1 Kings 20:31

let us, I[R.V. we] pray thee The change is made because the sentence is in other parts in the plural. The Hebrew נא is a mere particle employed to give emphasis to forms of entreaty, and has nothing that indicates whether one or more persons are speakers.

sackcloth on our loins The garment of humiliation and mourning. Cp. Genesis 37:34; 2 Samuel 3:31; 2 Kings 6:30; Isaiah 37:1-2.

ropes upon our heads Probably meaning with ropes around the neck. No token of submission could be more expressive than this to indicate that Ahab might hang them if he pleased.

peradventure he will save thy life A touch of Oriental character, which is destroyed by the LXX., which has -our lives". The Eastern courtier, even at such a time, would speak of his master's life and not his own. If the former were spared, the latter would be spared also, as a matter of course.