be put to death; for the Calesians have done him so much mischief, and have, by their obstinate defense, cost him so many lives, and so much money, that he is mightily enraged.' "The lord de Vienne answered: 'These conditions are too hard for us; we are but a small number of knights and squires, who have loyally served our lord and master, as you would have done, and have suffered much ill and disquiet: but we will endure more than any men ever did in a similar situation, before we consent that the smallest boy in the town should fare worse than the best. I therefore once more entreat you, out of compassion, to return to the king of England, and beg of him to have pity on us; he will, I trust, grant you this favor; for I have such an opinion of his gallantry as to hope that, through God's mercy, he will alter his mind.' "The two lords returned to the king and related what had passed. The king said: 'He had no intention of complying with the request, but should insist that they surrendered themselves unconditionally to his will.' Sir Walter replied: 'My lord, ye may be to blame in this, as you will set us a very bad example; for if you order us to go to any of your castles, we shall not obey you so cheerfully if you put these people to death, for they will retaliate upon us in a similar case.' "Many barons who were present supported this opinion; upon which the king replied: 'Gentlemen, I am not so obstinate as to hold my opinion alone against you all. Sir Walter, you will inform the governor of Calais, that the only grace he is to expect from me is, that six of the principal citizens of Calais march out of the town with bare heads and feet, with ropes round their necks, and the keys of the town and castle in their hands. These six persons shall be at my absolute disposal, and the remainder of the inhabitants pardoned.' "Sir Walter returned to the lord de Vienne, who was waiting for him on the battlements, and told him all that he had been able to gain from the king. 'I beg of you,' replied the governor, 'that you would be so good as to remain here a little, whilst I go and relate all that has passed to the townsmen; for, as they have desired me to undertake this it is but proper that they should know the result of it.' "He went to the market place, and caused the bell to be rung; upon which all the inhabitants, men and women, assembled in the town-hall. He then related to them what he had said, and the answers he had received, and that he could not obtain any conditions more favorable; to which they must give a short and immediate answer. "This information caused the greatest lamentations and despair, so that the hardest heart would have had compassion on them; even the lord de Vienne wept bitterly. "After a short time the most wealthy citizen of the town, by name Eustace de St. Pierre, rose up and said: 'Gentlemen, both high and low, it would be a very great pity to suffer so many people to die through famine, if any means could be found to prevent it; and it would be highly meritorious in the eyes of our Savior, if such misery could be averted. I have such faith and trust in finding grace before God, if I die to save my townsmen, that I name myself as first of the six.' "When Eustace had done speaking, they all rose up and almost worshipped him: many cast themselves at his feet with tears and groans. Another citizen, very rich and respected, rose up and said, 'He would be the second to his companion Eustace;' his name was John Daire. After him James Wisant, who was very rich in merchandise and lands, offered himself as companion to his two cousins, as did Peter Wisant, his brother. Two others then named themselves, which completed the number demanded by the king of England. The lord John de Vienne then mounted a small hackney, for it was with difficulty he could walk, (he had been wounded in the siege), and conducted them to the gate. There was the greatest sorrow and lamentation over all the town; and in such manner were they attended to the gate, which the governor ordered to be opened and then shut upon him and the six citizens, whom he led to the barriers, and said to Sir Walter Manny, who was there waiting for him, 'I deliver up to you, as governor of Calais, with the consent of the inhabitants, these six citizens; and I swear to you that they were, and are at this day, the most wealthy and respectable inhabitants of Calais. I beg of you, gentle sir, that you would have the goodness to beseech the king that they may not be put to death.' 'I cannot answer for what the king will do with them,' replied Sir Walter; 'but you may depend that I will do all in my power to save them.' "The barriers were opened, when these six citizens advanced towards the pavilion of the king, and the lord de Vienne re-entered the town. "When Sir Walter Manny had presented these six citizens to the king, they fell upon their knees, and with uplifted hands said: 'Most gallant king, see before you six citizens of Calais, who have been capital merchants, and who bring you the keys of the castle and of the town. We surrender ourselves to your absolute will and pleasure, in order to save the remainder of the inhabitants of Calais, who have suffered much distress and misery. Condescend, therefore, out of your nobleness of mind, to have mercy and compassion upon us.' All the barons knights, and squires, that were assembled there in great numbers, wept at this sight. "The king eyed them with angry looks, (for he hated much the people of Calais, for the great losses he had formerly suffered from them at sea), and ordered their heads to be stricken off. All present entreated the king that he would be more merciful to them, but he would not listen to them. Then Sir Walter Manny said: 'Ah, gentle king, let me beseech you to restrain your anger; you have the reputation of great nobleness of soul, do not therefore tarnish it by such an act as this, nor allow any one to speak in a disgraceful manner of you. In this instance all the world will say you have acted cruelly, if you put to death six such respectable persons, who of their own free will have surrendered themselves to your mercy, in order to save their fellow citizens.' Upon this the king gave a wink, saying, Be it so, and ordered the headsman to be sent for; for that the Calesians had done him so much damage, it was proper they should suffer for it. "The queen of England, who was at that time very big with child, fell on her knees, and with tears said: 'Ah, gentle sir, since I have crossed the sea with great danger to see you, I have never asked you one favor; now I most humbly ask as a gift, for the sake of the Son of the blessed Mary, and for your love to me, that you will be merciful to these six men.' The king looked at her for some time in silence, and then said: 'Ah, lady, I wish you had been any where else than here; you have entreated in such a manner that I cannot refuse you; I therefore give them to you, to do as you please with them.' "The queen conducted the six citizens to her apartments, and had the halters taken from round their necks, new clothed, and served them with a plentiful dinner; she then presented each with nobles, and had them escorted out of the camp in safety." This is the whole of this affecting account, which is mentioned by no other writer, and has been thought a proper subject for the pen of the poet, the pencil of the painter, and the burin of the engraver; and which has seldom been fairly represented in the accounts we have of it from our historians."

The translation I have borrowed from the accurate edition of Froissart, by Mr. Johns, of Hafod; and to his work, vol. i., p. 367, I must refer for objections to the authenticity of some of the facts stated by the French historian. We see in Eustace de St. Pierre and his five companions the portrait of genuine patriotism. - a principle, almost as rare in the world as the Egyptian phoenix, which leads its possessors to devote their property and consecrate their lives to the public weal; widely different from that spurious birth which is deep in the cry of My country! while it has nothing in view but its places, pensions, and profits. Away with it!

AND Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together , and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it.

Called Adad by Iosephus, and Ader by the LXX, and Ad[illegible: 1+ letters]res by Iustin; such changes of names being usual in their Translations into other Languages, and by other Authors.

To War against Israel: wherein his design was to amplify the Conquests which his Father had made, chap. 15. 20. but Gods design was to punish Israel for their Apostacy and Idolatry.

Petty Kings, such as were in Canaan in Ioshua's time, who indeed were no more than Governours of Cities or small Territories. These were either Subject or Tributary to Benhadad, or hired by him.

3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine , thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest are mine.

I challenge them as my own, and accordingly expect to have them forthwith delivered into my possession, if thou expectest peace with me.

4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have .

I do so far comply with thy demand, that I will own thee for my Lord, and my self for thy Vassal and Tributary; and will hold my Wives, and Children, and Estate, as by thy favour, and with an acknowledgment. But it is not likely that he would deliver up his Wives and Children into the Barbarians hand, or that his proud and imperious Wife Iezabel would permit him to do so.

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 :

Although I did before demand not onely the dominion of thy Treasures, and Wives, and Children, as thou maist seem to understand me, but also the Propriety and actual Possession of them; wherewith I would then have been contented:

6 Yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away .

Yet now I will not accept of those terms, but together with thy Royal Treasures, I expect all the Treasures of thy Servants or Subjects; nor will I wait till thou deliver them to me, but I will send my Servants into the City, and they shall have free liberty and power to search out and take away all which they desire, and this to prevent fraud and delay; and then I will grant thee a peace.

Marginal references: Heb. desirable.

7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land , and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief : for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I denied him not .

Whose counsel and concurrence he now desires in his distress.

Though he pretended Peace, and a Friendly Agreement upon these terms propounded, it is apparent by those additional demands, That he intends nothing less than our utter ruin.

I granted his demands in the sense before mentioned.

Marginal references: Heb. I kept not back fr[illegible: 1+ letters] him.

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.

If I would do it, I cannot, because my people will not suffer it.

10 And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me

If I do not assault thy City with so potent and numerous an Army, that shall turn all thy City into an heap of Dust, and shall be sufficient to carry it all away, though every Soldier take but one handful of it; See the like boast, 2 Sam. 17. 13.

