Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 20:42
And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of [thy] hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
42. a man ] R.V. the man. For the whole multitude, and of course the king above all, had been delivered into Ahab’s hand (see 1Ki 20:28), and the victory was to be an evidence that Jehovah had fought for Israel.
appointed to utter destruction ] R.V. devoted to destruction. This was the purpose for which Ben-hadad had been brought into Ahab’s hand. The literal rendering is ‘the man of my banning’, whom I have laid under a ban. It is used Isa 34:5 ‘the people of my curse’.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
A man whom I appointed to utter destruction – or to cherem, i. e., a man on whom My curse had been laid (Lev 27:28 note).
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 42. Thy life shall go for his life] This was fulfilled at the battle of Ramoth-gilead, where he was slain by the Syrians; see 1Kg 22:34-35.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Quest. What was the great sin of Ahab in this action for which God so severely punisheth him?
Answ. The great dishonour hereby done to God in suffering so horrid a blasphemer, 1Ki 20:23, to go unpunished, which was, contrary to an express law, Lev 24:16.
Object. What is this to Ben-hadad, seeing that law concerned Israelites only?
Answ. It reached both to them that were born in the land, and (as is there expressed) unto strangers that were among them, and in their power, which was Ben-hadads case; for God had delivered him into Ahabs hand for his blasphemy, as he promised to do, 1Ki 20:28, by which act of his providence, especially compared with that law, it was most evident that this man was appointed by God to destruction, as is here said. But Ahab was so far from punishing this blasphemer, that he doth not so much as rebuke him, but treats him like a friend and a brother; dismisseth him upon easy terms, and takes his word for the performance, and takes not the least care for the reparation of Gods honour, but only for the amplification of his own power.
Thy people for his people.
Quest. Why were the people punished for Ahabs sin?
Answ. 1. Because Ahab was punished in the loss of his people.
2. The people were punished for their own sins, which were many and great; though God took this occasion to inflict it.
3. The great injury and mischief was hereby done to his own people, who by this most foolish and wicked act were exposed to all those rapines and slaughters which Ben-hadad either did commit, or might have committed, against them afterwards; of which consequently Ahab was guilty. And it must be considered that all the Israelites were the Lords peculiar people; nor did their apostacy from God deprive God of his right; and the kings of Israel and Judah had these committed to them, in way of trust, to be governed and protected by them. And therefore Ahab for this gross breach of his trust was justly liable, though not to the censures of his people, yet to the hand of God, who was his King and Governor.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he said unto him, thus saith the Lord,…. He spake not his own sense, and in his own words, but in the name of the Lord, for which he had authority, that it might have the greater weight with Ahab:
because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction; meaning Benhadad; or “the man of my anathema or curse” w; cursed of God for his blasphemy of him, and devoted by him to ruin on that account; or “of my net” x, being by his providence brought into a net or noose at Aphek, out of which he could not have escaped, had not Ahab let him go:
therefore thy life shall go for his life; as it shortly did, and that by the hand of a Syrian soldier, 1Ki 22:34,
and thy people for his people; which was fulfilled by Hazael king of Syria, the sins of Israel rendering them deserving of the calamities they endured by his means, see 2Ki 8:12.
