Bible Strands
1 Kings 22:11
Now Zedekiah son of Chenaanah had made for himself iron horns and declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are finished off.’”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Zedekiah son of Chenaanah addresses King Ahab of Israel, King Jehoshaphat of Judah, and four hundred prophets gathered at the threshing floor near Samaria to advise on the upcoming campaign to Ramoth-gilead. (1 Kings 22:10-11)
The words — The Hebrew קַרְנֵי בַרְזֶל (karnei varzel) translates literally as “horns of iron,” describing the durable weapons Zedekiah fashioned to symbolize military dominance. (1 Kings 22:11)
The thread — The horn motif for national power appears in Deuteronomy 33:17 for Israel’s strength, Zechariah 1:18 for opposing kingdoms, and Jeremiah 23:17 where false prophets similarly fabricate promises of peace. (Deuteronomy 33:17; Zechariah 1:18; Jeremiah 23:17)
Why it lands — The passage records a religious figure manufacturing a physical sign to claim divine authorization for war, demanding the reader evaluate prophetic claims against established divine communication rather than symbolic spectacle. (1 Kings 22:11)
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 Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.
Cross-references
- Zechariah 1:18 Then I looked up and saw four horns.
- Deuteronomy 33:17 His majesty is like a firstborn bull, and his horns are like those of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even to the ends of the earth. Such are the myriads of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.”
- Jeremiah 23:17 They keep saying to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD says that you will have peace,’ and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart, ‘No harm will come to you.’
- Jeremiah 23:25 “I have heard the sayings of the prophets who prophesy lies in My name: ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’
- Jeremiah 23:31 “Yes,” declares the LORD, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and proclaim, ‘The LORD declares it.’”
- Jeremiah 27:2 This is what the LORD said to me: “Make for yourself a yoke out of leather straps and put it on your neck.
- Jeremiah 28:2 “This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
- Jeremiah 28:10 Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke off the neck of Jeremiah the prophet and broke it.
- Jeremiah 29:21 This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you lies in My name: “I will deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes.
- Ezekiel 13:6 They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.