Marginal references: Chap. 19. 2.; Heb. [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1 word] my feet.

11▪ [illegible: 1+ letters]nd the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harnes[illegible: 1+ letters], boast himself, as he that putteth it off .

Do not Triumph before the Fight and Victory, for the Events of War are uncertain.

12 And it came to pass, when Benhadad heard this message (as he was drinking, he, and the kings in the pavilions) that he said unto his servants, Set your selves in array : And they set themselves in array against the city.

Put your selves and Engines in order, to make the Assault.

Marginal references: Heb. Word.; Or, Tents.; Or, Place the E[illegible: 1+ letters]. And they placed E[illegible: 1+ letters].

13 ¶ And behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD , Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD .

Who having hid himself before, now ventures to come to Ahab, having this welcome Message in his Mouth.

God, though forsaken and neglected by Ahab, prevents him with his gracious promise of help; partly, That Ahab and the Idolatrous Israelites, might hereby be fully convinced and won to God, or left without all Excuse: and partly, that Benhadad's intollerable Pride, and Contempt of God, and of his People, might be repressed and punished: and partly, that the remnant of his Prophets and People who were involved in the same Calamity with the rest of the Israelites, might be preserved and delivered.

And not Baal, because I will deliver thee, which he cannot do.

Marginal references: Heb. approached.

14 And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces . Then he said, Who shall order the Battel? And he answered, Thou .

Not by Old and Experienced Soldiers, but by those Young Men; either the Sons of the Princes, and great men of the Land, who were generally fled thither for safety; or their Pages, or Servants that used to attend upon them; who are bred up delicately, and seem unfit for the business.

Partly to encourage the Young Men to Fight couragiously, as being in the presence of their Prince: and partly, that it might appear, that the Victory was wholly due to God's gracious and powerful Providence, and not to the Valour or Worthiness of the Instruments.

Marginal references: Or, Servants.; Heb. [illegible: 1+ letters]ind, or, [illegible: 1 word].

15 Then he numbred the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbred all the people, even all the children of Israel , being seven thousand .

Either 1. All the men; for they onely went out to Battel; and the rest of the men might be consumed with the Sword or Famine, or other Judgments: Or rather, 2. All the Men of War, or all that were fit to go out to War; all, except those whom their Age, or Infirmity, or other sufficient causes excused.

Which number may possibly be noted with respect unto those 7000, commended chap. 19. 18. for whose sakes principally God gave this deliverance.

16 And they went out at noon : but Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.

When they were eating, and drinking, and secure from all fear and expectation of an Assault.

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 .

He bids them not Fight, for he thought they needed not to strike one stroke; and that the Israelites could not stand the first brunt.

20 And they slew every one his man : and the Syrians fled , and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse, with the horsemen.

i. e. Him who came to Fight with him, or to seize upon him, as Benhadad had Commanded.

Being amazed at the unexpected and undaunted Courage of the Israelites, and being struck with a Divine Terror.

21 And the king of Israel went out , and smo[illegible: 1+ letters]e the horses and chariots , and [illegible: 1+ letters]lew the Syrians with a great slaughter.

i. e. Proceeded further in his March, and Fought against them.

i. e. The men that fought from them, or belonged to them: for so Horses and Chariots are sometimes taken. See on 1 Sam. 13. 5.

22 ¶ And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thy self, and mark, and see what thou doest : for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.

Consider what is fit and necessary for thee to do by way of Preparation, or Prevention.

Next year about this time, when the season comes of going forth to Battel: of which see 2 Sam. 11. 1. 1 Chron. 20. 1. 2 Chron. 36. 10.

23 And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him , Their gods 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.

They suppose that their gods were no better than the Syrian gods (which the Idolatry of the Israelites had given them too great cause to imagine;) and that there were many gods who had each his particular charge and jurisdiction; which was the Opinion of all Heathen Nations, That some were gods of the Woods, others of the Rivers, and others of the Mountains; and they fancied these to be either, because the Land of Canaan was a Mountanous Land, Deut. 12. 2. And the great Temple of their God at Ierusalem stood upon an Hill, and so did Samaria, where they had received their last blow: or because the Israelites did generally chuse High Places for the Worship of their gods. It is observable, that they do not impute their ill Success to their Negligence, and Drunkenness, and bad Conduct, or Cowardize, of which they were really guilty; nor to the Valour of the Israelites; but to a Divine Power, which indeed was visible in it.

Wherein there was not onely Superstition, but Policy; because the Syrians most excelled the Israelites in Horses, which are most serviceable in plain ground.

24 And do this thing, Take the kings away every man out of his place , and put captains in their rooms.

Who being of softer Education, and less experienced in Military Matters, were less fit for his Service; and being many of them but Mercinaries, and therefore less concerned in his good success, would be more negligent and cautious in venturing themselves for his good.

i. e. Experienced Soldiers of his own Subjects, who will faithfully obey the Commands of the General (to which the Kings would not so readily yield) and use their utmost Skill and Valour for their own Interest and Advancement.

26 And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbred the Syrians, and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.

Not that in Iudah; of which, Iosh. 13. 4. and 15. 53. but that in Asher; of which, Iosh. 19. 30. Iudg. 1. 31. nigh unto which, was the great Plain of Galilee. And this seems to be one of those Cities which Benhadad's Father had taken from Israel, ver. 34. Here also the Syrians might Retreat, if they should be worsted.

Marginal references: Heb. to the War with Israel.

27 And the children of Israel were numbred, and were all present , and went against them : and the children of Israel pitched before them , like two little flocks of kids : but the Syrians filled the country.

i. e. All the Forces of the Israelites were here gathered together, to oppose the Syrians: so if those had been Conquered, all had been lost.

Being perswaded, and encouraged so to do; partly, to prevent the Mischiefs of a Siege in Samaria, and the waste of all the rest of their Country: and partly, by the remembrance of their former Success, and an expectation of the same Assistance from God again.

Probably upon some Hilly Ground, where they might secure themselves, and watch for Advantage against their Enemies; which may be the reason why the Syrians [illegible: 1+ letters]rst not Assault them before the Seventh Day; ver. 29.

i. e. Few, and Weak, and Heartless; being also for conveniency of Fighting, and that they might seem to be more than they were, divided into Two Bodies.

Marginal references: Or, were Victualled.

28 ¶ And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus [illegible: 1+ letters]aith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said , The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys: therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD .

Which he knew, either by common Report, strengthned by their present choice of a Plain Ground for the Battel: or rather, by Revelation from God, who discovered their secret Counsels, 2 King 6. 12.

To wit, The Universal Lord of all Places, and Persons, and Things.

30 But the rest fled to Aphek in the city, and the wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left: and Benhadad fled, and came into the city , into an inner chamber .

Or, the walls (the Singular Number, for the Plural; than which, nothing more frequent) of the City; or of some great Castle, or Fort, in, or near the City, in which they were now Fortifying themselves; or of some part of the City where they lay. Which might possibly happen through Natural Causes; but most probably, was Effected by the Mighty Power of God, then sending some sudden Earthquake, or violent Storm of Wind, which threw down the Wall, or Walls upon them; or doing this by the Ministry of Angels. Which cannot be incredible to any Man, except to him that denies the Truth of all the Miracles Recorded in the Old and New Testament; which being Attested, many of them, by Iews and Heathens, it is the height of Folly and Impudence to deny. For if ever Miracle was to be Wrought, now seems to have been the proper time, and season for it; when the Blasphemous Syrians denied the Soveraign and Infinite Power of God, and thereby in some fort obliged him, for his own Honour, to give a Proof of it; and to shew, That he was the God of the Plains, as well as of the Mountains; and that he could as effectually Destroy them in their strongest Holds, as in the open Fields; and make the very Walls, to whose strength they trusted for their Defence, to be the Instruments of their Ruine. But it may be further observed, that it is not said, That all these were killed by the fall of this Wall; but onely that the wall fell upon them, Killing some, and Wounding others; as is usual in those Cases. Nor is it necessary, that the Wall should fall upon every Individual Person; but it is sufficient to justifie this Phrase, if it fell upon the main Body of them; for the Words in the Hebrew run thus, the Wall fell upon 27000 (not of the men that are left, as we render it, but) which were left of that great Army.

Either, 1. Out of the Fields, as the rest of his Army did. Which is distinctly, and particularly noted of him, because he was the most Eminent Person in it, and the Head of it. Compare the Title of Psal. 18. Or, 2. A[illegible: 1+ letters], and from the noise and report of that Terrible Fall of the Wall, or Walls; which possily might be in the outside, or Suburbs of the City; from whence he [illegible: 1+ letters]led further into the City.

