1 Kings 20:42

Because thou hast let go] It is possible that Ahab's clemency towards Benhadad was due to the threatening attitude of the Assyrians, against whom it may have seemed expedient for Israel and Syria to unite. In any case, the Assyrian inscriptions record that Ahab and Benhadad both sent forces to aid Hamath, when it was attacked by Shalmaneser II in 854, and with their allies were defeated by the Assyrian king at Karkar (a city near the Orontes) The alliance between the two countries thus failed in its object; and that the Syrians proved false to their engagement to restore the captured Israelite cities is probable from 1 Kings 22:3. The prophet's censure of Ahab's conduct thus appears to have been justified by events.