1 Kings 20:10

10 Ben-hadad sent to him and said, "May ¹the gods do so to me and more also, if the dust of Samaria will suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me."

1 Kings 20:10 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 20:10

And Benhadad sent unto him, and said
That is, to Ahab:

the gods do so unto me, and more also;
bring greater evils upon me than I can think or express:

if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people
that follow me,
signifying that he made no doubt of it of reducing it to dust by numbers of men he should bring with him, which would be so many, that if each was to take an handful of dust of the ruins of Samaria, there would not enough for them all; which was an hectoring and parabolical speech, uttered in his wrath and fury.

1 Kings 20:10 In-Context

8 All the elders and all the people said to him, "Do not listen or consent."

9 So he said to the messengers of Ben-hadad, "Tell my lord the king, 'All that you sent for to your servant at the first I will do, but this thing I cannot do.' " And the messengers departed and brought him word again.

10 Ben-hadad sent to him and said, "May the gods do so to me and more also, if the dust of Samaria will suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me."

11 Then the king of Israel replied, "Tell him, 'Let not him who girds on his armor boast like him who takes it off.' "

12 When Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking with the kings in the temporary shelters, he said to his servants, "Station yourselves." So they stationed themselves against the city.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Kings 19:2; 2 Kings 6:31

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "are at my feet"