Bible Strands
1 Kings 20:31
Then the servants of Ben-hadad said to him, “Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. Let us go out to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Ben-hadad’s servants address their fleeing king after his army is routed and a collapsing wall kills twenty-seven thousand men. They propose a desperate diplomatic gesture to appeal to the Israelite monarch’s reputation for mercy.
The words — The text highlights שָמַ֔עְנוּ (sha.Ma'nu, "we have heard") and הִנֵּֽה־ נָא (hi.neh- na', "look now, please") to frame the servants’ report of Israel’s kingly character. These terms introduce the conditional strategy of wearing sackcloth and ropes to secure Ben-hadad’s survival.
The thread — This appeal to royal mercy and the use of sackcloth as a supplication motif appear in Genesis 37:34 and 2 Samuel 3:31, where mourning and submission are expressed through similar garments. The servants’ tactic also directly follows the earlier Aramean claim in 1 Kings 20:23 that Israel’s gods were merely hill deities, now reversed by military defeat.
Why it lands — The verse records a conquered ruler’s advisors resorting to traditional signs of humility to negotiate survival. It requires the reader to observe how political desperation drives enemies to acknowledge the mercy of their victor.
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 his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I 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.
Cross-references
- Genesis 37:34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
- 2 Samuel 3:31 Then David ordered Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the funeral bier.
- 1 Kings 20:23 Meanwhile, the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they prevailed over us. Instead, we should fight them on the plains; surely then we will prevail.
- 2 Samuel 14:2 So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.
- 1 Kings 21:27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly.
- 2 Kings 5:13 Naaman’s servants, however, approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?”
- 2 Kings 7:4 If we say, ‘Let us go into the city,’ we will die there from the famine in the city; but if we sit here, we will also die. So come now, let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.”
- 2 Kings 19:1 On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.
- Esther 4:1 When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.
- Esther 4:16 “Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!”