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Texts -- 1 Kings 20:31-43 (NET)

Context
20:31 His advisers said to him, “Look , we have heard that the kings of the Israelite dynasty are kind . Allow us to put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads and surrender to the king of Israel . Maybe he will spare our lives .” 20:32 So they put sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads and went to the king of Israel . They said , “Your servant Ben Hadad says , ‘Please let me live !’” Ahab replied , “Is he still alive ? He is my brother .” 20:33 The men took this as a good omen and quickly accepted his offer, saying , “Ben Hadad is your brother .” Ahab then said , “Go , get him.” So Ben Hadad came out to him, and Ahab pulled him up into his chariot . 20:34 Ben Hadad said , “I will return the cities my father took from your father . You may set up markets in Damascus , just as my father did in Samaria .” Ahab then said, “I want to make a treaty with you before I dismiss you.” So he made a treaty with him and then dismissed him.
A Prophet Denounces Ahab’s Actions
20:35 One of the members of the prophetic guild , speaking with divine authority , ordered his companion , “Wound me!” But the man refused to wound him. 20:36 So the prophet said to him, “Because you have disobeyed the Lord , as soon as you leave me a lion will kill you.” When he left him, a lion attacked and killed him. 20:37 He found another man and said , “Wound me!” So the man wounded him severely . 20:38 The prophet then went and stood by the road , waiting for the king . He also disguised himself by putting a bandage down over his eyes . 20:39 When the king passed by , he called out to the king , “Your servant went out into the heat of the battle , and then a man turned aside and brought me a prisoner . He told me, ‘Guard this prisoner . If he ends up missing for any reason, you will pay with your life or with a talent of silver .’ 20:40 Well, it just so happened that while your servant was doing this and that , he disappeared .” The king of Israel said to him, “Your punishment is already determined by your own testimony.” 20:41 The prophet quickly removed the bandage from his eyes and the king of Israel recognized he was one of the prophets . 20:42 The prophet then said to him, “This is what the Lord says , ‘Because you released a man I had determined should die , you will pay with your life and your people will suffer instead of his people .’” 20:43 The king of Israel went home to Samaria bitter and angry .

Pericope

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Bible Dictionary

  • WAR; WARFARE

    [isbe] WAR; WARFARE - wor, wor'-far (milchamah, 'anshe m., "men of war," "soldiers"; polemos, polemein, strateuesthai, stratia): 1. Religious Significance 2. Preliminaries 3. Operations of War 4. Strategy 5. Important Requisites 6....

  • Samaria

    [ebd] a watch-mountain or a watch-tower. In the heart of the mountains of Israel, a few miles north-west of Shechem, stands the "hill of Shomeron," a solitary mountain, a great "mamelon." It is an oblong hill, with steep but not i...
    [nave] SAMARIA 1. City of, built by Omri, 1 Kin. 16:24. Capital of the kingdom of the ten tribes, 1 Kin. 16:29; 22:51; 2 Kin. 13:1, 10; 15:8. Besieged by Ben-hadad, 1 Kin. 20; 2 Kin. 6:24-33; 7. The king of Syria is led into, by...

  • PROPHECY; PROPHETS, 2

    [isbe] PROPHECY; PROPHETS, 2 - II. Historical Development of the Prophetic Office. 1. Abraham: It is a characteristic peculiarity of the religion of the Old Testament that its very elementary beginnings are of a prophetical nature....

  • Micaiah

    [ebd] who is like Jehovah?, the son of Imlah, a faithful prophet of Samaria (1 Kings 22:8-28). Three years after the great battle with Ben-hadad (20:29-34), Ahab proposed to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, that they should go up again...

  • ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF

    [isbe] ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF - || I. THE FIRST PERIOD 1. The Two Kingdoms 2. The Ist Dynasty 3. The IInd Dynasty 4. Civil War II. PERIOD OF THE SYRIAN WARS 1. The IIIrd Dynasty 2. World-Politics 3. Battle of Karkar 4. Loss of Territor...

