1 Kings 20:22

_AND THE PROPHET CAME TO THE KING OF ISRAEL, AND SAID UNTO HIM, GO, STRENGTHEN THYSELF, AND MARK, AND SEE WHAT THOU DOEST: FOR AT THE RETURN OF THE YEAR THE KING OF SYRIA WILL COME UP AGAINST THEE._ The prophet came to the king of Israel, and said. The same prophet who had predicted the victory shortly re-appeared, admonishing the king to take every precaution against a renewal of hostilities on the following campaign. AT THE RETURN OF THE YEAR - i:e., in spring, when, on the cessation of the rainy season, military campaigns (2 Samuel 11:1) were anciently begun. It happened as the prophet had forewarned. Brooding over their late disastrous defeat, the attendants of Ben-hadad ascribed the misfortune to two causes-the one arose from the principles of paganism, which led them to consider the gods of Israel as local deities-`gods of the hills'-whereas their powe

22-30 Those about Benhadad advised him to change his ground. They take it for granted that it was not Israel, but Israel's gods, that beat them; but they speak very ignorantly of Jehovah. They supposed that Israel had many gods, to whom they ascribed limited power within a certain district; thus vain were the Gentiles in their imaginations concerning God. The greatest wisdom in worldly concerns is often united with the most contemptible folly in the things of God....

GO, STRENGTHEN THYSELF ... - That is, “collect troops, raise fortifications, obtain allies ... take all the measures thou canst to increase thy military strength. Be not rash, but consider well every step ... for a great danger is impending.” AT THE RETURN OF THE YEAR - i. e., “When the season for military operations again comes round.” The wars of the Oriental monarchs at this time, like those of early Rome, were almost always of the nature of annual incursions into the territories of their neighbors, begun in spring and terminating in early autumn. Sustained invasions, lasting over the winter into a second or a third year, are not found until the time of Shalmaneser 2 Kings 17:5; 2 Kings 18:9, and do not become common until the Med

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 THE PROPHET CAME TO THE KING OF ISRAEL,.... The same that came to him before: AND SAID UNTO HIM, GO, STRENGTHEN THYSELF; exhorted him to fortify his cities, especially Samaria, and increase his army, that he might be able to oppose the king of Syria: AND MARK, AND SEE WHAT THOU DOEST: observe his moral and religious actions, and take heed that he did not offend the Lord by them, as well as make military preparations: FOR AT THE RETURN OF THE YEAR THE KING OF SYRIA WILL COME UP AGAINST THEE; about the same time in the next year, at the spring of the year, when kings go out to war, see 2 Samuel 11:1....

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 ...

RETURN OF THE YEAR: the spring. Compare 2 Samuel 11:1....

The Syrians prepare another army, and are again defeated. ahab makes a covenant with Ben-hadad (Not in Chronicles) 22. _the prophet came to the king_ R.V. CAME NEAR as in 1Ki 20:13; 1 Kings 20:28. See on 13. _mark, and see_ i.e. Take every possible precaution. Look out for what is best to be done. _at the return of the year_ i.e. When the fitting season for taking the field has again come round. Cf. 2 Samuel 11:1, -after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle"....

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