And Ben-hadad the king of Syria gathered all his host together; and there were thirty and two kings with him, and the horses, and the chariots: and he went up and besieged Samaria, and fought against it.
And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel, into the city, and said unto him, Thus saith Ben-hadad,
Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.
And the king of Israel answered and said, It is according to thy saying, my lord, O king; I am thine, and all that I have.
And the messengers came again, and said, Thus speaketh Ben-hadad, saying, I sent indeed unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver, and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children;
but I will send my servants unto thee to-morrow about this time, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants; and it shall be, that {Hebrew: all the desire of thine eyes.}whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand, and take it away.
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.
And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken thou not, neither consent.
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.
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 {Hebrew: are at my feet.}follow me.
And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his armor boast himself as he that putteth it off.
And it came to pass, when Ben-hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings, in the {Or, huts}pavilions, that he said unto his servants, {Or, Place the engines. And they placed the engines}Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.
And, behold, a prophet came near unto Ahab king of Israel, and said, Thus saith Jehovah, Hast thou seen all this great multitude? behold, I will deliver it into thy hand this day; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah.
And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith Jehovah, By the {Or, servants}young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall {Hebrew: bind.}begin the battle? And he answered, Thou.
Then he mustered the young men of the princes of the provinces, and they were two hundred and thirty-two: and after them he mustered all the people, even all the children of Israel, being seven thousand.
And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the {Or, huts}pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.
And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out from Samaria.
And he said, Whether they are come out for peace, take them alive, or whether they are come out for war, taken them alive.
So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed them.
And they slew every one his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped {Or, with horse and horsemen}on a horse with horsemen.
And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
And the prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their god is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we: but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.
And do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put {Or, governors See chapter 10:15.}captains in their room;
and number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot; and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.
And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
And the children of Israel were mustered, and were victualled, and went against them: and the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.
And {Or, the}a man of God came near and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith Jehovah, Because the Syrians have said, Jehovah is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys; therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
And they encamped 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 a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and the wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand men that were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, {Or, from chamber to chamber}into an inner chamber.
And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, we pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.
So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.
Now the men {Or, took it as an omen (Hebrew: divined), and hasted}observed diligently, and hasted {Another reading is, to catch it from him.}to catch whether it were {Hebrew: from him.}his mind; and they said, Thy brother Ben-hadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot.
And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities which my father took from thy father I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. And I, said Ahab, will let thee go with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and let him go.
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his fellow by the word of Jehovah, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man refused to smite him.
Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of Jehovah, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, smiting and wounding him.
So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes.
And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king; and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it.
And he hasted, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets.
And he said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people.
And the king of Israel went to his house heavy and displeased, and came to Samaria.
Querverweise zu 1. Könige 20,13 1Kön 20,13
Now the king of Syria was warring against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my {Or, encamping}camp.
And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are coming down.
And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of; and he saved himself there, not once nor twice.
And the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not show me which of us is for the king of Israel?
And one of his servants said, Nay, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.
And {Or, the}a man of God came near and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith Jehovah, Because the Syrians have said, Jehovah is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys; therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
And Elisha said, Hear ye the word of Jehovah: thus saith Jehovah, To-morrow about this time shall a {Hebrew: seah.}measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.
Hear me, O Jehovah, hear me, that this people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God, {Or, for thou didst turn their heart backward}and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
But Jehovah was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence {Hebrew: until now.}as yet.
And the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it.
And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria {Hebrew: resteth on Ephraim.}is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart trembled, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the forest tremble with the wind.
Then said Jehovah unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and {That is, A remnant shall return.}Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, in the highway of the fuller's field;
and say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither let thy heart be faint, because of these two tails of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah.
Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah, have purposed evil against thee, saying,
Let us go up against Judah, and vex it, and let us make a breach therein for us, and set up a king in the midst of it, even the son of Tabeel;
thus saith the Lord Jehovah, It shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass.
For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin; and within threescore and five years shall Ephraim be broken in pieces, so that it shall not be a people:
and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye will not believe, surely ye shall not be established.
I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel: speak unto them, saying, {Hebrew: Between the two evenings.}At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah your God.
But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.
That they may know that {Or, thou whose name alone is Jehovah, art &c.}thou alone, whose name is Jehovah,Art the Most High over all the earth.
Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth.
Now therefore, O Jehovah our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art Jehovah, even thou only.
And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
So shall ye know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.