1 Kings 20:7

7 The king of Israel sent for all of the elders of the land. He said to them, "This man is really looking for trouble! He sent for my wives and children. He sent for my silver and gold. And I agreed to give them to him."

1 Kings 20:7 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 20:7

Then the King of Israel called all the elders of the land
His poor sneaking spirit was a little aroused with the last message, and therefore called a council of the elders of the people upon it, which was a piece of wisdom in him:

and said, mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief;
nothing less than the entire ruin of the nation:

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;
in the sense he understood him, which was, that he was to be a vassal, and tributary to him, for the sake of holding these, which yet was very mean; but he wanted to have these in hand, and not them only, but the pillaging of all his subjects.

1 Kings 20:7 In-Context

5 The messengers came again. They told Ahab, "Ben-Hadad says, 'I commanded you to give me your silver and gold. I also commanded you to give me your wives and children.

6 But now I'm going to send my officials to you. They will come about this time tomorrow. They'll search your palace. They'll search the houses of your officials. They'll take everything you value. And they'll carry all of it away.' "

7 The king of Israel sent for all of the elders of the land. He said to them, "This man is really looking for trouble! He sent for my wives and children. He sent for my silver and gold. And I agreed to give them to him."

8 All of the elders and people answered, "Don't listen to him. Don't agree to give him what he wants."

9 So Ahab replied to Ben-Hadad's messengers. He said, "Tell my king and master, 'I will do everything you commanded me to do the first time. But this time, I can't do what you want me to do.' " They took Ahab's answer back to Ben-Hadad.