Or, a chamber, within a chamber; where he supposed he might lye hid, till he had an opportunity of making an Escape, or of obtaining Mercy.

Marginal references: Or, from chamber to chamber.; Heb. unto a chamber, within a chamber.

31 ¶ And his servants said unto him, Behold, now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings : let us I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads , and go out to the king of Israel, peradventure he will save thy life.

More merciful than others, because that Religion which they had professed, taught them Humanity, and obliged them to shew Mercy.

As a testimony of our sorrow, for undertaking this War; and that we have justly forfeited our Lives for it, which we submit to their mercy▪ [illegible: 1 word].

32 So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother .

I do not onely freely Pardon him, but Honour and Love him as my Brother.

33 Now the men did diligently observe, whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it : and they said, Thy brother Benhadad . Then he said, Go ye, bring him: then Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.

Or, they took that Word for a good token, and made haste and snatched it (i. e. that Word) from him, i. e. from his mouth; they repeated the word again, to try whether the King would own it, or it onely drop't casually from him; or made haste to know, whether it was from him: i. e. Whether he spoke this from his heart, or onely in dissimulation or design: for it seemed too good news to be true.

Understand, liveth: for that he enquired after, ver. 32.

34 And Benhadad said unto him, The cities 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 covenant with him, and sent him away.

Either, 1. From Baasha, Chap. 15. 20. whom he calls Ahabs Father, because he was his Legal Father; i. e. His Predecessor. Or, 2. From Omri; in whose time, it seems, he made a successful Invasion into the Land of Israel, and took some more of the Cities, and Aphek amongst the rest; though it be not elsewhere Recorded in Scripture.

Or, markets, &c. places where thou mayst either receive the Tribute which I promise to pay thee, or exercise Judicature upon my Subjects in case of their Refusal. Or outlets (as the LXX render it) in or into Damascus; i. e. Some strong Fort near Damascus, which might curb the Kings of Damascus, and keep them from Attempting any other Invasion into the Land of Israel.

He takes no notice of his Blasphemy against God; nor of the vast Injuries which his People had suffered from him, but onely minds his own Grandure, and the advancement of his Power.

35 ¶ And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD , Smite me , I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him .

Or, Brother, another son of the Prophets.

In the Name, and by the Command of God, whereof doubtless he had informed him.

So as to wound me, ver. 37. He speaks what God commanded him, though it was to his own hurt; by which obedience to God, he secretly Reproacheth Ahab's disobedience in a far easier matter. And this Prophet by God's appointment desires, that looking like a Wounded Soldier, he might have the more free access to the King, and discourse with him; which it was very hard for a Prophet to obtain, that sort of men being hateful to Ahab, Chap. 22. 8. and to his Courtiers.

Not out of contempt of God's Command, but most probably, in tenderness and compassion to his Brother.

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 assoon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him .

If the Punishment seem too severe for so small fault, let it be considered; 1. That Disobedience to God's Express Command, especially when it is delivered by a Prophet, is a great Sin, and no less than Capital, Deut. 18. 19. 2. This fault was much worse in a Prophet, who very well knew the Authority of God's Commands, and this way or manner of Publishing them. 3. We cannot judge of the case, because this Man might be guilty of many other hainous Sins unknown to us, but known to God; for which, God might justly Cut him off: which God chose to do upon this occasion, that by the severity of this Punishment of a Prophets Disobedience, proceeding from [illegible: 1+ letters]pity to his Brother, he might teach Ahab the greatness of his Sin, in spa [illegible: 1+ letters]ing him through foolish pity; whom by the Laws of Religion, and Justice, and Prudence, and common Safety, he should have Cut off, and what Punishment he might expect for it.

Marginal references: Chap. 13▪ [illegible: 1+ letters]

38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disgnised himself with ashes upon his face.

That he might sooner gain access to the King, and Audience from him. See on, ver. 35.

Whereby he changed the colour of it. Or, with a vail, or cloth, or band; (as the Hebrew Doctors understand the Word) whereby he might seem to have bound up his Wound, which probably was in his Face; for it was to be made in a very conspicuous place, that it might be visible to Ahab and others.

39 And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said , Thy servant went out into the midst of the battel, 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 life be for his life , or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.

This following Relation is not an untruth, but a Parable; an usual way of Instruction in the Eastern parts, and Ancient Times, and most fit for this occasion, wherein an obscure Prophet was to speak to a great King; whose Fars were tender, and impatient of a downright Reproof, and exceeding Partial in his own Cause; who by this Artifice is made to condemn himself, before he was aware of it, and so forced to receive the Prophets just Sentence with more patience and moderation: Compare, 1 Sam. 12. and 14.

My Commander or Superior, as the manner of his Expression here following sheweth.

Thou shalt die in his stead; as below, ver. 42. Comp. Exod. 21. 23.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] Weigh.

40 And as thy servant was busie here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be, thy self hast decided it.

i. e. Thy Sentence; or the Sentence against thee: thou must perform the Condition to which thou didst submit. Either suffer the one, or do the other.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 word] [illegible: 1+ letters]e was [illegible: 1 word].

41 And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face: and the king of Israel discerned him that he was one of the prophets .

Either 1. By his Face, which was known either to the King, or to some of his Courtiers there present. Or, 2. By the change of the manner of his Address to him, which now was such as the Prophets used.

42 And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life , and thy people for his people .

Quest. What was the great Sin of Ahab in this Action, for which God so severely punisheth him? Answ. The great dishonour hereby done to God, in suffering so horrid a Blasphemer, ver. 23. to go unpunished, which was contrary to an express Law, Levit. 24. 16. Obj. What is this to Benhadad, seeing that Law concerned Israelites onely? Answ. It reached both to them that were born in the land, and (as is there expressed) unto strangers that were among them, and in their Power, which was Benhadad's case; for God had delivered him into Ahabs hand, for his Blasphemy, as he promised to do, ver. 28. by which act of his Providence, especially compared with that Law, it was most evident, that this man was appointed by God to Destruction, as is here said. But Ahab was so far from punishing this Blasphemer, that he doth not so much as Rebuke him, but Treats him like a Friend, and a Brother; dismisseth him upon easie terms, and takes his Word for the performance, and takes not the least care for the Reparation of God's Honour, but onely for the Amplification of his own Power.

Quest. Why were the People punished for Ahab's Sin? Answ. 1. Because Ahab was punished in the loss of his People. 2. The people were punished for their own Sins, which were many, and great; though God took this occasion to Inflict it. 3. The great injury and mischief hereby done to [illegible: 1+ letters]is own people; who by this most foolish and wicked act, were exposed to all those Rapines and Slaughters which Benhadad either did commit, or might have committed against them afterwards; of which, consequently Ahab was guilty. And it must be considered, That all the Israelites were the Lords peculiar people; nor did their Apostacy from God, deprive God of his right; and the Kings of Israel and Iudah had these committed to them, in way of Trust, to be Governed and Protected by them. And therefore Ahab for this gross breach of his Trust, was justly liable, though not to the Censures of his People, yet to the hand of God, who was his King and Governour.

Marginal references: Chap. 22. 37.; [illegible: 1 word] if my [illegible: 1 word].

43 And the King of Israel went to his house, heavy and displeased , and came to Samaria.

Not for his Sin, but for the sad Effects of it upon himself, and people; which he might confidently expect▪ having had many experiences, that God did not suffer the words of his Prophets to fall to the ground.

1Ki 20:1

The First Victory. - 1Ki 20:1. Benhadad, the son of that Benhadad who had conquered several cities of Galilee in the reign of Baasha (1Ki 15:20), came up with a great army - there were thirty-two kings with him, with horses and chariots - and besieged Samaria. The thirty-two kings with him (אתּו) were vassals of Benhadad, rulers of different cities and the territory belonging to them, just as in Joshua’s time almost every city of Canaan had its king; they were therefore bound to follow the army of Benhadad with their troops.

