Commentaria in III Regum
Chapter 20. Synopsis of the Chapter
Benadad king of Syria besieges Samaria and Achab; but is smitten by him with God’s help. Whence, verse 23, saying that the God of Israel is the God of the mountains, he renews the war in the valley, in which again, under God’s guidance, he is routed; and being taken by Achab, he obtains pardon and life contrary to God’s command, verse 35. Achab is rebuked by a wounded prophet, and hears that he is in like manner to be wounded, nay slain, because he let go free Benadad, who was worthy of death.
1. Now Benadad the king of Syria gathered all his army, and thirty-two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and going up he fought against Samaria, and besieged it. 2. And sending messengers to Achab king of Israel into the city, 3. he said: Thus saith Benadad: Thy silver, and thy gold is mine; and thy wives, and thy best children are mine. 4. And the king of Israel answered: According to thy word, my lord O king, I am thine, and all that I have. 5. And the messengers returning said: Thus saith Benadad, who hath sent us to thee: Thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children thou shalt deliver to me. 6. Otherwise I will send my servants to thee tomorrow at this same hour, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants: and whatsoever pleaseth them, they shall take and carry away. 7. And the king of Israel called all the ancients of the land, and said: Mark, and see that he layeth snares for us: for he sent to me for my wives, and my sons, and my silver, and my gold; and I said not nay.
8. And all the ancients and all the people said to him: Hearken not to him, nor consent. 9. So he said to the messengers of Benadad: Tell my lord the king: All that thou didst send for to me thy servant at first, I will do: but this thing I may not do. 10. And the messengers returning, made their report to him. And he sent again, and said: Thus do the gods to me, and add still more, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for the hands of all the people that follow me. 11. And the king of Israel answering said: Tell him: Let not the girded boast himself as the ungirded. 12. And it came to pass, when Benadad heard this word, he was drinking, he and the kings with him, in the pavilions, and he said to his servants: Surround the city. And they surrounded it. 13. And behold a prophet coming to Achab king of Israel, said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold I will deliver them into thy hand this day, that thou mayest know that I am the Lord. 14. And Achab said: By whom? And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: By the servants of the princes of the provinces. And he said: Who shall begin the battle? And he said: Thou.
15. Then he numbered the servants of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred thirty-two: and after them he numbered the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand: 16. and they went out at noon. But Benadad was drinking and was drunk in his pavilion, and the thirty-two kings with him, who were come to help him. 17. And the servants of the princes of the provinces went out first. And Benadad sent: and they told him, saying: There are men come out of Samaria. 18. And he said: Whether they come for peace, take them alive: or whether they come to fight, take them alive. 19. So the servants of the princes of the provinces went out, and the rest of the army followed. 20. And each one slew the man that came against him; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them. And Benadad the king of Syria fled on horseback with his horsemen. 21. And the king of Israel going out, smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. 22. (And the prophet coming to the king of Israel, said to him: Go, and strengthen thyself, and know and see what thou art to do; for next year the king of Syria will come up against thee.) 23. But the servants of the king of Syria said to him: The gods of the mountains are their gods, therefore have they overcome us: but it is better that we fight against them in the plains, and we shall overcome them.
24. Do therefore this thing: Remove all the kings from thy army, and put captains in their stead; 25. and make up the number of soldiers that have fallen of thine, and horses according to the former horses, and chariots according to the chariots that thou hadst before: and we will fight against them in the plains, and thou shalt see that we shall overcome them. He believed their counsel, and did so. 26. So after the year was past, Benadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphec to fight against Israel. 27. And the children of Israel were mustered, and taking provisions went out to meet them, and camped over against them, as two little flocks of goats: but the Syrians filled the earth. (28. And a man of God coming up said to the king of Israel: Thus saith the Lord: Because the Syrians have said: The Lord is the God of the hills, but he is not the God of the valleys: I will deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.) 29. And they encamped one over against the other seven days: and on the seventh day the battle was fought: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
30. And they that remained fled into the city Aphec: and the wall fell upon the twenty-seven thousand men that were left. And Benadad fleeing, went into the city, into a chamber that was within a chamber. 31. And his servants said to him: Behold we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful: let us put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will save our lives. 32. So they girded their loins with sackcloth, and put ropes about their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said to him: Thy servant Benadad saith: Let my soul live, I beseech thee. And he said: If he be yet alive, he is my brother. 33. (And the men took it for a good sign, and made haste, and catching the word out of his mouth, they said: Thy brother Benadad. And he said to them: Go, and bring him to me. Then Benadad came out to him, and he lifted him up into his chariot. 34. And he said to him: The cities which my father took from thy father, I will restore: and make thee streets in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria, and I will make a league with thee and depart from thee. So he made a league, and let him go.