Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, “Don’t fight with small nor great, except only with the king of Israel.”
When the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “Surely that is the king of Israel!” and they came over to fight against him. Jehoshaphat cried out. When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. A certain man drew his bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of the armor. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn your hand, and carry me out of the battle; for I am severely wounded.” The battle increased that day. The king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, and died at evening. The blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. A cry went throughout the army about the going down of the sun, saying, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!”
So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria. They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood where the prostitutes washed themselves; according to Yahweh’s word which he spoke.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv32, 34, 35, 36, 38 That is, to the Lord for help.
That is, to the Lord for help.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv31–38 1Ki 22:31 But the king of Syria commanded his…
1Ki 22:31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.
Ver. 31. But the king of Syria commanded.] This Ahab might haply have some inkling of, and therefore go disguised. Benhadad also might hear - for kings have their corycaei, their spies, in all places - that Micaiah had foretold Ahab of his death in this expedition.
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Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king.] Thus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his recent victor. Ill was the snake saved that requiteth the favour of his life with a bite. But God had a holy hand in it.
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 On vv31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38 His thirty and two captains that had rule over…
His thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots; and the men that fought from them, or with them, i.e. his whole army. Possibly the chariots and the whole army were distributed into thirty-two several parts, and each captain ruled those chariots and soldiers attending upon them, which fell to his share.
Save only with the king of Israel: this he ordered either in policy, truly supposing this to be the best way to put an end to the war; or with design to take him prisoner, that thereby he might wipe out the stain of his own captivity, and recover the honour and advantage which then he lost; or rather by the power and providence of God, which disposeth the hearts of kings as he pleaseth, and inclined them to this course, that they might, though ignorantly, accomplish his word and counsel.
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 On vv31–38 And the battle increased that day,.... It went on,…
And the battle increased that day,.... It went on, and did not stop upon Ahab's going out of the host, but was very hot, and both sides fought furiously:
and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians: the Targum is,
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"he strengthened himself, and stood;''
he exerted himself to the uttermost, and stood as long as he could, or could be supported, fighting against the Syrians, to animate his army, and that the Syrians might not have any notion of his being wounded:
and died at even: in his chariot:
and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot; or "bosom" (t) of it, the hollow part of it.
(t) "ad sinum", Montanus; "in sinum", Vatablus.
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 On vv31, 34, 37 Save only - This he ordered, truly supposing this…
Save only - This he ordered, truly supposing this to be the best way to put an end to the war: and by the providence of God, which disposeth the hearts of kings as he pleaseth; and inclined them to this course, that they might, though ignorantly, accomplish his counsel. Perhaps Ben-hadad only designed to have taken him prisoner, that he might now give him as honourable a treatment, as he had formerly received from him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv34, 35, 36, 38 Verse 34. Drew a bow at a venture] It…
Verse 34. Drew a bow at a venture] It is supposed that he shot, as the archers in general did, not aiming at any person in particular.
The word לתמו lethummo, which we translate in his simplicity, has been variously understood; in his integrity, his uprightness; in his perfection; i.e., to the utmost of his skill and strength. This is most probably the meaning; and may imply both aim and power, having his butt full in view. In cases where the archers wished to do the greatest execution, they bent their bows, and pulled till the subtending string drew back the arrow up to its head. This they could not do always, because it required their whole strength; and they could not put forth their utmost effort each time and continue to discharge many shots. Our old national ballad of the Chevy-chace mentions the slaying of Sir Hugh Montgomery, who had slain Earl Percy, in nearly the same way that Ahab appears to have been shot: -
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"And thus did both these nobles die,
Whose courage none could stain:
An English archer then perceived
His noble lord was slain,
Who had a bow bent in his hand
Made of a trusty tree;
An arrow, of a cloth-yard long,
Up to the head drew he;
Against Sir Hugh Montgomery then
So right his shaft he set,
The gray goose wing that was thereon
In his heart's blood was wet."
Between the joints of the harness] "Between the cuirass and the lower part of the helmet;" and then the arrow must pass through the neck, just above the breast: or "between the cuirass and the cuissarts;" and then the arrow must pass through the abdomen, or just where the armour of the thighs joins to that which covers the breast and belly.
The Vulgate has Inter pulmonem et stomachum; "Between the lungs and the stomach;" consequently, in the region of the heart.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv31, 32, 34, 35, 38 1Ki 22:31. Fight only with the king of Israel…
1Ki 22:31. Fight only with the king of Israel — This he ordered, truly supposing this to be the best way to put an end to the war; and by the providence of God, which disposeth the hearts of kings as he pleaseth, and which inclined them to this course, that they might, though ignorantly, accomplish his counsel. Perhaps Ben-hadad only designed to have taken him prisoner, that he might now give him as honourable a treatment as he had formerly received from him.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 38 Commanded - “Had commanded.” Ben-hadad delivers his order in…
Commanded - “Had commanded.” Ben-hadad delivers his order in the hyperbolical style common in the East. His meaning is, “Make it your chief object to kill or take the king of Israel.” Apparently, his own defeat and captivity were still rankling in his mind, and he wished to retaliate on Ahab, the humiliation which he considered himself to have suffered. He shows small appreciation of the generosity which had spared his life and restored him to his kingdom.