  • HASTE

    [isbe] HASTE - hast (chaphaz, chush, mahar; speudo): "Haste" (from a root meaning "to pursue") implies "celerity of motion." (1) The noun occurs as translation of mahar, "to hasten," etc. (Ex 10:16; 12:33, "in haste"); of chapaz, "...

  • FELLOW

    [isbe] FELLOW - fel'-o (chabher, rea`; hetairos): Meant originally a "partner," from fe, "property," and lag, "to lay," then "a companion," "an equal," "a person or individual," "a worthless person." (1) As "companion" it is the tr...

  • DRESS

    [isbe] DRESS - In the Hebrew and Greek there is a wonderful wealth of terminology having to do with the general subject of dress among the ancient Orientals. This is reflected in the numerous synonyms for "dress" to be found in Eng...

  • DISPERSION, THE

    [isbe] DISPERSION, THE - dis-pur'-shun, (diaspora): 1. Golah and Dispersion 2. Purpose of Dispersion 3. Causes of Dispersion 4. Extent of Dispersion 5. The Eastern Dispersion 6. The Egyptian Dispersion 7. Testimony of Aramaic Papyr...

  • Captive

    [ebd] one taken in war. Captives were often treated with great cruelty and indignity (1 Kings 20:32; Josh. 10:24; Judg. 1:7; 2 Sam. 4:12; Judg. 8:7; 2 Sam. 12:31; 1 Chr. 20:3). When a city was taken by assault, all the men were sl...

  • COVENANT, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

    [isbe] COVENANT, IN THE OLD TESTAMENT - kuv'-e-nant (berith): I. GENERAL MEANING II. AMONG MEN 1. Early Idea 2. Principal Elements 3. Different Varieties 4. Phraseology Used III. BETWEEN GOD AND MEN 1. Essential Idea 2. Covenants R...

  • COMMERCE

    [isbe] COMMERCE - kom'-ers (emporia): I. Old Testament Times. 1. Early Overland Commerce: There were forces in early Hebrew life not favorable to the development of commerce. Intercourse with foreigners was not encouraged by Israel...

  • CHILD; CHILDREN

    [isbe] CHILD; CHILDREN - child, chil'-dren (ben, "son," yeledh, "child" na`ar, "lad"; teknon, paidion): The Hebrews regarded the presence of children in the family as a mark of Divine favor and greatly to be desired (Gen 15:2; 30:1...

  • CAPTIVITY

    [isbe] CAPTIVITY - kap-tiv'-i-ti (galah, galuth, shebhuth, shibhyah; metoikesia): I. OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM (THE WORK OF ASSYRIA) 1. Western Campaigns of Shalmaneser II, 860-825 BC 2. Of Rimmon-nirari III, 810-781 BC 3. Of Tiglath...

  • Ben-hadad

    [nave] BEN-HADAD 1. King of Syria, 1 Kin. 15:18-20; 2 Chr. 16:2-4. 2. A king of Syria, who reigned in the time of Ahab, son of Ben-hadad I, 1 Kin. 20; 2 Kin. 5; 6; 7; 8:7-15. 3. Son of Hazael and king of Syria, 2 Kin. 13:3, 24, 2...

  • BENHADAD

    [isbe] BENHADAD - ben-ha'-dad (ben-hadhadh; Septuagint huios Hader): The Name I. BENHADAD I 1. The Kingdom of Syria Founded 2. Syria and Judah 3. Shortsightedness of Asa II. BENHADAD II 1. Hadad-'idri of the Monuments 2. Expedition...

  • Armies

    [nave] ARMIES Who of the Israelites were subject to service in, Num. 1:2, 3; 26:2; 2 Chr. 25:5; who were exempt from service in, Num. 1:47-50; 2:33; Deut. 20:5-9; Judg. 7:3. Enumeration of Israel's military forces, Num. 1:2, 3; 26...

