1 Kings 20:37

_THEN SAID HE UNTO HIM, BECAUSE THOU HAST NOT OBEYED THE VOICE OF THE LORD, BEHOLD, AS SOON AS THOU ART DEPARTED FROM ME, A LION SHALL SLAY THEE. AND AS SOON AS HE WAS DEPARTED FROM HIM, A LION FOUND HIM, AND SLEW HIM._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

31-43 This encouragement sinners have to repent and humble themselves before God; Have we not heard, that the God of Israel is a merciful God? Have we not found him so? That is gospel repentance, which flows from an apprehension of the mercy of God, in Christ; there is forgiveness with him. What a change is here! The most haughty in prosperity often are most abject in adversity; an evil spirit will thus affect a man in both these conditions. There are those on whom, like Ahab, success is ill bestowed; they know not how to serve either God or their generation, or even their own true interests with their prosperity: Let favour be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness. The prophet designed to reprove Ahab by a parable. If a good prophet were punished for sparing his friend and God's when God said, Smite, of much sorer punishment should a wicked king be thought worthy, w...

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

THEN HE FOUND ANOTHER MAN, AND SAID, SMITE ME, I PRAY THEE,.... This is not said to be his neighbour, nor one of the sons of the prophets, but a rustic man, and so stuck not to take him at his word: AND THE MAN SMOTE HIM, SO THAT IN SMITING HE WOUNDED HIM; in his face; made some incision in his flesh, broke the skin, and fetched blood of him; perhaps somewhere about his eyes, by what follows: this he got done to him, that he might look like a wounded soldier, and thereby get the more easily to the speech of Ahab....

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 DEATH FORETOLD FOR SPARING BENHADAD. This section reminds us of 1 Samuel 15, Saul's sparing of Agag. It does not appear to be part of the foregoing narrative, but may be of great antiquity. The sin of Ahab, like that of Saul, seems commendable in our eyes, but to the Hebrews it was the most deadly of all the violation of the _herem_ or ban (pp. 99, 114), the sparing of a person devoted to Yahweh (1 Kings 20:42). The sons of the prophets are mentioned here for the first time in the Bible (1 Kings 20:35)....

_so that in smiting he wounded_him] The R.V. has adopted the literal rendering which stands on the margin of A. V. SMITING AND wounding him. Josephus specifies the nature of the wound θραύσαντος αὐτοῦ τὸ κράνιον -breaking his head". This of course is to be inferred from what follows....

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....

GOD’S LESSONS FROM HISTORY 1 KINGS _PHILIP SMITH_ CHAPTER 20 GOD ALLOWS AHAB’S ARMY TO DEFEAT THE ARMY FROM SYRIA V1 Benhadad, king of Syria gathered his whole army. Then 32 other kings with their horses and *chariots joined him. They attacked Samaria and they surrounded it. Nobody could enter or leave. V2 He sent people with messages into the city to Ahab king of *Israel. This is what they said. ‘Benhadad says this. V3 “I want to have all your silver and gold. I want to have the best of your wives and children.” ’ V4 This is how the king of *Israel replied. ‘Tell this to the king. He can have me and everything that I own.’...