1 Kings 20:28

28 Then the man of God went to the king of Israel and said, “This is what the LORD says: The Arameans have said, ‘The LORD is a god of the hills and not of the plains.’ So I will defeat this vast army for you. Then you will know that I am the LORD .”

1 Kings 20:28 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 20:28

And there came a man of God
The same as before, ( 1 Kings 20:13 1 Kings 20:22 ) or had come ^F16 before the little army went out to meet the Syrians; though he might go to Ahab when encamped, for his encouragement:

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; (See Gill on 1 Kings 20:23).

therefore will I deliver, all this great multitude into thine hand;
not for Ahab's sake would the Lord do this, who does not appear thankful to God for the former victory, nor to be reformed from his idolatry, and the better for it, but for the honour of his own name, which had been blasphemed by the Syrians:

and ye shall know that I am the Lord;
both of hills and valleys, the omnipotent Jehovah, the only true God.

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FOOTNOTES:

F16 (vgyw) "accesserat", Vatablus.

1 Kings 20:28 In-Context

26 The following spring he called up the Aramean army and marched out against Israel, this time at Aphek.

27 Israel then mustered its army, set up supply lines, and marched out for battle. But the Israelite army looked like two little flocks of goats in comparison to the vast Aramean forces that filled the countryside!

28 Then the man of God went to the king of Israel and said, “This is what the LORD says: The Arameans have said, ‘The LORD is a god of the hills and not of the plains.’ So I will defeat this vast army for you. Then you will know that I am the LORD .”

29 The two armies camped opposite each other for seven days, and on the seventh day the battle began. The Israelites killed 100,000 Aramean foot soldiers in one day.

30 The rest fled into the town of Aphek, but the wall fell on them and killed another 27,000. Ben-hadad fled into the town and hid in a secret room.