1Ki 20:2-7

During the siege Benhadad sent messengers into the city to Ahab with this demand: “Thy silver and thy gold are mine, and the best of thy wives and thy sons are mine;” and Ahab answered with pusillanimity: “According to thy word, my lord king, I and all that is mine are thine.” Benhadad was made still more audacious by this submissiveness, and sent messengers the second time with the following notice (1Ki 20:6): “Yea, if I send my servants to thee to-morrow at this time, and they search thy house and thy servants’ houses, all that is the pleasure of thine eyes they will put into their hands and take.” אם כּי does not mean “only = certainly” here (Ewald, §356, b.), for there is neither a negative clause nor an oath, but אם signifies if and כּי introduces the statement, as in 1Ki 20:5; so that it is only in the repetition of the כּי that the emphasis lies, which can be expressed by yea. The words of Ahab in 1Ki 20:9 show unquestionably that Benhadad demanded more the second time than the first. The words of the first demand, “Thy silver and thy gold,” etc., were ambiguous. According to 1Ki 20:5, Benhadad meant that Ahab should give him all this; and Ahab had probably understood him as meaning that he was to give him what he required, in order to purchase peace; but Benhadad had, no doubt, from the very first required an unconditional surrender at discretion. He expresses this very clearly in the second demand, since he announces to Ahab the plunder of his palace and also of the palaces of his nobles. כּל־מחמד עניך, all thy costly treasures. It was from this second demand that Ahab first perceived what Benhadad’s intention had been; he therefore laid the matter before the elders of the land, i.e., the king’s counsellors, 1Ki 20:7 : “Mark and see that this man seeketh evil,” i.e., that he is aiming at our ruin, since he is not contented with the first demand, which I did not refuse him.

1Ki 20:8-9

The elders and all the people, i.e., the citizens of Samaria. advised that his demand should not be granted. תאמה ולא אל־תּשׁמע, “hearken not (to him), and thou wilt not be willing” (ולא is stronger than אל; yet compare Ewald, §350, a.); whereupon Ahab sent the messengers away with this answer, that he would submit to the first demand, but that the second he could not grant.

1Ki 20:10

Benhadad then attempted to overawe the weak-minded Ahab by strong threats, sending fresh messengers to threaten him with the destruction of the city, and confirming it by a solemn oath: “The gods do so to me - if the dust of Samaria should suffice for the hollow hands of all the people that are in my train.” The meaning of this threat was probably that he would reduce the city to ashes, so that scarcely a handful of dust should be left; for his army was so powerful and numerous, that the rubbish of the city would not suffice for every one to fill his hand.

1Ki 20:11

Ahab answered this loud boasting with the proverb: “Let not him that girdeth himself boast as he that looseneth the girdle,” equivalent to the Latin, ne triumphum canas ante victoriam.

1Ki 20:12

After this reply of Ahab, Benhadad gave command to attack the city, while he was drinking with his kings in the booths. סכּות are booths made of branches, twigs, and shrubs, such as are still erected in the East for kings and generals in the place of tents (vid., Rosenmüller, A. u. N. Morgenl. iii. pp. 198-9). שׂימוּ: take your places against the city, sc. to storm it (for שׂים in the sense of arranging the army for battle, see 1Sa 11:11 and Job 1:17); not οἰκοδομήσατε χάρακα (lxx), or place the siege train.

1Ki 20:13-14

While the Syrians were preparing for the attack, a prophet came to Ahab and told him that Jehovah would deliver this great multitude (of the enemy) into his hand that day, “that thou mayest know that I am Jehovah,” and that through the retainers of the governors of the provinces (המּדינות שׂרי, who had fled to Samaria), i.e., by a small and weak host. In the appearance of the prophet in Samaria mentioned here and in 1Ki 20:28, 1Ki 20:35. there is no such irreconcilable contradiction to 1Ki 18:4, 1Ki 18:22, and 1Ki 19:10, as Thenius maintains; it simply shows that the persecution of the prophets by Jezebel had somewhat abated, and therefore Elijah’s labour had not remained without fruit. מי יאסר הם, who shall open the battle? אסר answers to the German anfädeln (to string, unite; Eng. join battle - Tr.); cf. 2Ch 13:3.

1Ki 20:15-16

Ahab then mustered his fighting men: there were 232 servants of the provincial governors; and the rest of the people, all the children of Israel, i.e., the whole of the Israelitish fighting men that were in Samaria (החיל, 1Ki 20:19), amounted to 7000 men. And at noon, when Benhadad and his thirty-two auxiliary kings were intoxicated at a carousal in the booths (שׁכּור שׁתה as in 1Ki 16:9), he ordered his men to advance, with the servants of the provincial governors taking the lead. The 7000 men are not to be regarded as the 7000 mentioned in 1Ki 19:18, who had not bowed their knee before Baal, as Rashi supposes, although the sameness in the numbers is apparently not accidental; but in both cases the number of the covenant people existing in Israel is indicated, though in 1Ki 19:18 and 7000 constitute the ἐκλογή of the true Israel, whereas in the verse before us they are merely the fighting men whom the Lord had left to Ahab for the defence of his kingdom.

1Ki 20:17-18

When Benhadad was informed of the advance of these fighting men, in his drunken arrogance he ordered them to be taken alive, whether they came with peaceable or hostile intent.

1Ki 20:19-21

But they - the servants of the governors at the head, and the rest of the army behind - smote every one his man, so that the Aramaeans fled, and Benhadad, pursued by the Israelites, escaped on a horse with some of the cavalry. וּפּרשׁים is in apposition to בּן־הדד, “he escaped, and horsemen,” sc. escaped with him, i.e., some of the horsemen of his retinue, whilst the king of Israel, going out of the city, smote horses and chariots of the enemy, who were not prepared for this sally of the besieged, and completely defeated them.

1Ki 20:22

After this victory the prophet came to Ahab again, warning him to be upon his guard, for at the turn of the year, i.e., the next spring (see at 2Sa 11:1), the Syrian king would make war upon him once more.

1Ki 20:23-25

The Second Victory. - 1Ki 20:23, 1Ki 20:24. The servants (ministers) of Benhadad persuaded their lord to enter upon a fresh campaign, attributing the defeat they had sustained to two causes, which could be set aside, viz., to the supposed nature of the gods of Israel, and to the position occupied by the vassal-kings in the army. The gods of Israel were mountain gods: when fighting with them upon the mountains, the Syrians had had to fight against and succumb to the power of these gods, whereas on the plain they would conquer, because the power of these gods did not reach so far. This notion concerning the God of Israel the Syrians drew, according to their ethnical religious ideas, from the fact that the sacred places of this God - not only the temple at Jerusalem upon Moriah, but also the altars of the high places - were erected upon mountains; since heathenism really had its mountain deities, i.e., believed in gods who lived upon mountains and protected and conducted all that took place upon them (cf. Dougtaei Analect. ss. i. 178,179; Deyling, Observv. ss. iii. pp. 97ff.; Winer, bibl. R. W. i. p. 154), and in Syrophoenicia even mountains themselves had divine honours paid to them (vid., Movers, Phöniz. i. p. 667ff.). The servants of Benhadad were at any rate so far right, that they attributed their defeat to the assistance which God had given to His people Israel; and were only wrong in regarding the God of Israel as a local deity, whose power did not extend beyond the mountains. They also advised their lord (1Ki 20:24) to remove the kings in his army from their position, and appoint governors in their stead (פּחות, see 1Ki 10:15). The vassal-kings had most likely not shown the desired self-sacrifice for the cause of their superior in the war. And, lastly (1Ki 20:25), they advised the king to raise his army to its former strength, and then carry on the war in the plain. “Number thyself an army, like the army which has fallen from thee.” מאותך, “from with thee,” rendered correctly de tuis in the Vulgate, at least so far as the sense is concerned (for the form see Ewald, §264, b.). But these prudently-devised measures were to be of no avail to the Syrians; for they were to learn that the God of Israel was not a limited mountain-god.

1Ki 20:26

With the new year (see 1Ki 20:22) Benhadad advanced to Aphek again to fight against Israel. Aphek is neither the city of that name in the tribe of Asher (Jos 19:30 and Jos 13:4), nor that on the mountains of Judah (Jos 15:53), but the city in the plain of Jezreel not far from Endor (1Sa 29:1 compared with 1Sa 28:4); since Benhadad had resolved that this time he would fight against Israel in the plain.

1Ki 20:27

The Israelites, mustered and provided for (כּלכּלוּ: supplied with ammunition and provisions), marched to meet them, and encamped before them “like two little separate flocks of goats” (i.e., severed from the great herd of cattle). They had probably encamped upon slopes of the mountains by the plain of Jezreel, where they looked like two miserable flocks of goats in contrast with the Syrians who filled the land.

1Ki 20:28

Then the man of God (the prophet mentioned in 1Ki 20:13, 1Ki 20:22) came again to Ahab with the word of God: “Because the Syrians have said Jehovah is a mountain-God and not a God of the valleys, I will give this great multitude into thy hand, that ye may know that I am Jehovah.”

