1 Kings 20:42

42 And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord. Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man worthy of death, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people.

1 Kings 20:42 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 20:42

And he said unto him, thus saith the Lord
He spake not his own sense, and in his own words, but in the name of the Lord, for which he had authority, that it might have the greater weight with Ahab:

because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to
utter destruction;
meaning Benhadad; or "the man of my anathema or curse" ^F23; cursed of God for his blasphemy of him, and devoted by him to ruin on that account; or "of my net" ^F24, being by his providence brought into a net or noose at Aphek, out of which he could not have escaped, had not Ahab let him go:

therefore thy life shall go for his life;
as it shortly did, and that by the hand of a Syrian soldier, ( 1 Kings 22:34 1 Kings 22:35 ) ,

and thy people for his people;
which was fulfilled by Hazael king of Syria, the sins of Israel rendering them deserving of the calamities they endured by his means, see ( 2 Kings 8:12 ) ( 10:32 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 (ymrx vya) "vir anathematis mei", Montanus, Piscator.
F24 "Vir retis mei"; so some in Vatablus.

1 Kings 20:42 In-Context

40 And whilst I, in the hurry, turned this way and that, on a sudden he was not to be seen. And the king of Israel said to him: This is thy judgment, which thyself hast decreed.

41 But he forthwith wiped off the dust from his face, and the king of Israel knew him, that he was one of the prophets.

42 And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord. Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man worthy of death, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people.

43 And the king of Israel returned to his house, slighting to hear, and raging came into Samaria.