Atlas Biblica

    1 Kings · 43 verses

    1 Kings 20

    Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

    The chapter

    What happens here

    Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

    A prophet asks to be struck, and the man who refuses is killed by a lion; the man who obeys only wounds him.

    The siege, and the drinking in the tentsvv. 1–22

    Ben-hadad brings an entire army, thirty-two kings, horses, and chariots against Samaria, then demands Ahab’s silver, gold, wives, and children. Ahab first agrees to everything, but draws the line when Ben-hadad announces a palace search. The reply about armour is sharper than the occasion strictly requires, and Ben-hadad receives it while drinking with the kings in their tents. A prophet tells Ahab that the great army will be delivered into his hand by 232 young officers. They march out at noon, while the opposing kings are getting drunk; the Arameans flee, Ben-hadad escapes on horseback, and the Israelites attack the horses and chariots. Then the prophet says the king of Aram will return in the spring.

    The plain, the wall, and the treatyvv. 23–34

    Ben-hadad’s servants decide that Israel’s God is a god of the hills and that the plain will be safer. The kings are dismissed, a new army is assembled, and the Arameans go up to Aphek in the spring. Israel’s army looks like two small flocks of goats beside the countryside-covering Arameans, but after seven days the battle leaves a hundred thousand foot soldiers dead. The survivors flee into Aphek, where the wall falls on twenty-seven thousand more, while Ben-hadad hides in an inner room. His servants put on sackcloth, ropes, and a hopeful argument about the mercy of the kings of the house of Israel. Ahab calls Ben-hadad his brother, brings him into his chariot, accepts an offer concerning cities and marketplaces, and releases him by treaty. The battlefield has produced, rather suddenly, a family arrangement.

    The bandage and the sentencevv. 35–43

    One of the sons of the prophets asks a companion to strike him. The companion refuses and is killed by a lion; another man strikes the prophet and wounds him. With a bandage over his eyes, the prophet waits for Ahab and tells him a story about a captive who disappeared while he was busy here and there. Ahab gives judgment on the story, and the prophet removes the bandage. Once recognized, he turns that judgment upon the king: Ahab has let slip the man devoted to destruction, and his own life will answer for it. Ahab goes home to Samaria sullen and angry, which is a notably less cheerful ending than the chariot ride suggested.

    The text

    Read it

    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. 1 Kgs 20:1Now Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army. Accompanied by thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots, he marched up, besieged Samaria, and waged war against it.

    2. 1 Kgs 20:2Then he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel,

    3. 1 Kgs 20:3saying, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘Your silver and gold are mine, and your best wives and children are mine!’”

    4. 1 Kgs 20:4And the king of Israel replied, “Just as you say, my lord the king: I am yours, along with all that I have.”

    5. 1 Kgs 20:5The messengers came back and said, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘I have sent to you to demand your silver, your gold, your wives, and your children.

    6. 1 Kgs 20:6But about this time tomorrow I will send my servants to search your palace and the houses of your servants. They will seize and carry away all that is precious to you.’”

    7. 1 Kgs 20:7Then the king of Israel summoned all the elders of the land and said, “Please take note and see that this man is looking for trouble, for when he demanded my wives, my children, my silver, and my gold, I did not deny him.”

    8. 1 Kgs 20:8And the elders and the people all said, “Do not listen to him or consent to his terms.”

    9. 1 Kgs 20:9So Ahab answered the messengers of Ben-hadad, “Tell my lord the king, ‘All that you demanded of your servant the first time I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’” So the messengers departed and relayed the message to Ben-hadad.

    10. 1 Kgs 20:10Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”

    11. 1 Kgs 20:11And the king of Israel replied, “Tell him: ‘The one putting on his armor should not boast like one taking it off.’”

    12. 1 Kgs 20:12Ben-hadad received this message while he and the kings were drinking in their tents, and he said to his servants, “Take your positions.” So they stationed themselves against the city.

    13. 1 Kgs 20:13Meanwhile a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Do you see this entire great army? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand this very day, and you will know that I am the LORD.’”

    14. 1 Kgs 20:14“By whom?” Ahab asked. And the prophet replied, “This is what the LORD says: ‘By the young officers of the district governors.’” “Who will start the battle?” asked Ahab. “You will,” answered the prophet.

    15. 1 Kgs 20:15So Ahab assembled the young officers of the district governors, and there were 232 men. And after them, he assembled the rest of the Israelite troops, 7,000 in all.

    16. 1 Kgs 20:16They marched out at noon while Ben-hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk.

    17. 1 Kgs 20:17And the young officers of the district governors marched out first. Now Ben-hadad had sent out scouts, who reported to him, “Men are marching out of Samaria.”

    18. 1 Kgs 20:18“If they have marched out in peace,” he said, “take them alive. Even if they have marched out for war, take them alive.”

    19. 1 Kgs 20:19Meanwhile, these young officers of the district governors marched out of the city, with the army behind them,

    20. 1 Kgs 20:20and each one struck down his opponent. So the Arameans fled, with the Israelites in pursuit. But Ben-hadad king of Aram escaped on horseback with the cavalry.

    21. 1 Kgs 20:21Then the king of Israel marched out and attacked the horses and chariots, inflicting a great slaughter on the Arameans.

