1 Kings 20:37

37 Then he found another man and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him and wounded him.

1 Kings 20:37 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 20:37

Then he found another man, and said, smite me, I pray thee,
&c.] This is not said to be his neighbour, nor one of the sons of the prophets, but a rustic man, and so stuck not to take him at his word:

and the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him;
in his face; made some incision in his flesh, broke the skin, and fetched blood of him; perhaps somewhere about his eyes, by what follows: this he got done to him, that he might look like a wounded soldier, and thereby get the more easily to the speech of Ahab.

1 Kings 20:37 In-Context

35 Then a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour by the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.
36 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 smite thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him and smote him.
37 Then he found another man and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him and wounded him.
38 So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way and disguised himself with a veil over his eyes.
39 And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king, and he said, Thy slave went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside and brought a man unto me and said, Guard this man; if by any means he should get away, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010