EasyEnglish Bible 2018
1 Kings 20:18
18Ben-Hadad commanded, ‘If they are coming to make peace with me, catch them alive. If they have come out to fight a battle, do the same thing.’
1 Kings 20:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive.
- New International Version (NIV)He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; if they have come out for war, take them alive.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)He said, "If they have come out for peace, take them alive. Or if they have come out for war, take them alive."
- New King James Version (NKJV)So he said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; and if they have come out for war, take them alive.”
Context of 1 Kings 20:18
16The soldiers marched out of Samaria at noon. Ben-Hadad and the 32 other kings were still drinking in their tents. They were drunk. 17The young soldiers of each region's officers went in front of the Israelite army. Ben-Hadad had sent men out to watch the Israelites. They told him, ‘Men are marching out from Samaria.’ Ben-Hadad commanded, ‘If they are coming to make peace with me, catch them alive. If they have come out to fight a battle, do the same thing.’ 19The Israelites marched out of the city as the young soldiers led the whole army. 20Each of the Israelite soldiers killed one of the enemy's soldiers. Then the Syrian soldiers ran away as the Israelites chased them. Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, rode away on his horse and he escaped. Some of his soldiers who rode on horses went with him.
Read all of 1 Kings 201 Kings 20:18 word by word
וַיֹּ֛אמֶר אִם־לְשָׁל֥וֹם יָצָ֖אוּ תִּפְשׂ֣וּם חַיִּ֑ים וְאִ֧ם לְמִלְחָמָ֛ה יָצָ֖אוּ חַיִּ֥ים תִּפְשֽׂוּם׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 Kings 20:18
- 2 Samuel 2:16As they fought, each man took hold of his enemy's head. And each man pushed his sword into his enemy's side. So they all fell down together and they were dead. So people called that place ‘The Field of Swords’. It is in Gibeon.
- Ecclesiastes 9:11I have seen another thing that happens here on the earth. The runner who runs fastest does not always win the race. The strongest soldiers do not always win the battle. Very wise people do not always have food to eat. Very clever people do not always become rich. People who have learned many things are not always successful. Yes, anything may happen to anyone at any time.
- Leviticus 26:8Five of you will run after 100 of them. And 100 of you will run after 1,000 enemies. You will kill all your enemies.
- Judges 7:20Then all three groups of Israelite soldiers made a noise with their trumpets that they held in the right hands. They broke their pots and they held their burning branches in their left hands. Then they shouted, ‘Fight for the Lord and for Gideon!’
- 1 Samuel 14:13Jonathan climbed up the rock wall on his hands and his feet. The young man climbed up behind him. Jonathan attacked and killed some of the Philistines. The young man followed behind Jonathan and killed more of them.
- 2 Kings 7:6The Lord God had caused the Syrian soldiers to hear the sound of horses, chariots and a very big army. So they said among themselves, ‘Listen! The king of Israel has paid the king of the Hittites and the king of Egypt to come here and attack us!’
- Psalms 33:16A great army will not save their king. A soldier does not stay alive because he is strong.
- Psalms 46:6Nations are shouting with anger! Kingdoms shake and fall. God calls in a loud voice, and even the earth melts!
- 1 Samuel 30:16So the Egyptian man took David to find the Amalekites. The men were sitting everywhere, all over the ground. They were having a party, eating and drinking. They were happy because they had taken so many things from the towns of the Philistines and from the people in Judah.
- 2 Kings 19:36So King Sennacherib of Assyria took his army away. He returned to Assyria and he lived in Nineveh.
Commentaries on 1 Kings 20:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18Take them alive - He was confident of victory. Do not slay them; bring them to me, they may give us some useful information.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 12-21Verses 12-21 The proud Syrians were beaten, and the despised Israelites were conquerors. The orders of the proud, drunken king disordered his troops, and prevented them from attacking the Israelites. Those that are most secure, are commonly least courageous. Ahab slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. God often makes one wicked man a scourge to another.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-34Two separate battles took place, one in Samaria (1 Kings 20:13–25) and another at Aphek (1 Kings 20:26–34). The writer shared similar details for both: advice before the battle (1 Kings 20:13–14, 23–25), conditions before the battle (1 Kings 20:15–16, 26–28), Israel's victory despite being outnumbered (1 Kings 20:17–21, 29–30), and advice after the battle (1 Kings 20:22, 31).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-2113-21. behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab--Though the king and people of Israel had highly offended Him, God had not utterly cast them off. He still cherished designs of mercy towards them, and here, though unasked, gave them a signal proof of His interest in them, by a prophet's animating announcement that the Lord would that day deliver the mighty hosts of the enemy into his hand by means of a small, feeble, inadequate band. Conformably to the…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Kings 20:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Kings 20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
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