w “vir anathematis mei”, Montanus, Piscator. x “Vir retis mei”; so some in Vatablus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(42) A man whom I appointedproperly, a man under my curse. The rash action of Ahab, like the deliberate disobedience of Saul (1 Samuel 15), may have been due partly to compassion, partly to weakness. In either case it had no right to stand unauthorised between Gods judgment and him on whom it was pronounced; for even soft-heartedness, as in the case of Eli, may be treason to the cause of righteousness. The prophet (like Elisha, in 2Ki. 13:19) speaks partly as a patriot, jealousand, as the event proved, with a sagacious jealousyof the lenity which left the deadly enemy of Israel unsubdued; but he speaks also as the representative of Gods stern and righteous judgment. which Ahab, after signal deliverance, had treated as of no account. (For the fulfilment of his words, see 1Ki. 22:34-36.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
42. A man whom I appointed to utter destruction Literally, the man of my curse: that is, Ben-hadad, whom God had in judgment devoted to destruction. Compare Lev 27:29.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 20:42. Thus saith the Lord, because thou hast let go, &c. The offence which God threatens to punish thus severely in Ahab, consisted in his suffering such a blasphemer as Ben-hadad to go unpunished, which was contrary to an express law, Lev 24:16. If it should be urged, that this was nothing to Ben-hadad, since the law concerned the Israelites only, the reply is, that this law extended not to those only who were born in the land, but, as it is there expressed, to strangers likewise, who were among them and in their power, as Ben-hadad certainly was. God had delivered him into Ahab’s hand for his blasphemy, as he had promised, 1Ki 20:28 and therefore this act of providence, compared with the law, did plainly intimate that he was appointed by God for destruction. But so far is Ahab from punishing him as he deserved, that he treats him like a friend and brother, dismisses him upon easy terms, and takes his bare word for the performance, without the least care about the reparation of God’s honour. See Patrick and Poole.
REFLECTIONS.1st, We have here,
1. Samaria besieged by Ben-hadad king of Syria, with thirty-two tributary or confederate kings under him: and sin had so weakened Israel’s hands, that they met with no resistance in their way even to the capital. Note; They who provoke God to leave them, are defenceless indeed.
2. As ambition and covetousness dictated the invasion, swoln with insolence and pride on his success, he sends Ahab a haughty message as his vassal, and bids him submit and surrender his all without reserve. Note; Success makes vain minds insolent.
3. Ahab, whose coward heart dared not oppose the haughty conqueror, and whole guilt forbad him to hope for help in God, tamely submits to purchase his peace at this ignominious price.
4. Ben-hadad, grown more insolent on his submission, and now concluding his affairs desperate, rises in his demands. Not content with his treasures, or his vassalage, he requires that his servants may search his house, and the houses of his great men, and plunder them of every thing that is valuable, and expects his answer by the morrow. Note; (1.) There is no satisfying a covetous mind. (2.) Mean spirits delight to tyrannize over those who they think dare not resist them.
5. Roused by so unreasonable a demand, Ahab summons his council, and exposes to them the concessions he had offered, and the fresh demands imposed on him. They encourage him to stand out, and promise to support him; on which the messengers are dismissed with a denial, yet couched in such terms as might least offend; and with a proposal to ratify the former offer.
6. Enraged at his refusal, Ben-hadad swears by his gods to beat Samaria into dust, and to bring such an host into the field that there shall not be enough for each to take a handful. Note; (1.) The greatest talkers are not the greatest doers. (2.) The threats of pride are often impotent and vain.
7. Ahab wisely admonishes him of the uncertainty of war, and that the most confident are not always the most successful. Note; As long as we are in the flesh, it becometh us with fear and trembling to work out our salvation: when we shall put off the body in the grave, then we may shout for victory.
2nd, The treaty being broken off, each side prepares for war.
1. Ben-hadad commands the city to be invested, or preparation made for an assault; though himself took no care to superintend the attack, but sat at noon-day drinking himself drunk with the kings in his pavilion, unapprehensive of danger, and by his ill example rendering them as negligent and debauched as himself. Note; Those who feel themselves most secure, are often nearest the precipice of ruin.
2. In Ahab’s distress, unworthy as he is of such a mercy, yet for Israel’s sake, God interposes, and sends his prophet, with encouragement to him, and assurance of victory that very day, that he may be convinced that God is the Lord, the true Jehovah. On his inquiry how, or by whom, his deliverance should be wrought, he is commanded to draw out the young men of the princes of the provinces. Ahab obeys, numbers the young men, no more than 232, and after them 7000, probably such as offered to second them; a most unequal force against such an enemy: but God’s promise is better than the most numerous host; and these despicable forces best suited to abase the pride of the insolent king. Note; (1.) God shews the wicked many mercies, to work upon them to repent, or leave them inexcusable. (2.) We must obey God in the use of means, however inadequate they may appear, and trust him for the event.
