Ahab Defeats Ben-hadad Again

1 Kings 20

²⁶ So it was, in the spring of the year, that BenHadad mustered the Syrians and went up to _i Aphek to fight against Israel. ²⁷ And the children of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and they went against them. Now the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, while the Syrians filled the _j countryside. ²⁸ Then a _k man of God came and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, "Thus says the LORD: 'Because the Syrians have said, "The LORD is God of the hills, but He is not God of the valleys," therefore _l I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.' " ²⁹ And they encamped opposite each other for seven days. So it was that on the seventh day the battle was joined; and the children of Israel killed one hundred thousand foot soldiers of the Syrians in one day.

³⁰ But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; then a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left. And BenHadad fled and went into the city, into an inner chamber. ³¹ Then his servants said to him, "Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please, let us _m put sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life." ³² So they wore sackcloth around their waists and put ropes around their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said, "Your servant BenHadad says, 'Please let me live.' " And he said, "Is he still alive? He is my brother." ³³ Now the men were watching closely to see whether any sign of mercy would come from him; and they quickly grasped at this word and said, "Your brother BenHadad." So he said, "Go, bring him." Then BenHadad came out to him; and he had him come up into the chariot. ³⁴ So BenHadad said to him, _n "The cities which my father took from your father I will restore; and you may set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria." Then Ahab said, "I will send you away with this treaty." So he made a treaty with him and sent him away.

1. Cross References
   Joshua 13:4
   From the south, all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians as far as Aphek, to the border of the Amorites.
   2 Kings 13:17
   And he said, "Open the east window"; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, "Shoot"; and he shot. And he said, "The arrow of the LORD's deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.
   
2. Cross References
   Judges 6:3 - 5
   So it was, whenever Israel had sown, Midianites would come up; also Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them.
   1 Samuel 13:5 - 8
   Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven.
   
3. Cross References
   1 Kings 17:18
   So she said to Elijah, "What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?
   
4. Cross References
   1 Kings 20:13
   Suddenly a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel, saying, "Thus says the LORD: 'Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand today, and you shall know that I am the LORD.'
   
5. Cross References
   Genesis 37:34
   Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
   2 Samuel 3:31
   Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes, gird yourselves with sackcloth, and mourn for Abner." And King David followed the coffin.
   
6. Cross References
   1 Kings 15:20
   So BenHadad heeded King Asa, and sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel. He attacked Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maachah, and all Chinneroth, with all the land of Naphtali.
   

New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.