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1 Kings 20:10

in 1 Kings 20

Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.

KJV

And Ben–hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.

This verse in 1 Kings 20

Commentary

8 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

If the dust of Samaria shall suffice - This is variously understood. Jonathan translates thus: “If the dust of Shomeron shall be sufficient for the soles of the feet of the people that shall accompany me;” i.e., I shall bring such an army that there will scarcely be room for them to stand in Samaria and its vicinity.

This site's exposition

the dust of Samaria shall suffice

on 1 Kings 20:10-11

Ben-hadad swears by his own gods that his army is so great the dust of Samaria will not fill their hands, a boast the text records without comment. Ahab answers with a proverb rather than a threat, let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off, meaning no man should claim a victory not yet won. The reversal the proverb warns against is exactly what follows within the chapter.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Questions on the Book of Kings #17 · Written before 735.

proposed

"May the gods do so to me, and more also, etc." [1 Kings 20:10] What Benhadad king of Syria, besieging and beginning to assault Samaria said: 'May the gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria will be enough to …

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

proposed

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

And Benhadad sent unto him, and said,....

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

Thus confident is his pride, thus cruel is his malice; this prepares him to be ruined, though such a prince and such a people are unworthy of the satisfaction of seeing him ruined.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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.
1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

If the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls ... - In its general sense this phrase is undoubtedly a boast that the number of Ben-hadad’s troops was such as to make resistance vain and foolish. We may parallel it with the saying of the Trachinian at Thermopylae, that the Persian arrows would darken the light of the sun. Probably the exact meaning is, “When your town is reduced to ruins, as it will be if you resist, the entire heap will not suffice to furnish a handful of dust to each soldier of my army, so many are they.” There was a threat in the message as well as a boast.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

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.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on I Kings 20:10:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

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

20 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיִּשְׁלַ֤חand he sent

    vaiyishlachH7971845 times

  • אֵלָיו֙to him

    ʾelavH4135510 times

  • בֶּן־Ben

    ben-H113050 times

  • הֲדַ֔דHadad

    hadadH113050 times

  • וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH5595305 times

  • כֹּֽה־thus

    koh-H3541577 times

  • יַעֲשׂ֥וּןmay they do !

    yaasunH62132628 times

  • לִ֛יto me

    li

  • אֱלֹהִ֖ים[the] gods

    ʾelohimH4302601 times

  • וְכֹ֣הand thus

    vekhohH3541577 times

  • יוֹסִ֑פוּmay they add

    yosifuH3254212 times

  • אִם־if

    ʾim-H5181069 times

  • יִשְׂפֹּק֙it will suffice

    yispokH5606

  • עֲפַ֣ר[the] dust of

    ʾafarH6083110 times

  • שֹׁמְר֔וֹןSamaria

    shomeronH8111109 times

  • לִשְׁעָלִ֕יםfor handfuls

    lishalimH8168

  • לְכָל־for all

    lekholH36055413 times

  • הָעָ֖םthe people

    haamH59711873 times

  • אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich

    ʾasherH8345497 times

  • בְּרַגְלָֽי׃[is] at feet my

    beraglaiH7272247 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    1 Kings 19:2

    So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like the lives of those…

    it leads to

    • Ruth 1:17

      Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

    • 2 Kings 6:31

      He announced, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if the head of Elisha son of Shaphat remains on his shoulders through this day!”

    • Proverbs 27:1

      Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

    • Daniel 3:15

      Now, if you are ready, as soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the statue I…

    • Exodus 10:28

      “Depart from me!” Pharaoh said to Moses. “Make sure you never see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will die.”

  • Through

    Exodus 11:8

    And all these officials of yours will come and bow before me, saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that, I will depart.” And hot with anger, Moses left Pharaoh’s…

    it leads to

    • Exodus 12:31–33

      Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Get up, leave my people, both you and the Israelites! Go, worship the LORD as you have requested.

    • Daniel 3:19

      At this, Nebuchadnezzar was filled with rage, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He gave orders to heat the furnace seven times hotter than usual,

    • Ezekiel 3:14

      So the Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LORD upon me.

About 1 Kings

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Questions on the Book of Kings #17; 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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.