1 Kings 20 · Verse 27

1 Kings 20:27

And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.
1 Kings 20:27, King James Version

1 Kings 20:27 in other translations

BSBThe Israelites also mobilized, gathered supplies, and marched out to meet them. The Israelites camped before them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside.
WEBThe children of Israel were mustered and given provisions, and went against them. The children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of young goats, but the Syrians filled the country.
ASVAnd the children of Israel were mustered, and were victualled, and went against them: and the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.
YLTand the sons of Israel have been inspected, and supported, and go to meet them, and the sons of Israel encamp before them, like two flocks of goats, and the Aramaeans have filled the land.
DARBYAnd the children of Israel were numbered and victualled, and they went against them; and the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats; but the Syrians filled the land.
BBEAnd the children of Israel got themselves together, and food was made ready and they went against them; the tents of the children of Israel were like two little flocks of goats before them, but all the country was full of the Aramaeans.
WebsterAnd the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.

What does 1 Kings 20:27 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 20:27-31
27-31. like two little flocks of kids--Goats are never seen in large flocks, or scattered, like sheep; and hence the two small but compact divisions of the Israelite force are compared to goats, not sheep. Humanly speaking, that little handful of men would have been overpowered by numbers. But a prophet was sent to the small Israelite army to announce the victory, in order to convince the Syrians that the God of Israel was omnipotent everywhere, in the valley as well as on the hills. And, accordingly, after the two armies had pitched opposite each other for seven days, they came to an open battle. One hundred thousand Syrians lay dead on the field, while the fugitives took refuge in Aphek, and there, crowding on the city walls, they endeavored to make a stand against their pursuers; but the old walls giving way under the incumbent weight, fell and buried twenty-seven thousand in the ruins. Ben-hadad succeeded in extricating himself, and, with his attendants, sought concealment in the city, fleeing from chamber to chamber; or, as some think it, an inner chamber, that is, a harem; but seeing no ultimate means of escape, he was advised to throw himself on the tender mercies of the Israelitish monarch.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Kings 20:22-30

Those about Benhadad advised him to change his ground. They take it for granted that it was not Israel, but Israel's gods, that beat them; but they speak very ignorantly of Jehovah. They supposed that Israel had many gods, to whom they ascribed limited power within a certain district; thus vain were the Gentiles in their imaginations concerning God. The greatest wisdom in worldly concerns is often united with the…

Read the full comment on 1 Kings 20:22-30 →

1 Kings 20:27 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וּבְנֵ֣יu.ve.Neiand [the] people ofH1121
יִשְׂרָאֵ֗לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
הָתְפָּקְדוּ֙ha.te.pa.ke.Duthey were musteredH6485
וְכָלְכְּל֔וּve.khal.ke.Luand they were suppliedH3557
וַיֵּלְכ֖וּvai.ye.le.Khuand they wentH1980
לִקְרָאתָ֑םlik.ra.Tamto meet themH7122
וַיַּחֲנ֨וּvai.ya.cha.Nuand they encampedH2583
בְנֵֽי\־ve.nei-[the] people ofH1121
יִשְׂרָאֵ֜לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
נֶגְדָּ֗םneg.Dambefore themH5048
כִּשְׁנֵי֙kish.Neilike twoH8147
חֲשִׂפֵ֣יcha.si.Feilittle flocks ofH2835
עִזִּ֔ים'i.ZimgoatsH5795
וַאֲרָ֖םva.'a.Ramand AramH758
מִלְא֥וּmil.'Uthey filledH4390
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הָאָֽרֶץ\׃ha.'A.retzthe landH776

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Kings 20:27

  • 1 Samuel 13:5-8

    And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth–aven. When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits. And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.

  • Judges 6:5

    For they came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their camels were without number: and they entered into the land to destroy it.

  • Judges 7:8

    So the people took victuals in their hand, and their trumpets: and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men: and the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley.

  • Joshua 1:11

    Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it.

  • Deuteronomy 32:30

    How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them up?

  • 2 Chronicles 32:7-8

    Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

  • 1 Samuel 14:2

    And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men;

  • Ecclesiastes 9:11

    I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
were all present. or, were victualled.
Jos 1:11; Jud 7:8
like two.
De 32:30; Jud 6:5; 1Sa 13:5-8; 14:2; 2Ch 32:7,8; Ec 9:11

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Kings 20:26

    And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Ben–hadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.

  • 1 Kings 20:27

    And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.

  • 1 Kings 20:28

    And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

Read all of 1 Kings 20

1 Kings 20:27 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y los hijos de Israel fueron también inspeccionados, y tomando provisiones fuéronles al encuentro; y asentaron campo lo hijos de Israel delante de ellos, como dos rebañuelos de cabras; y los Siros henchían la tierra.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et les fils d’Israël furent dénombrés et approvisionnés; et les fils d’Israël allèrent à leur rencontre, et ils campèrent vis-à-vis d’eux, comme deux petits troupeaux de chèvres, et les Syriens remplissaient le pays.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und die Kinder Israel wurden gemustert und mit Vorrat versorgt, und sie zogen ihnen entgegen; und die Kinder Israel lagerten sich ihnen gegenüber wie zwei kleine Herden Ziegen; die Syrer aber füllten das Land.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Porro filii Israël recensiti sunt, et acceptis cibariis profecti ex adverso, castraque metati sunt contra eos, quasi duo parvi greges caprarum: Syri autem repleverunt terram.