1 Kings 20:1

1 Now Ben-Hadad the king of Aram rallied his whole army; with him were thirty-two kings, besides horses and chariots. Then he marched on Shomron and laid siege to it.

1 Kings 20:1 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 20:1

And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together,
&c.] This was Benhadad the second, the son of that Benhadad, to whom Asa sent to help him against Baasha, ( 1 Kings 15:18 )

and there were thirty and two kings with him;
these were heads of families, so called, and at most governors of cities under Benhadad; petty princes, such as were in the land of Canaan in Joshua's time:

and horses and chariots;
how many is not said:

and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it;
he went up with such an intent, but had not as yet done it in form; what moved him to it cannot be said precisely, whether an ambitious view of enlarging his dominions, or because the king of Israel paid not the tribute his father had imposed upon him, see ( 1 Kings 20:34 ) , however, so it was, through the providence of God, as a scourge to Ahab for his impiety.

1 Kings 20:1 In-Context

1 Now Ben-Hadad the king of Aram rallied his whole army; with him were thirty-two kings, besides horses and chariots. Then he marched on Shomron and laid siege to it.

2 He sent messengers inside the city to Ach'av king of Isra'el

3 to say to him, "Here is the message from Ben-Hadad: 'Your silver and gold are mine, also your wives and your best children are mine.'"

4 The king of Isra'el answered, "Just as you say, my lord, king; I am yours, along with everything I own."

5 The messengers returned and said, "Here is Ben-Hadad's response: 'I sent you a message to hand over your silver, gold, wives and children to me.