1 Kings 20:3 Explained in Context

Verse 1. ¹ And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together: and there were thirty and two kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and warred against it.

Verse 2. ² And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad,

Verse 3. ³ Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.

Verse 4. ⁴ And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy saying, I am thine, and all that I have.

Verse 5. ⁵ And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;

Verse 6. ⁶ Yet I will send my servants unto thee to morrow about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away.

Verse 7. ⁷ Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not.

Verse 8. ⁸ And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken not unto him, nor consent.

Verse 9. ⁹ Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Ben-hadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy servant at the first I will do: but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed, and brought him word again.

Verse 10. ¹⁰ And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.

Verse 11. ¹¹ And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.