Bible Strands
1 Kings 22:36
As the sun was setting, the cry rang out in the army: “Every man to his own city, and every man to his own land!”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — A spontaneous cry passes through the Aramean camp as the sun sets, commanding every soldier to return to his own city and land. No specific speaker is named, and the directive addresses the entire army immediately following the king's death.
The words — The Hebrew phrase וַ/יַּעֲבֹ֤ר הָ/רִנָּה֙ בַּֽ/מַּחֲנֶ֔ה (va/i.ya.'a.Vor ha./ri.Nah ba./ma.cha.Neh) literally means "and the cry passed in the camp." It conveys the sudden, uncoordinated spread of the order through the troops rather than a formal announcement.
The thread — The pattern of routed forces scattering to their own homes appears in 2 Kings 14:12, Judges 7:7, and Judges 21:24. Each passage marks a moment of military collapse or divine intervention that forces combatants to disperse to their original territories.
Why it lands — The text records an immediate disbandment order that requires the reader to observe how quickly organized power dissolves when command structure fails. It asks for recognition that human military systems cannot sustain themselves without their appointed leader.
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 there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 14:12 And Judah was routed before Israel, and every man fled to his home.
- Judges 7:7 Then the LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped the water I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand. But all the others are to go home.”
- Judges 21:24 And at that time, each of the Israelites returned from there to his own tribe and clan, each to his own inheritance.
- 1 Samuel 4:10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great—thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.
- 2 Samuel 19:8 So the king got up and sat in the gate, and all the people were told: “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” So they all came before the king. Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled, each man to his home.
- 1 Kings 12:16 When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home,
- 1 Kings 12:24 that this is what the LORD says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you must return home, for this is My doing.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and turned back according to the word of the LORD.
- 1 Kings 22:17 So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”
- 1 Kings 22:31 Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.”