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 On vv31, 32, 34, 35, 38 Captains of, or mounted "on chariots." There would hardly…
Captains of, or mounted "on chariots." There would hardly be so many general officers over the chariots alone. The same number of kings had been in a former engagement, and they had been replaced by these captains, chap. xx. 24. (Calmet) --- Only. Not that the Syrians were to avoid hurting any body else, as they could not thus come at the king; (Salien) and we find one shot an arrow at the army of Israel; (ver. 34.; Haydock) but the main onset was to be directed against Achab, either to kill or to take him prisoner. (Menochius)
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 On vv31, 32, 34, 35, 38 31. His thirty and two captains — Whom he…
31. His thirty and two captains — Whom he had appointed in the room of the thirty-two vassal kings. 1Ki_20:1; 1Ki_20:24.
Fight… only with the king of Israel — This is the return which Ahab gets for his kindness in sparing Ben-hadad’s life. 1Ki_20:32.
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 On vv31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38 31. But [R.V. Now] the king of Syria commanded…
31. But [R.V. Now] the king of Syria commanded [R.V. had commanded] his thirty and two captains]. The changes are as usual to conform to 2 Chronicles. These thirty-two captains were most likely those who had been chosen to supply the places of the thirty-two kings that were removed in the campaign of three years before (1Ki_20:24).
that had rule over his chariots] R.V. of his chariots. For one word is rendered twice over, first ‘captains’ and then ‘that had rule.’ The command was given to these officers because they were in the front of the battle, the cavalry taking lead of the infantry.
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Fight neither with small nor great] The meaning of the order is, that they should let no engagement with other persons prevent them, any more than they could help, from singling out Ahab and attacking him. It was the single combat of chiefs, but there were 32, any one of whom might attack him. Josephus however says ‘though the battle lasted from day dawn till evening, they slew no one, according to the king’s command, seeking only to destroy Ahab, and not being able to find him.’
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 On vv31, 32, 34, 35, 38 (31)His thirty and two captains.—See 1Ki_20:16; 1Ki_20:24. The power…
(31)His thirty and two captains.—See 1Ki_20:16; 1Ki_20:24. The power of Syria had already recovered itself, and is directed with singular virulence against the person of the king who had unwisely spared it. Ahab is represented as the mover of the whole war, and as fighting bravely to the death.
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 On vv31–38 But the king of Syria commanded rather, had commanded.…
But the king of Syria commanded rather, had commanded. These words are of the nature of a parenthesis. "Now the king," etc. hW; xi is so rendered in 2Ch_18:30 his thirty and two captains mentioned in 1Ki_20:24. It does not follow, however (Wordsworth), that these very men had been spared by Ahab that had rule over his chariots Heb. chariotry. Another indication that the chariots were regarded as the most important arm of the Syrian service, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel. This Orientalism, translated into Western ideas, means, "Direct your weapons against the king." What Ahab had done to provoke such resentment is not quite clear. Rawlinson supposes that Ben-hadad"s "defeat and captivity were still rankling in his mind, and he wished to retaliate on Ahab the humiliation which he considered himself to have suffered." But it is impossible to see in Ahab"s generous conduct towards him a sufficient reason for the fierce hatred which these words disclose. It is much more probable that some affront had subsequently been offered to the Syrian monarch, possibly in the shape of the reproaches which Ahab may have addressed to him on account of his retention of Ramoth-Gilead, and the gross violation of the treaty of. 1Ki_20:34. It is also possible that he hoped that the death of Ahab would terminate the war. (Bahr)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv34, 37 A certain man drew a bow at a venture.
1Ki_22:34
A certain man drew a bow at a venture.
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Providence in accidents
I. The lords hand is concerned in those events which have the appearance of being wholly accidental, and of happening by chance or luck. The man who drew the bow by which the King of Israel received his death, drew it, as our text says, at a venture. He took no aim whatever. Men talk of chance, and luck, and fate, and accident, as if there was not a God that ruled the world. And some even pretend to think that it is doing a kind of dishonour to the Lord to suppose that He interferes in the events of life, beyond, perhaps, a mere general oversight or superintendence. But what says the Scripture? What says the Lord Himself of His own doings and appointments? He tells us that His hand is everywhere. He tells us that not a sparrow falleth to the ground without Him--that when the lot is cast into the lap, yet the whole disposal thereof is of Him.
II. God is true to his own threatenings. Look back into the former verses of this chapter, and you will find King Ahab was expressly warned of God that he should fall at Ramoth-Gilead, and that he should not return at all in peace. Men may encourage themselves in an evil matter; they may go on still in evil courses, with a most assured persuasion that their sins shall be unpunished; but true, nevertheless, is that word of the Lord which He hath spoken--The wages of sin is death. God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.
