1 Kings 20:7

7 Forsooth the king of Israel called all the elder men of the land, and said, Perceive ye, and see, that he setteth treason to us; for he sent to me for my wives, and sons, and for (my) silver, and gold, and I forsook not. (And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Perceive ye, and see, that this man hath set treason for us; for he sent to me for my wives, and my sons, and my silver, and my gold, and I agreed to it all.)

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 And the messengers turned again, and said, Benhadad, that sent us to thee, saith these things (again), Thou shalt give to me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy sons.

6 Therefore tomorrow, in this same hour, I shall send my servants to thee, and they shall seek (throughout) thine house, and the house of thy servants; and they shall put in their hands, and take away all thing that shall please them.

7 Forsooth the king of Israel called all the elder men of the land, and said, Perceive ye, and see, that he setteth treason to us; for he sent to me for my wives, and sons, and for (my) silver, and gold, and I forsook not. (And the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Perceive ye, and see, that this man hath set treason for us; for he sent to me for my wives, and my sons, and my silver, and my gold, and I agreed to it all.)

8 And all the greater men in birth (And all the men of great age, that is, the elders), and all the people said to him, Hear thou not, neither assent thou to him.

9 And he answered to the messengers of Benhadad, Say ye to my lord the king, I shall do all things, for which thou sentest in the beginning to me, thy servant; but I may not do this thing. And the messengers turned again, and told all things to him. (And so he answered to the messengers of Benhadad, and said, Say ye to my lord the king, I, thy servant, shall do all the things for which thou sentest to me at the beginning; but I cannot do this thing. And the messengers returned, and told all these things to Benhadad.)