1 Kings 20
20
Syrian-Israeli Conflicts: Ben-Hadad vs. Ahab of Israel
1Ben-Hadad king of Aram gathered all of his army, and thirty-two kings were with him, and horses and chariots. He went up and laid siege against Samaria and fought with it. 2He sent messengers to the city to Ahab king of Israel. 3He said to him, “Thus says Ben-Hadad: ‘Your silver and your gold are mine, and your women and your best sons are mine.’ ” 4Then the king of Israel answered and said, “As your word, my master the king; I am yours, and all that is mine is yours.” 5The messengers returned and said, “Thus says Ben-Hadad, saying, ‘I sent to you saying, “Your silver and gold are mine, and your women and your best sons you must give to me.” 6So at this time tomorrow, I will send my servants to you that they might search your house and the houses of your servants. All the desire of your eyes they will lay hands on#Literally “they will put in their hands” and take it away.’ ”
7Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, “Please know and realize that this man is seeking trouble, for he sent to me for my women, my sons, my silver, and my gold, and I did not withhold anything from him.” 8All of the elders and all of the people said to him, “Do not listen and do not consent.” 9So he said to the messengers of Ben-Hadad, “Say to my lord the king, ‘All that you demanded from your servant at the first, I will do, but this thing I am not able to do.’ ” Then the messengers went and made a report to him.#Literally “returned him a word” 10Then Ben-Hadad sent to him and said, “Thus may the gods do to me and thus may they add if the dust of Samaria is sufficient for the hollow of a hand for all of the people who are at my feet.” 11The king of Israel answered and said, “Tell him, ‘Let not him who girds on his armor boast as one who takes off his armor.’ ” 12It happened at the moment he heard this word, he and the kings were drinking in the tents.#Literally “booths” He said to his servants, “Get ready to attack.” So they got ready to attack the city.
13Suddenly a certain prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Have you seen all this great crowd? Behold, I am giving it into your hand today, that you may know that I am Yahweh.’ ” 14Ahab said, “By whom?” And he said, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘By the servants of the commanders of the provinces.’ ” He asked, “Who will begin the battle?” And he said, “You.” 15So he mustered the servants of the commanders of the provinces, and there were two hundred and thirty-two. After them he mustered all of the army, all the sons of Israel, seven thousand.
16They went out at noon while Ben-Hadad was drinking himself drunk in the tents, he and the thirty-two kings helping him. 17Then the servants of the commanders of the provinces went out first, and Ben-Hadad sent, and they reported to him, saying, “Men have come out from Samaria.” 18Then he said, “If they have come out for peace, seize them alive; and if they have come out for war, seize them alive.” 19But these had come out from the city, the servants of the commanders of the provinces, and the army that was after them. 20Each man killed his man, and the Arameans fled, so Israel pursued them, but Ben-Hadad king of Aram escaped on a horse with cavalry. 21The king of Israel went out and attacked the horses and the chariots and defeated Aram with a great blow.
22Then the prophet came near to the king of Israel, and he said to him, “Go, strengthen yourself; consider well#Literally “know and see” what you should do, for the king of Aram is coming against you at the turn of the year.”
23The servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the mountains, therefore they were stronger than we.#Hebrew “he” Let us fight with them in the plain; surely we will be stronger than they. 24Do this thing: remove the kings each from his post, and put a governor in their place. 25You must muster an army for yourself as the army you have lost,#Literally “as the army which fell from with you” and horses and chariots as the horses and chariots you lost, then we will fight them in the plain. Surely we will be stronger than they.” So he listened to their voice and did so.
26It happened at the turning of the year that Ben-Hadad mustered Aram and went up to Aphek for the war with Israel. 27The Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” had been mustered and provisioned, and they went to engage them. The Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” encamped opposite them as two flocks of goats, but the Arameans filled the land. 28Then the man of God approached, and he spoke to the king of Israel, and he said, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Because Aram has said, “Yahweh is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,” ’ I will give all this great crowd into your hand that you may know that I am Yahweh.” 29These encamped opposite for seven days, and it happened on the seventh day that the battle began,#Literally “the battle drew near” and the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” killed the Arameans, one hundred thousand infantry in one day. 30Then those who remained fled to Aphek, to the city, and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men who had remained, so Ben-Hadad fled and went to the innermost rooms of the city.
