12<\/strong>. as he<\/em> was drinking<\/em> ] Ben-hadad was clearly full of confidence, and was giving a banquet to the allied princes in anticipation of the victory.<\/p>\n he and the kings<\/em> ] i.e. The thirty and two, mentioned in 1Ki 20:1<\/span>.<\/p>\n in the pavilions<\/em> ] The word is the same which is used for the temporary booths erected of branches of trees at the feast of Tabernacles. Doubtless the tents of Ben-hadad and his princes were of the like kind, for the erection of which material was not difficult to find.<\/p>\n Set<\/em> yourselves in array] As there is only the verb expressed here, it is possible to substitute as is done in the margin ‘the engines’ instead of the text. The word is used elsewhere with a noun ‘battering-rams’ after it (Eze 4:2<\/span>), but there is nothing in this passage to shew us whether the persons or the engines are referred to. Such elliptical phrases are common among words of command.<\/p>\n The LXX. has rendered ‘Build a stockade, and they set a stockade against the city.’<\/p>\n Pavilions – <\/B>Booths (Gen 33:17<\/span> margin; Lev 23:42<\/span>; Jon 4:5<\/span>). The term seems to be properly applied to a stationary booth or hut, as distinguished from a moveable tent. On military expeditions, and especially in the case of a siege, such huts were naturally constructed to shelter the king and his chief officers.<\/P> <\/p>\n Verse 12<\/span>. In the pavilions<\/B><\/I>] This word comes from papilio<\/I>, a butterfly<\/I>, because tents, when pitched or spread out, resembled such animals; partly because of the mode of their expansion<\/I>, and partly because of the manner in which they were painted<\/I>.<\/P> <\/P> Set yourselves in array.<\/B><\/I>] The original word, simu<\/I>, which we translate by this long periphrasis, is probably a military term for Begin the attack, Invest the city, Every man to his post<\/I>, or some such like expression.<\/P> <\/p>\n Set yourselves in array; <\/B>put yourselves and engines in order to make the assault. <\/P> <\/p>\n 12. as he was drinking, he and thekings in the pavilions<\/B>booths made of branches of trees andbrushwood; which were reared for kings in the camp, as they still arefor Turkish pashas or agas in their expeditions [KEIL].<\/P> Set yourselves inarray<\/B>Invest the city. <\/P> 1Ki20:13-20<\/span>. THE SYRIANSARE SLAIN.<\/P><\/p>\n And it came to pass, when Benhadad heard this message (as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions)<\/strong>,…. Though it was at noon, or before, 1Ki 20:16<\/span>, which shows that he and they were addicted to intemperance:<\/p>\n that he said unto his servants<\/strong>; some of the principal officers of his army:<\/p>\n set yourselves in array<\/strong>; prepare for battle, betake yourselves to your arms, invest the city at once, and place the engines against it to batter it down:<\/p>\n and they set themselves in array against the city<\/strong>; besieged it in form, at least prepared for it; for it seems after all that it was not properly done.<\/p>\n Ben-hadad’s Defeat.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 900.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 12 And it came to pass, when Benhadad<\/I> heard this message, as he was<\/I> drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array.<\/I> And they set themselves in array<\/I> against the city. 13 And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD<\/B>, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am<\/I> the LORD<\/B>. 14 And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD<\/B>, Even<\/I> by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou. 15 Then he numbered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty two: and after them he numbered all the people, even<\/I> all the children of Israel, being<\/I> seven thousand. 16 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was<\/I> drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him. 17 And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria. 18 And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive. 19 So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. 20 And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen. 21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.<\/P> The treaty between the besiegers and the besieged being broken off abruptly, we have here an account of the battle that ensued immediately.