3. Ahab, according to the divine command, sallies forth at noon, with his little force, whilst Ben-hadad was drunk in his tent; and on news being brought him of the appearance of some troops, despising their numbers, he commands, whether they came for peace or war, to take them prisoners: but when the Syrians advanced to seize them, the Israelites caught each his man, and slew them, which wrought such a panic in the host, that they instantly fled; while the rest of the forces follow now under the king, and obtain a complete victory. Note; (1.) Those who walk in pride, God is able to abase. (2.) The weakest instruments are effectual in God’s hands.
3rdly, Ahab, triumphant, little thought that the storm was gathering afresh, and promised himself no farther disturbance. But,
1. God warns him, by a prophet, of the preparations making against him, and bids him prepare for another campaign; for, though the former victory was not atchieved by human strength, he must not tempt God by neglecting to use his best endeavours. Note; (1.) We are apt to flatter ourselves that the danger is over, when the present trial is overcome; and not to be aware, how restless are our spiritual foes, and that earth and hell will not let us be quiet long. (2.) Though God only can enable us to overcome, we must labour as earnestly as if the success depended on ourselves.
2. Ben-hadad is encouraged by his servants to raise another army, to retrieve his lost honour. They suggest to him, that Israel’s God was only mighty in the hills, but in the valley they had nothing to fear from him, according to their false notions of topical deities.
3. With unequal forces the two armies take the field. The Syrians like locusts covered the country; whilst the two little bands of Israel, not a man of whom was lost in the last encounter, appeared as few and weak as two little flocks of kids. But one advantage they had which overbalanced all; God was for them. His prophet assures them of victory, though they deserved it not, to make the Syrians know that the God of Israel is every where omnipotent and irresistible. Note; As unequally matched does the church of God and every believer in it appear amidst their spiritual foes; but God is with them, therefore they are more than conquerors.
4. The issue confirms the prophet’s word. Seven days they encamped near each other; on the seventh, after this encouragement, Ahab dared join in the unequal conflict, and prevailed. One hundred thousand Syrians fell that day; and when the shattered remains of the army took refuge under the walls of Aphek, an earthquake, or whirlwind, threw down the wall upon twenty-seven thousand men, and slew, wounded, or dispersed them.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 351
AHABS SIN IN SPARING BENHADAD
1Ki 20:42. And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
IN every page of the Holy Scriptures we are reminded, that the Lord disposeth of all events according to his sovereign will, whilst at the same time he suits his dispensations to the conduct of mankind. Between the parties spoken of in our text there was little difference with respect to their desert before God: Ahab was an idolatrous Israelite; and Benhadad was a proud atheistical heathen. God appointed them, as his instruments, to punish each other: his primary purpose indeed was to destroy the heathen prince, and to rescue from his tyranny the king of Israel. For this end, God left Benhadad to follow the dictates of his own proud spirit, and gave to Ahab the directions and encouragements that were necessary to ensure success. But Ahab neglected to execute the commands of God; and then God reversed his sentence, and denounced against Ahab and his people, the destruction that had been designed for Benhadad and his people. This is told us in the words which we have read; and which will serve to shew us,
I.
The power which God will exercise towards us
Great has been the temporal deliverance [Note: Preached a few days after Buonapartes return to Paris, from his invasion of Russia (1812), after the destruction of his army, and just previous to its utter annihilation.] recently vouchsafed unto us
[What has been done for our northern allies, has in reality been done for us. And, behold what a wonderful deliverance that is which the official reports announce to us! The resemblance between it and the facts recorded in the chapter before us is so striking, that, notwithstanding we do not in general approve of minute statements of this kind in a public discourse, we cannot forbear to point it out to you.