1Ki 20:29-30

After seven days the battle was fought. The Israelites smote the Syrians, a hundred thousand men in one day; and when the rest fled to Aphek, into the city, the wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand men, ἵνα δὲ κακεῖνοι καὶ οὗτοι μάθωσιν, ὡς θεήλατος ἡ πλεεγεέ (Theodoret). The flying Syrians had probably some of them climbed the wall of the city to offer resistance to the Israelites in pursuit, and some of them sought to defend themselves by taking shelter behind it. And during the conflict, through the special interposition of God, the wall fell and buried the Syrians who were there. The cause of the fall is not given. Thenius assumes that it was undermined, in order to remove all idea of any miraculous working of the omnipotence of God. Benhadad himself fled into the city “room to room,” i.e., from one room to another (cf. 1Ki 22:25; 2Ch 18:24).

1Ki 20:31-32

In this extremity his servants made the proposal to him, that trusting in the generosity of the kings of Israel, they should go and entreat Ahab to show favour to him. They clothed themselves in mourning apparel, and put ropes on their necks, as a sign of absolute surrender, and went to Ahab, praying for the life of their king. And Ahab felt so flattered by the fact that his powerful opponent was obliged to come and entreat his favour in this humble manner, that he gave him his life, without considering how a similar act on the part of Saul had been blamed by the Lord (1Sa 15:9.). “Is he still alive? He is my brother!” was his answer to Benhadad’s servants.

1Ki 20:33

And they laid hold of these words of Ahab as a good omen (ינהשׁוּ), and hastened and bade him explain (i.e., bade him quickly explain); הממּנּוּ, whether (it had been uttered) from himself, i.e., whether he had said it with all his heart (Maurer), and said, “Benhadad is thy brother.” The ἁπ. λεγ. חלט, related to חלץ, exuere, signifies abstrahere, nudare, then figuratively, aliquid facere nude, i.e., sine praetextu, or aliquid nude, i.e., sine fuco atque ambagibus testari, confirmare (cf. Fürst, Concord. p. 398); then in the Talmud, to give an explanation (vid., Ges. thes. p. 476). This is perfectly applicable here, so that there is no necessity to alter the text, even if we thereby obtained a better meaning than Thenius with his explanation, “they tore it out of him,” which he takes to be equivalent to “they laid hold of him by his word” (!!). Ahab thereupon ordered Benhadad to come and get up into his chariot.

1Ki 20:34

Benhadad, in order to keep Ahab in this favourable mood, promised to give him back at once the cities which his father had taken away from Ahab’s father, and said, “Thou mayest make thyself roads in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.” There is no account of any war between Omri and Benhadad I; it is simply stated in 1Ki 15:20 that Benhadad I had taken away several cities in Galilee from the Israelites during the reign of Baasha. This cannot be the war intended here, however, not indeed because of the expression אביך מאת, since אב might certainly be taken in a broader sense as referring to Baasha as an ancestor of Ahab, but chiefly on account of the statement that Benhadad had made himself roads in Samaria. This points to a war between Omri and Benhadad, after the building of Samaria into the capital of the kingdom, of which no account has been preserved. לו חצות שׂים, “to make himself roads,” cannot be understood as referring either to fortifications and military posts, or to roads for cattle and free pasturage in the Syrian kingdom, since Samaria and Damascus were cities; not can it signify the establishment of custom-houses, but only the clearing of portions of the city for the purpose of trade and free intercourse (Cler., Ges. etc.), or for the establishment of bazaars, which would occupy a whole street (Böttcher, Thenius; see also Movers, Phönizier, ii. 3, p. 135). - “And I,” said Ahab, “will let thee go upon a covenant” (a treaty on oath), and then made a covenant with him, giving him both life and liberty. Before ואני we must supply in thought אחאב ויּאמר. This thoroughly impolitic proceeding on the part of Ahab arose not merely from a natural and inconsiderate generosity and credulity of mind (G. L. Bauer, Thenius), but from an unprincipled weakness, vanity, and blindness. To let a cruel and faithless foe go unpunished, was not only the greatest harshness to his own subjects, but open opposition to God, who had announced to him the victory, and delivered the enemy of His people into his hand.Clericus is correct in the explanation which he has given: “Although, therefore, this act of Ahab had all the appearance of clemency, it was not an act of true clemency, which ought not to be shown towards violent aggressors, who if released will do much more injury than before, as Benhadad really did. God had given the victory to Ahab, and delivered the guilty king into his hands, that he might inflict punishment upon him, not that he might treat him kindly. And Ahab, who had allowed so many prophets to be slain by his wife Jezebel, had no great clemency at other times.”

Even if Ahab had no express command from God to put Benhadad to death, as Saul had in 1Sa 15:3, it was his duty to punish this bitter foe of Israel with death, if only to secure quiet for his own subjects; as it was certainly to be foreseen that Benhadad would not keep the treaty which had been wrung from him by force, as was indeed very speedily proved (see 1Ki 22:1).

1Ki 20:35-36 The verdict of God upon Ahab’s conduct towards Benhadad. - 1Ki 20:35, 1Ki 20:36. A disciple of the prophets received instructions from God, to announce to the king that God would punish him for letting Benhadad go, and to do this, as Nathan had formerly done in the case of David (2Sa 12:1.), by means of a symbolical action, whereby the king was led to pronounce sentence upon himself. The disciples of the prophets said to his companion, “in the word of Jehovah,” i.e., by virtue of a revelation from God (see at 1Ki 13:2), “Smite me;” and when the friend refused to smite him, he announced to him that because of this disobedience to the voice of the Lord, after his departure from him a lion would meet him and smite him, i.e., would kill him; a threat which was immediately fulfilled. This occurrence shows with how severe a punishment all opposition to the commandments of God to the prophets was followed, as a warning for others; just as in the similar occurrence in 1Ki 13:24.

1Ki 20:37

The disciple of the prophets then asked another to smite him, and he smote him, “smiting and wounding,” i.e., so that he not only smote, but also wounded him (vid., Ewald, §280, a.). He wished to be smitten and wounded, not to disguise himself, or that he might be able to appeal loudly to the king for help to obtain his rights, as though he had suffered some wrong (Ewald), nor merely to assume the deceptive appearance of a warrior returning from the battle (Thenius), but to show to Ahab symbolically what he had to expect from Benhadad whom he had released (C. a Lap., Calm., etc.).

1Ki 20:38

With these wounds he placed himself in the king’s path, and disguised himself (יתחפּשׂ as in 1Sa 28:8) by a bandage over his eyes. אפר does not mean ashes (Syr., Vulg., Luth., etc.), but corresponds to the Chaldee מעפרא, head-band, τελαμών (lxx).

1Ki 20:39-40

When the king passed by, he cried out to him and related the following fictitious tale: He had gone to the war, and a man had come aside to him (סוּר as in Exo 3:3; Jdg 14:8, etc.), and had given a man (a prisoner) into his care with this command, that he was to watch him, and if he should be missing he was to answer for his life with his own life, or to pay a talent of silver (as a punishment). The rest may be easily imagined, namely the request to be saved from this punishment. Ahab answered (1Ki 20:40), משׁפּטך כּן, “thus thy sentence, thou hast decided,” i.e., thou hast pronounced thine own sentence, and must endure the punishment stated.

1Ki 20:41-42

Then the disciple of the prophets drew the bandage quickly from his eyes, so that the king recognised him as a prophet, and announced to him the word of the Lord: “Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man of my ban (i.e., Benhadad, who has fallen under my ban), thy life shall stand for his life, and thy people for his people,” i.e., the destruction to which Benhadad was devoted will fall upon thee and thy people. The expression אישׁ־חרמי (man of my ban) showed Ahab clearly enough what ought to have been done with Benhadad. A person on whom the ban was pronounced was to be put to death (Lev 27:29).

1Ki 20:43

The king therefore went home, and returned sullen (סר, from סרר) and morose to Samaria. After these events Ahab was seized with such a desire for a vineyard which was situated near his palace at Jezreel, that when Naboth, the owner of the vineyard, refused to part with his paternal inheritance, he became thoroughly dejected, until his wife Jezebel paved the way for the forcible seizure of the desired possession by the shameful execution of Naboth (1Ki 21:1-15). But when Ahab was preparing to take possession of the vineyard, Elijah came to meet him with the announcement, that both he and his wife would be visited by the Lord with a bloody death for this murder and robbery, and that his idolatry would be punished with the extermination of all his house (1Ki 21:16-26). Ahab was so affected by this, that he humbled himself before God; whereupon the Lord told Elijah, that the threatened judgment should not burst upon his house till after Ahab’s death (1Ki 21:27-29).

Ben-hadad's Insolent Demand. (b. c. 900.)

1 And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. 2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad, 3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. 4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have. 5 And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Benhadad, 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 search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away. 7 Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not. 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 Benhadad, 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 Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me. 11 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.

