Bible Strands
1 Kings 20:37
Then the prophet found another man and said, “Strike me, please!” So the man struck him and wounded him,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — A prophet approaches a second man and commands him to strike him, enacting the judgment pronounced moments earlier in 1 Kings 20:36.
The words — The Hebrew הַכֵּ֣י/נִי (ha.Kei./ni) translates literally as "strike me," while וַ/יַּכֵּ֥/הוּ (va/i.ya.Ke./hu) renders "and he struck him," documenting the physical compliance with the prophet's request.
The thread — This enacted judgment echoes the legal principle in Exodus 21:12 regarding lethal violence and directly continues the prophetic sign-act initiated in 1 Kings 20:35.
Why it lands — The text records a commanded physical injury that fulfills a spoken divine warning, requiring the reader to treat prophetic declarations as immediate reality rather than symbolic theater.
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
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him.
Cross-references
- Exodus 21:12 Whoever strikes and kills a man must surely be put to death.
- 1 Kings 20:35 Meanwhile, by the word of the LORD, one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion, “Strike me, please!” But the man refused to strike him.