1 Kings 20

1Ki 20:1-12.

BEN-HADAD

BESIEGES

SAMARIA.

1. Ben-hadad the king of Syria--This monarch was the son of that

Ben-hadad who, in the reign of Baasha, made a raid on the northern

towns of Galilee

(1Ki 15:20).

The thirty-two kings that were confederate with him were probably

tributary princes. The ancient kings of Syria and Phœnicia ruled

only over a single city, and were independent of each other, except

when one great city, as Damascus, acquired the ascendency, and even

then they were allied only in time of war. The Syrian army encamped at

the gates and besieged the town of Samaria.

2-12. Thus said Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine--To this

message sent him during the siege, Ahab returned a tame and submissive

answer, probably thinking it meant no more than an exaction of tribute.

But the demand was repeated with greater insolence; and yet, from the

abject character of Ahab, there is reason to believe he would have

yielded to this arrogant claim also, had not the voice of his subjects

been raised against it. Ben-hadad's object in these and other boastful

menaces was to intimidate Ahab. But the weak sovereign began to show a

little more spirit, as appears in his abandoning "my lord the king" for

the single "tell him," and giving him a dry but sarcastic hint to glory

no more till the victory is won. Kindling into a rage at the cool

defiance, Ben-hadad gave orders for the immediate sack of the city.

12. as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions--booths made

of branches of trees and brushwood; which were reared for kings in the

camp, as they still are for Turkish pashas or agas in their expeditions

[KEIL].

Set yourselves in array--Invest the city.

1Ki 20:13-20.

THE

SYRIANS

ARE

SLAIN.

13-21. behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab--Though the king and

people of Israel had highly offended Him, God had not utterly cast them

off. He still cherished designs of mercy towards them, and here, though

unasked, gave them a signal proof of His interest in them, by a

prophet's animating announcement that the Lord would that day deliver

the mighty hosts of the enemy into his hand by means of a small, feeble,

inadequate band. Conformably to the prophet's instructions, two hundred

thirty-two young men went boldly out towards the camp of the enemy,

while seven thousand more, apparently volunteers, followed at some

little distance, or posted themselves at the gate, to be ready to

reinforce those in front if occasion required it. Ben-hadad and his

vassals and princes were already, at that early hour--scarcely

midday--deep in their cups; and though informed of this advancing

company, yet confiding in his numbers, or it may be, excited with wine,

he ordered with indifference the proud intruders to be taken alive,

whether they came with peaceful or hostile intentions. It was more

easily said than done; the young men smote right and left, making

terrible havoc among their intended captors; and their attack, together

with the sight of the seven thousand, who soon rushed forward to mingle

in the fray, created a panic in the Syrian army, who immediately took up

flight. Ben-hadad himself escaped the pursuit of the victors on a fleet

horse, surrounded by a squadron of horse guards. This glorious victory,

won so easily, and with such a paltry force opposed to overwhelming

numbers, was granted that Ahab and his people might know

(1Ki 20:13)

that God is the Lord. But we do not read of this acknowledgment being

made, or of any sacrifices being offered in token of their national

gratitude.

22-26. the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said--The same

prophet who had predicted the victory shortly reappeared, admonishing

the king to take every precaution against a renewal of hostilities in

the following campaign.

at the return of the year--that is, in spring, when, on the cessation

of the rainy season, military campaigns

(2Sa 11:1),

were anciently begun. It happened as the prophet had forewarned.

Brooding over their late disastrous defeat, the attendants of Ben-hadad

ascribed the misfortune to two causes--the one arose from the

principles of heathenism which led them to consider the gods of Israel

as "gods of the hills"; whereas their power to aid the Israelites would

be gone if the battle was maintained on the plains. The other cause to

which the Syrian courtiers traced their defeat at Samaria, was the

presence of the tributary kings, who had probably been the first to

take flight; and they recommended "captains to be put in their rooms."

Approving of these recommendations, Ben-hadad renewed his invasion of

Israel the next spring by the siege of Aphek in the valley of Jezreel

(compare

1Sa 29:1,

with 1Sa 28:4),

not far from En-dor.

27-31. like two little flocks of kids--Goats are never seen in large

flocks, or scattered, like sheep; and hence the two small but compact

divisions of the Israelite force are compared to goats, not sheep.

Humanly speaking, that little handful of men would have been

overpowered by numbers. But a prophet was sent to the small Israelite

army to announce the victory, in order to convince the Syrians that the

God of Israel was omnipotent everywhere, in the valley as well as on

the hills. And, accordingly, after the two armies had pitched opposite

each other for seven days, they came to an open battle. One hundred

thousand Syrians lay dead on the field, while the fugitives took refuge

in Aphek, and there, crowding on the city walls, they endeavored to

make a stand against their pursuers; but the old walls giving way under

the incumbent weight, fell and buried twenty-seven thousand in the

ruins. Ben-hadad succeeded in extricating himself, and, with his

attendants, sought concealment in the city, fleeing from chamber to

chamber; or, as some think it, an inner chamber, that is, a harem; but

seeing no ultimate means of escape, he was advised to throw himself on

the tender mercies of the Israelitish monarch.

32-34. put ropes on their heads--Captives were dragged by ropes round

their necks in companies, as is depicted on the monuments of Egypt.

Their voluntary attitude and language of submission flattered the pride

of Ahab, who, little concerned about the dishonor done to the God of

Israel by the Syrian king, and thinking of nothing but victory, paraded

his clemency, called the vanquished king "his brother," invited him to

sit in the royal chariot, and dismissed him with a covenant of peace.

34. streets for thee in Damascus--implying that a quarter of that

city was to be assigned to Jews, with the free exercise of their

religion and laws, under a judge of their own. This misplaced kindness

to a proud and impious idolater, so unbecoming a theocratic monarch,

exposed Ahab to the same censure and fate as Saul

(1Sa 15:9,

&c.).

It was in opposition to God's purpose in giving him the victory.

1Ki 20:35-42.

A

PROPHET

REPROVES

HIM.

35-38. Smite me--This prophet is supposed

(1Ki 20:8)

to have been Micaiah. The refusal of his neighbor to smite the prophet

was manifestly wrong, as it was a withholding of necessary aid to a

prophet in the discharge of a duty to which he had been called by God,

and it was severely punished

[1Ki 20:36],

as a beacon to warn others (see on

1Ki 13:2-24).

The prophet found a willing assistant, and then, waiting for Ahab,

leads the king unconsciously, in the parabolic manner of Nathan

(2Sa 12:1-4),

to pronounce his own doom; and this consequent punishment was forthwith

announced by a prophet (see on

1Ki 21:17).

39. a talent of silver--£342.