Bible Strands
1 Kings 20:12
Ben-hadad received this message while he and the kings were drinking in their tents, and he said to his servants, “Take your positions.” So they stationed themselves against the city.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ben-hadad speaks to his servants from his tent while allied kings drink nearby, ordering them to take their positions against the city immediately after hearing Ahab’s reply.
The words — The phrase וַ/יְהִי כִּשְמֹ֙עַ֙ (va/y.Hi ki/sh.Mo.a') literally renders “and it was when [he] heard,” marking the precise moment that triggers the Syrian mobilization.
The thread — This scene of royal intoxication parallels the warning in 1 Kings 20:11 and is later confirmed in 1 Kings 20:16, where the same kings are noted as drunk at noon.
Why it lands — The text records a commander’s tactical response to a perceived slight and demands the reader note how military preparedness is immediately undermined by the surrounding context of drunkenness.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And it came to pass, when Ben–hadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 16:9 However, while Elah was in Tirzah getting drunk in the house of Arza the steward of his household there, Elah’s servant Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, conspired against him.
- 1 Kings 20:16 They marched out at noon while Ben-hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk.
- Proverbs 31:4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink,
- 1 Samuel 25:36 When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.
- 2 Samuel 13:28 Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!”
- Jeremiah 43:10 Then tell them that this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I will send for My servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones that I have embedded, and he will spread his royal pavilion over them.
- Daniel 5:2 Under the influence of the wine, Belshazzar gave orders to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king could drink from them, along with his nobles, his wives, and his concubines.
- Daniel 5:30 That very night Belshazzar king of the Chaldeans was slain,
- Luke 21:34 But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.