    22. 1 Kgs 20:22Afterward, the prophet approached the king of Israel and said, “Go and strengthen your position, and take note what you must do, for in the spring the king of Aram will come up against you.”

    23. 1 Kgs 20:23Meanwhile, the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they prevailed over us. Instead, we should fight them on the plains; surely then we will prevail.

    24. 1 Kgs 20:24So do this: Dismiss all the kings from their positions and replace them with other officers.

    25. 1 Kgs 20:25And you must raise an army like the one you have lost—horse for horse and chariot for chariot—so we can fight the Israelites on the plain, where we will surely prevail.” And the king approved their plan and acted accordingly.

    26. 1 Kgs 20:26In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.

    27. 1 Kgs 20:27The Israelites also mobilized, gathered supplies, and marched out to meet them. The Israelites camped before them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside.

    28. 1 Kgs 20:28Then the man of God approached the king of Israel and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Arameans have said that the LORD is a god of the hills and not of the valleys, I will deliver all this great army into your hand. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

    29. 1 Kgs 20:29For seven days the armies camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle ensued, and the Israelites struck down the Arameans—a hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day.

    30. 1 Kgs 20:30The rest of them fled into the city of Aphek, where the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the remaining men. Ben-hadad also fled to the city and hid in an inner room.

    31. 1 Kgs 20:31Then the servants of Ben-hadad said to him, “Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. Let us go out to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.”

    32. 1 Kgs 20:32So with sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please spare my life.’” And the king answered, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”

    33. 1 Kgs 20:33Now the men were looking for a sign of hope, and they quickly grasped at this word and replied, “Yes, your brother Ben-hadad.” “Go and get him!” said the king. Then Ben-hadad came out, and Ahab had him come up into his chariot.

    34. 1 Kgs 20:34Ben-hadad said to him, “I will restore the cities my father took from your father; you may set up your own marketplaces in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” “By this treaty I release you,” Ahab replied. So he made a treaty with him and sent him away.

    35. 1 Kgs 20:35Meanwhile, by the word of the LORD, one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion, “Strike me, please!” But the man refused to strike him.

    36. 1 Kgs 20:36Then the prophet said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, as soon as you depart from me a lion will kill you.” And when he left, a lion found him and killed him.

    37. 1 Kgs 20:37Then the prophet found another man and said, “Strike me, please!” So the man struck him and wounded him,

    38. 1 Kgs 20:38and the prophet went and waited on the road for the king, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes.

    39. 1 Kgs 20:39As the king passed by, he cried out to the king: “Your servant had marched out into the middle of the battle, when suddenly a man came over with a captive and told me, ‘Guard this man! If he goes missing for any reason, your life will be exchanged for his life, or you will weigh out a talent of silver.’

    40. 1 Kgs 20:40But while your servant was busy here and there, the man disappeared.” And the king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be; you have pronounced it on yourself.”

    41. 1 Kgs 20:41Then the prophet quickly removed the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized him as one of the prophets.

    42. 1 Kgs 20:42And the prophet said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have let slip from your hand the man I had devoted to destruction, your life will be exchanged for his life, and your people for his people.’”

    43. 1 Kgs 20:43Sullen and angry, the king of Israel went home to Samaria.

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 335 passages were voted onto 39 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 281 Kings 20:13Meanwhile a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Do you see this entire great army? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand this very day, and you will know that I am the LORD.’”
    • 72 Kings 5:7When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!”
    • 131 Kings 20:28Then the man of God approached the king of Israel and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Arameans have said that the LORD is a god of the hills and not of the valleys, I will deliver all this great army into your hand. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
    • 11Proverbs 27:1Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
    • 222 Samuel 11:1In the spring, at the time when kings march out to war, David sent out Joab and his servants with the whole army of Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.
    • 341 Kings 15:20And Ben-hadad listened to King Asa and sent the commanders of his armies against the cities of Israel, conquering Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and the whole land of Naphtali, including the region of Chinnereth.
    • 421 Kings 22:31–37Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.”
    • 431 Kings 21:4So Ahab went to his palace, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had told him, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” He lay down on his bed, turned his face away, and refused to eat.
    • 11 Kings 15:18So Asa withdrew all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace. He entrusted it to his servants and sent them with this message to Ben-hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, the king of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus:
    • 101 Kings 19:2So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I have not made your life like the lives of those you killed!”
    • 121 Kings 16:9However, while Elah was in Tirzah getting drunk in the house of Arza the steward of his household there, Elah’s servant Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, conspired against him.
    • 221 Kings 20:26In the spring, Ben-hadad mobilized the Arameans and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.
    • 231 Kings 14:23They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree.
    • 262 Kings 13:17“Open the east window,” said Elisha. So he opened it and Elisha said, “Shoot!” So he shot. And Elisha declared: “This is the LORD’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram, for you shall strike the Arameans in Aphek until you have put an end to them.”
    • 302 Chronicles 18:24Micaiah replied, “You will soon see, on that day when you go and hide in an inner room.”
    • 301 Kings 22:25Micaiah replied, “You will soon see, on that day when you go and hide in an inner room.”

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