31Then his servants said to him, “Please now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are kings of mercy. Let us now put sackcloth on around our waists and ropes on our heads. Then let us go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps he will let you live.”#Literally “he may let your life live” 32So they tied sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads. Then they went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-Hadad says, ‘Please let me live.’ ” And he said, “Is my brother still alive?” 33The men took this as a good omen and they quickly accepted it as true from him, and they said, “Your brother Ben-Hadad lives.” So he said, “Go, get him.” Ben-Hadad came out to him, and Ahab pulled him up on the chariot. 34Ben-Hadad said to him, “The cities which my father took from your father I shall return. You may set up streets with stalls for yourself in Damascus just as my father set up in Samaria.” Then Ahab said, “On these terms#Literally “In covenant” I will let you go,” So he made a covenant with him and let him go.
35A certain man from the sons of the prophets said to his fellow countryman, “By the word of Yahweh, please strike me.” But the man refused to strike him.
36He said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh, look, as you now are going from me, a lion will kill you.” When he went from beside him, the lion found him and killed him. 37Then he found another man and said, “Strike me, please,” so the man struck him sharply and wounded him. 38Then the prophet went and waited#Literally “stood” for the king along the road and disguised himself with a#Hebrew “the” headband over his eyes. 39As the king was passing by, he called to the king and said, “Your servant went out in the thick of the battle, and suddenly a man turned and brought a man to me and said, ‘Guard this man. If by any means he should be missed, it will be your life in his place, or you shall pay a talent of silver.’ 40It happened that your servant was busy here and there,#Literally “was doing here and here” and he disappeared.”#Literally “and he was not” Then the king said to him, “Your own judgment has been determined.” 41He quickly removed the headband from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him, that he was from the prophets. 42He said to him, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Because you have let the man I devoted for destruction go from your hand, your life shall be in place of his life and your people in place of his people.’ ” 43Then the king of Israel went to his house, sullen and angry, and he came to Samaria.
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1 Kings 20
20
Ben-Hadad Attacks Samaria
1About that time King Ben-hadad of Aram mobilized his army, supported by the chariots and horses of thirty-two allied kings. They went to besiege Samaria, the capital of Israel, and launched attacks against it. 2Ben-hadad sent messengers into the city to relay this message to King Ahab of Israel: “This is what Ben-hadad says: 3‘Your silver and gold are mine, and so are your wives and the best of your children!’”
4“All right, my lord the king,” Israel’s king replied. “All that I have is yours!”
5Soon Ben-hadad’s messengers returned again and said, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘I have already demanded that you give me your silver, gold, wives, and children. 6But about this time tomorrow I will send my officials to search your palace and the homes of your officials. They will take away everything you consider valuable!’”
7Then Ahab summoned all the elders of the land and said to them, “Look how this man is stirring up trouble! I already agreed with his demand that I give him my wives and children and silver and gold.”
8“Don’t give in to any more demands,” all the elders and the people advised.
9So Ahab told the messengers from Ben-hadad, “Say this to my lord the king: ‘I will give you everything you asked for the first time, but I cannot accept this last demand of yours.’” So the messengers returned to Ben-hadad with that response.
10Then Ben-hadad sent this message to Ahab: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if there remains enough dust from Samaria to provide even a handful for each of my soldiers.”
11The king of Israel sent back this answer: “A warrior putting on his sword for battle should not boast like a warrior who has already won.”
12Ahab’s reply reached Ben-hadad and the other kings as they were drinking in their tents.#20:12 Or in Succoth; also in 20:16. “Prepare to attack!” Ben-hadad commanded his officers. So they prepared to attack the city.
Ahab’s Victory over Ben-Hadad
13Then a certain prophet came to see King Ahab of Israel and told him, “This is what the Lord says: Do you see all these enemy forces? Today I will hand them all over to you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
14Ahab asked, “How will he do it?”
And the prophet replied, “This is what the Lord says: The troops of the provincial commanders will do it.”
“Should we attack first?” Ahab asked.
“Yes,” the prophet answered.