Here is, I. The threatening descent which Ben-hadad made upon Ahab's kingdom, and the siege he laid to Samaria, his royal city, v. 1. What the ground of the quarrel was we are not told; covetousness and ambition were the principle, which would never want some pretence or other. David in his time had quite subdued the Syrians and made them tributaries to Israel, but Israel's apostasy from God makes them formidable again. Asa had tempted the Syrians to invade Israel once (ch. xv. 18-20), and now they did it of their own accord. It is dangerous bringing a foreign force into the country: posterity may pay dearly for it. Ben-hadad had with him thirty-two kings, who were either tributaries to him, and bound in duty to attend him, or confederates with him, and bound in interest to assist him. How little did the title of king look when all these poor petty governors pretended to it!

II. The treaty between these two kings. Surely Israel's defence had departed from them, or else the Syrians could not have marched so readily, and with so little opposition, to Samaria, the head and heart of the country, a city lately built, and therefore, we may suppose, not well fortified, but likely to fall quickly into the hands of the invaders; both sides are aware of this, and therefore,

1. Ben-hadad's proud spirit sends Ahab a very insolent demand, v. 2, 3. A parley is sounded, and a trumpeter (we may suppose) is sent into the city, to let Ahab know that he will raise the siege upon condition that Ahab become his vassal (Nay, his villain), and not only pay him a tribute out of what he has, but make over his title to Ben-hadad, and hold all at his will, even his wives and children, the godliest of them. The manner of expression is designed to gall them; "All shall be mine, without exception."

2. Ahab's poor spirit sends Ben-hadad a very disgraceful submission. It is general indeed (he cannot mention particulars in his surrender with so much pleasure as Ben-hadad did in his demand), but it is effectual: I am thine, and all that I have, v. 4. See the effect of sin. (1.) If he had not by sin provoked God to depart from him, Ben-hadad could not have made such a demand. Sin brings men into such straits, by putting them out of divine protection. If God may not rule us, our enemies shall. A rebel to God is a slave to all besides. Ahab had prepared his silver and gold for Baal, Hos. ii. 8. Justly therefore is it taken from him; such an alienating amounts to a forfeiture. (2.) If he had not by sin wronged his own conscience, and set that against him, he could not have made such a mean surrender. Guilt dispirits men, and makes them cowards. He knew Baal could not help, and had no reason to think that God would, and therefore was content to buy his life upon any terms. Skin for skin, and all that is dear to him, he will give for it; he will rather live a beggar than not die a prince.

3. Ben-hadad's proud spirit rises upon his submission, and becomes yet more insolent and imperious, v. 5, 6. Ahab had laid his all at his feet, at his mercy, expecting that one king would use another generously, that this acknowledgment of Ben-hadad's sovereignty would content him, the honour was sufficient for the present, and he might hereafter make use of it if he saw cause (Satis est prostrasse leoni—It suffices the lion to have laid his victim prostrate); but this will not serve. (1.) Ben-hadad is as covetous as he is proud, and cannot go away unless he have the possession as well as the dominion. He thinks it not enough to call it his, unless he have it in his hands. He will not so much as lend Ahab the use of his own goods above a day longer. (2.) He is as spiteful as he is haughty. Had he come himself to select what he had a mind for, it would have shown some respect to a crowned head; but he will send his servants to insult the prince, and hector over him, to rifle the palace, and strip it of all its ornaments; nay, to give Ahab the more vexation, they shall be ordered, not only to take what they please, but, if they can learn which are the persons or things that Ahab is in a particular manner fond of, to take those: Whatsoever is pleasant in thy eyes they shall take away. We are often crossed in that which we most dote upon; and that proves least safe which is most dear. (3.) He is as unreasonable as he is unjust, and will construe the surrender Ahab made for himself as made for all his subjects too, and will have them also to lie at his mercy: "They shall search, not only thy house, but the houses of thy servants too, and plunder them at discretion." Blessed be God for peace and property, and that what we have we can call our own.

4. Ahab's poor spirit begins to rise too, upon this growing insolence; and, if it becomes not bold, yet it becomes desperate, and he will rather hazard his life than give up all thus. (1.) How he takes advice of his privy-council, who encourage him to stand it out. He speaks but poorly (v. 7), appeals to them whether Ben-hadad be not an unreasonable enemy, and do not seek mischief. What else could he expect from one who, without any provocation given him, had invaded his country and besieged his capital city? He owns to them how he had truckled to him before, and will have them advise him what he should do in this strait; and they speak bravely (Hearken not to him, nor consent, v. 8), promising no doubt to stand by him in the refusal. (2.) Yet he expresses himself very modestly in his denial, v. 9. He owns Ben-hadad's dominion over him: "Tell my lord the king I have no design to affront him, nor to receded from the surrender I have already made; what I offered at first I will stand to, but this thing I may not do; I must not give what is none of my own." It was a mortification to Ben-hadad that even such an abject spirit as Ahab's durst deny him; yet it should seem, by his manner of expressing himself, that he durst not have done it if his people had not animated him.

5. Ben-hadad proudly swears the ruin of Samaria. The threatening waves of his wrath, meeting with this check, rage and foam, and make a noise. In his fury, he imprecates the impotent revenge of his gods, if the dust of Samaria serve for handfuls for his army (v. 10), so numerous, so resolute, an army will be bring into the field against Samaria, and so confident is he of their success; it will be done as easily as the taking up of a handful of dust; all shall be carried away, even the ground on which the city stands. Thus confident is his pride, thus cruel is his malice; this prepares him to be ruined, though such a prince and such a people are unworthy of the satisfaction of seeing him ruined.

6. Ahab sends him a decent rebuke to his assurance, dares not defy his menaces, only reminds him of the uncertain turns of war (v. 11): "Let not him that begins a war, and is girding on his sword, his armour, his harness, boast of victory, or think himself sure of it, as if he had put it off, and had come home a conqueror." This was one of the wisest words that ever Ahab spoke, and is a good item or momento to us all; it is folly to boast beforehand of any day, since we know not what it may bring forth (Prov. xxvii. 1), but especially to boast of a day of battle, which may prove as much against us as we promise ourselves it will be for us. It is impolitic to despise an enemy, and to be too sure of victory is the way to be beaten. Apply it to our spiritual conflicts. Peter fell by his confidence. While we are here we are but girding on the harness, and therefore must never boast as though we had put it off. Happy is the man that feareth always, and is never off his watch.

Ben-hadad's Defeat. (b. c. 900.)

12 And it came to pass, when Benhadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city. 13 And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the Lord , Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord . 14 And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the Lord , Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou. 15 Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand. 16 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him. 17 And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria. 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. 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 slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen. 21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.

The treaty between the besiegers and the besieged being broken off abruptly, we have here an account of the battle that ensued immediately.

I. The Syrians, the besiegers, had their directions from a drunken king, who gave orders over his cups, as he was drinking (v. 12), drinking himself drunk (v. 16) with the kings in the pavilions, and this at noon. Drunkenness is a sin which armies and their officers have of old been addicted to. Say not thou then that the former days were, in this respect, better than these, though these are bad enough. Had he not been very secure he would not have sat to drink; and, had he not been intoxicated, he would not have been so very secure. Security and sensuality went together in the old world, and Sodom, Luke xvii. 26, &c. Ben-hadad's drunkenness was the forerunner of his fall, as Belshazzar's was, Dan v. How could he prosper that preferred his pleasure before his business, and kept his kings to drink with him when they should have been at their respective posts to fight for him? In his drink, 1. He orders the town to be invested, the engines fixed, and every thing got ready for the making of a general attack (v. 12), but stirs not from his drunken club to see it done. Woe unto thee, O land! when thy king is such a child. 2. When the besieged made a sally (and, by that time, he was far gone) he gave orders to take them alive (v. 18), not to kill them, which might have been done more easily and safely, but to seize them, which gave them an opportunity of killing the aggressors; so imprudent was he in the orders he gave, as well as unjust, in ordering them to be taken prisoners though they came for peace and to renew the treaty. Thus, as is usual, he drinks, and forgets the law, both the policies and the justice of war.

II. The Israelites, the besieged, had their directions from an inspired prophet, one of the prophets of the Lord, whom Ahab had hated and persecuted: And behold a prophet, even one, drew near to the king of Israel; so it may be read, v. 13.

