1 Kings 20:42

20:42 The prophet ¹  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.’” ² 

1 Kings 20:1

Ben Hadad Invades Israel

20:1 Now King Ben Hadad of Syria assembled all his army, along with thirty-two other kings with their horses and chariots. He marched against Samaria ³  and besieged and attacked it. ⁴ 

1 Kings 15:8-20

15:8 Abijah passed away ⁵  and was buried ⁶  in the city of David. His son Asa replaced him as king.

Asa’s Reign over Judah

15:9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam’s reign over Israel, Asa became the king of Judah. 15:10 He ruled for forty-one years in Jerusalem. ⁷  His grandmother ⁸  was Maacah daughter of Abishalom. 15:11 Asa did what the Lord approved ⁹  like his ancestor ¹⁰  David had done. 15:12 He removed the male cultic prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the disgusting idols ¹¹  his ancestors ¹²  had made. 15:13 He also removed Maacah his grandmother ¹³  from her position as queen because she had made a loathsome Asherah pole. Asa cut down her Asherah pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 15:14 The high places were not eliminated, yet Asa was wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord throughout his lifetime. ¹⁴  15:15 He brought the holy items that he and his father had made into the Lord’s temple, including the silver, gold, and other articles. ¹⁵ 

15:16 Now Asa and King Baasha of Israel were continually at war with each other. ¹⁶  15:17 King Baasha of Israel attacked Judah and established Ramah as a military outpost to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the land of King Asa of Judah. ¹⁷  15:18 Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace and handed it to his servants. He then told them to deliver it ¹⁸  to Ben Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message: 15:19 “I want to make a treaty with you, like the one our fathers made. ¹⁹  See, I have sent you silver and gold as a present. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel, so he will retreat from my land.” ²⁰  15:20 Ben Hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel. ²¹  They conquered ²²  Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, and all the territory of Naphtali, including the region of Kinnereth. ²³ 

[20:42]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:42]  ² tn Heb “Because you sent away the man of my destruction [i.e., that I determined should be destroyed] from [my/your?] hand, your life will be in place of his life, and your people in place of his people.”

[20:1]  ³ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[20:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he went up and besieged Samaria and fought against it.”

[15:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.” The Old Greek also has these words: “in the twenty-eighth year of Jeroboam.”

[15:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “and they buried him.”

[15:10]  ⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:10]  ⁸ tn Heb “mother,” but Hebrew often uses the terms “father” and “mother” for grandparents and more remote ancestors.

[15:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”

[15:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “father,” but Hebrew often uses the terms “father” and “mother” for grandparents and more remote ancestors.

[15:12]  ¹¹ tn The word used here, גִלּוּלִים [gillulim], is always used as a disdainful reference to idols. It is generally thought to have originally referred to “dung pellets” (cf. KBL 183 s.v. גִלּוּלִים). It is only one of several terms used in this way, such as “worthless things” (אֱלִילִים, ’elilim), “vanities” or “empty winds” (הֲבָלִים, havalim).

[15:12]  ¹² tn Heb “fathers” (also in v. 24).

[15:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “mother,” but Hebrew often uses the terms “father” and “mother” for grandparents and more remote ancestors.

[15:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “yet the heart of Asa was complete with the Lord all his days.”

[15:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he brought the holy things of his father and his holy things (into) the house of the Lord, silver, gold, and items.” Instead of “his holy things,” a marginal reading (Qere) in the Hebrew text has “the holy things of [the house of the Lord].”

[15:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel all their days.”

[15:17]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and he built up Ramah so as to not permit going out or coming in to Asa king of Judah.”

[15:18]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “King Asa sent it.”

[15:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[May there be] a covenant between me and you [as there was] between my father and your father.”

[15:19]  ²⁰ tn Heb “so he will go up from upon me.”

[15:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “and Ben Hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of the armies which belonged to him against the cities of Israel.”

[15:20]  ²² tn Heb “he struck down.”

[15:20]  ²³ tn Heb “and all Kinnereth together with all the land of Naphtali.”