15So Ahab mustered the troops of the 232 provincial commanders. Then he called out the rest of the army of Israel, some 7,000 men. 16About noontime, as Ben-hadad and the thirty-two allied kings were still in their tents drinking themselves into a stupor, 17the troops of the provincial commanders marched out of the city as the first contingent.
As they approached, Ben-hadad’s scouts reported to him, “Some troops are coming from Samaria.”
18“Take them alive,” Ben-hadad commanded, “whether they have come for peace or for war.”
19But Ahab’s provincial commanders and the entire army had now come out to fight. 20Each Israelite soldier killed his Aramean opponent, and suddenly the entire Aramean army panicked and fled. The Israelites chased them, but King Ben-hadad and a few of his charioteers escaped on horses. 21However, the king of Israel destroyed the other horses and chariots and slaughtered the Arameans.
22Afterward the prophet said to King Ahab, “Get ready for another attack. Begin making plans now, for the king of Aram will come back next spring.#20:22 Hebrew at the turn of the year; similarly in 20:26. The first day of the year in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in March or April.”
Ben-Hadad’s Second Attack
23After their defeat, Ben-hadad’s officers said to him, “The Israelite gods are gods of the hills; that is why they won. But we can beat them easily on the plains. 24Only this time replace the kings with field commanders! 25Recruit another army like the one you lost. Give us the same number of horses, chariots, and men, and we will fight against them on the plains. There’s no doubt that we will beat them.” So King Ben-hadad did as they suggested.
26The following spring he called up the Aramean army and marched out against Israel, this time at Aphek. 27Israel then mustered its army, set up supply lines, and marched out for battle. But the Israelite army looked like two little flocks of goats in comparison to the vast Aramean forces that filled the countryside!
28Then the man of God went to the king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: The Arameans have said, ‘The Lord is a god of the hills and not of the plains.’ So I will defeat this vast army for you. Then you will know that I am the Lord.”
29The two armies camped opposite each other for seven days, and on the seventh day the battle began. The Israelites killed 100,000 Aramean foot soldiers in one day. 30The rest fled into the town of Aphek, but the wall fell on them and killed another 27,000. Ben-hadad fled into the town and hid in a secret room.
31Ben-hadad’s officers said to him, “Sir, we have heard that the kings of Israel are merciful. So let’s humble ourselves by wearing burlap around our waists and putting ropes on our heads, and surrender to the king of Israel. Then perhaps he will let you live.”
32So they put on burlap and ropes, and they went to the king of Israel and begged, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please let me live!’”
The king of Israel responded, “Is he still alive? He is my brother!”
33The men took this as a good sign and quickly picked up on his words. “Yes,” they said, “your brother Ben-hadad!”
“Go and get him,” the king of Israel told them. And when Ben-hadad arrived, Ahab invited him up into his chariot.
34Ben-hadad told him, “I will give back the towns my father took from your father, and you may establish places of trade in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.”
Then Ahab said, “I will release you under these conditions.” So they made a new treaty, and Ben-hadad was set free.
A Prophet Condemns Ahab
35Meanwhile, the Lord instructed one of the group of prophets to say to another man, “Hit me!” But the man refused to hit the prophet. 36Then the prophet told him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me.” And when he had gone, a lion did attack and kill him.
37Then the prophet turned to another man and said, “Hit me!” So he struck the prophet and wounded him.
38The prophet placed a bandage over his eyes to disguise himself and then waited beside the road for the king. 39As the king passed by, the prophet called out to him, “Sir, I was in the thick of battle, and suddenly a man brought me a prisoner. He said, ‘Guard this man; if for any reason he gets away, you will either die or pay a fine of seventy-five pounds#20:39 Hebrew 1 talent [34 kilograms]. of silver!’ 40But while I was busy doing something else, the prisoner disappeared!”
“Well, it’s your own fault,” the king replied. “You have brought the judgment on yourself.”
41Then the prophet quickly pulled the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets. 42The prophet said to him, “This is what the Lord says: Because you have spared the man I said must be destroyed,#20:42 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering. now you must die in his place, and your people will die instead of his people.” 43So the king of Israel went home to Samaria angry and sullen.
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