<\/P> I. The Syrians, the besiegers, had their directions from a drunken king, who gave orders over his cups, as he was drinking<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 12<\/span>), drinking himself drunk<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 16<\/span>) with the kings in the pavilions,<\/I> and this at noon. Drunkenness is a sin which armies and their officers have of old been addicted to. Say not thou then that the former days were, in this respect, better than these, though these are bad enough. Had he not been very secure he would not have sat to drink; and, had he not been intoxicated, he would not have been so very secure. Security and sensuality went together in the old world, and Sodom, Luke xvii. 26<\/span>, c. Ben-hadad’s drunkenness was the forerunner of his fall, as Belshazzar’s was, Dan v<\/span>. How could he prosper that preferred his pleasure before his business, and kept his kings to drink with him when they should have been at their respective posts to fight for him? In his drink, 1. He orders the town to be invested, the engines fixed, and every thing got ready for the making of a general attack (<i>v.<\/span> 12<\/span><\/U><\/span>), but stirs not from his drunken club to see it done. Woe unto thee, O land! when thy king is<\/I> such a child.<\/I> 2. When the besieged made a sally (and, by that time, he was far gone) he gave orders to take them alive (v.<\/I><\/span> 18<\/span>), not to kill them, which might have been done more easily and safely, but to seize them, which gave them an opportunity of killing the aggressors; so imprudent was he in the orders he gave, as well as unjust, in ordering them to be taken prisoners though they came for peace and to renew the treaty. Thus, as is usual, he drinks, and forgets the law, both the policies and the justice of war.<\/P> II. The Israelites, the besieged, had their directions from an inspired prophet, one of the prophets of the Lord, whom Ahab had hated and persecuted: And behold a prophet, even one, drew near to the king of Israel;<\/I> so it may be read, v.<\/I><\/span> 13<\/span>.<\/P> 1. Behold, and wonder, that God should send a prophet with a kind and gracious message to so wicked a prince as Ahab was; but he did it, (1.) For his people Israel’s sake, who, though wickedly degenerated, were the seed of Abraham his friend and Jacob his chosen, the children of the covenant, and not yet cast off. (2.) That he might magnify his mercy, in doing good to one so evil and unthankful, might either bring him to repentance or leave him the more inexcusable. (3.) That he might mortify the pride of Ben-hadad and check his insolence. Ahab’s idolatry shall be punished hereafter, but Ben-hadad’s haughtiness shall be chastised now; for God resists the proud, and is pleased to say that he fears the wrath of the enemy,<\/I>Deu 32:26<\/span>; Deu 32:27<\/span>. There was but one prophet perhaps to be had in Samaria, and he drew near with this message, intimating that he had been forced to keep at a distance. Ahab, in his prosperity, would not have borne the sight of him, but now he bids him welcome, when none of the prophets of the groves can give him any assistance. He enquired not for a prophet of the Lord, but God sent one to him unasked, for he waits to be gracious.<\/P> 2. Two things the prophet does:– (1.) He animates Ahab with an assurance of victory, which was more than all the elders of Israel could give him (v.<\/I><\/span> 8<\/span>), though they promised to stand by him. This prophet, who is not named (for he spoke in God’s name<\/I>), tells him from God that this very day the siege shall be raised, and the army of the Syrians routed, v.<\/I><\/span> 13<\/span>. When the prophet said, Thus saith the Lord,<\/I> we may suppose Ahab began to tremble, expecting a message of wrath; but he is revived when it proves a gracious one. He is informed what use he ought to make of this blessed turn of affairs: “Thou shalt know that I am Jehovah,<\/I> the sovereign Lord of all.” God’s foretelling a thing that was so very unlikely proved that it was his own doing. (2.) He instructs him what to do for the gaining of this victory. [1.] He must not stay till the enemy attacked him, but must sally out upon them and surprise them in their trenches. [2.] The persons employed must be the young men of the princes of the provinces,<\/I> the pages, the footmen, who were few in number, only 232, utterly unacquainted with war, and the unlikeliest men that could be thought of for such a bold attempt; yet these must do it, these weak and foolish things must be instruments of confounding the wise and strong, that, while Ben-hadad’s boasting is punished, Ahab’s may be prevented and precluded, and the excellency of the power may appear to be of God.