1 Kings 20:32
in 1 Kings 20So with sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please spare my life.’” And the king answered, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.
KJV
So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben–hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.
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This verse in 1 Kings 20
Commentary
9 notes on this verseThy servant Ben-hadad - See the vicissitude of human affairs! A little before he was the haughtiest of all tyrants, and Ahab calls him his lord; now, so much is he humbled, that he will be glad to be reputed Ahab’s slave!
This site's exposition
Is he yet alive? he is my brother
on 1 Kings 20:32-34
Ben-hadad's servants come in sackcloth and ropes, the posture of men surrendering their lives outright, and Ahab's first question, is he yet alive, gives them the opening they came for. He calls the defeated king his brother and brings him up into his own chariot; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read Ahab as flattered by the submission and thinking only of the honor of the moment. Ben-hadad is sent away under covenant with cities restored and trading rights in Damascus, sparing exactly the king the Lord had appointed to destruction, the same shape as Saul sparing Agag.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
He was proud to be thus courted by him whom he had feared, and enquired for him with great tenderness: Is he yet alive? He is my brother, brother-king, though not brother-Israelite: and Ahab valued himself more upon his royalty than on his religion, and others accordingly. " Is he thy brother, Ahab?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
From the height of prosperity, to the depth of distress. See the uncertainty of human affairs! Such turns are they subject to, that the spoke of the wheel which is uppermost now, may soon be the lowest of all.
So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
ALTHOUGH the manners and customs of warfare were exceedingly rough and cruel in those primitive ages, yet it appears that the kings of Israel gained a name for being merciful. I do not find recorded in Scripture any particularly merciful acts of theirs and I should conclude that the kings of other countries must have been very ferocious, if the kings of Israel were at all merciful.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Their voluntary attitude and language of submission flattered the pride of Ahab, who, little concerned about the dishonor done to the God of Israel by the Syrian king, and thinking of nothing but victory, paraded his clemency, called the vanquished king "his brother," invited him to sit in the royal chariot, and dismissed him with a covenant of peace.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
ALTHOUGH the manners and customs of warfare were exceedingly rough and cruel in those primitive ages, yet it appears that the kings of Israel gained a name for being merciful. I do not find recorded in Scripture any particularly merciful acts of theirs and I should conclude that the kings of other countries must have been very ferocious, if the kings of Israel were at all merciful. Ancient records and memorial slabs record tortures so horrible that you could not listen— if I were to describe them—although they were the common barbarities with which Assyrian and Babylonian victors concluded their wars. It seems that the kings of the house of Israel did not go to the lengths of savage cruelty usual among their neighbors. Upon which we are led to remark that where the true worship of God does not make men what they should be, yet it betters them in some respects. The kings of Israel were all idolaters, but yet the presence of a little salt, a few of the godly in the land, had an effect upon the State. And the situation of the little kingdom of Judah, close at their elbow, with its Temple and its Prophets, influenced the manners and customs of the people, so that, "the kings of the house of Israel were merciful kings," and this not because they feared God themselves, but because there were others who did and whose influence and example, perhaps, unconsciously, softened public sentiment and mitigated the ruthless ferocity of war. Is this nothing? Is it not a high honor to the seven thousand who bowed not the knee to Baal, that in this respect they made Baal's worshippers bow to them? Little do we know how much of the apparent morality of this country is due to the real religion which we have in our land. There are thousands of men in London who would open their shops tonight if it were not for the influence of those who fear the Lord.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Ben-hadad is now as humble as Ahab had been a year before 1Ki 20:9. He professes himself the mere “slave” of his conqueror.
The words behind it
22 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּחְגְּרוּ֩ | vaiyachgeru | and they girded | H2296 → | |
| שַׂקִּ֨ים | sakim | sackcloth<s> | H8242 → | 49 times |
| בְּמָתְנֵיהֶ֜ם | bemateneihem | on loins their | H4975 → | 47 times |
| וַחֲבָלִ֣ים | vachavalim | and ropes | H2256 → | 62 times |
| בְּרָאשֵׁיהֶ֗ם | berasheihem | on heads their | H7218 → | 599 times |
| וַיָּבֹ֙אוּ֙ | vaiyavou | and they went | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ | vaiyomeru | and they said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| עַבְדְּךָ֧ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| בֶן־ | ven- | Ben | H1130 → | 50 times |
| הֲדַ֛ד | hadad | Hadad | H1130 → | 50 times |
| אָמַ֖ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| תְּחִֽי־ | techi- | let it live | H2421 → | 282 times |
| נָ֣א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| נַפְשִׁ֑י | nafshi | life my | H5315 → | 754 times |
| וַיֹּ֛אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הַעוֹדֶ֥נּוּ | haodenu | ¿ [is] still he | H5750 → | 490 times |
| חַ֖י | chai | alive | H2416 → | 498 times |
| אָחִ֥י | ʾachi | [is] brother my | H251 → | 630 times |
| הֽוּא׃ | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
וַיַּחְגְּרוּ֩and they girded
vaiyachgeruH2296 →
שַׂקִּ֨יםsackcloth<s>
sakimH8242 →49 times
בְּמָתְנֵיהֶ֜םon loins their
bemateneihemH4975 →47 times
וַחֲבָלִ֣יםand ropes
vachavalimH2256 →62 times
בְּרָאשֵׁיהֶ֗םon heads their
berasheihemH7218 →599 times
וַיָּבֹ֙אוּ֙and they went
vaiyavouH935 →2568 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּand they said
vaiyomeruH559 →5305 times
עַבְדְּךָ֧servant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
בֶן־Ben
ven-H1130 →50 times
הֲדַ֛דHadad
hadadH1130 →50 times
אָמַ֖רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
תְּחִֽי־let it live
techi-H2421 →282 times
נָ֣אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
נַפְשִׁ֑יlife my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
וַיֹּ֛אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
הַעוֹדֶ֥נּוּ¿ [is] still he
haodenuH5750 →490 times
חַ֖יalive
chaiH2416 →498 times
אָחִ֥י[is] brother my
ʾachiH251 →630 times
הֽוּא׃he
hu'H1931 →1879 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
1 Kings 20:42And the prophet said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have let slip from your hand the man I had devoted to destruction, your life will be exchanged for…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 22:31–37
Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.”
- 2 Chronicles 18:33–34
However, a certain man drew his bow without taking special aim, and he struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So the king said to his charioteer, “Turn around and…
- 1 Kings 20:39
As the king passed by, he cried out to the king: “Your servant had marched out into the middle of the battle, when suddenly a man came over with a captive and told me,…
- 1 Kings 22:31–37
Through
Isaiah 10:12So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 50:18
Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.
- Matthew 12:33
Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.
- Isaiah 14:24–27
The LORD of Hosts has sworn: “Surely, as I have planned, so will it be; as I have purposed, so will it stand.
- Isaiah 27:9
Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah…
- Isaiah 46:10–11
I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- Jeremiah 50:18
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); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 535: “Ben-Hadad'S Escape—An Encouragement For Sinners” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); 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.