1 Kings 20:12

Ben-Hadad heard that message while he and the other rulers were drinking wine in their temporary shelters. He told his men to prepare to attack [MTY] the city. So his men did that.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

11King Ahab replied to the messengers, “Tell King Ben-Hadad that a soldier who is putting on his armor preparing to fight a battle [MTY] should not boast at that time; he should wait until after he wins the battle.”

13At that moment, a prophet came to King Ahab and said to him, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘ Do not be at all afraid of [RHQ] the large enemy army that you see! I will enable your army to defeat them today, and you will know that it is I, Yahweh, who have the power to do what I say that I will do.’”

Read all of 1 Kings 20

Cross References

1 Samuel 25:36When Abigail returned to Nabal, he was in his house, having a big celebration like kings have. He was very drunk and feeling very happy. So Abigail did not say anything to him that night about her meeting with David.

1 Kings 16:9A man named Zimri was one of Elah’s army officers. He commanded the drivers of half of Elah’s army’s ◄chariots/two-wheeled vehicles pulled by horses►. He made plans to kill Elah while Elah was in Tirzah, getting drunk at the house of a man named Arza. Arza was the man who took care of the things in the king’s palace.

Proverbs 31:4Lemuel, kings should not be constantly drinking wine or greatly desire to drink other strong/alcoholic drinks.

Daniel 5:2While he was drinking, he commanded that his servants bring to him the gold and silver cups that the previous king, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. He did that because he wanted himself and his officials, his wives, and even his ◄concubines/slave wives► to drink from them, making fun of the god that we Israelis worshiped.

Luke 21:34“But be on guard. Do not be getting drunk with carousing or let yourselves be distracted by worries concerning your lives [SYN] {or let worries concerning your lives [SYN] distract you}. If you do wrong things like those, you may be suddenly surprised by my return [MTY], like a trap suddenly catches an animal in it.

Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 20:2-12

Ben-hadad's Insolent Demand. ( b. c. 900.) 1 And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it. 2 And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Benhadad, 3 Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. 4 And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study 1 Kings 20:12