Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, “The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria will be enough for handfuls for all the people who follow me.”
Parallel Translations
-
Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, “The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria will be enough for handfuls for all the people who follow me.”
-
And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
-
And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said: 'The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.'
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to 1 Kings 20:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Kings 19:2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I don’t make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time!”
- Exodus 11:8 All these servants of yours will come down to me, and bow down themselves to me, saying, “Get out, with all the people who follow you;” and after that I will go out.’ ” He went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.
- Judges 4:10 Barak called Zebulun and Naphtali together to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him; and Deborah went up with him.
- 2 Samuel 17:12-13 So we will come on him in some place where he will be found, and we will light on him as the dew falls on the ground, then we will not leave so much as one of him and of all the men who are with him. Moreover, if he has gone into a city, then all Israel will bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there isn’t one small stone found there.”
- 2 Kings 19:23-24 By your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field. I have dug and drunk strange waters, and I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt with the sole of my feet.”
- Isaiah 10:13-14 For he has said, “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding. I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures. Like a valiant man I have brought down their rulers. My hand has found the riches of the peoples like a nest, and like one gathers eggs that are abandoned, I have gathered all the earth. There was no one who moved their wing, or that opened their mouth, or chirped.”
- Isaiah 37:24-25 By your servants, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon. I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees. I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field. I have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt.”
- Acts 23:12 When it was day, some of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (13 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Much less shall there be found any prey that…
Much less shall there be found any prey that is worth anything, when they shall be so many.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 1Ki 20:10 And Benhadad sent unto him, and said,…
1Ki 20:10 And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
Ver. 10. The gods do so to me, and more also.] Indictio belli plusquam Thrasonica. Such prodigious pride and presumption usually precedeth ruin. Thus Julian the apostate, going against the Persians, vowed at his return to sacrifice the blood of Christians. So the Constable of France vowed the destruction of Geneva, but God forbade it.
Read full note →
If the dust of Samaria.] We shall be able not only to reduce it to dust, but also to carry it away in our hands when we have so done; quanquam aurum quaerebant Syri, non arenam, although it was not dust they came for, but gold, silver, and all desirables. {1Ki 20:5-6}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain If I do not assault thy city with so…
If I do not assault thy city with so potent and numerous an army, that shall turn all thy city into a heap of dust, and shall be sufficient to carry it all away, though every soldier take but one handful of it: see the like boast 2Sa 17:13.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Benhadad sent unto him, and said,.... That is,…
And Benhadad sent unto him, and said,.... That is, to Ahab:
the gods do so unto me, and more also; bring greater evils upon me than I can think or express:
Read full note →
if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me, signifying that he made no doubt of it of reducing it to dust by numbers of men he should bring with him, which would be so many, that if each was to take an handful of dust of the ruins of Samaria, there would not enough for them all; which was an hectoring and parabolical speech, uttered in his wrath and fury.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain And said, &c. - If I do not assault…
And said, &c. - If I do not assault thy city with so numerous an army, as shall turn all thy city into an heap of dust, and shall be sufficient to carry it all away, though every soldier take but one handful of it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 10. If the dust of Samaria shall suffice]…
Verse 10. If the dust of Samaria shall suffice] This is variously understood. Jonathan translates thus: "If the dust of Shomeron shall be sufficient for the soles of the feet of the people that shall accompany me;" i.e., I shall bring such an army that there will scarcely be room for them to stand in Samaria and its vicinity.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain If the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls…
If the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls ... - In its general sense this phrase is undoubtedly a boast that the number of Ben-hadad’s troops was such as to make resistance vain and foolish. We may parallel it with the saying of the Trachinian at Thermopylae, that the Persian arrows would darken the light of the sun. Probably the exact meaning is, “When your town is reduced to ruins, as it will be if you resist, the entire heap will not suffice to furnish a handful of dust to each soldier of my army, so many are they.” There was a threat in the message as well as a boast.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Handfuls. Hebrew shohal. The Septuagint, read "shuhal" and render…
Handfuls. Hebrew shohal. The Septuagint, read "shuhal" and render it, "suffice for the foxes, for all the people, (even for) my infantry;" (Haydock) as if his forces were so numerous as to cover the whole land, and leave no room for even foxes to occupy. The hyperbole is equally great, supposing that his soldiers could by each taking a handful, or what might stick to his feet, (Chaldean) carry off all Samaria. Josephus intimates, that Benadad speaks of erecting terraces of equal height with the walls; others, that he would level the city with the ground, Ezechiel xxvi. 4. (Sanctius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 10. If the dust of Samaria shall suffice for…
10. If the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls — That is, I will bring such a host that all the dust of the city of Samaria will not be sufficient to give each soldier a handful. This threat involved the idea of reducing the entire city to dust and ashes. Some have incorrectly taken שׁעלים, handfuls, to mean soles of the feet, and have explained: The dust of Samaria will not be sufficient room for the soles of the feet of the multitude of soldiers. Josephus explains it that Ben-hadad threatened to bring so vast an army that, by only each man of his army taking a handful of earth, they would raise a mound higher than the walls of Samaria. But this has no support in the Scripture text.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 10. if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for…
10. if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me] i.e. I will bring such a host that if each man were but to take with him a handful of earth, Samaria would be all carried away. The boastful tone is quite of a piece with all Ben-hadad’s previous conduct.
