Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 20:25
And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, [and] surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.
25. and number thee an army ] Here we have a different verb from that in 15 and in 26, 27. Here the operation is one of numbering, making the force tally exactly in each arm with that which had been gathered in the previous year. The rendering of this verb by ‘number’ is an additional reason for changing ‘number’ to muster in the other places.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And number thee an army like the army that thou hast lost,…. Raise an army of an equal number, which they supposed he was able to do:
horse for horse and chariot for chariot; as many horses and chariots as he had before:
and we will fight against them in the plain; where they could make use of their horses and chariots to greater advantage than on hills and mountains, see Jud 1:19
and surely we shall be stronger than they; and beat them:
and he hearkened unto their voice, and did so; took their counsel, and prepared an army, and placed captains in it instead of kings.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
25. Like the army that thou hast lost Or, like the fallen army. Surely Syria must have been rich in soldiers and horses and chariots, to gather so soon another such army as Ben-hadad boasts of in 1Ki 20:10.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 20:25 And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, [and] surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.
Ver. 25. The army that thou hast lost. ] Heb., That was fallen. They who are fallen in the field are looked upon as lost. And yet Miles Cobelitz, a Christian soldier, sore wounded and all bloody, rising out of a heap of slain men after a great fight, stabbed to death Amurath, the great Turk, as he took a view of the dead bodies, which without number lay on heaps in the field. a And in that memorable fight betwixt the Dauphin of France and the Helvetians near Basle, Burchard Monk, a noble and valiant commander, vaunting of his victory, and putting up his helmet, that he might see what a slaughter had been made there that day, had his death wound given him by a half-dead Helvetian, who, getting up upon his knees, threw a stone at him, and hit him in the forehead. b
And we will flght against them in the plain.
a Turk. Hist, fol. 200.
b Lavat. in Pro 27:1 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
thou hast lost: Heb. was fallen
and surely: Psa 10:3