1. Behold, and wonder, that God should send a prophet with a kind and gracious message to so wicked a prince as Ahab was; but he did it, (1.) For his people Israel's sake, who, though wickedly degenerated, were the seed of Abraham his friend and Jacob his chosen, the children of the covenant, and not yet cast off. (2.) That he might magnify his mercy, in doing good to one so evil and unthankful, might either bring him to repentance or leave him the more inexcusable. (3.) That he might mortify the pride of Ben-hadad and check his insolence. Ahab's idolatry shall be punished hereafter, but Ben-hadad's haughtiness shall be chastised now; for God resists the proud, and is pleased to say that he fears the wrath of the enemy, Deut. xxxii. 26, 27. There was but one prophet perhaps to be had in Samaria, and he drew near with this message, intimating that he had been forced to keep at a distance. Ahab, in his prosperity, would not have borne the sight of him, but now he bids him welcome, when none of the prophets of the groves can give him any assistance. He enquired not for a prophet of the Lord, but God sent one to him unasked, for he waits to be gracious.

2. Two things the prophet does:—(1.) He animates Ahab with an assurance of victory, which was more than all the elders of Israel could give him (v. 8), though they promised to stand by him. This prophet, who is not named (for he spoke in God's name), tells him from God that this very day the siege shall be raised, and the army of the Syrians routed, v. 13. When the prophet said, Thus saith the Lord, we may suppose Ahab began to tremble, expecting a message of wrath; but he is revived when it proves a gracious one. He is informed what use he ought to make of this blessed turn of affairs: "Thou shalt know that I am Jehovah, the sovereign Lord of all." God's foretelling a thing that was so very unlikely proved that it was his own doing. (2.) He instructs him what to do for the gaining of this victory. [1.] He must not stay till the enemy attacked him, but must sally out upon them and surprise them in their trenches. [2.] The persons employed must be the young men of the princes of the provinces, the pages, the footmen, who were few in number, only 232, utterly unacquainted with war, and the unlikeliest men that could be thought of for such a bold attempt; yet these must do it, these weak and foolish things must be instruments of confounding the wise and strong, that, while Ben-hadad's boasting is punished, Ahab's may be prevented and precluded, and the excellency of the power may appear to be of God. [3.] Ahab must himself so far testify his confidence in the word of God as to command in person, though, in the eye of reason, he exposed himself to the utmost danger by it. But it is fit that those who have the benefit of God's promises should enter upon them. Yet, [4.] He is allowed to make use of what other forces he has at hand, to follow the blow, when these young men have broken the ice. All he had in Samaria, or within call, were but 7000 men, v. 15. It is observable that it is the same number with theirs that had not bowed the knee to Baal (ch. xix. 18), though, it is likely, not the same men.

III. The issue was accordingly. The proud Syrians were beaten, and the poor despised Israelites were more than conquerors. The young men gave an alarm to the Syrians just at noon, at high dinner-time, supported by what little force they had, v. 16. Ben-hadad despised them at first (v. 18), but when they had, with unparalleled bravery and dexterity, slain every one his man, and so put the army into disorder, that proud man durst not face them, but mounted immediately, drunk as he was, and made the best of his way, v. 20. See how God takes away the spirit of princes, and makes himself terrible to the kings of the earth. Now where are the silver and gold he demanded of Ahab? Where are the handfuls of Samaria's dust? Those that are most secure are commonly least courageous. Ahab failed not to improve this advantage, but slew the Syrians with a great slaughter, v. 21. Note, God oftentimes makes one wicked man a scourge to another.

Ahab's Folly Reproved. (b. c. 900.)

22 And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return 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 gods 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 the 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 lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so. 26 And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. 27 And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country. 28 And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord , Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord . 29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day. 30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.

We have here an account of another successful campaign which Ahab, by divine aid, made against the Syrians, in which he gave them a greater defeat than in the former. Strange! Ahab idolatrous and yet victorious, a persecutor and yet a conqueror! God has wise and holy ends in suffering wicked men to prosper, and glorifies his own name thereby.

I. Ahab is admonished by a prophet to prepare for another war, v. 22. It should seem, he was now secure, and looked but a little way before him. Those that are careless of their souls are often as careless of their outwards affairs; but the prophet (to whom God made known the following counsels of the Syrians) told him they would renew their attempt at the return of the year, hoping to retrieve the honour they had lost and be avenged for the blow they had received. He therefore bade him strengthen himself, put himself into a posture of defence, and be ready to give them a warm reception. God had decreed the end, but Ahab must use the means, else he tempts God: "Help thyself, strengthen thyself, and God will help and strengthen thee." The enemies of God's Israel are restless in their malice, and, though they may take some breathing-time for themselves, yet they are still breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the church. It concerns us always to expect assaults from our spiritual enemies, and therefore to mark and see what we do.

II. Ben-hadad is advised by those about him concerning the operations of the next campaign. 1. They advised him to change his ground, v. 23. They took it for granted that it was not Israel, but Israel's gods, that beat them (so great a regard was then universally had to invisible powers); but they speak very ignorantly of Jehovah—that he was many, whereas he is one and his name one,—that he was their God only, a local deity, peculiar to that nation, whereas he is the Creator and ruler of all the world,—and that he was a God of the hills only, because David their great prophet had said, I will lift up my eyes to the hills whence cometh my help (Ps. cxxi. 1), and that his foundation was in the holy mountain (Ps. lxxxvii. 1; lxxviii. 54), and much was said of his holy hill (Ps. xv. 1; xxiv. 3); supposing him altogether such a one as their imaginary deities, they fancied he was confined to his hills, and could not or would not come down from them, and therefore an army in the valley would be below his cognizance and from under his protection. Thus vain were the Gentiles in their imaginations concerning God, so wretchedly were their foolish hearts darkened, and, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. 2. They advised him to change his officers (v. 24, 25), not to employ the kings, who were commanders by birth, but captains rather, who were commanders by merit, who were inured to war, would not affect to make a show like the kings, but would go through with business. Let every man be employed in that which he is brought up to and used to, and preferred to that which he is fit for. Syria, it seems, was rich and populous, when it could furnish recruits sufficient, after so great a defeat, horse for horse, chariot for chariot.

III. Both armies take the field. Ben-hadad, with his Syrians, encamps near Aphek, in the tribe of Asher. It is probable that Asher was a city in his own possession, one of those which his father had won (v. 34), and the country about it was flat and level, and fit for his purpose, v. 26. Ahab, with his forces, posted himself at some distance over against them, v. 27. The disproportion of numbers was very remarkable. The children of Israel, who were cantoned in two battalions, looked like two little flocks of kids, their numbers small, their equipage mean, and the figure they made contemptible; but the Syrians filled the country with their numbers, their noise, their chariots, their carriages, and their baggage.

IV. Ahab is encouraged to fight the Syrians, notwithstanding their advantages and confidence. A man of God is sent to him, to tell him that this numerous army shall all be delivered into his hand (v. 28), but not for his sake; be it known to him, he is utterly unworthy for whom God will do this. God would not do it because Ahab had praised God or prayed to him (we do not read that he did either), but because the Syrians had blasphemed God, and had said, He is the God of the hills and not of the valleys; therefore God will do it in his own vindication, and to preserve the honour of his own name. If the Syrians had said, "Ahab and his people have forgotten their God, and so put themselves out of his protection, and therefore we may venture to attack them," God would probably have delivered Israel into their hands; but when they go upon a presumption so very injurious to the divine omnipotence, and the honour of him who is Lord of all hosts, not only in hills and valleys, but in heaven and earth, which they are willingly ignorant of, they shall be undeceived, at the expense of that vast army which is so much their pride and confidence.

V. After the armies had faced one another seven days (the Syrians, it is likely, boasting, and the Israelites trembling), they engaged, and the Syrians were totally routed, 100,000 men slain by the sword of Israel in the field of battle (v. 29), and 27,000 men, that thought themselves safe under the walls of Aphek, a fortified city (from the walls of which the shooters might annoy the enemy if they pursued them, 2 Sam. xi. 24), found their bane where they hoped for protection: the wall fell upon them, probably overthrown by an earthquake, and, the cities of Canaan being walled up to heaven, it reached a great way, and they were all killed, or hurt, or overwhelmed with dismay. Ben-hadad, who thought his city Aphek would hold out against the conquerors, finding it thus unwalled, and the remnant of his forces dispirited and dispersed, had nothing but secresy to rely upon for safety, and therefore hid himself in a chamber within a chamber, lest the pursuers should seize him. See how the greatest confidence often ends in the greatest cowardice. "Now is the God of Israel the God of the valleys or no?" He shall know now that he is forced into an inner chamber to hide himself, see ch. xxii. 25.

31 And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure 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 servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother. 33 Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. 34 And Benhadad said unto him, The cities, 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 covenant with him, and sent him away. 35 And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the Lord , Smite me, 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. 37 Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him. 38 So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face. 39 And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant 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 life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. 40 And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it. 41 And he hasted, and took the ashes away 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 , Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people. 43 And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.

