Discovery Box1 Kings 20:15-43
Context20:15 So Ahab 1 assembled the 232 servants of the district governors. After that he assembled all the Israelite army, numbering 7,000. 2 20:16 They marched out at noon, while Ben Hadad and the thirty-two kings allied with him were drinking heavily 3 in their quarters. 4 20:17 The servants of the district governors led the march. When Ben Hadad sent messengers, they reported back to him, “Men are marching out of Samaria.” 5 20:18 He ordered, “Whether they come in peace or to do battle, take them alive.” 6 20:19 They marched out of the city with the servants of the district governors in the lead and the army behind them. 20:20 Each one struck down an enemy soldier; 7 the Syrians fled and Israel chased them. King Ben Hadad of Syria escaped on horseback with some horsemen. 20:21 Then the king of Israel marched out and struck down the horses and chariots; he thoroughly defeated 8 Syria.
20:22 The prophet 9 visited the king of Israel and instructed him, “Go, fortify your defenses. 10 Determine 11 what you must do, for in the spring 12 the king of Syria will attack 13 you.” 20:23 Now the advisers 14 of the king of Syria said to him: “Their God is a god of the mountains. That’s why they overpowered us. But if we fight them in the plains, we will certainly overpower them. 20:24 So do this: Dismiss the kings from their command, and replace them with military commanders. 20:25 Muster an army like the one you lost, with the same number of horses and chariots. 15 Then we will fight them in the plains; we will certainly overpower them.” He approved their plan and did as they advised. 16
20:26 In the spring 17 Ben Hadad mustered the Syrian army 18 and marched to Aphek to fight Israel. 19 20:27 When the Israelites had mustered and had received their supplies, they marched out to face them in battle. When the Israelites deployed opposite them, they were like two small flocks 20 of goats, but the Syrians filled the land. 20:28 The prophet 21 visited the king of Israel and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Syrians said, “The Lord is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,” I will hand over to you this entire huge army. 22 Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
20:29 The armies were deployed opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day the battle began, and the Israelites killed 100,000 Syrian foot soldiers in one day. 20:30 The remaining 27,000 ran to Aphek and went into the city, but the wall fell on them. 23 Now Ben Hadad ran into the city and hid in an inner room. 24 20:31 His advisers 25 said to him, “Look, we have heard that the kings of the Israelite dynasty are kind. 26 Allow us to put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads 27 and surrender 28 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 29 Ben Hadad says, ‘Please let me live!’” Ahab 30 replied, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” 31 20:33 The men took this as a good omen and quickly accepted his offer, saying, “Ben Hadad is your brother.” Ahab 32 then said, “Go, get him.” So Ben Hadad came out to him, and Ahab pulled him up into his chariot. 20:34 Ben Hadad 33 said, “I will return the cities my father took from your father. You may set up markets 34 in Damascus, just as my father did in Samaria.” 35 Ahab then said, “I want to make a treaty with you before I dismiss you.” 36 So he made a treaty with him and then dismissed him.
20:35 One of the members of the prophetic guild, speaking with divine authority, ordered his companion, “Wound me!” 37 But the man refused to wound him. 20:36 So the prophet 38 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. 39 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 40 of the battle, and then a man turned aside and brought me a prisoner. 41 He told me, ‘Guard this prisoner. If he ends up missing for any reason, 42 you will pay with your life or with a talent 43 of silver.’ 44 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.” 45 20:41 The prophet 46 quickly removed the bandage from his eyes and the king of Israel recognized he was one of the prophets. 20:42 The prophet 47 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.’” 48 20:43 The king of Israel went home to Samaria 49 bitter and angry.
[20:15] 1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ahab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:15] 2 tn Heb “after them he assembled all the people, all the sons of Israel, seven thousand.”
[20:16] 3 tn Heb “drinking and drunken.”
[20:16] 4 tn Heb “in the temporary shelters.” This is probably referring to tents.
[20:17] 5 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[20:18] 6 tn Heb “if they come in peace, take them alive; if they come for battle, take them alive.”
[20:20] 7 tn Heb “each struck down his man.”
[20:21] 8 tn Heb “struck down Aram with a great striking down.”
[20:22] 9 tn The definite article indicates previous reference, that is, “the prophet mentioned earlier” (see v. 13).
[20:22] 10 tn Heb “strengthen yourself.”
[20:22] 11 tn Heb “know and see.”
[20:22] 12 tn Heb “at the turning of the year.”
[20:22] 13 tn Heb “go up against.”
[20:25] 15 tn Heb “And you, you muster an army like the one that fell from you, horse like horse and chariot like chariot.”
[20:25] 16 tn Heb “he listened to their voice and did so.”
[20:26] 17 tn Heb “at the turning of the year.”
[20:26] 18 tn Heb “mustered Aram.”
[20:26] 19 tn Heb “and went up to Aphek for battle with Israel.”
[20:27] 20 tn The noun translated “small flocks” occurs only here. The common interpretation derives the word from the verbal root חשׂף, “to strip off; to make bare.” In this case the noun refers to something “stripped off” or “made bare.” HALOT 359 s.v. II חשׂף derives the noun from a proposed homonymic verbal root (which occurs only in Ps 29:9) meaning “cause a premature birth.” In this case the derived noun could refer to goats that are undersized because they are born prematurely.
[20:28] 21 tn Heb “the man of God.”
[20:28] 22 tn Heb “I will place all this great horde in your hand.”
[20:30] 23 tn Heb “and the remaining ones fled to Aphek to the city and the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand men, the ones who remained.”
[20:30] 24 tn Heb “and Ben Hadad fled and went into the city, [into] an inner room in an inner room.”
[20:31] 26 tn Or “merciful.” The word used here often means “devoted” or “loyal.” Perhaps the idea is that the Israelite kings are willing to make treaties with other kings.
[20:31] 27 sn Sackcloth was worn as a sign of sorrow and repentance. The precise significance of the ropes on the head is uncertain, but it probably was a sign of submission. These actions were comparable to raising a white flag on the battlefield or throwing in the towel in a boxing match.
[20:32] 29 sn Your servant. By referring to Ben Hadad as Ahab’s servant, they are suggesting that Ahab make him a subject in a vassal treaty arrangement.
[20:32] 30 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ahab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:32] 31 sn He is my brother. Ahab’s response indicates that he wants to make a parity treaty and treat Ben Hadad as an equal partner.
[20:33] 32 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ahab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:34] 33 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Ben Hadad) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:34] 34 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.
[20:34] 35 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[20:34] 36 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.”
[20:35] 37 tn Heb “Now a man from the sons of the prophets said to his companion by the word of the
[20:36] 38 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:37] 39 tn Heb “and the man wounded him, wounding and bruising.”
[20:39] 41 tn Heb “man” (also a second time later in this verse).
[20:39] 42 tn Heb “if being missed, he is missed.” The emphatic infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form lends solemnity to the warning.
[20:39] 43 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 75 pounds of silver.
[20:39] 44 tn Heb “your life will be in place of his life, or a unit of silver you will pay.”
[20:40] 45 tn Heb “so [i.e., in accordance with his testimony] is your judgment, you have determined [it].”
[20:41] 46 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:42] 47 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[20:42] 48 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.”
[20:43] 49 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
