Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 20:29
And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And [so] it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
29. seven days ] Perhaps there was some religious idea on the part of the Israelites connected with this time of waiting before they began the battle. After the promise of the man of God, the conflict would have a religious sanction and be entered on with confidence.
an hundred thousand footmen ] The number is very large, but Josephus gives the same. If it be correct, the slaughter can hardly have been effected in any other way but by a panic in which these troops cut and trampled down one another.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 29. Slew a hundred thousand footmen in one day.] This number is enormous; but the MSS. and versions give no various reading.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And they pitched one over against the other seven days,…. Very probably the Israelites pitched upon an hill, and the Syrians waited till they changed their position, not caring to fall upon them, though so very supernumerary to them, for the reason before given:
and so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; or they that made war drew nigh, as the Targum, and both sides engaged in battle:
and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians 100,000 footmen in one day; which was a prodigious slaughter to be made by so small an army; the hand of the Lord was visible in it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After seven days the battle was fought. The Israelites smote the Syrians, a hundred thousand men in one day; and when the rest fled to Aphek, into the city, the wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand men, , (Theodoret). The flying Syrians had probably some of them climbed the wall of the city to offer resistance to the Israelites in pursuit, and some of them sought to defend themselves by taking shelter behind it. And during the conflict, through the special interposition of God, the wall fell and buried the Syrians who were there. The cause of the fall is not given. Thenius assumes that it was undermined, in order to remove all idea of any miraculous working of the omnipotence of God. Benhadad himself fled into the city “room to room,” i.e., from one room to another (cf. 1Ki 22:25; 2Ch 18:24).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
29. A hundred thousand This number is in keeping with the immense numbers which are represented as following the king of Syria. Compare 1Ki 20:10; 1Ki 20:25 ; 1Ki 20:27.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 20:29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And [so] it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.
Ver. 29. And they pitched one over against the other. ] So did the Turks and Christians, under Baldwin, king of Jerusalem: for three months’ space they lay facing one another, and then both armies rose; the Christians fearing the multitude of the Turks, and the Turks the valour of the Christians: wherefore they returned without any notable thing done. a But these Israelites neither stayed so long, nor did so little; for after seven days’ waiting for the enemy’s onset, they fell on, and made a huge slaughter.
a Turk. Hist., 27.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
seven days: Jos 6:15, 1Sa 17:16, Psa 10:16
an hundred thousand: 2Sa 10:18, 2Ch 13:17, 2Ch 20:23-25, 2Ch 28:6, Isa 37:36
Reciprocal: 1Sa 30:17 – and there Isa 24:18 – he who fleeth Amo 5:19 – As if
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 20:29. They pitched one over against the other seven days It may seem strange that they should look one another in the face so long, without coming to any action; for the Syrians had so much advantage in their numbers, that one would have thought they would have immediately encompassed the Israelites, and have destroyed them all: but perhaps the Israelites continued all these days on the rising ground, and the Syrians did not dare to attack them till they came down into the plain. Israel slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day In all probability they surprised them by a sudden, unexpected attack; and God dismayed them, and struck such a terror into them, that they could make no resistance.