1 Kings 20:35-43

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. 20:36 So the prophet ²  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. ³  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 ⁴  of the battle, and then a man turned aside and brought me a prisoner. ⁵  He told me, ‘Guard this prisoner. If he ends up missing for any reason, ⁶  you will pay with your life or with a talent ⁷  of silver.’ ⁸  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.” ⁹  20:41 The prophet ¹⁰  quickly removed the bandage from his eyes and the king of Israel recognized he was one of the prophets. 20:42 The prophet ¹¹  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.’” ¹²  20:43 The king of Israel went home to Samaria ¹³  bitter and angry.

1 Kings 20:2

20:2 He sent messengers to King Ahab of Israel, who was in the city. ¹⁴ 

1 Kings 1:22

1:22 Just then, ¹⁵  while she was still speaking to the king, Nathan the prophet arrived.

Ezra 9:13-14

9:13 “Everything that has happened to us has come about because of our wicked actions and our great guilt. Even so, our God, you have exercised restraint ¹⁶  toward our iniquities and have given us a remnant such as this. 9:14 Shall we once again break your commandments and intermarry with these abominable peoples? Would you not be so angered by us that you would wipe us out, with no survivor or remnant?

Isaiah 9:13

9:13 The people did not return to the one who struck them,

they did not seek reconciliation ¹⁷  with the Lord who commands armies.

Jeremiah 5:3

5:3 Lord, I know you look for faithfulness. ¹⁸ 

But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. ¹⁹ 

Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected.

They have become as hardheaded as a rock. ²⁰ 

They refuse to change their ways. ²¹ 

[20:35]  ¹ tn Heb “Now a man from the sons of the prophets said to his companion by the word of the Lord, ‘Wound me.’”

[20:36]  ² tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:37]  ³ tn Heb “and the man wounded him, wounding and bruising.”

[20:39]  ⁴ tn Heb “middle.”

[20:39]  ⁵ tn Heb “man” (also a second time later in this verse).

[20:39]  ⁶ tn Heb “if being missed, he is missed.” The emphatic infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form lends solemnity to the warning.

[20:39]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “your life will be in place of his life, or a unit of silver you will pay.”

[20:40]  ⁹ tn Heb “so [i.e., in accordance with his testimony] is your judgment, you have determined [it].”

[20:41]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:42]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:42]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.

[20:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to the city.”

[1:22]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) here draws attention to Nathan’s arrival and invites the audience to view the scene through the eyes of the participants.

[9:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “held back downwards from”; KJV “hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve” (NIV, NRSV, NLT all similar).

[9:13]  ¹⁷ tn This verse describes the people’s response to the judgment described in vv. 11-12. The perfects are understood as indicating simple past.

[5:3]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “O Lord, are your eyes not to faithfulness?” The question is rhetorical and expects a positive answer.

[5:3]  ¹⁹ tn Commentaries and lexicons debate the meaning of the verb here. The MT is pointed as though from a verb meaning “to writhe in anguish or contrition” (חוּל [khul]; see, e.g., BDB 297 s.v. חוּל 2.c), but some commentaries and lexicons repoint the text as though from a verb meaning “to be sick,” thus “to feel pain” (חָלָה [khalah]; see, e.g., HALOT 304 s.v. חָלָה 3). The former appears more appropriate to the context.

[5:3]  ²⁰ tn Heb “They made their faces as hard as a rock.”

[5:3]  ²¹ tn Or “to repent”; Heb “to turn back.”