1 Kings 20:13-23

13 And lo, a certain prophet hath come nigh unto Ahab king of Israel, and saith, `Thus said Jehovah, `Hast thou seen all this great multitude? lo, I am giving it into thy hand to-day, and thou hast known that I [am] Jehovah.'
14 And Ahab saith, `By whom?' and he saith, `Thus said Jehovah, By the young men of the heads of the provinces;' and he saith, `Who doth direct the battle?' and he saith, `Thou.'
15 And he inspecteth the young men of the heads of the provinces, and they are two hundred, two and thirty, and after them he hath inspecteth the whole of the people, all the sons of Israel, seven thousand,
16 and they go out at noon, and Ben-Hadad is drinking -- drunk in the booths, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings, helping him.
17 And the young men of the heads of the provinces go out at the first, and Ben-Hadad sendeth, and they declare to him, saying, `Men have come out of Samaria.'
18 And he saith, `If for peace they have come out -- catch them alive; and if for battle they have come out -- alive catch them.'
19 And these have gone out of the city -- the young men of the heads of the provinces -- and the force that [is] after them,
20 and smite each his man, and Aram fleeth, and Israel pursueth them, and Ben-Hadad king of Aram escapeth on a horse, and the horsemen;
21 and the king of Israel goeth out, and smiteth the horses, and the charioteers, and hath smitten among the Aramaeans a great smiting.
22 And the prophet cometh nigh unto the king of Israel, and saith to him, `Go, strengthen thyself, and know and see that which thou dost, for at the turn of the year the king of Aram is coming up against thee.'
23 And the servants of the king of Aram said unto him, `Gods of hills [are] their gods, therefore they were stronger than we; and yet, we fight with them in the plain -- are we not stronger than they?

1 Kings 20:13-23 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.

Young's Literal Translation is in the public domain.