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1 Kings 20:12

in 1 Kings 20

Ben-hadad received this message while he and the kings were drinking in their tents, and he said to his servants, “Take your positions.” So they stationed themselves against the city.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.

KJV

And it came to pass, when Ben–hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.

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.

In the pavilions - This word comes from papilio, a butterfly, because tents, when pitched or spread out, resembled such animals; partly because of the mode of their expansion, and partly because of the manner in which they were painted. Set yourselves in array - The original word, שימו simu, which we translate by this long periphrasis, is probably a military term for Begin the attack, Invest the city, Every man to his post, or some such like expression.

This site's exposition

as he was drinking

on 1 Kings 20:12-13

Ben-hadad orders his army into position while still at his wine, a detail the narrator plants before the battle rather than after it. Into this scene an unnamed prophet comes to Ahab with a promise and its purpose stated together, I will deliver it into thine hand, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. The same formula, that ye shall know that I am the Lord, runs through the plagues of Exodus, spoken here over a king who has asked for no sign at all.

The record, by era

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

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

), but stirs not from his drunken club to see it done. Woe unto thee, O land! when thy king is such a child. When the besieged made a sally (and, by that time, he was far gone) he gave orders to take them alive (

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation

And it came to pass, when Benhadad heard this message (as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions),....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

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.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

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].

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase

1 more voice on this verse

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Pavilions - “Booths” (Gen 33:17 margin; Lev 23:42; Jon 4:5). The term seems to be properly applied to a stationary “booth” or “hut,” as distinguished from a moveable “tent.” On military expeditions, and especially in the case of a siege, such “huts” were naturally constructed to shelter the king and his chief officers.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

A certain prophet. That was Michoyhu the son of Yimloh. 9 See below:8.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on I Kings 20:13:1, 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

17 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.

  • וַיְהִ֗יand it was

    vayhiH19613559 times

  • כִּשְׁמֹ֙עַ֙when heard

    kishmoa'H80851159 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • הַדָּבָ֣רthe word

    hadavarH16971440 times

  • הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this

    hazehH20881180 times

  • וְה֥וּאand he

    vehu'H19311879 times

  • שֹׁתֶ֛ה[was] drinking

    shotehH8354217 times

  • ה֥וּאhe

    hu'H19311879 times

  • וְהַמְּלָכִ֖יםand the kings

    vehamelakhimH44282525 times

  • בַּסֻּכּ֑וֹתin the booths

    basukotH5521

  • וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH5595305 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • עֲבָדָיו֙servants his

    ʾavadavH5650799 times

  • שִׂ֔ימוּset yourselves

    simuH7760584 times

  • וַיָּשִׂ֖ימוּand they set themselves

    vaiyasimuH7760584 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H59215755 times

  • הָעִֽיר׃the city

    hairH58921090 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

    Ephesians 5:18

    Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.

    it leads to

    • Luke 1:15

      for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.

    • Proverbs 20:1

      Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.

    • Romans 13:13

      Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

    • Galatians 5:21–25

      and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

    • Acts 11:24

      Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

  • Through

    2 Samuel 13:28

    Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid.…

    it leads to

    • Judges 19:6

      So they sat down and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the girl’s father said to the man, “Please agree to stay overnight and let your heart be merry.”

    • Judges 19:22

      While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who…

    • Judges 19:9

      When the man got up to depart with his concubine and his servant, his father-in-law, the girl’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is drawing to a close. Please spend the night. See,…

About 1 Kings

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

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.