TEXT [Commentary]
2. Ahab’s victory over Ben-hadad (20:13-22)
13 Then a certain prophet came to see King Ahab of Israel and told him, “This is what the LORD says: Do you see all these enemy forces? Today I will hand them all over to you. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”
14 Ahab asked, “How will he do it?”
And the prophet replied, “This is what the LORD says: The troops of the provincial commanders will do it.”
“Should we attack first?” Ahab asked.
“Yes,” the prophet answered.
15 So Ahab mustered the troops of the 232 provincial commanders. Then he called out the rest of the army of Israel, some 7,000 men. 16 About noontime, as Ben-hadad and the thirty-two allied kings were still in their tents drinking themselves into a stupor, 17 the troops of the provincial commanders marched out of the city as the first contingent.
As they approached, Ben-hadad’s scouts reported to him, “Some troops are coming from Samaria.”
18 “Take them alive,” Ben-hadad commanded, “whether they have come for peace or for war.”
19 But Ahab’s provincial commanders and the entire army had now come out to fight. 20 Each Israelite soldier killed his Aramean opponent, and suddenly the entire Aramean army panicked and fled. The Israelites chased them, but King Ben-hadad and a few of his charioteers escaped on horses. 21 However, the king of Israel destroyed the other horses and chariots and slaughtered the Arameans.
22 Afterward the prophet said to King Ahab, “Get ready for another attack. Begin making plans now, for the king of Aram will come back next spring.[*]”
NOTES
20:13 a certain prophet. Throughout this chapter, all the prophets are anonymous (in contrast to chs 17–19, 21–22). Prophets were the ones who normally initiated the kherem [TH2764, ZH3051] or “holy war” (see the commentary on 1:5-27).
20:14 troops of the provincial commanders. Lit., “by the youths of the commanders of the provinces”; although the term “youths” (ne‘arim [TH5288, ZH5853]) can be used for professional soldiers, probably a band of relatively untrained fighters is in view here (Cogan 2001:464-465).
20:16 About noontime. This was surely a time to be awake and alert!
thirty-two allied kings. For a discussion of who these 32 “kings” probably were, see the second note on 20:1.
drinking themselves into a stupor. For references to these infamous and ill-fated drinking bouts in 1 Kings, see note on 20:12.
20:20 escaped on horses. This is unusual because horses were normally employed only to pull chariots at this time in history (see the first note on 4:26).
20:22 next spring. This was the time “kings normally go out to war” (cf. 2 Sam 11:1), although winter battles were not unheard of (cf. Cogan 2001:466).
COMMENTARY [Text]
The arrival of a prophet often heralds God’s will to bless a king, and although the king will often not recognize this as a blessing (cf. Ahab in 18:17 and 21:20; Ahaz in Isa 7:1–8:10), King Ahab was wise enough (or desperate enough) to listen here willingly to the prophet. (This will not, however, be the case later on in the chapter.) Once again, a king is supposed to defer to the prophet when initiating holy war (cf. the note on 20:13). Longman and Reid (1995:57-60) point out that when a king turned against Yahweh, it was the prophet who then performed holy war (using Samuel and Elijah as examples [18:18-40; 1 Sam 15:10-35]). Although not mentioned by Longman and Reid, this category probably also applies to the actions of both prophets in the present chapter (see 20:13, 22, and especially 20:35-43). Kings have been and will be chastised for usurping the roles of prophet and priest, but they are probably to be chastised even more for not performing the role they should exercise most diligently: acting as the head of the army and protector of the state. So far, Ahab’s surprising victory does demonstrate that “he will know” that Yahweh is sovereign, but the overall campaign is far from over!