The LXX. has read שֻׁעָלִים instead of שְׁעָלִים and so instead of ‘handfuls’ it gives ταο͂ς ἀλώπεξι = ‘for the foxes (or jackals).’ Josephus explains Ben-hadad’s threat to have meant, that the Syrian army, bringing each man his handful of earth, would make a mound against Samaria higher than the present walls. Thus contemptuously hinting at the ease with which he could overthrow the Israelitish fortifications. The original text is incapable of such a sense.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (10) The dust of Samaria—when razed to the ground.…
(10) The dust of Samaria—when razed to the ground. The phrase probably implies a threat of destruction, as well as a boast of overwhelming strength. Josephus (Ant. viii. 14, 2) has a curious explanation—that, if each of the Syrians took only a handful of dust, they could raise a mound against the city, higher than the walls of Samaria.
The historian, with a touch of patriotic scorn, paints Ben-hadad as a luxurious and insolent braggart. He receives the message at a feast, “drinking himself drunk,” and, stung by its tone of sarcasm, does not condescend to bestir himself, but orders his servants to an instant attack. The command is given, with a haughty brevity, in a single word (“Set”), which may be “Array troops,” or “Place engines,” as in the margin. The LXX. translates, “Build a stockade” (for attack on the walls).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said These words…
And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said These words would be quite superfluous, if the oaths of which we now hear were the "word" of ver. 9, The gods do so unto me, and more also, (see notes on 1Ki_2:23 1Ki_19:2) if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls The meaning of pugilli, is fixed by Isa_40:12, and Eze_13:19 for all the people that follow me. Heb. that are in my feet. Same expression Jud_1:4:16 5:15; 1Sa_25:27; 2Sa_15:17, etc. This thoroughly Oriental piece of bluster and boasting, which was intended, no doubt, to strike terror into the hearts of king and people, has been variously interpreted, but the meaning appears to be sufficiently clear. Ben-bahad vows that he will make Samaria a heap of dust, and at the same time affirms that so overwhelming is his host, that this dust will be insufficient to fill the hands of his soldiers. Rawlinson compares with it the well-known saying of the Trachinian to Dieneces, that the Median arrows would obscure the sun (Heb 7:226), but 2Sa_17:18 is still more apposite.
The gods do so to me,".etc. How often has the swearer to eat his words. The hero does; he never talks of what he will do. "Victory is to be achieved, not to be sworn." This vulgar fashion of calling upon God to do oneself some hurt thus appears to be of great antiquity. But it always proceeds from those who have very little belief in God at all. The profane swearer is practically an infidel, so far as the gods he invokes are concerned. An Italian workman was once reproved in a Roman studio for the oaths which he swore by the sacred name of Gesu. "Oh," said he boldly, "I"m not afraid of Him at all." Then, lowering his voice to a whisper, he added, "I"ll tell you what I"m afraid of: it is His blessed mother" He never swore by the Deity he believed in.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 20:10-11 Ben-hadad’s third delegation delivered an ultimatum: Surrender or…
20:10-11 Ben-hadad’s third delegation delivered an ultimatum: Surrender or die. His caustic threat to thoroughly plunder Samaria was reinforced with a curse, an example of the psychological warfare often practiced in the ancient Near East (see 2 Kgs 18:19-35). • Ahab’s third reply to Ben-hadad contained proverbial wisdom. The outcome of the conflict was not yet sealed.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.