1 Kings 20:1

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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Ben-hadad	וּבֶן u.ven-	H1130	Ben-Hadad · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
king	מֶֽלֶךְ Me.lekh-	H4428	a king · noun, common masculine singular construct
Syria	אֲרָ֗ם 'a.Ram	H758	Aram or Syria · proper noun, a place name
gathered	קָבַץ֙ ka.Vatz	H6908	to grasp · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
host	חֵיל֔וֹ chei.Lo	H2428	probably a force · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
together	קָבַץ qâbats	H6908	to grasp
thirty	וּשְׁלֹשִׁ֨ים u.she.lo.Shim	H7970	thirty · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
two	וּשְׁנַ֥יִם u.she.Na.yim	H8147	two · conjunction + noun, common both genders dual absolute
kings	מֶ֛לֶךְ Me.lekh	H4428	a king · noun, common masculine singular absolute
horses	וְס֣וּס ve.Sus	H5483	a horse (as leaping) · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
chariots	וָרָ֑כֶב va.Ra.khev	H7393	a vehicle · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
up	וַיַּ֗עַל vai.Ya.'al	H5927	to ascend · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
besieged	וַיָּ֙צַר֙ vai.Ya.tzar	H6696	to cramp · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Samaria	שֹׁ֣מְר֔וֹן sho.me.Ron	H8111	Shomeron · proper noun, a place name
warred	וַיִּלָּ֖חֶם vai.yi.La.chem	H3898	to feed on · conjunction + verb, niphal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

1 Kings 15:18 Then Asa took all the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house, a…
1 Kings 15:20 So Ben-hadad hearkened unto king Asa, and sent the captains of the hosts which he had against the cities of Israel, and smote Ijon, and Dan,…
1 Kings 22:31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, sav…
Genesis 14:1-5 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;
Exodus 14:7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.
Leviticus 26:25 And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant: and when ye are gathered together within your cities, I wil…
Deuteronomy 20:1 When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for…
Deuteronomy 28:52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 20:1-11

Here is, I. The threatening descent which Ben-hadad made upon Ahab's kingdom, and the siege he laid to Samaria, his royal city, Kg1 20:1. What the ground of the quarrel was we are not told; covetousness and ambition were the principle, which would never want some pretence or other. David in his time had quite subdued the Syrians and made them tributaries to Israel, but Israel's apostasy from God makes them formidable again. Asa had tempted the Syrians to invade Israel once (Kg1 15:18-20), and now they did it of their own accord. It is dangerous bringing a foreign force into the country: posterity may pay dearly for it. Ben-hadad had with him thirty-two kings, who were either tributaries to h…

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Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 20:1

Ben-hadad - Several MSS., and some early printed editions, have Ben-hadar, or the son of Hadar, as the Septuagint. He is supposed to be the same whom Asa stirred up against the king of Israel, Kg1 15:18; or, as others, his son or grandson. Thirty and two kings - Tributary chieftains of Syria and the adjacent countries. In former times every town and city had its independent chieftain. Both the Septuagint and Josephus place this war after the history of Naboth.

John Gill on 1 Kings 20:1

And Benhadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together,.... This was Benhadad the second, the son of that Benhadad, to whom Asa sent to help him against Baasha, 1 Kings 15:18. and there were thirty and two kings with him; these were heads of families, so called, and at most governors of cities under Benhadad; petty princes, such as were in the land of Canaan in Joshua's time: and horses and chariots; how many is not said: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it; he went up with such an intent, but had not as yet done it in form; what moved him to it cannot be said precisely, whether an ambitious view of enlarging his dominions, or because the king of Israel paid…

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Keil & Delitzsch

Dictionary and topics

Ahab — Father’s brother. (1.) The son of Omri, whom he succeeded as the seventh king of Israel. His history is recorded in 1 Kings 16-22. His wife was Jezebel (q.v.), who exercised a very evil influence…
Aram — The son of Shem (Gen. 10:22); according to Gen. 22:21, a grandson of Nahor. In Matt. 1:3, 4, and Luke 3:33, this word is the Greek form of Ram, the father of Amminadab (1 Chr. 2:10). The word means…
Samaria — A watch-mountain or a watch-tower. In the heart of the mountains of Israel, a few miles north-west of Shechem, stands the “hill of Shomeron,” a solitary mountain, a great “mamelon.” It is an oblong…
Armies · Of different nations often confederated — Of different nations often confederated
Chariot · For war — For war
Chariots · Used in war by the: Syrians — Used in war by the: Syrians
Confederacies · .Of kings — .Of kings
Samaria, Ancient · Samaria the capital of: Besieged by Benhadad — Samaria the capital of: Besieged by Benhadad
Siege · .Samaria — .Samaria
Sieges · Mentioned in scripture: Samaria — Mentioned in scripture: Samaria
Syria · Benhadad king of, besieged Samaria — Benhadad king of, besieged Samaria

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 20:1-11

Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 20:1

John Gill on 1 Kings 20:1

Keil & Delitzsch

Dictionary and topics

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 20:1-11

Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 20:1

John Gill on 1 Kings 20:1

Keil & Delitzsch

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Kings 20:1