Behold then the origin of the contest between Benhadad and the king of Israel; the war was altogether unprovoked on the part of Ahab, and proceeded from the insufferable pride and tyranny of the Syrian monarch. Behold his boastings, whilst yet he was only girding on his armour: yet, notwithstanding his confederate armies were so numerous, he was vanquished by a little band of princes, whose efforts he utterly despised: and this proud boaster fled away on horseback from the field of battle, whilst his army was defeated with great slaughter. Mortified beyond measure, but not humbled, he determines to collect another army, numerous as the first, and to effect the destruction of his victorious enemy. At the return of the year he renews his attempts; but, notwithstanding the immense disproportion of the contending armies, he is again defeated with the loss of a hundred thousand men; and God completes his destruction by causing the walls of Aphek to fall, and bury in their ruins twenty-seven thousand more of those who had escaped the edge of the sword. Thus was this tyrannical oppressor constrained at last to hide himself in an inner chamber, and to become a suppliant for his own life.
Behold the parallel. The proudest and most tyrannical oppressor that has appeared in modern ages, invaded Russia for no other reason than because she would not be subservient to his will, and aid his ambitious designs. He went at the head of an immense army of confederate princes; boasting that no power could withstand him: but through the merciful intervention of Providence he has been vanquished, and that too by men whom he had despised as incapable of standing before a single regiment of his warriors; and he himself fled on horseback from the field of battle, and hastened back in disguise to his own country, leaving his whole army to be a prey to the sword of the avenger, and to the elements, which have left scarcely any remaining to record the history of their disasters. This man however is now boasting, like Benhadad, that he will with the returning spring replace his armies, and renew his assaults. He pours the same contempt on God that the Syrian monarch did. Benhadad indeed did acknowledge his defeat to have proceeded from a superior Being, though he limited his power to the hills, and thought to overcome him in the plains: but this atheistical ruler discards God entirely, and talks of nothing but fate and fortune. What shall be the issue of his future attempts, God alone knows: but we think it highly probable, that he is working out his own destruction as Benhadad did.
We cannot fail of acknowledging the interposition of Heaven in the history of Benhadad: let us be willing also most thankfully to acknowledge it in the events which we have just recited.]
Great also is the spiritual deliverance which God will vouchsafe to all who look unto him
[The power of our spiritual enemies is infinitely more disproportionate to ours, than that of Benhadad to the king of Israel [Note: Eph 6:12.] But God has instructed us how to overcome them, and will enable us to do it [Note: Eph 6:13-18.] No enemy shall prevail against us, if only we rely on him, and follow his directions [Note: Isa 54:17; Rom 8:31-39.] His people in every age have been made victorious [Note: Heb 11:32-34.] and we also, if we fight manfully under the banners of the cross, shall have Satan himself shortly bruised under our feet ]
In this connexion it is highly requisite to contemplate,
II.
The fidelity we should exercise for him
God punished Ahab for not executing faithfully the work assigned him
[As Agag, king of Amalek, had formerly been delivered into the hands of Saul in order to his destruction, so was now Benhadad into the hands of Ahab. But Ahab, elated with vanity, spared the captive monarch, and restored him to his throne; and thus brought upon himself and upon his own people the destruction which was primarily intended for their Syrian enemies.
The way in which this sentence was denounced against him was very remarkable. A prophet was required to personate a wounded soldier, and by a well-contrived parable to get Ahab to condemn himself. The artifice succeeded; and Ahab did unwittingly condemn himself, and thereby justify God in executing upon him the sentence which he had passed upon the supposed offender. And it was but about three years afterwards that Ahab himself was slain in battle with the Syrian monarch, whom he had so inconsiderately spared.]
And shall not we be called to account for the manner in which we execute his commands in relation to our spiritual enemies?
[As to what may be Gods will in reference to our great temporal foe, we presume not to judge: and where an express revelation is wanting, we must be guided by justice and political expediency. But respecting our spiritual enemies we have no doubt. He requires them all to be slain without exception: not one is to be spared. The great master-sin, whatever it be, the sin that most easily besets us, must be the object of our more determined hostility [Note: Heb 12:1.]. If one sin be spared, our life must go for the life of that: if it be dear as a right eye, or necessary as a right hand, we have no alternative, but to destroy it utterly, or to perish eternally in hell fire [Note: See how frequently this awful truth is repeated, and this terrific language used, in Mar 9:43-48.] Shall we then rest content with any victory, whilst so much as one lust remains to be mortified and subdued? ]
address,
1.
