1 Kings 20:22

22 Afterward, the prophet approached the king of Israel and said, “Go and strengthen your position, and take note what you must do, for in the spring ^[a] the king of Aram will come up against you.”

1 Kings 20:22 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 20:22

And the prophet came to the king of Israel
The same that came to him before:

and said unto him, go, strengthen thyself;
exhorted him to fortify his cities, especially Samaria, and increase his army, that he might be able to oppose the king of Syria:

and mark, and see what thou doest:
observe his moral and religious actions, and take heed that he did not offend the Lord by them, as well as make military preparations:

for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against
thee;
about the same time in the next year, at the spring of the year, when kings go out to war, see ( 2 Samuel 11:1 ) .

1 Kings 20:22 In-Context

20 and each one struck down his opponent. So the Arameans fled, with the Israelites in pursuit. But Ben-hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with the cavalry.

21 Then the king of Israel marched out and attacked the horses and chariots, inflicting a great slaughter on the Arameans.

22 Afterward, the prophet approached the king of Israel and said, “Go and strengthen your position, and take note what you must do, for in the spring the king of Aram will come up against you.”

23 Meanwhile, the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they prevailed over us. Instead, we should fight them on the plains; surely then we will prevail.

24 So do this: Dismiss all the kings from their positions and replace them with other officers.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally at the turn of the year; similarly in verse 26