if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me i.e. I will bring such a host that if each man were but to take with him a handful of earth, Samaria would be all carried away. The boastful tone is quite of a piece with all Ben-hadad's previous conduct.

The LXX. has read שֻׁעָלִים instead of שְׁעָלִים and so instead of -handfuls" it gives ταο͂ς ἀλώπεξι = -for the foxes (or jackals)." Josephus explains Ben-hadad's threat to have meant, that the Syrian army, bringing each man his handful of earth, would make a mound against Samaria higher than the present walls. Thus contemptuously hinting at the ease with which he could overthrow the Israelitish fortifications. The original text is incapable of such a sense.

Continues after advertising
Continues after advertising