New Living Translation
1 Kings 20:8
8“Don’t give in to any more demands,” all the elders and the people advised.
1 Kings 20:8 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent.
- New International Version (NIV)The elders and the people all answered, “Don’t listen to him or agree to his demands.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)And all the elders and all the people said to him, "Do not listen or consent."
- New King James Version (NKJV)And all the elders and all the people said to him, “Do not listen or consent.”
Context of 1 Kings 20:8
6But about this time tomorrow I will send my officials to search your palace and the homes of your officials. They will take away everything you consider valuable!’” 7Then Ahab summoned all the elders of the land and said to them, “Look how this man is stirring up trouble! I already agreed with his demand that I give him my wives and children and silver and gold.” “Don’t give in to any more demands,” all the elders and the people advised. 9So Ahab told the messengers from Ben-hadad, “Say this to my lord the king: ‘I will give you everything you asked for the first time, but I cannot accept this last demand of yours.’” So the messengers returned to Ben-hadad with that response. 10Then Ben-hadad sent this message to Ahab: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if there remains enough dust from Samaria to provide even a handful for each of my soldiers.”
Read all of 1 Kings 201 Kings 20:8 word by word
וַיֹּאמְר֥וּ אֵלָ֛יו כָּל־הַזְּקֵנִ֖ים וְכָל־הָעָ֑ם אַל־תִּשְׁמַ֖ע וְל֥וֹא תֹאבֶֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for 1 Kings 20:8
- 1 Kings 19:2So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”
- Acts 23:12The next morning a group of Jews got together and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
- 2 Samuel 17:12When we find David, we’ll fall on him like dew that falls on the ground. Then neither he nor any of his men will be left alive.
- 2 Kings 19:23By your messengers you have defied the Lord. You have said, ‘With my many chariots I have conquered the highest mountains— yes, the remotest peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypress trees. I have reached its farthest corners and explored its deepest forests.
- Isaiah 10:13He boasts, “By my own powerful arm I have done this. With my own shrewd wisdom I planned it. I have broken down the defenses of nations and carried off their treasures. I have knocked down their kings like a bull.
- Isaiah 37:24By your messengers you have defied the Lord. You have said, ‘With my many chariots I have conquered the highest mountains— yes, the remotest peaks of Lebanon. I have cut down its tallest cedars and its finest cypress trees. I have reached its farthest heights and explored its deepest forests.
- Exodus 11:8All the officials of Egypt will run to me and fall to the ground before me. ‘Please leave!’ they will beg. ‘Hurry! And take all your followers with you.’ Only then will I go!” Then, burning with anger, Moses left Pharaoh.
- Judges 4:10At Kedesh, Barak called together the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali, and 10,000 warriors went up with him. Deborah also went with him.
Commentaries on 1 Kings 20:8
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 8Hearken not unto him - The elders had every thing at stake, and they chose rather to make a desperate defense than tamely to yield to such degrading and ruinous conditions.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 8“The people” had no distinct place in the ordinary Jewish or Israelite constitution; but they were accustomed to signify their approbation or disapprobation of the decisions of the elders by acclamations or complaints (Joshua 9:18; Judges 11:11, etc.).Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7-9When Ben-hadad's second group made even bigger demands (see 1 Samuel 11:1–2), Ahab realized Ben-hadad wanted war. Ahab agreed to the first demand but refused the second. my lord the king: Ahab spoke to Ben-hadad politely, showing he was willing to accept the Aramean king's rule. He might have hoped his polite response would prevent a fight.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2-122-12. Thus said Ben-hadad, Thy silver and thy gold is mine--To this message sent him during the siege, Ahab returned a tame and submissive answer, probably thinking it meant no more than an exaction of tribute. But the demand was repeated with greater insolence; and yet, from the abject character of Ahab, there is reason to believe he would have yielded to this arrogant claim also, had not the voice of his subjects been raised against it. Ben-hadad's…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Kings 20:8
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
New Living Translation — © 1996, 2004, 2015 Tyndale House Foundation
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