1 Kings 20:11
in 1 Kings 20And the king of Israel replied, “Tell him: ‘The one putting on his armor should not boast like one taking it off.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his armor boast himself as he that putteth it off.
KJV
And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.
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This verse in 1 Kings 20
Commentary
11 notes on this verseLet not him that girdeth on - This was no doubt a proverbial mode of expression. Jonathan translates, “Tell him, Let not him who girds himself and goes down to the battle, boast as he who has conquered and returned from it.
This site's exposition
if enough dust remains of Samaria
on 1 Kings 20:10-11
Ben-hadad swears by his own gods that not “enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful”. Ahab answers with a proverb, “The one putting on his armor should not boast like one taking it off”. What the proverb warns against follows within the chapter.
This site's exposition
The one putting on his armor
Charles Spurgeon notes that trading insults before battle was the custom of warring kings in that age. Adam Clarke cites the Aramaic Targum of Jonathan: the man going down to battle should wait to boast until he comes back a victor. The boast of verse 10 now has its answer.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
For a hump is, as it were, to think or to do something base of soul, and it is a kind of twisted deformity of mind always to incline toward unclean things and to be withdrawn from the holy threshold of the church by worldly …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Ahab, encouraged by a prophet, overthrows him twice, ver. 13-30. Makes a covenant with him, ver. 31-34. Is reproved and threatened by a prophet, ver. 35-43.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-31/35-anchored-1-12
1 ), but especially to boast of a day of battle, which may prove as much against us as we promise ourselves it will be for us. It is impolitic to despise an enemy, and to be too sure of victory is the way to be beaten.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
Very mildly and very wisely: tell him, let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off; that is, he that prepares for the battle as he that has got the victory; the sense is, let no man triumph before the battle is over and the victory won; the events of war are uncertain; the battle is not always to the strong.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
THESE two kings were about to proceed to war and they irritated one another by insulting messages. That was the custom of all combatants in the old heathen times. They seemed to delight in stinging each other and exciting each other's worst passions before they commenced the battle. Let it not be so among us. If we have to contend for the Truth of God let us endeavor to do it in the kindest spirit.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
THESE two kings were about to proceed to war and they irritated one another by insulting messages. That was the custom of all combatants in the old heathen times. They seemed to delight in stinging each other and exciting each other's worst passions before they commenced the battle. Let it not be so among us. If we have to contend for the Truth of God let us endeavor to do it in the kindest spirit. And if we must smite, let it always be with the iron rod of Truth held in the hand of love, wounding none, nor exulting over them, but breaking in pieces their errors and their sins by the help of God. The blow will be none the weaker for being divested of anything like an evil spirit and an ungenerous temper. Speak the Truth firmly and contend earnestly for it, but never manifest a bitter spirit. Bring up the weightiest arguments you can find, but let them be accompanied with courtesy and kindness, for the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God—and it is ill for a Christian soldier to imitate the manners of the heathen. However insultingly intended, the text we have quoted contained a great deal of common sense. It is, in fact, a proverb of the wise, and we intend to use it so. It is right to learn, even from the lips of the wicked—for they are seldom so foolish in worldly things as they are in spiritual. Professing Christians might learn much from the children of darkness if they would take the trouble to do so, for are they not in their generation wiser than the children of light? Our text was the utterance of Ahab, who was one of the vilest kings of Israel! He greatly provoked the Lord to anger—still, what he said has wisdom in it—so let us try to profit by it.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Ahab’s reply has the air of a proverb, with which Orientals always love to answer a foe.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
If the dust of Shomron will be sufficient for the soles of the feet, etc. [Targum Yonoson rendered,] “to take with the footsteps of all the people who are with me,” the earth that sticks to the sole of the feet.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
9 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֤עַן | vaiyaan | and he answered | H6030 → | 331 times |
| מֶֽלֶךְ־ | melekh- | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| דַּבְּר֔וּ | daberu | speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| יִתְהַלֵּ֥ל | yithalel | he boast | H1984 → | |
| חֹגֵ֖ר | choger | [one who] girds on | H2296 → | |
| כִּמְפַתֵּֽחַ׃ | kimfateach | like [one who] loosens | H6605 → | 144 times |
וַיַּ֤עַןand he answered
vaiyaanH6030 →331 times
מֶֽלֶךְ־[the] king of
melekh-H4428 →2525 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
דַּבְּר֔וּspeak
daberuH1696 →1141 times
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
יִתְהַלֵּ֥לhe boast
yithalelH1984 →
חֹגֵ֖ר[one who] girds on
chogerH2296 →
כִּמְפַתֵּֽחַ׃like [one who] loosens
kimfateachH6605 →144 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ecclesiastes 9:11I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 9:23
This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.
- Proverbs 21:30–31
There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- Lamentations 3:37–38
Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has ordained it?
- Job 5:11–14
He sets the lowly on high, so that mourners are lifted to safety.
- Ecclesiastes 3:17
I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”
- Jeremiah 9:23
Through
Proverbs 27:1Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
it leads to
- James 4:13–16
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make a profit.”
- Luke 12:19–20
Then I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take it easy. Eat, drink, and be merry!”’
- 2 Corinthians 6:2
For He says: “In the time of favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” Behold, now is the time of favor; now is the day of salvation!
- James 4:13–16
About 1 Kings
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1193: “Girding on the Harness” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Maximus of Turin, Commentary (church-history corpus).