1 Kings 20:34-43

34 Ben-hadad said to him, "¹The cities which my father took from your father I will restore, and you shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria." Ahab said, "And I will let you go with this covenant." So he made a covenant with him and let him go.

35 Now a certain man of ²the sons of the prophets said to another ³by the word of the LORD, "Please strike me." But the man refused to strike him.

36 Then he said to him, "Because * you have not listened to the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, ⁴a lion will kill you." And as soon as he had departed from him a lion found him and killed him.

37 Then he found another man and said, "Please strike me." And the man struck him, wounding * him.

38 So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, and ⁵disguised himself with a bandage over his eyes.

39 As the king passed by, he cried to the king and said, "Your servant went out into the midst of the battle; and behold, a man turned aside and brought a man to me and said, 'Guard this man; if for any reason he is missing, ⁶then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.'

40 "While your servant was busy here and there, he was gone." And the king of Israel said to him, "So shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it."

41 Then he hastily took the bandage away from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him that he was of the prophets.

42 He said to him, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore ⁷your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.' "

43 So ⁸the king of Israel went to his house sullen and vexed, and came to Samaria.

1 Kings 20:34-43 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 20

This chapter relates the siege of Samaria by the king of Syria, and his insolent demand of Ahab's wives, children, and riches, 1Ki 20:1-12, the sally made out upon him, at the direction of the prophet, and the route made of the Syrian army, 1Ki 20:13-21, the return of the Syrian army the next year, when there was a pitched battle between them and Israel, in which the former were entirely defeated, 1Ki 20:22-30, the peace Ahab made with the king of Syria, 1Ki 20:31-34, and the reproof one of the sons of the prophets gave him for it, which made him very uneasy, 1Ki 20:35-43.

Cross References

• 1. 1 Kings 15:20
• 2. 2 Kings 2:3-7
• 3. 1 Kings 13:17, 18
• 4. 1 Kings 13:24
• 5. 1 Kings 14:2
• 6. 2 Kings 10:24
• 7. 1 Kings 20:39
• 8. 1 Kings 21:4

Footnotes

• [a] Lit "his neighbor"
• [b] Lit "smite"
• [c] Lit "smote"
• [d] Lit "smite"
• [e] Lit "smote"
• [f] Lit "striking and wounding"
• [g] Lit "soul"
• [h] Lit "soul"