Why does the prophet condemn Achab after he defeats Benadad twice?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

Achab makes a league with Benadad and lets him go. The prophet says the Lord condemns him for releasing a man worthy of death: Achab’s life will be for that man’s life, and his people for that man’s people.

Chapter breakdown

Benadad, king of Syria, gathers his whole host, with thirty-two kings, horses and chariots. He goes up against Samaria, fights against it and besieges it. He sends messengers into the city to Achab, king of Israel, claiming Achab’s silver, gold, wives and goodliest children as his own. Achab answers that, according to Benadad’s word, he and all he has belong to him. He addresses Benadad as his lord and king.

The messengers return with a demand to deliver up the silver, gold, wives and children. Benadad says he will send his servants tomorrow at the same hour to search Achab’s house and his servants’ houses, taking away whatever pleases them. Achab calls all the ancients of the land and tells them to mark and see the snares Benadad lays for them. He says he did not refuse the earlier demand for his wives, children, silver and gold. All the ancients and all the people tell him not to hearken or consent.

Achab tells the messengers to report that he will do all Benadad first asked of him, but cannot do this further thing. The returning messengers bring Benadad that answer. Benadad sends again, calling punishment from the gods on himself, and more besides, if Samaria’s dust will suffice for handfuls for all his followers. Achab answers with the warning, “Let not the girded boast himself as the ungirded.”

Challoner’s separate note explains the proverb: a man should not boast before victory. The time to glory is when he takes off his armour after overcoming his adversary.

Benadad hears the answer while he and the kings are drinking in pavilions. He orders his servants to beset the city, and they do. A prophet comes to Achab with the Lord’s word: the Lord will deliver this exceedingly great multitude into his hand that day so that he may know the Lord. Achab asks by whom this will happen. The answer is by the servants of the princes of the provinces. When Achab asks who will begin to fight, the answer is that he will. He musters 232 of those servants, then the people, all the children of Israel, numbering seven thousand.

They go out at noon while Benadad is drinking himself drunk in his pavilion with the thirty-two kings who have come to help him. The servants of the princes of the provinces go out first. Benadad sends and receives word that men have come out of Samaria. He orders them taken alive whether they come for peace or to fight. The servants go out and the rest of the army follows. Each kills the man who comes against him; the Syrians flee and Israel pursues. Benadad escapes on horseback with his horsemen. The king of Israel goes out, overthrows the horses and chariots, and kills the Syrians in a great slaughter.

A prophet tells the king of Israel to go, strengthen himself, and know and see what he does, because Syria’s king will come against him the next year. The Syrian king’s servants say Israel’s gods are gods of the hills and that this explains Israel’s victory. They advise fighting in the plains, where they say they will win. They also tell Benadad to remove all the kings from the army and replace them with captains, and to replace the slain soldiers, horses and chariots to match the former numbers. They again promise victory in the plains. Benadad believes their counsel and does so.

At the return of the year, Benadad musters the Syrians and goes to Aphec to fight Israel. Israel’s children are mustered, take provisions and go out on the other side. They camp opposite the Syrians like two little flocks of goats, while the Syrians fill the land. A man of God comes to Israel’s king with the Lord’s word: because the Syrians have said the Lord is God of the hills but not of the valleys, he will deliver this whole great multitude into the king’s hand, and they will know that he is the Lord.

Both armies stand in array against each other for seven days. On the seventh day they fight, and Israel’s children kill one hundred thousand Syrian footmen in one day. Those remaining flee into Aphec, where the wall falls on twenty-seven thousand men who are left. Benadad flees into the city, into a chamber within a chamber.

Benadad’s servants say they have heard that the kings of Israel’s house are merciful. They propose putting sackcloth on their loins and ropes on their heads and going to Israel’s king, hoping that perhaps he will save their lives. They do so and bring Benadad’s plea to be allowed to live. Achab says that if Benadad is still alive, he is his brother. The men take this as good luck, quickly catch the word from Achab’s mouth and say, “Thy brother Benadad.” Achab tells them to bring him. Benadad comes out to him, and Achab lifts him into his chariot.

Benadad promises to restore the cities his father took from Achab’s father. He tells Achab to make streets for himself in Damascus as Benadad’s father made in Samaria, and says he will depart after making a league. Achab makes the league with him and lets him go.

