Bible Strands
1 Kings 20:38
and the prophet went and waited on the road for the king, disguising himself with a bandage over his eyes.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet positions himself beside the road to intercept the king of Israel after a campaign.
The words — וַ/יִּתְחַפֵּשׂ (yit-chapes) means he disguised himself, and בָּ/אֲפֵר (ba-'afer) specifies the covering was ashes.
The thread — Concealment for strategic purposes appears in 1 Kings 14:2, 2 Samuel 14:2, and 1 Kings 22:30.
Why it lands — The text records the physical act of hiding before any spoken confrontation, requiring the reader to track how concealed identity precedes revealed truth.
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
So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 14:2 and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Now get up, disguise yourself so they will not recognize you as my wife, and go to Shiloh. For Ahijah the prophet is there; it was he who spoke about my kingship over this people.
- 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 22:30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.
- Matthew 6:16 When you fast, do not be somber like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they already have their full reward.