1 Kings 20:18

_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 20:18. _TAKE THEM ALIVE._] He was confident of victory. Do not slay them; bring them to me, they may give us some useful information....

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 HE SAID, WHETHER THEY BE COME OUT FOR PEACE,.... To propose terms of peace: TAKE THEM ALIVE; make them prisoners, which was contrary to the laws of nations: OR WHETHER THEY BE COME OUT FOR WAR, TAKE THEM ALIVE; he made no doubt of their being easily taken; but he would not have them be put to death, that he might examine them, and know the state of things in Samaria, and what Ahab intended to do, that he might take his measures accordingly....

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 ...

_take them alive_ Whatever their mission might be Ben-hadad had no doubt that his followers could surround them and capture them without fighting. They could have no difficulty in overpowering so insignificant a force. Why he wished for the capture rather than the slaughter of the Israelites is not so evident. It might be only with a view of making it clear that there was no need to cut off any troops sent against them; by mere force of numbers they could overpower them and make them prisoners....

II. THE GREAT MILITARY CRISIS 20:1-43 The account of Elijah's ministry during the reign of Ahab is interrupted by chapter 20 probably because the author is attempting to give a chronological treatment of that king's reign.[454] The policy of harassment had characterized Benhadad's dealing with Israel in the days of Baasha (cf. 1 Kings 15:18). Now the Aramean king was bent on total conquest of Israel. This crisis for Ahab and Israel unfolds in two stages: (1) the Aramean siege of Samaria (1 Kings 20:1-22); and (2) the battle of Aphek (1 Kings 20:23-43). [454] In some Septuagint manuscripts chapter 20 follows chapter 21 and thus comes at the conclusion of the Elijah material. Some scholars feel this

WAR BETWEEN ISRAEL AND SYRIA The Syrians besiege Samaria, but a sally being made from the city by the direction of a prophet, they are driven off, and the next year are beaten at Aphek. Ahab, having spared Benhadad the Syrian king, is rebuked by a prophet in the name of the Lord....