1 Kings 20:42
in 1 Kings 20And 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 his life, and your people for his people.’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
KJV
And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
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This verse in 1 Kings 20
Commentary
8 notes on this verseIn the course of these events Ahab's indulgence toward a man who was notoriously impious and an open and arrogant despiser of divine majesty fully deserved to be condemned, just as Saul's clemency toward the king of the Amalekites was reproached with good reason by …
This site's exposition
he was of the prophets
on 1 Kings 20:41-42
The prophet removes the ashes and Ahab recognizes him as one of the prophets, and only then does the parable turn, thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life. The language of a man appointed to utter destruction echoes Saul's sentence over sparing Agag, a king spared in place of the enemy the Lord had marked for the ban. Clarke notes the sentence is carried out exactly at Ramoth-gilead, where Ahab is killed by the Syrians in 1 Kings 22.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
A commentator
John ChrysostomDISCOURSE AGAINST JUDAIZING CHRISTIANS 4.2.3-7 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
After the second man had struck and wounded him, the prophet bound his own head with a bandage, covered his eyes and disguised himself. Why did he do this? He was going to accuse the king and condemn him for saving the life of the king of the Syrians. Now Ahab was an impious man and always a foe to the prophets. The prophet did not wish Ahab to recognize him and then drive him from his sight; if the king drove him away, he would not hear the prophet's words of correction. So the prophet concealed his face and any statement of his business in the hope that this would give him the advantage when he did speak and that he might get the king to agree to the terms he wanted.When the king was passing by, the prophet called aloud to him and said, "Your servant went forth to the campaign of war. Behold, a man brought another man to me and said to me: 'Guard this man for me. If he shall leap away and bound off, it will be your life for his life, or you will pay a talent of silver.' And it happened that as your servant turned his eyes this way and that, the man was not there." And the king of Israel said to him: "This is your judgment before me: You killed the man." And the prophet hurried to take the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the sons of the prophets. And he said to the king: "So says the Lord: 'Because you let go from your hand a man worthy of death, it will be your life for his life, and our people for his people.' " Do you see how not only God but also people make this kind of judgment because both God and people heed the end and the causes rather than the nature of what is done? Certainly even the king said to him, "This is your judgment before me: you killed the man." You are a murderer, he said, because you let an enemy go. […]
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Thy life - "What was the great sin of Ahab in this action, for which God so severely punisheth him?" The great dishonour hereby done to God, in suffering so horrid a blasphemer, to go unpunished, which was contrary to an express law, Lev. xxiv, 16.
2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad, 3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v2-3
And he said unto him, thus saith the Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Thy life shall go for his life - This was fulfilled at the battle of Ramoth-gilead, where he was slain by the Syrians; see 1Ki 22:34, 1Ki 22:35.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
A man whom I appointed to utter destruction - or to חרם chērem, i. e., a man on whom My curse had been laid (Lev 27:28 note).
The words behind it
18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֵלָ֗יו | ʾelav | to him | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כֹּ֚ה | koh | thus | H3541 → | 577 times |
| אָמַ֣ר | ʾamar | he says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| יַ֛עַן | yaan | because | H3282 → | 99 times |
| שִׁלַּ֥חְתָּ | shilachta | you have let go | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אִישׁ־ | ʾish- | [the] man of | H376 → | 1663 times |
| חֶרְמִ֖י | chermi | total destruction my | H2764 → | |
| מִיָּ֑ד | miyad | from a hand | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וְהָיְתָ֤ה | vehayetah | and it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| נַפְשְׁךָ֙ | nafshekha | life your | H5315 → | 754 times |
| תַּ֣חַת | tachat | in place of | H8478 → | 505 times |
| נַפְשׁ֔וֹ | nafsho | life his | H5315 → | 754 times |
| וְעַמְּךָ֖ | veamekha | and people your | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| תַּ֥חַת | tachat | in place of | H8478 → | 505 times |
| עַמּֽוֹ׃ | amo | people his | H5971 → | 1873 times |
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֵלָ֗יוto him
ʾelavH413 →5510 times
כֹּ֚הthus
kohH3541 →577 times
אָמַ֣רhe says
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
יַ֛עַןbecause
yaanH3282 →99 times
שִׁלַּ֥חְתָּyou have let go
shilachtaH7971 →845 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אִישׁ־[the] man of
ʾish-H376 →1663 times
חֶרְמִ֖יtotal destruction my
chermiH2764 →
מִיָּ֑דfrom a hand
miyadH3027 →1618 times
וְהָיְתָ֤הand it will be
vehayetahH1961 →3559 times
נַפְשְׁךָ֙life your
nafshekhaH5315 →754 times
תַּ֣חַתin place of
tachatH8478 →505 times
נַפְשׁ֔וֹlife his
nafshoH5315 →754 times
וְעַמְּךָ֖and people your
veamekhaH5971 →1873 times
תַּ֥חַתin place of
tachatH8478 →505 times
עַמּֽוֹ׃people his
amoH5971 →1873 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
2 Kings 8:12“Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword,…
it leads to
- Hosea 13:16
Samaria will bear her guilt because she has rebelled against her God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to pieces, and their pregnant women ripped open.
- Nahum 3:10
Yet she became an exile; she went into captivity. Her infants were dashed to pieces at the head of every street. They cast lots for her dignitaries, and all her nobles were bound in…
- 2 Kings 15:16
At that time Menahem, starting from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in its vicinity, because they would not open their gates. So he attacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women.
- 2 Kings 13:3
So the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He delivered them continually into the hands of Hazael king of Aram and his son Ben-hadad.
- 2 Kings 12:17
At that time Hazael king of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he decided to attack Jerusalem.
- Hosea 13:16
Through
1 Kings 20:39As 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,…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 10:24
And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and warned them, “If anyone allows one of the men I am delivering into your hands to…
- Proverbs 13:8
Riches may ransom a man’s life, but a poor man hears no threat.
- 1 Peter 1:18–19
For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
- 2 Kings 10:24
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); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 20:1; John Chrysostom, DISCOURSE AGAINST JUDAIZING CHRISTIANS 4.2.3-7; 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.