1 Kings 20:27

And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
children	וּבְנֵ֣י u.ve.Nei	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֗ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
numbered	הָתְפָּקְדוּ֙ ha.te.pa.ke.Du	H6485	to visit (with friendly or hostile intent) · verb, perfect, 3rd person common plural
present	וְכָלְכְּל֔וּ ve.khal.ke.Lu	H3557	properly · conjunction + verb, pual perfect, 3rd person common plural
went	יָלַךְ yâlak	H3212	to walk (literally or figuratively)
against	קִרְאָה qirʼâh	H7125	an encountering
children	בְנֵֽי ve.nei-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
pitched	וַיַּחֲנ֨וּ vai.ya.cha.Nu	H2583	properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
two	כִּשְׁנֵי֙ kish.Nei	H8147	two · preposition + noun, common both genders dual construct
flocks	חֲשִׂפֵ֣י cha.si.Fei	H2835	properly · noun, common masculine plural construct
kids	עִזִּ֔ים 'i.Zim	H5795	a she-goat (as strong) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
Syrians	וַאֲרָ֖ם va.'a.Ram	H758	Aram or Syria · conjunction + proper noun, a place name
filled	מִלְא֥וּ mil.'U	H4390	to fill or (intransitively) be full of · verb, piel perfect, 3rd person common plural
country	הָאָֽרֶץ ha.'A.retz	H776	the earth (at large · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute

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

Judges 6:5 For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without…
1 Samuel 13:5-8 And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as th…
Deuteronomy 32:30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?
Joshua 1:11 Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in…
Judges 7:8 So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained thos…
1 Samuel 14:2 And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about s…
2 Chronicles 32:7-8 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more…
Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet r…

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

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 20:22-30

We have here an account of another successful campaign which Ahab, by divine aid, made against the Syrians, in which he gave them a greater defeat than in the former. Strange! Ahab idolatrous and yet victorious, a persecutor and yet a conqueror! God has wise and holy ends in suffering wicked men to prosper, and glorifies his own name thereby. I. Ahab is admonished by a prophet to prepare for another war, Kg1 20:22. It should seem, he was now secure, and looked but a little way before him. Those that are careless of their souls are often as careless of their outwards affairs; but the prophet (to whom God made known the following counsels of the Syrians) told him they would renew their attempt…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 20:27

like two little flocks of kids--Goats are never seen in large flocks, or scattered, like sheep; and hence the two small but compact divisions of the Israelite force are compared to goats, not sheep. Humanly speaking, that little handful of men would have been overpowered by numbers. But a prophet was sent to the small Israelite army to announce the victory, in order to convince the Syrians that the God of Israel was omnipotent everywhere, in the valley as well as on the hills. And, accordingly, after the two armies had pitched opposite each other for seven days, they came to an open battle. One hundred thousand Syrians lay dead on the field, while the fugitives took refuge in Aphek, and ther…

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Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 20:26

Ben-hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek - There were several towns of this name; see the notes on Jos 12:18. It is supposed that the town mentioned here was situated in Libanus, upon the river Adonis, between Heliopolis and Biblos.

John Gill on 1 Kings 20:27

And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present,.... The same as before; the two hundred and thirty two young men of the princes of the provinces, and 7000 of the people, not one was missing: and went against them; out of Samaria, towards Aphek: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids: being few and weak, the two hundred and thirty two young men in one body, and the 7000 in another: but the Syrians filled the country: with their men, their horses, and their chariots.

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…
Joash — Whom Jehovah bestowed. (1.) A contracted form of Jehoash, the father of Gideon (Judg. 6:11, 29; 8:13, 29, 32). (2.) One of the Benjamite archers who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chr. 12:3). (3.) One of…
Aphek · .Ben-hadad — .Ben-hadad
Goat, The · The young of: Kept in small flocks — The young of: Kept in small flocks
Israel, Prophecies Concerning · .Of — .Of
Self-Delusion · .Ahab — .Ahab
Syria · The Israelites: Insignificant before — The Israelites: Insignificant before

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).

1 Kings 20:27

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 20:22-30

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 20:27

Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 20:26

John Gill on 1 Kings 20:27

Dictionary and topics

1 Kings 20:27

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 20:22-30

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 20:27

Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 20:26

John Gill on 1 Kings 20:27

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Kings 20:27

Tyndale Open Study Notes on 1 Kings 20:27-30

Rashi on 1 Kings 20:27