Bible Chapter Summary
1 Kings 20 Summary
Ben-hadad's Siege and Israel's Victory
Ben-hadad, king of Syria, gathers thirty-two kings and a host to besiege Samaria, demanding Ahab's silver, gold, wives, and children; Ahab submits at first but then refuses Ben-hadad's new demand for his servants to plunder the city. A prophet tells Ahab the Lord will deliver the great multitude into his hand by the young men of the princes' provinces, and Israel defeats the Syrians in a great slaughter. After a year, Ben-hadad returns to fight again in the plain, claiming the Lord is God of the hills but not the valleys; a man of God assures Ahab that the Lord will show He is God of all places and delivers Israel to slay one hundred thousand Syrian footmen in one day, though Ben-hadad escapes.
Key themes
Key verses
1 Kings 20:13
“And, behold, there came a prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thine hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.”
1 Kings 20:20
“And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen.”
1 Kings 20:28
“And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.”
1 Kings 20:29
“And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.”
Read 1 Kings 20 in full
Study the complete chapter with interlinear Hebrew & Greek, verse-by-verse, in the Gospel Daily reader.
Open the full chapter