1 Kings 20:14

_AND AHAB SAID, BY WHOM? AND HE SAID, THUS SAITH THE LORD, EVEN BY THE YOUNG MEN OF THE PRINCES OF THE PROVINCES. THEN HE SAID, WHO SHALL ORDER THE BATTLE? AND HE ANSWERED, THOU._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

12-21 The proud Syrians were beaten, and the despised Israelites were conquerors. The orders of the proud, drunken king disordered his troops, and prevented them from attacking the Israelites. Those that are most secure, are commonly least courageous. Ahab slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. God often makes one wicked man a scourge to another....

Verse 1 Kings 20:14. _BY THE YOUNG MEN OF THE PRINCES OF THE PROVINCES._] These were probably some chosen persons out of the militia of different districts, raised by the _princes of the provinces_; the same as we would call _lord-lieutenants_ of counties....

The “princes of the provinces” are the governors of districts, many of whom may have fled to the capital, as the hostile army advanced through Galilee and northern Samaria. The “young men” are their attendants, youths unaccustomed to war. WHO SHALL ORDER THE BATTLE? - i. e., “Who shal join battle, begin the attack? We or the enemy?” The reply was, that the Israelites were to attack....

EXPOSITION THE INVASIONS OF ISRAEL BY THE SYRIANS AND THEIR RESULTS.—The insertion of this chapter, which contains an account of two invasions of Israel by the hosts of Syria, and of the utter defeat of the latter, and which therefore constitutes a break in the history of Elijah, which has occupied the historian up to the end of 1 Kings 19:1; and which is resumed with 1 Kings 21:1.—the insertion of this twentieth chapter in this place is apparently due to the compiler of these records, who seems to have adopted this arrangement as the more chronological. It is not absolutely certain, however, that we owe this disposition

AND AHAB SAID, BY WHOM?.... Knowing he had no army with him sufficient to go out with against the Syrian army: AND HE SAID, THUS SAITH THE LORD, EVEN BY THE YOUNG MEN OF THE PRINCES OF THE PROVINCES; either such, as Kimchi thinks, who were brought up with him; or, as others, the sons of governors of provinces, who were kept as hostages, that their fathers might not rebel; neither of which is likely: but rather the servants of such princes who waited on them, and lived delicately and at ease, and were not trained up to military exercise, even by these should the victory be obtained: THEN HE SAID, WHO SHALL ORDER THE BATTLE? begin the attack, we or they? or who shall conduct it, or be the general of the army, go before it, and lead them on? Ahab might think, being an idolater, that the Lord would not make use of him, or otherwise who could be thought of but himself? AND HE ANSWERED, THO...

4. KING AHAB: HIS WICKED REIGN AND END CHAPTER 20 Ahab's War with the Syrians and His Victory _ 1. The siege and relief of Samaria (1 Kings 20:1)_ 2. The victory at Aphek (1 Kings 20:22) 3. A prophet's symbolical action and his message (1 Kings 20:35) Two expeditions of Ben-hadad (son of the Sun) against Israel are recorded in this chapter. When Ben-hadad forced the war and insulted the King of Israel, Ahab prepared for the battle. Then a prophet came to Ahab, most likely one of those who had been hidden by Obadiah. He brought a message from the Lord. “Thus saith Jehovah, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou sha

AHAB'S VICTORY OVER BEN-HADAD. Chs. 20 and 22 come from another source. Elijah does not appear, the religious interest is less prominent, and Ahab is presented in a far less hostile light. He acts as a brave and chivalrous king, bold in the battle and merciful in victory. In the Book of Kings the kings of Israel are seldom represented in a hostile spirit when confronted by the common enemy, Syria (_cf._ 2 Kings 7). Syria, we learn, had become a formidable power. Ben-hadad's father had taken some of Omri's cities, and had compelled him to allow his merchants to have streets, _i.e._ bazaars, in Samaria (1 Kings 20:34). The power of Syria was such that the king could treat the Israelite sovereign as his despised vassal. When the Syrian army filled the valley, the Israelite forces appeared like two small flocks of goats ...

YOUNG MEN. the servants, or esquires....

_the young men of the princes of the provinces_ The LXX. gives υἱοὶ τῶν ἡγεμόνων, -sons of the leaders", and Josephus nearly the same. -The princes of the provinces" were probably chieftains who had come from various parts of the kingdom of Israel. The -young men" would be their attendants or squires. Evidently they are selected as persons who had no great experience though they might have the courage to go, few in number, against a much superior force. _Who shall order the battle_ The verb, as is seen from the margin of A.V., means -to bind" or -tie". The R.V. taking this to apply to the bringing of the armies together has rendered BEGIN. Instead of remaining within the walls, God encourages Ahab to be the first to strike a blow. Humanly speaking, even, such a step was likely to meet with some success. Josephus says Ahab was to lead because of the inexperience of the young men....