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1 Kings 20:17

in 1 Kings 20

And the young officers of the district governors marched out first. Now Ben-hadad had sent out scouts, who reported to him, “Men are marching out of Samaria.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out from Samaria.

KJV

And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben–hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria.

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This verse in 1 Kings 20

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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.

This site's exposition

drinking himself drunk

on 1 Kings 20:16-18

The army goes out at noon while Ben-hadad is drinking himself drunk in the pavilions with the thirty and two kings, a contempt Barnes compares to Belshazzar's feast before Babylon fell. Told that men are coming out of Samaria, Ben-hadad orders them taken alive whether they come for peace or war, so confident of victory that he wants prisoners to question rather than an enemy to fear. The order never anticipates that the men coming out are the attack itself.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first,.... From Samaria, before the 7000 did: and Benhadad sent out; of his pavilion, a messenger or messengers to his sentinels, to know what news, and how matters stood, whether Ahab had sent any message, signifying his compliance with his terms: and they told him, saying, there are men come out of Samaria; but upon what account they could not say.

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him - The Septuagint has a better reading: “they sent and told the king of Syria.”

The words behind it

14 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.

  • וַיֵּצְא֗וּand they went out

    vaiyetzeuH3318 →1067 times

  • נַעֲרֵ֛י[the] young men of

    naareiH5288 →239 times

  • שָׂרֵ֥י[the] officials of

    sareiH8269 →421 times

  • הַמְּדִינ֖וֹתthe provinces

    hamedinotH4082 →53 times

  • בָּרִֽאשֹׁנָ֑הat the first

    barishonahH7223 →182 times

  • וַיִּשְׁלַ֣חand he sent

    vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times

  • בֶּן־Ben

    ben-H1130 →50 times

  • הֲדַ֗דHadad

    hadadH1130 →50 times

  • וַיַּגִּ֤ידוּand people told

    vaiyagiduH5046 →370 times

  • לוֹ֙to him

    lo

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • אֲנָשִׁ֕יםmen

    ʾanashimH582 →566 times

  • יָצְא֖וּthey have come out

    yatzeuH3318 →1067 times

  • מִשֹּׁמְרֽוֹן׃from Samaria

    mishomeronH8111 →109 times

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

Related verses

2 in all, six open

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
1 Kings: the study guide →Read 1 Kings 20 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; 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 and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in 1 Kings 20 →