III. That there is no fencing ourselves against the stroke of God by any efforts or devices of our own. Ahab, seeming, as he did, to hold Gods threatenings cheap, yet had some apprehensions notwithstanding. He who made you can make His weapon to approach unto you, and that all self-defences are in vain! There is a spiritual arrow, very strong and sharp, which may be called the arrow of conviction, and which consists in the bringing home a sense of guilt and danger to the sinners conscience. Let us consider such a case as this--a case where the arrow of conviction has come home to a mans heart through the power of the Holy Ghost. The spiritual wound which this poor sinner has received is grievous. Blessed be God! it is not like that of Ahab, hopeless and incurable. There is balm in Gilead, and there is a Physician there. That very Lord who made the preaching of His law so sharp and piercing--who made the arrow of conviction strike so deep, can heal as well as wound. He hath provided in His gospel a cure for the transgression of His law. To bind up the broken-hearted, to provide a precious remedy for dying sinners, was the errand of the Son of God when He visited our world. (A. Roberts, M. A.)
A bow at a venture
I. Where all is venture men act as if all were certain. Strong probability is not certainty.
1. No parent is certain that his child shall live to need the education he gives it.
2. No working man is certain that he shall require the provision he has made for a rainy day.
3. No merchant is certain of reaching that wealth with honour for which he toils. Yet the parent, the working man, and the merchant act as reasonable and responsible agents. Still, we have no certainty as to the result of any act viewed apart from its moral element. Thus viewed, however, all is certainty.
II. Where all is certain men act as if all were venture.
1. As a man sows morally, so shall he also reap; not necessarily from his fellow-men, but from God, in the harvest field of his own soul, etc. Experience, etc.
2. The most wicked deed ever perpetrated was first a thought. The accumulative force of moral evil is a certainty. Yet men lust as if lust would never bring forth; and covet as if covetousness never issued in actual theft, etc.
3. The Gospel is a certainty alike in its promises and its threatenings.
III. Deduce some practical lessons.
1. Be not afraid to draw a bow at a venture for the sake of Christ.
2. Be careful of all bows at a venture which are not for Christs sake. (The Study.)
Venture in Christian work
There is one recent example, vouched for by Miss Pratt of the Bible School, Yokohama. During the Chino-Japanese war a trainload of soldiers was passing the village of Suzakawa, and one of them tossed a copy of the Japanese gospels into the open window of a house. Through that single book, the owner of the house and his whole family have become Christians. (T. H. Darlow.)
The joints of the harness.--
Joints of the harness
We have here suggested the strength and the weakness of our defensive spiritual armour. We do not now refer to what St. Paul meant by the whole armour of God, so much as to a humanly framed defensive system of rules and principles and habits which is necessary to protect us during this exposed earthly life.
I. We may arm ourselves against the world by placing restrictions upon our intercourse with its social life. If specially susceptible to worldly influences, we may wisely make it a rule to keep absolutely clear from all its pleasant things in which any temptation can lurk; or we may allow ourselves some degree of liberty, which, however, we restrict by some rule or clearly drawn line beyond which we will not go. This is good defensive armour, but it will not make us invulnerable. No formal, outward separation from the world can absolutely shut out the spirit of the world. The armour of our restrictions may keep out the world bodily, so to speak; but the very trust we place in such armour may open the way for some arrow from the bow of the archer.
II. We may arm ourselves against the worldly influences which touch us through our necessary intercourse with the world--as, for instance, in our business relations with men--by joining regularly in religious services and Christian work. In business hours our life is on the open ground, where we are exposed to every temptation. But in the sanctuary of God what can harm us? It is surely from the standpoint of the sanctuary that we get our true ideals of lifes duties and aims, and that all the weak things about us are seen. It is there that faith can see and realise Divine things most clearly, and heaven seems so near, and the things of earth so small and poor. But religious services and activities will not necessarily make us safe. The archer is subtle, and has many devices.
III. We may further defend ourselves by an armour of religious habits. There is great strength and protection in habits as distinguished from fitful, varying acts. Let us keep our armour of defence as perfect as we can. Do not undervalue it because it is dangerous to overvalue it. Let the sense of weakness make us humble and watchful. Let us remember that there are places, books, company, and habits which should be labelled dangerous. The wise man will not court danger, but will flea from it. (Thomas Wilde.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv31, 34, 35, 37 thirty-two captains
thirty-two captains
"32 captains" (See: Numbers)
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Do not attack unimportant or important soldiers
By mentioning both "unimportant" and "important soldiers," the king meant all soldiers. AT: "Do not attack any of the soldiers" (See: Merism)
It came about that
This phrase is used here to mark an important event in the story. If your language has a way for doing this, you could consider using it here.
translationWords
Aram
command
chariot
cry
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv34, 37 22:34-36 An Aramean soldier’s random shot fulfilled Micaiah’s prophecy…
22:34-36 An Aramean soldier’s random shot fulfilled Micaiah’s prophecy about Ahab’s death. Ancient armor discovered during excavations in the Near East suggests that the arrow would have found a small unprotected area between the breastplate and the metal platelets that comprised the lower armor. Although he was badly wounded, Ahab displayed courage by remaining propped up in his chariot throughout the course of the day’s battle before calling for retreat.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.