A man of the sons of the prophets tells his companion, in the Lord’s word, to strike him. The companion refuses. The prophet says that because he did not hearken to the Lord’s word, a lion will kill him when he leaves. After he has gone a little way, a lion finds and kills him. The prophet asks another man to strike him, and that man strikes and wounds him. The prophet then meets the king on the way, disguising himself by sprinkling dust on his face and eyes.

As the king passes, the prophet cries out to him with a case: his servant went to fight hand to hand; after a certain man ran away, someone brought that man to him to keep. He was told that if the man slipped away, his own life would be for that man’s life, or he would pay a talent of silver. He says that while he hurried and turned this way and that, the man suddenly was no longer to be seen. The king answers that this is his judgment, which he has decreed himself.

The prophet immediately wipes the dust from his face, and Israel’s king recognizes him as one of the prophets. He speaks the Lord’s word: because Achab has released from his hand a man worthy of death, his life will be for that man’s life and his people for that man’s people. Israel’s king returns to his house, unwilling to hear, and comes raging into Samaria.

The story inside

Benadad’s siege begins with a claim on Achab’s wealth and family. Achab agrees to the first demand but, after consulting the ancients and people, refuses the further search of his house and his servants’ houses. Benadad’s oath and Achab’s proverb lead to the siege order; Challoner separately explains the proverb. The first prophetic promise names the means and who will begin. The noon sortie, Benadad’s order to take the men alive and the fighting end in Syria’s flight. A warning of next year’s attack is followed by the Syrian servants’ advice to change commanders, restore the army’s numbers and fight in the plains. At Aphec the Lord’s second promise expressly answers their claim about hills and valleys. The seventh-day battle and the falling wall precede Benadad’s plea. Achab calls him brother, receives him into his chariot, makes a league and releases him. A prophet obtains a wound after a refused command brings death by a lion. Disguised with dust, he presents the escaped-man case and obtains Achab’s judgment before revealing himself and announcing the consequence of Benadad’s release.

Lessons worth keeping

1
Achab’s refusal has a specific scope. He says he did not refuse the demand for wealth and family, and still promises to do what Benadad first asked. He refuses the further search and seizure after the ancients and people advise him not to consent. Calling this a refusal of every demand would erase that distinction.
2
The two victories have stated promises and purposes. The first is promised for that day so Achab may know the Lord, and the prophet answers his questions about the means and who begins. The second is promised because the Syrians have limited the Lord to the hills rather than the valleys. Their advice, the armies’ contrast and the recorded losses belong to this account, without adding military explanations the chapter does not give.
3
The escaped-man case prepares the king’s judgment before the prophet names his release of Benadad. The case gives either a life or a talent of silver as the penalty; Achab says its speaker has decreed his own judgment. The prophet then reveals himself and announces life for life and people for people. Achab’s return in anger follows the announced sentence; the chapter does not show that sentence being carried out.

Test your recall

How do Benadad’s plea, Achab’s use of “brother” and their league lead to the release that the disguised prophet later condemns?

