1 Kings 20
TSK
And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it.

A.M.

1 Kings 15:18,20 Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures …

2 Kings 8:7-10 And Elisha came to Damascus; and Benhadad the king of Syria was sick; …

2 Chronicles 16:2-4 Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the …

Jeremiah 49:27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume …

Amos 1:4 But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour …

Thirty and two

1 Kings 20:16,24 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk …

Genesis 14:1-5 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch …

Judges 1:7 And Adonibezek said, Three score and ten kings, having their thumbs …

Ezra 7:12 Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law …

Isaiah 10:8 For he said, Are not my princes altogether kings?

Ezekiel 26:7 For thus said the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring on Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar …

Daniel 2:37 You, O king, are a king of kings: for the God of heaven has given …

and horses

Exodus 14:7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of …

Deuteronomy 20:1 When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, and …

Judges 4:3 And the children of Israel cried to the LORD: for he had nine hundred …

1 Samuel 13:5 And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, …

Isaiah 37:24 By your servants have you reproached the Lord, and have said, By …

besieged

Leviticus 26:25 And I will bring a sword on you, that shall avenge the quarrel of …

Deuteronomy 28:52 And he shall besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fenced …

2 Kings 6:24-29 And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered …

2 Kings 17:5,6 Then the king of Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went …

And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad,
Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.
And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.
And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Benhadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
Yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away.
Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.

all the elders

1 Kings 8:1 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of …

2 Kings 5:7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, …

1 Chronicles 13:1 And David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, …

1 Chronicles 28:1 And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes…

Proverbs 11:14 Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors …

2 Kings 5:7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, …

seeketh mischief

Job 15:35 They conceive mischief, and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepares deceit.

Psalm 7:14 Behold, he travails with iniquity, and has conceived mischief, and …

Psalm 36:4 He devises mischief on his bed; he sets himself in a way that is …

Psalm 62:3 How long will you imagine mischief against a man? you shall be slain …

Psalm 140:2 Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered …

Proverbs 6:14 Frowardness is in his heart, he devises mischief continually; he sows discord.

Proverbs 11:27 He that diligently seeks good procures favor: but he that seeks mischief, …

Proverbs 24:2 For their heart studies destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.

Daniel 11:27 And both of these kings' hearts shall be to do mischief, and they …

Romans 3:13-18 Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used …

denied him not [heb] kept not back from him

1 Kings 20:4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according …

And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent.
Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again.
And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.

message [heb] word
drinking

1 Kings 20:16 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk …

1 Kings 16:9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against …

1 Samuel 25:36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, …

2 Samuel 13:28 Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark you now when …

Proverbs 31:4,5 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; …

Daniel 5:2,30 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine…

Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged …

Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

pavilions. or, tents That persons of regal dignity regaled themselves in this manner we may learn from Dr. Chandler, who, when he went to visit the Aga of Suki, after his return from hawking, found him vexed and tired; and `a couch was prepared from him beneath a shed made against a cottage, and covered with green boughs to keep off the sun. He entered as we were standing by, and fell down on it to sleep, without taking any notice of us.'

Jeremiah 43:10 And say to them, Thus said the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; …

Set yourselves in array
And they set, etc. or, Place the engines
And they placed engines

And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.
And it came to pass, when Benhadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.
And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou.

Ben-hadad

1 Kings 20:11,12 And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that …

1 Kings 16:7 And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the …

Proverbs 23:29-32 Who has woe? who has sorrow? who has contentions? who has babbling? …

Ecclesiastes 10:16,17 Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and your princes eat …

Hosea 4:11 Prostitution and wine and new wine take away the heart.

the thirty

Isaiah 54:15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whoever …

The Syrians, the besiegers, had their directions from a drunken king, who gave orders over his cups, while he was drinking at noon. Drunkenness is a sin which is most detestable in all, but more so in a king than in a private individual, inasmuch as the greater weight a man's situation carries, whether from accumulated riches, family connections, hereditary authority, or invested command, so is the influence which his vices must have on those around him. Perhaps it may be said, from past experience, that drunkenness, which is a most heinous sin in the sight of God, may be charged on those who indulge {only now and then} in that which may eventually lead them into drunkenness; for they shut their eyes against the most palpable facts, and rather than give up the paltry gratification of a debach, involve thousands by their example to positive harm. Ben-hadad's drunkenness was the forerunner of his fall. Belshazzar also, we read, drank wine with his princes, his wives, and his concubines, and praised the gods of gold, silver, brass, iron, wood, and stone: and in the {same hour} came forth the finger of a man's hand and wrote his doom on the plaster of the wall. Those who fancy themselves perfectly secure, and above the possibility of falling, are commonly nearest their destruction: there is always an Ahab read to take advantage of and improve the self-imposed imbecility.

Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.
And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.
And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.
And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.
So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them.
And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen.
And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.
And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms:
And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.
And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.

there came

1 Kings 20:13,22 And, behold, there came a prophet to Ahab king of Israel, saying, …

1 Kings 13:1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of …

1 Kings 17:18 And she said to Elijah, What have I to do with you, O you man of …

2 Chronicles 20:14-20 Then on Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son …

Because

1 Kings 20:23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their gods are …

Isaiah 37:29-37 Because your rage against me, and your tumult, is come up into my …

therefore will

1 Kings 20:13 And, behold, there came a prophet to Ahab king of Israel, saying, …

Deuteronomy 32:27 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries …

Joshua 7:8,9 O LORD, what shall I say, when Israel turns their backs before their enemies!…

Job 12:16-19 With him is strength and wisdom: the deceived and the deceiver are his…

Psalm 58:10,11 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance: he shall …

Psalm 79:10 Why should the heathen say, Where is their God?…

Isaiah 37:29,35 Because your rage against me, and your tumult, is come up into my …

Jeremiah 14:7 O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do you it for your …

Ezekiel 20:9,14 But I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before …

Ezekiel 36:21-23,32 But I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned …

ye shall know

1 Kings 20:13 And, behold, there came a prophet to Ahab king of Israel, saying, …

Exodus 6:7 And I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God: …

Exodus 7:5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth …

Exodus 8:22 And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people …

Deuteronomy 29:6 You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink: …

Ezekiel 6:14 So will I stretch out my hand on them, and make the land desolate, …

Ezekiel 11:12 And you shall know that I am the LORD: for you have not walked in …

Ezekiel 12:16 But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, …

Ezekiel 36:22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, thus said the Lord GOD; I do …

Ezekiel 39:7 So will I make my holy name known in the middle of my people Israel; …

And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.
And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.

his servants

1 Kings 20:23 And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their gods are …

2 Kings 5:13 And his servants came near, and spoke to him, and said, My father, …

merciful kings

Proverbs 20:28 Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upheld by mercy.

Isaiah 16:5 And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit on …

Ephesians 1:7,8 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of …

let us, I pray thee Six of the citizens of Calais are reported to have acted nearly in the same manner, when they surrendered their city to Edward the Third, king of England, in

put sackcloth

1 Kings 21:27-29 And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his …

Genesis 37:34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned …

2 Samuel 3:31 And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, …

2 Samuel 14:2 And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched there a wise woman, and said …

2 Kings 19:1,2 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his …

Esther 4:1-3 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, …

Isaiah 22:12 And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to …

Isaiah 37:1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his …

Jonah 3:5,6 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and …

Revelation 11:3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy …

peradventure

2 Kings 7:4 If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the …

Esther 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and …

Job 2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yes, all that …

Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul…

But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.
And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.
So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.

The cities

1 Kings 15:20 So Benhadad listened to king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts …

2 Chronicles 16:4 And Benhadad listened to king Asa, and sent the captains of his armies …

So he made a covenant One of the conditions of this covenant, we learn, was, that Ahab should have `streets (chutzoth) in Damascus;' a proposal better relished by Ahab then understood by the generality of commentators. This, however, is well illustrated by Mr. Harmer, from William of Tyre, the great historian of the Crusades; from whom it appears that it was customary to give those nations which were engaged in them, churches, streets, and great jurisdiction therein, in those places which they assisted to conquer. The Genoese and Venetians had each a street in Acon, or Acre, in which they had their own jurisdiction, with liberty to have an oven, mill, baths, weights, and measures,

1 Kings 20:42 And he said to him, Thus said the LORD, Because you have let go out …

1 Kings 22:31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that …

2 Chronicles 18:30 Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots …

Isaiah 8:12 Say you not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall …

Isaiah 26:10 Let favor be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: …

Now the men did diligently observe whether any thing would come from him, and did hastily catch it: and they said, Thy brother Benhadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Benhadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.
And Benhadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away.
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.
Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him.
So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.
And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.
And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.
And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.
Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge by R. A. Torrey [ca. 1880]
Expanded version courtesy INT Bible ©2013, Used by permission

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