1 Kings 20:28 BSB — MannaFest

1 Kings 20:28

Then the man of God approached the king of Israel and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not of the valleys, I will deliver all this great army into your hand. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

BSB

Parallel translations (2) ▾

ASV

And a man of God came near and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith Jehovah, Because the Syrians have said, Jehovah is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys; therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.

KJV

And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

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Commentary

3 voices

Ambrose of Milan

LETTER 80 (397)

Thus the saints go up to the Lord, the wicked go down to sin; the saints are on the mountains, the guilty in the valleys. "For he is the God of the mountains and not the God of the valleys." Those who dwelt in the houses of the plain where God does not dwell could not have the house of God within them, for this is the house that God sought from them so that they might build up themselves and rear within themselves the temple of God from living stones of faith.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

God would not do it because Ahab had praised God or prayed to him (we do not read that he did either), but because the Syrians had blasphemed God, and had said, He is the God of the hills and not of the valleys; therefore God will do it in his own vindication, and to preserve the honour of his own name.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 1311: “God of the Hills and God of the Valleys” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition) (1876)

THE Syrians had been defeated by the Israelites whom they despised. This victory had been achieved by so small a number of men over so vast a host that the Syrians were driven to the conclusion that there was something supernatural about it and they ascribed their defeat to the God of Israel. They were right in doing so. Brothers and Sisters, let not these heathen shame us!

Voices on this verse

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Original language & word study

33 tagged words

Original	Transliteration	Meaning	Word study
וַיִּגַּ֞שׁ	vai.yi.Gash	and he drew near	H5066 →
אִ֣ישׁ	'ish	[the] man of	H376 →
הָאֱלֹהִ֗ים	ha.'E.lo.Him	<the> God	H430 →
וַיֹּאמֶר֮	vai.yo.Mer	and he said	H559 →
אֶל־	'el-	to	H413 →
מֶ֣לֶךְ	Me.lekh	[the] king of	H4428 →
יִשְׂרָאֵל֒	Yis.ra.'El	Israel	H3478 →
וַיֹּ֜אמֶר	vai.Yo.mer	and he said	H559 →
כֹּֽה־	koh-	thus	H3541 →
אָמַ֣ר	'a.Mar	he says	H559 →
יְהוָ֗ה	Yah.weh	Yahweh	H3068 →
יַ֠עַן	Ya.'an	because	H3282 →
אֲשֶׁ֨ר	'a.Sher	that	H834 →
אָמְר֤וּ	'a.me.Ru	they have said	H559 →
אֲרָם֙	'a.Ram	Aram	H758 →
אֱלֹהֵ֤י	'e.lo.Hei	[is] a god of	H430 →
הָרִים֙	ha.Rim	mountains	H2022 →
יְהוָ֔ה	Yah.weh	Yahweh	H3068 →
וְלֹֽא־	ve.lo'-	and not	H3808 →
אֱלֹהֵ֥י	'e.lo.Hei	[is] a god of	H430 →
עֲמָקִ֖ים	'a.ma.Kim	valleys	H6010 →
ה֑וּא	Hu'	he	H1931 →
וְ֠נָתַתִּי	Ve.na.ta.ti	and I will give	H5414 →
אֶת־	'et-	<obj.>	H853 →
כָּל־	kol-	all	H3605 →
הֶהָמ֨וֹן	he.ha.Mon	the multitude	H1995 →
הַגָּ֤דוֹל	ha.Ga.dol	<the> great	H1419 →
הַזֶּה֙	ha.Zeh	<the> this	H2088 →
בְּיָדֶ֔ךָ	be.ya.De.kha	in hand your	H3027 →
וִֽידַעְתֶּ֖ם	vi.da'.Tem	and you will know	H3045 →
כִּֽי־	ki-	that	H3588 →
אֲנִ֥י	'a.Ni	I	H589 →
יְהוָֽה׃	Yah.weh	[am] Yahweh	H3068 →

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

The walk

The walk8

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
1 Kings 17:18
“O man of God,” said the woman to Elijah, “what have you done to me? Have you come to remind me of my iniquity and cause the death of my son?”
leads to
- Luke 5:8
  When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”
- 2 Kings 3:13
  Elisha, however, said to the king of Israel, “What have we to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and of your mother!” “No,” replied the king of Israel, “for…
- John 2:4
  “Woman, why does this concern us?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
Through
Psalms 79:10
Why should the nations ask, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, make known among the nations Your vengeance for the bloodshed of Your servants.
leads to
- Psalms 42:10
  Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
Through
1 Kings 20:13
Meanwhile a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Do you see this entire great army? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand this very day,…
leads to
- Ezekiel 20:22
  But I withheld My hand and acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.
Through
Ezekiel 12:16
But I will spare a few of them from sword and famine and plague, so that in the nations to which they go, they can recount all their abominations. Then they will know that…
leads to
- Ezekiel 6:8–10
  Yet I will leave a remnant, for some of you will escape the sword when you are scattered among the nations and throughout the lands.
- Ezekiel 14:22–23
  Yet, behold, some survivors will be left in it—sons and daughters who will be brought out. They will come out to you, and when you see their conduct and actions, you will be comforted…
- Jeremiah 22:8–9
  And many nations will pass by this city and ask one another, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this great city?’

About 1 Kings

The Israelites Slaughter the Syrians — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

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Continue: 1 Kings 20 →

01Commentary

The record, by era

Voices on this verse

02Original language & word study

03The walk

Where the connections lead

04Related verses

06About 1 Kings

The record, by era

Where the connections lead

Commentary

Original language & word study

The walk

Related verses

About 1 Kings