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 37429–37444
3 Kings Chapter 20 The Syrians besiege Samaria: they are twice defeated by Achab: who is reprehended by a prophet for letting Benadad go. 20:1. And Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his host, and there were two and thirty kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and going up, he fought against Samaria, and besieged it. 20:2. And sending messengers to Achab, king of Israel, into the city, 20:3. He said: Thus saith Benadad: Thy silver and thy gold is mine: and thy wives and thy goodliest children are mine. 20:4. And the king of Israel answered: According to thy word, my lord, O king, I am thine, and all that I have.
Lines 37446–37461
20:5. And the messengers came again, and said: Thus saith Benadad, who sent us unto thee: Thy silver and thy gold, and thy wives and thy children, thou shalt deliver up to me. 20:6. To morrow, therefore, at this same hour, I will send my servants to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants: and all that pleaseth them, they shall put in their hands, and take away. 20:7. 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 for my children, and for my silver and gold: and I said not nay. 20:8. And all the ancients, and all the people said to him: Hearken not to him, nor consent to him.
Lines 37463–37473
20:9. Wherefore he answered 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 cannot do. 20:10. And the messengers returning brought him word. And he sent again, and said: Such and such things may the gods do to me, and more may they add, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me. 20:11. And the king of Israel answering, said: Tell him: Let not the girded boast himself as the ungirded.
Lines 37475–37477
Let not the girded, etc.... Let him not boast before the victory: it will then be time to glory when he putteth off his armour, having overcome his adversary.
Lines 37479–37494
20:12. And it came to pass, when Benadad heard this word, that he and the kings were drinking in pavilions, and he said to his servants: Beset the city. And they beset it. 20:13. And behold a prophet coming to Achab, king of Israel, said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Hast thou seen all this exceeding great multitude? behold I will deliver them into thy hand this day: that thou mayst know that I am the Lord. 20:14. 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 to fight? And he said: Thou. 20:15. So he mustered the servants of the princes of the provinces, and he found the number of two hundred and thirty-two: and he mustered after them the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand:
Lines 37496–37515
20:16. And they went out at noon. But Benadad was drinking himself drunk in his pavilion, and the two and thirty kings with him, who were come to help him. 20:17. 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. 20:18. And he said: Whether they come for peace, take them alive: or whether they come to fight, take them alive. 20:19. So the servants of the princes of the provinces went out, and the rest of the army followed: 20:20. And every one slew the man that came against him: and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued after them. And Benadad, king of Syria, fled away on horseback with his horsemen. 20:21. But the king of Israel going out overthrew the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
Lines 37517–37533
20:22. (And a prophet coming to the king of Israel, said to him: Go, and strengthen thyself, and know, and see what thou dost: for the next year the king of Syria will come up against thee.) 20:23. But the servants of the king of Syria said to him: Their gods are gods of the hills, therefore they have overcome us: but it is better that we should fight against them in the plains, and we shall overcome them. 20:24. Do thou, therefore, this thing: Remove all the kings from thy army, and put captains in their stead: 20:25. And make up the number of soldiers that have been slain of thine, and horses, according to the former horses, and chariots, according to the chariots which 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.
Lines 37535–37545
20:26. Wherefore, at the return of the year, Benadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphec, to fight against Israel. 20:27. And the children of Israel were mustered, and taking victuals, went out on the other side, and encamped over against them, like two little flocks of goats: but the Syrians filled the land. 20:28. (And a man of God coming, said to the king of Israel: Thus saith the Lord: Because the Syrians have said: The Lord is God of the hills, but is not God of the valleys: I will deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.)
Lines 37547–37555
20:29. And both sides set their armies in array one 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. 20:30. And they that remained fled to Aphec, into the city: and the wall fell upon seven and twenty thousand men, that were left. And Benadad fleeing, went into the city, into a chamber that was within a chamber.
Lines 37557–37570
20:31. And his servants said to him: Behold, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful; so let us put sackcloths on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will save our lives. 20:32. So they girded sackcloths on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said to him: Thy servant, Benadad, saith: I beseech thee let me have my life. And he said: If he be yet alive, he is my brother. 20:33. The men took this for good luck: and in haste caught the word out of his mouth, and 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.
Lines 37572–37575
20:34. And he said to him: The cities which my father took from thy father, I will restore: and do thou make thee streets in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria and having made a league, I will depart from thee. So he made a league with him, and let him go.
Lines 37577–37589
20:35. Then a certain man of the sons of the prophets, said to his companion, in the word of the Lord: Strike me. But he would not strike. 20:36. Then he said to him: Because thou wouldst not hearken to the word of the Lord, behold thou shalt depart from me, and a lion shall slay thee. And when he was gone a little from him, a lion found him, and slew him. 20:37. Then he found another man, and said to him: Strike me. And he struck him and wounded him. 20:38. So the prophet went, and met the king in the way, and disguised himself by sprinkling dust on his face and his eyes.
Lines 37591–37599
20:39. And as the king passed by, he cried to the king, and said: Thy servant went out to fight hand to hand: and when a certain man was run away, one brought him to me, and said: Keep this man: and if he shall slip away, thy life shall be for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of silver. 20:40. And whilst I, in the hurry, turned this way and that, on a sudden he was not to be seen. And the king of Israel said to him: This is thy judgment, which thyself hast decreed.
Lines 37601–37611
20:41. But he forthwith wiped off the dust from his face, and the king of Israel knew him, that he was one of the prophets. 20:42. And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord. Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man worthy of death, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people. 20:43. And the king of Israel returned to his house, slighting to hear, and raging came into Samaria.