  • Ahab

    [ebd] father's brother. (1.) The son of Omri, whom he succeeded as the seventh king of Israel. His history is recorded in 1 Kings 16-22. His wife was Jezebel (q.v.), who exercised a very evil influence over him. To the calf-worshi...
    [isbe] AHAB - a'-hab ('ach'abh, Assyrian a-cha-ab-bu; Septuagint Achaab, but Jer 29:21 f, Achiab, which, in analogy with '-h-y-m-l-k, (')-h-y-'-l, etc., indicates an original 'achi'abh, meaning "the father is my brother"): The comp...
    [smith] (uncle). Son of Omri, seventh king of Israel, reigned B.C. 919-896. He married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal king of Tyre; and in obedience to her wishes, caused temple to be built to Baal in Samaria itself; and an oracular g...
    [nave] AHAB 1. King of Israel, 1 Kin. 16:29. Marries Jezebel, 1 Kin. 16:31. Idolatry of, 1 Kin. 16:30-33; 18:18, 19; 21:25, 26; other wickedness of, 2 Kin. 3:2; 2 Chr. 21:6; 22:3, 4; Mic. 6:16. Reproved by Elijah; assembles the ...

  • ALLIANCE

    [isbe] ALLIANCE - a-li'-ans. 1. In the Patriarchal Stories: Frequent references are made to alliances between the patriarchs and foreigners. Abraham is reported to have had "confederates" among the chiefs of the Canaanites (Gen 14:...

  • ACCURSED

    [isbe] ACCURSED - a-kurs'-ed, a-kurst': In the Book of Josh (6:17,18; 7:1,11,12,13,15) and 1 Ch (2:7) "accursed" (or "accursed thing" or "thing accursed") is the King James Version rendering of the Hebrew word, cherem. The the Revi...

Arts

Questions

  • Concerning the eternal Sonship of Christ, Ryrie has this to say: I agree with Buswell (A Systematic Theology of the Christian Religion, pp. 105-12) that generation is not an exegetically based doctrine. The concept it tri...
  • How do you think Joshua, Gideon, David and other Old Testament saints felt about it? Do you suppose they did not know of the commandment "Thou shalt not kill"? They do not appear to have found any difficulty in reconciling th...

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The writer referred to Canaan as "the land of the sons of Israel"first here in Scripture (v. 22). The Anakim were the mighty warriors that the 10 spies had feared (Num. 13:28). Israel destroyed most of these."The hardening of...
  • At first, David piously tried to salve Joab's conscience for his complicity in Uriah's death (11:25). The Hebrew word translated "displease"literally means "be evil in your sight."David was calling what was sin something othe...
  • The fact that this book opens and closes with death should be a clue as to its message.It opens with David's death, and it closes with Ahab's death. The intervening period of about a century and a half is a story of national ...
  • I. The reign of Solomon chs. 1-11A. Solomon's succession to David's throne 1:1-2:121. David's declining health 1:1-42. Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne 1:5-533. David's charge to Solomon 2:1-94. David's death 2:10-12B. ...
  • Hadad hated Solomon because of Joab's severe treatment of the Edomites. He may have been a relation of Solomon's by marriage. Pharaoh Siamun apparently gave his daughter to Solomon in marriage and his sister-in-law to Hadad (...
  • This section is similar to the one that recorded Saul's failure to follow Yahweh's command that also resulted in God cutting him off as His vice-regent (1 Sam. 13:13-14). The parallels between Saul and Ahab are remarkable thr...
  • Even though Jezebel was behind the murder of Naboth, God held her husband Ahab responsible (v. 19). Jezebel's evil influence over her husband stands out in this story.221Ahab was willing to murder a godly Israelite to obtain ...
  • Another significant battle occurred between the battle of Ramoth-gilead that the writer recorded in chapter 22 (853 B.C.) and the battles he recorded in chapter 20. Ahab and his Aramean ally Ben-Hadad II (860-841 B.C.) defeat...
  • Hazael was the governor of Damascus.50The Gentile King of Aram had more interest in inquiring of Yahweh than Jehoram's predecessor did (v. 8; cf. 1:2). It was customary in the Near East to make a great show of giving gifts. I...
  • 6:13 Because of these sins the Lord promised to make His people sick, downtrodden, and desolate.6:14 They would continue to eat, but their food would not bring them satisfaction (cf. Lev. 26:26). Their excessive accumulation ...
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