Here is an account of what followed upon the victory which Israel obtained over the Syrians.

I. Ben-hadad's tame and mean submission. Even in his inner chamber he feared, and would, if he could, flee further, though none pursued. His servants, seeing him and themselves reduced to the last extremity, advised that they should surrender at discretion, and make themselves prisoners and petitioners to Ahab for their lives, v. 31. The servants will put their lives in their hands, and venture first, and their master will act according as they speed. Their inducement to take this course is the great reputation the kings of Israel had for clemency above any of their neighbours: "We have heard that they are merciful kings, not oppressive to their subjects that are under their power" (as governments then went, that of Israel was one of the most easy and gentle), "and therefore not cruel to their enemies when they lie at their mercy." Perhaps they had this notion of the kings of Israel because they had heard that the God of Israel proclaimed his name gracious and merciful, and they concluded their kings would make their God their pattern. It was an honour to the kings of Israel to be thus represented, as indeed every Israelite is then dressed as becomes him when he puts on bowels of mercies. "They are merciful kings, therefore we may hope to find mercy upon our submission." This encouragement poor sinners have to repent and humble themselves before God. "Have we not heard that the God of Israel is a merciful God? Have we not found him so? Let us therefore rend our hearts and return to him." Joel ii. 13. That is evangelical repentance which flows from an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ; there is forgiveness with him. Two things Ben-hadad's servants undertake to represent to Ahab:—1. Their master a penitent; for they girded sackcloth on their loins, as mourners, and put ropes on their heads, as condemned criminals going to execution, pretending to be sorry that they had invaded his country and disturbed his repose, and owning that they deserved to be hanged for it. Here they are ready to do penance for it, and throw themselves at the feet of him whom they had injured. Many pretend to repent of their wrong-doing, when it does not succeed, who, if they had prospered in it, would have justified it and gloried in it. 2. Their master a beggar, a beggar for his life: Thy servant Ben-hadad saith, "I pray thee, let me live, v. 32. Though I live a perpetual exile from my own country, and captive in this, yet, upon any terms, let me live." What a great change is here, (1.) In his condition! How has he fallen from the height of power and prosperity to the depths of disgrace and distress, and all the miseries of poverty and slavery! See the uncertainty of human affairs; such turns are they subject to that the spoke which was uppermost may soon come to be undermost. (2.) In his temper—in the beginning of the chapter hectoring, swearing, and threatening, and none more high in his demands, but here crouching and whining and none more low in his requests! How meanly does he beg his life at the hand of him upon whom he had there been trampling! The most haughty in prosperity are commonly most abject in adversity: an even spirit will be the same in both conditions. See how God glorified himself when he looks upon proud men and abases them, and hides them in the dust together, Job xl. 11-13.

II. Ahab's foolish acceptance of his submission, and the league he suddenly made with him upon it. He was proud to be thus courted by him whom he had feared, and enquired for him with great tenderness: Is he yet alive? He is my brother, brother-king, though not brother-Israelite: and Ahab valued himself more upon his royalty than on his religion, and others accordingly. "Is he thy brother, Ahab? Did he use thee like a brother when he sent thee that barbarous message? v. 5, 6. Would he have called thee brother if he had been the conqueror? Would he now have called himself thy servant if he had not been reduced to the utmost strait? Canst thou suffer thyself to be thus imposed upon by a forced and counterfeit submission?" This word brother they caught at (v. 33), and were thereby encouraged to go and fetch him to the king. He that calls him brother will let him live. Let poor penitents hear God, in his word, calling them children (Jer. xxxi. 20), catch at it, echo to it, and call him Father. Ben-hadad, upon his submission, shall not only be honourably conveyed (he took him up into the chariot), but treated with as an ally (v. 34): he made a covenant with him, not consulting God's prophets, or the elders of the land, or himself, concerning what was fit to be insisted on, but, as if Ben-hadad had been conqueror, he shall make his own terms. He might now have demanded some of Ben-hadad's cities, when all of them lay at the mercy of his victorious army; but was content with the restitution of his own. He might now have demanded the stores, and treasures, and magazines of Damascus, to augment the wealth and strength of his own kingdom, but was content with a poor liberty, at his own expense, to build streets there, a point of honour and no advantage, or no more than what the kings of Syria had had in Samaria, though they had never had so much power as he had now to support the demand of it. With this covenant he sent him away, without so much as reproving him for his blasphemous reflections upon the God of Israel, for whose honour Ahab had no concern. Note, There are those on whom success is ill bestowed; they know not how to serve God, or their generation, or even their own true interests, with their prosperity. Let favour be shown to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness.

III. The reproof given to Ahab for his clemency to Ben-hadad and his covenant with him. It was given him by a prophet, in the name of the Lord, the Jews say by Micaiah, and not unlikely, for Ahab complains of him (ch. xxii. 8) that he used to prophesy evil concerning him. This prophet designed to reprove Ahab by a parable, that he might oblige him to condemn himself, as Nathan and the woman of Tekoa did David. To make his parable the more plausible, he finds it necessary to put himself into the posture of a wounded soldier. 1. With some difficulty he gets himself wounded, for he would not wound himself with his own hands. He commanded one of his brother prophets, his neighbour, or companion (for so the word signifies), to smite him, and this in God's name (v. 35), but finds him not so willing to give the blow as he is to receive it; he refused to smite him: others, he thought, were forward enough to smite prophets, they need not smite one another. We cannot but think it was from a good principle he declined it. "If it must be done, let another do it, not I; I cannot find it in my heart to strike my friend." Good men can much more easily receive a wrongful blow than give one; yet because he disobeyed an express command of God (which was so much the worse if he was himself a prophet), like that other disobedient prophet (ch. xiii. 24), he was presently slain by a lion, v. 36. This was intended, not only to show, in general, how provoking disobedience is (Col. iii. 6), but to intimate to Ahab (who no doubt was told the story) that if a good prophet were thus punished for sparing his friend and God's, when God said, Smite, of much sorer punishment should a wicked king be thought worthy, who spared his enemy and God's, when God said, Smite. Shall mortal man pretend to be more just than God, more pure or more compassionate than his Maker? We must be merciful as he is merciful, and not otherwise. The next he met with made no difficulty of smiting him (Volentinon fit injuria—He that asks for an injury is not wronged by it) and did it so that he wounded him, v. 37. He fetched blood with the blow, probably in his face. 2. Wounded as he was, and disguised with ashes that he might not be known to be a prophet, he made his application to the king in a story wherein he charged himself with such a crime as the king was now guilty of in sparing Ben-hadad, and waited for the king's judgment upon it. The case in short is this—A prisoner taken in the battle was committed to his custody by a man (we may suppose one that had authority over him as his superior officer) with this charge, If he be missing, thy life shall be for his life, v. 39. The prisoner has made his escape through his carelessness. Can the chancery in the king's breast relieve him against his captain, who demands his life in lieu of the prisoner's? "By no means," says the king, "thou shouldst either not have undertaken the trust or been more careful and faithful to it; there is no remedy (Currat lex—Let the law take its course), thou hast forfeited thy bond, and execution must go out upon it: So shall thy doom be, thou thyself hast decided it." Now the prophet has what he would have, puts off his disguise, and is known by Ahab himself to be a prophet (v. 41) and plainly tells him, "Thou art the man. Is it my doom? No, it is thine; thou thyself hast decided it. Out of thy own mouth art thou judged. God, thy superior and commander-in-chief, delivered into thy hands one plainly marked for destruction both by his own pride and God's providence, and thou hast not carelessly lost him, but wittingly and willingly dismissed him, and so hast been false to thy trust, and lost the end of thy victory; expect therefore no other than that thy life shall go for his life, which thou hast spared" (and so it did, ch. xxii. 35), "and thy people for his people, whom likewise thou hast spared," and so they did afterwards, 2 Kings x. 32, 33. When their other sins brought them low, this came into the account. There is a time when keeping back the sword from blood is doing the work of the Lord deceitfully, Jer. xlviii. 10. Foolish pity spoils the city. 3. We are told how Ahab resented this reproof. He went to his house heavy and displeased (v. 43), not truly penitent, or seeking to undo what he had done amiss, but enraged at the prophet, exasperated against God (as if he had been too severe in the sentence passed upon him), and yet vexed at himself, every way out of humour, notwithstanding his victory. He who by his providence had mortified the pride of one king, by his word cast a damp upon the triumphs of another. Be wise therefore, O you kings! and be instructed to serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling, Ps. ii. 10, 11.