1 Kings 20:35

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!” ¹  But the man refused to wound him.

1 Kings 20:2

20:2 He sent messengers to King Ahab of Israel, who was in the city. ² 

1 Kings 2:3

2:3 Do the job the Lord your God has assigned you ³  by following his instructions ⁴  and obeying ⁵  his rules, commandments, regulations, and laws as written in the law of Moses. Then you will succeed in all you do and seek to accomplish, ⁶ 

1 Kings 2:5

2:5 “You know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me – how he murdered two commanders of the Israelite armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. ⁷  During peacetime he struck them down like he would in battle; ⁸  when he shed their blood as if in battle, he stained his own belt and the sandals on his feet. ⁹ 

1 Kings 2:7

2:7 “Treat fairly ¹⁰  the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and provide for their needs, ¹¹  because they helped me ¹²  when I had to flee from your brother Absalom.

1 Kings 4:1

Solomon’s Royal Court and Administrators

4:1 King Solomon ruled over all Israel.

1 Kings 6:1-2

The Building of the Temple

6:1 In the four hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites left Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, during the month Ziv ¹³  (the second month), he began building the Lord’s temple. 6:2 The temple King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet ¹⁴  long, 30 feet ¹⁵  wide, and 45 feet ¹⁶  high.

1 Kings 16:7

16:7 The prophet Jehu son of Hanani received from the Lord the message predicting the downfall of Baasha and his family because of all the evil Baasha had done in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁷  His actions angered the Lord (including the way he had destroyed Jeroboam’s dynasty), so that his family ended up like Jeroboam’s. ¹⁸ 

1 Kings 19:2

19:2 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this warning, ¹⁹  “May the gods judge me severely ²⁰  if by this time tomorrow I do not take your life as you did theirs!” ²¹ 

1 Kings 20:34

20:34 Ben Hadad ²²  said, “I will return the cities my father took from your father. You may set up markets ²³  in Damascus, just as my father did in Samaria.” ²⁴  Ahab then said, “I want to make a treaty with you before I dismiss you.” ²⁵  So he made a treaty with him and then dismissed him.

¹ tn Heb “Now a man from the sons of the prophets said to his companion by the word of the Lord, ‘Wound me.’”

² tn Heb “to the city.”

³ tn Heb “keep the charge of the Lord your God.”

⁴ tn Heb “by walking in his ways.”

⁵ tn Or “keeping.”

⁶ tn Heb “then you will cause to succeed all which you do and all which you turn there.”

⁷ tn Heb “what he did to the two commanders…and he killed them.”

⁸ tn Heb “he shed the blood of battle in peace.”

⁹ tn Heb “and he shed the blood of battle when he killed which is on his waist and on his sandal[s] which are on his feet.” That is, he covered himself with guilt and his guilt was obvious to all who saw him.

¹⁰ tn Heb “do loyalty with”; or “act faithfully toward.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and let them be among the ones who eat [at] your table.”

¹² tn Heb “drew near to.”

¹³ sn During the month Ziv. This would be April-May, 966 b.c. by modern reckoning.

¹⁴ tn Heb “sixty cubits.” A cubit was a unit of measure roughly equivalent to 18 inches or 45 cm. Measurements in vv. 2-10 have been converted to feet in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ tn Heb “twenty cubits.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “thirty cubits.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “and also through Jehu son of Hanani the word of the Lord came concerning [or “against”] Baasha and his house, and because of all the evil which he did in the eyes of the Lord.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “angering him by the work of his hands, so that he was like the house of Jeroboam, and because of how he struck it down.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “saying.”

²⁰ tn Heb “So may the gods do to me, and so may they add.”

²¹ tn Heb “I do not make your life like the life of one of them.”

²² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²³ tn Heb “streets,” but this must refer to streets set up with stalls for merchants to sell their goods. See HALOT 299 s.v. חוּץ.

²⁴ map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

²⁵ tn Heb “I will send you away with a treaty.” The words “Ahab then said” are supplied in the translation. There is nothing in the Hebrew text to indicate that the speaker has changed from Ben Hadad to Ahab. Some suggest adding “and he said” before “I will send you away.” Others prefer to maintain Ben Hadad as the speaker and change the statement to, “Please send me away with a treaty.”