<\/I> [3.] Ahab must himself so far testify his confidence in the word of God as to command in person, though, in the eye of reason, he exposed himself to the utmost danger by it. But it is fit that those who have the benefit of God’s promises should enter upon them. Yet, [4.] He is allowed to make use of what other forces he has at hand, to follow the blow, when these young men have broken the ice. All he had in Samaria, or within call, were but 7000 men, v.<\/I><\/span> 15<\/span>. It is observable that it is the same number with theirs that he not bowed the knee to Baal<\/I> (ch.<\/I><\/span> xix. 18<\/span>), though, it is likely, not the same men.<\/P> III. The issue was accordingly. The proud Syrians were beaten, and the poor despised Israelites were more than conquerors. The young men gave an alarm to the Syrians just at noon, at high dinner-time, supported by what little force they had, v.<\/I><\/span> 16<\/span>. Ben-hadad despised them at first (v.<\/I><\/span> 18<\/span>), but when they had, with unparalleled bravery and dexterity, slain every one his man,<\/I> and so put the army into disorder, that proud man durst not face them, but mounted immediately, drunk as he was, and made the best of his way, v.<\/I><\/span> 20<\/span>. See how God takes away the spirit of princes,<\/I> and makes himself terrible to the kings of the earth.<\/I> Now where are the silver and gold he demanded of Ahab? Where are the handfuls of Samaria’s dust? Those that are most secure are commonly least courageous. Ahab failed not to improve this advantage, but slew the Syrians with a great slaughter,<\/I> v.<\/span> 21<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. Note, God oftentimes makes one wicked man a scourge to another.<\/P> <\/p>\n 12<\/strong>. <\/strong> Pavilions <\/strong> War tents, covered either with canvass or with the boughs of trees.<\/p>\n 1Ki 20:12<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Set yourselves in array, <\/em><\/strong>&c.<\/strong> Draw near; and they drew near to the city. <\/em>Houbigant. <\/p>\n (12) And it came to pass, when Benhadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array . And they set themselves in array against the city.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n So the enemy, confident of victory, sets on with his legions on our poor nature.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n 1Ki 20:12 And it came to pass, when [Benhadad] heard this message, as he [was] drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set [yourselves in array]. And they set [themselves in array] against the city.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n Ver. 12. As he was drinking.<\/strong> ] Even unto drunkenness, 1Ki 20:16 which is none of the best counsellors. Drunkards are besotted and disabled: as a snuff of a candle in a socket drowned in the tallow yieldeth little or no light, but only a stench. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n He and the kings.<\/strong> ] Who were, likely, preferred by him to places of honour and trust in the army, according to their ability in drinking: like as Novellus surnamed. Tricongius – for that he could drink three bottles of wine together with one breath – was therefore made proconsul by Tiberius. Alexander, also inviting various of his lords to supper, provided a crown of one hundred and eighty pounds to be given to those that should drink most.<\/p>\n message = word. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), App-6, for the message contained. <\/p>\n pavilions = tents. <\/p>\n message: Heb. word <\/p>\n drinking: 1Ki 20:16, 1Ki 16:9, 1Sa 25:36, 2Sa 13:28, Pro 31:4, Pro 31:5, Dan 5:2, Dan 5:30, Luk 21:34, Eph 5:18 <\/p>\n pavilions: or, tents, That persons of regal dignity regaled themselves in this manner, we may learn from Dr. Chandler, who, when he went to visit the Aga of Suki, after his return from hawking, found him vexed and tired; and “a couch was prepared from him beneath a shed made against a cottage, and covered with green boughs to keep off the sun. He entered as we were standing by, and fell down on it to sleep, without taking any notice of us.” Jer 43:10 <\/p>\n Set yourselves in array, And they set: etc. or, Place the engines, And they placed engines <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Jdg 16:25 – their hearts 1Ch 19:19 – the servants<\/p>\n And it came to pass, when [Ben-hadad] heard this message, as he [was] drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set [yourselves in array]. And they set [themselves in array] against the city. 12. as he was drinking ] Ben-hadad was clearly full of confidence, and was giving … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 20:12”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"