1 Kings 20:24

24 And do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their room;

1 Kings 20:24 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 20:24

And do this thing
Also take this further piece of advice:

take the kings away, every man out of his place:
for being brought up delicately, they were not inured to war, nor expert in the art of it; and being addicted to pleasure, gave themselves to that, and drew the king into it, which they observed was the case before, though they did not care to mention it; and if they were tributaries or allies, they would not fight as men do for their own country:

and put captains in their rooms;
of his own people, men of skill and courage, and who would fight both for their own honour, and for the good of their country.

1 Kings 20:24 In-Context

22 And the prophet came near 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.
23 And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their god is a god 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.
24 And do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their room;
25 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.
26 And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.