Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Kings 20:29 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 29. 29And 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.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
At 1 Kings 20:29, the narrator reports the seventh-day battle and an enormous Aramean casualty claim.
Read It With
- 1 Kings 20:28–20:30
Read 1 Kings 20:29 with 1 Kings 20:28–20:30, titled “Israel wins and Aphek's wall falls.” Reports the seventh-day battle and an enormous Aramean casualty claim.
Why This Verse Appears Here
1 Kings 20:29 reports the seventh-day battle and an enormous Aramean casualty claim; this distinct detail carries 1 Kings 20:28–20:30 from “1 Kings 20:22–20:27 has just shown: Aram prepares to fight the supposed god of the hills on the plain.” toward “1 Kings 20:31–20:34 next develops: Ben-hadad secures life and a covenant from Ahab.”
Read 1 Kings 20:28–30 together
Why these verses belong together: Israel wins and Aphek's wall falls is the complete reviewed scene, prayer, oracle, list, or regnal notice bounded at 20:28–20:30.
Verse 28. 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.
Verse 29. 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.
Verse 30. 30 But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.
Follow the Context
- Promises victory specifically to refute the claim that the LORD rules hills but not valleys
- Adds the collapse of Aphek's wall and Ben-hadad's retreat to an inner room
What This Verse Is Not Saying
War, immense casualty figures, a collapsed wall, prophetic striking, lion death, and devoted-destruction language do not authorize modern warfare, collective punishment, or cruelty.
What Remains True
Because 1 Kings 20:29 reports the seventh-day battle and an enormous Aramean casualty claim, responsible reading keeps the narrated action, source limits, accountable agents, and affected people together; War, immense casualty figures, a collapsed wall, prophetic striking, lion death, and devoted-destruction language do not authorize modern warfare, collective punishment, or cruelty.
How It Can Shape Life
- When an analogous issue arises, use 1 Kings 20:29 to name the specific conduct—reports the seventh-day battle and an enormous Aramean casualty claim—then document power, evidence, uncertainty, safeguards, and people at risk.
Teach It Back
In 55–180 words, explain how 1 Kings 20:29 reports the seventh-day battle and an enormous Aramean casualty claim, why it needs 1 Kings 20:28–20:30, and what the complete unit does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read 1 Kings 20:28–20:30 — Israel wins and Aphek's wall fallsSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The received Hebrew narrative and its KJV presentation are clear enough to follow this movement, while precise source history, chronology, motives, textual development, and external correlation require graded confidence rather than invented certainty.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Kings 20:28–20:30, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 20:28–20:30
Open source ↗