1 Kings 20:29

_AND THERE CAME A MAN OF GOD, AND SPAKE UNTO THE KING OF ISRAEL, AND SAID, THUS SAITH THE LORD, BECAUSE THE SYRIANS HAVE SAID, THE LORD IS GOD OF THE HILLS, BUT HE IS NOT GOD OF THE VALLEYS, THEREFORE WILL I DELIVER ALL THIS GREAT MULTITUDE INTO THINE HAND, AND YE SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

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....

Verse 29. _SLEW A HUNDRED THOUSAND FOOTMEN IN ONE DAY._] This number is enormous; but the MSS. and versions give no various reading....

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 THEY PITCHED ONE OVER AGAINST THE OTHER SEVEN DAYS,.... Very probably the Israelites pitched upon an hill, and the Syrians waited till they changed their position, not caring to fall upon them, though so very supernumerary to them, for the reason before given: AND SO IT WAS, THAT IN THE SEVENTH DAY THE BATTLE WAS JOINED; or they that made war drew nigh, as the Targum, and both sides engaged in battle: AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SLEW OF THE SYRIANS 100,000 FOOTMEN IN ONE DAY; which was a prodigious slaughter to be made by so small an army; the hand of the Lord was visible in it....

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 ...

_seven days_ Perhaps there was some religious idea on the part of the Israelites connected with this time of waiting before they began the battle. After the promise of the man of God, the conflict would have a religious sanction and be entered on with confidence. _an hundred thousand footmen_ The number is very large, but Josephus gives the same. If it be correct, the slaughter can hardly have been effected in any other way but by a panic in which these troops cut and trampled down one another....

B. THE BATTLE OF APHEK 20:23-43 It was not long before the intelligence reports reaching Ahab's military advisers confirmed the warnings of the man of God. Benhadad was massing new troops, reorganizing his forces, and obviously planning a new campaign against Israel. As the narrative of the second crisis unfolds, the historian discusses (1) the Aramean war counsels (1 Kings 20:23-25); (2) the confrontation at Aphek (1 Kings 20:26-30 a); (3) the clemency granted Benhadad (1 Kings 20:30 b - 1 Kings 20:34); and (4) the prophetic condemnation of Ahab ...

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....