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. Ver. 1. _And there were thirty and two kings with him._] _Reguli; _ petty kings, such as once were the... [ Continue Reading ]
_And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad,_ Ver. 2. _And he sent messengers._] As presuming they should find that favour with Ahab which himself denied to Ahab's messengers, whom he commanded to be taken alive, whatsoever their errand was.... [ Continue Reading ]
Thy silver and thy gold [is] mine; thy wives also and thy children, [even] the goodliest, [are] mine. Ver. 3. _Thy silver and thy gold is mine._] _Non iure, sed imperio; _ not by any right that Benbadad had to it, but because he was at this time mightier than Ahab, and able, as he thought, to over... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I [am] thine, and all that I have. Ver. 4. _I am thine, and all that I have._] This, say some, was _responsum admodum muliebre,_ a very cowardly answer of Ahab. Others hold that he did well and wisely, whilst, as a... [ Continue Reading ]
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; Ver. 5. _And the messengers came again_] _Ita fere fit, ut veterem fereudo iniuriam invites novam._ Insol... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 6. _Whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes._] A... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 7. _And I denied him not._] I refused not to be his v... [ Continue Reading ]
And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not [unto him], nor consent. Ver. 8. _Hearken not unto him._] Stand to the issue of a bloody war rather. “ _Victorem a victo superari saepe videmus._ A cane non magno saepe tenetur aper. ”... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 9. _But this thing I may not do._] He saith not, This thing I wi... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 10. _The gods do so to me, and more also._] _Indictio belli plusquam Thrasonica._ Such prodigious pride and presumption usually prec... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 11. _Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast, &c._] _Ne glorietur accinctus quasi discinctus._ It is no wisdom to triumph before the victory, and to se... [ Continue Reading ]
_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._ Ver. 12. _As he was drinking._] Even unto drunkenness, 1Ki 20:16 which... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 13. _And, behold, there came a prophet._] Michaiah, as some think; or... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 14. _Even by the young men of the princes, &c._] By the noblemen's sons, the young courtiers, and cavaliers. These... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 15. _And they were two hundred and thirty._] These having God's word for their warrant... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 16. _And Benhadad was drinking himself drunk._] Security is the certain usher of destruction. See 1 Kings 20:12 .... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 17. And the young men … went out first.] As a forlorn hope to set first on the enemy: or as that _Sacra cohors_ in the Theban army.... [ Continue Reading ]
And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive. Ver. 18. _Take them alive._] He bore himself so bold upon his great strength, that he thought there was no more to do but to take them alive. He considered not that they were _Deo... [ Continue Reading ]
So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. Ver. 19. _And the army which followed them,_] viz., Those seven thousand, 1Ki 20:15 which Pellican saith were godly, confiding men; and Martyr thinketh they were the seven thousand that had no... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 20. And the Syrians fled … and Benhadad escaped on a horse.] So that it might now have been well said unto him, as once Zebul said unto Gaal. Jd... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. Ver. 21. _And slew the Syrians._] Whom God had smitten with fear, that cowardly passion, which betrayeth many, and exposeth them to more danger than those that stand it out to the utmost... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 22. _And the prophet came to the king._] The same prophet as before, likely, 1Ki 20:13 whether Mi... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 23. _And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him._] Nothing they said to... [ Continue Reading ]
And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms: Ver. 24. _Take the kings away._] As being rather the knights of Venus, than of Bellona; and are better at tossing a pot than a pike.... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 25. _The army that thou hast lost._] Heb., That was fal... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 26. _And went up to Aphek._] Which was, saith Lyra, a strong city in Asher, taken from the Israelites by the Syrians, before which lay a great plain of the same nam... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 27. _And were all present._] All the last year's army that had been so victorious, not a man... [ Continue Reading ]
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.... [ Continue Reading ]
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 an hundred thousand footmen in one day. Ver. 29. _And they pitched one over against the other._] So did the Turks and Christians, un... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 30. _But the rest fled to Aphek._] See on 1 Kings 20:26. No place can secure a blasphemer from the di... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 31. _We have heard that the kin... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 32. _So they girded sackcloth._] See 1 Kings 20:31 . _ Thy servant Benhad... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 33. _Now the men did diligently observe._... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 34. _Th... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 35. _And a certain man of the sons of the prophets._] This was Michaiah, saith Josephus, and other Jewish doctors, whom Ahab therefore had cas... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 36. _A lion found him, and slew him._] So dangerous a thing it is for a man... [ Continue Reading ]
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded [him]. Ver. 37. _And the man smote him._] See on 1 Kings 20:36 .... [ Continue Reading ]
So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face. Ver. 38. _And disguised himself._] He slurried his face with ashes cast upon blood, that he might not appear to be a prophet; for then guilty Ahab would not have heard him, especially being... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
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]. Ver. 40. _So shall thy judgment be._] See on 1 Kings 20:39 .... [ Continue Reading ]
And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he [was] of the prophets. Ver. 41. _And the king of Israel discerned him._] He had known him before for a prophet, and was ill-affected unto him for his plain dealing. 1Ki 22:8... [ Continue Reading ]
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. Ver. 42. _A man whom I had appointed to utter destruction._] Heb., A man of mine accursing; suc... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria. Ver. 43. _Heavy and displeased._] Not with a "sorrow according to God," but such as arose from a slavish fear: this heavy message in the midst of his triumph, being worse than the whip and bell hung up usually in th... [ Continue Reading ]