The proud and presumptuous
[Let not any imagine it an easy thing to get to heaven: our foes are exceeding numerous and powerful; and the more secure we are in our own conceit, the more certain we are to be subdued before them Let us not be high-minded, but fear.]
2.
The timid and desponding
[Our weakness, though a reason for crying mightily to God for aid, is no reason for despondency. When we are weak, then are we strong, because God will then interpose to perfect his own strength in our weakness. If, as we are told, a worm shall thresh the mountains [Note: Isa 41:14-15.], then need not any man fear, if only he go forth in Jehovahs strength, and follow the directions which God has given him. The language of the feeblest saint should be, Who art thou, thou great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain [Note: Zec 4:7.].]
3.
The humble and victorious
[Some there are who, though crying occasionally, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me? are yet able to add with joy, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, many there are who can say, Thanks be to God, who always causeth us to triumph in Christ! Let them therefore be more and more joyful and confident in their God. But let none ever forget, that their enemies, however often repulsed, are watching for opportunities to renew their assaults. Whilst we are in this world we must not for a moment lay aside our armour, or intermit our exertions. Soon the period of final victory shall arrive; and then shall we be invested with that glorious kingdom which God has promised to all that overcome [Note: Rev 3:21.].]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
1Ki 20:42 And he said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of [thy] hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
Ver. 42. A man whom I had appointed to utter destruction. ] Heb., A man of mine accursing; such as was the king of Jericho, and his people, and afterwards Agag king of Amalek. 1Sa 15:33 He had vilified and blasphemed the God of Israel, 1Ki 20:28 and was therefore devoted to destruction. So was Julian the apostate, Chosroes king of Persia, Lucian the athiest, devoured by dogs, &c.
Therefore thy life shall go for his life.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Because: 1Ki 20:34, 1Ki 22:31-37, 1Sa 15:9-11
thy life shall go: 1Ki 22:31-37, 2Ki 6:24, 2Ki 8:12, 2Ch 18:33, 2Ch 18:34
Reciprocal: Lev 20:4 – and kill Num 31:14 – wroth Jos 6:21 – utterly 1Sa 28:18 – obeyedst 1Ki 14:6 – for I am 1Ki 19:10 – I only 1Ki 20:32 – he is my brother 1Ki 20:39 – thy life 1Ki 22:8 – yet one man 1Ki 22:23 – and the Lord 1Ki 22:35 – died at even 2Ki 10:30 – according to all that 2Ch 18:7 – I hate him 2Ch 18:30 – Fight ye 2Ch 28:9 – he went out Pro 19:3 – foolishness Pro 28:4 – but Pro 29:1 – General Jer 48:10 – Cursed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 20:42. Thus saith the Lord, Because, &c. What was the great sin of Ahab in this action, for which God so severely punished him? The great dishonour hereby done to God, in suffering so horrid a blasphemer to go unpunished, which was contrary to an express law, Lev 24:16. And God had delivered him into Ahabs hand, for his blasphemy, as he promised to do, (1Ki 20:28,) by which act of his providence, compared with that law, it was most evident that this man was appointed by God to destruction. But Ahab was so far from punishing this blasphemer, that he did not so much as rebuke him, but dismissed him upon easy terms, and took not the least care for the reparation of Gods honour. And the people were punished for their own sins, which were many and great; though God took this occasion to inflict the punishment. The former part of this decree of God, Thy life shall go for his life, was fulfilled three years after, when Ahab was killed in a battle against the Syrians, 1Ki 22:1-40. But the latter, And thy people for his people, was deferred till the reign of Hazael, who fulfilled it by the wars he had with the Israelites, and the slaughter he made of them, 2Ki 10:32-33.