1 Kings 20 · Verse 31

1 Kings 20:31

And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.
1 Kings 20:31, King James Version

1 Kings 20:31 in other translations

BSBThen the servants of Ben-hadad said to him, “Look now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful. Let us go out to the king of Israel with sackcloth around our waists and ropes around our heads. Perhaps he will spare your life.”
WEBHis servants said to him, “See now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Please let us put sackcloth on our bodies and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel. Maybe he will save your life.”
ASVAnd his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, we pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.
YLTAnd his servants say unto him, ‘Lo, we pray thee, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel--that they are kind kings; let us put, we pray thee, sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and we go out unto the king of Israel; it may be he doth keep thee alive.'
DARBYAnd his servants said to him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will save thy life.
BBEThen his servants said to him, It is said that the kings of Israel are full of mercy: let us then put on haircloth, and cords on our heads, and go to the king of Israel; it may be that he will give you your life.
WebsterAnd his servants said to him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: it may be he will save thy life.

What does 1 Kings 20:31 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…

Read the full comment on 1 Kings 20:27-31 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 31 Put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads - Let us show ourselves humbled in the deepest manner, and let us put ropes about our necks, and go submitting to his mercy, and deprecating his wrath. The citizens of Calais are reported to have acted nearly in the same way when they surrendered their city to Edward III., king of England, in 1346. See at the end, 1Kgs 20:43 (note).

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Kings 20:31-43
This encouragement sinners have to repent and humble themselves before God; Have we not heard, that the God of Israel is a merciful God? Have we not found him so? That is gospel repentance, which flows from an apprehension of the mercy of God, in Christ; there is forgiveness with him. What a change is here! The most haughty in prosperity often are most abject in adversity; an evil spirit will thus affect a man in both these conditions. There are those on whom, like Ahab, success is ill bestowed; they know not how to serve either God or their generation, or even their own true interests with their prosperity: Let favour be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness. The prophet designed to reprove Ahab by a parable. If a good prophet were punished for sparing his friend and God's when God said, Smite, of much sorer punishment should a wicked king be thought worthy, who spared his enemy and God's, when God said, Smite. Ahab went to his house, heavy and displeased, not truly penitent, or seeking to undo what he had done amiss; every way out of humour, notwithstanding his victory. Alas! many that hear the glad tidings of Christ, are busy and there till the day of salvation is gone.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

1 Kings 20:31 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.

וַיֹּאמְר֣וּvai.yo.me.Ruand they saidH559
אֵלָיו֮'e.Lavto himH413
עֲבָדָיו֒'a.va.Davservants hisH5650
הִנֵּֽה\־hi.neh-here!H2009
נָ֣אna'pleaseH4994
שָׁמַ֔עְנוּsha.Ma'.nuwe have heardH8085
כִּ֗יKithatH3588
מַלְכֵי֙mal.Khei[the] kings ofH4428
בֵּ֣יתbeit[the] house ofH1004
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
כִּֽי\־ki-thatH3588
מַלְכֵ֥יmal.Khei[are] kings ofH4428
חֶ֖סֶדChe.sedcovenant loyaltyH2617
הֵ֑םHemtheyH1992
נָשִׂ֣ימָהna.Si.mahlet us putH7760
נָּא֩na'pleaseH4994
שַׂקִּ֨יםsa.Kimsackcloth<s>H8242
בְּמָתְנֵ֜ינוּbe.ma.te.Nei.nuon loins ourH4975
וַחֲבָלִ֣יםva.cha.va.Limand ropesH2256
בְּרֹאשֵׁ֗נוּbe.ro.She.nuon head ourH7218
וְנֵצֵא֙ve.ne.Tze'and let us go outH3318
אֶל\־'el-toH413
מֶ֣לֶךְMe.lekh[the] king ofH4428
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478
אוּלַ֖י'u.LaiperhapsH194
יְחַיֶּ֥הye.chai.Yehhe will let liveH2421
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
נַפְשֶֽׁךָ\׃naf.She.khalife yourH5315

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

Cross references for 1 Kings 20:31

  • Genesis 37:34

    And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.

  • 2 Samuel 3:31

    And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner. And king David himself followed the bier.

  • 1 Kings 20:23

    And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

  • 2 Samuel 14:2

    And Joab sent to Tekoah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray thee, feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not thyself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead:

  • 2 Kings 19:1-2

    And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. And he sent Eliakim, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.

  • Matthew 10:28

    And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

  • Isaiah 16:5

    And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

  • Job 2:4

    And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.

  • Isaiah 37:1

    And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.

  • Esther 4:16

    Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

  • Isaiah 22:12

    And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:

  • Jonah 3:5-6

    So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

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

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
his servants.
23; 2Ki 5:13
merciful kings.
Pr 20:28; Isa 16:5; Eph 1:7,8
let us, I pray thee.Six of the citizens of Calais are reported to have acted nearly in the same manner, when they surrendered their city to Edward the Third, king of England, in 1346. See the whole story circumstantially related by Sir John Froissart, (who lived in that time,) with that simplicity and detail that give it every appearance of truth.
put sackcloth.
21:27-29; Ge 37:34; 2Sa 3:31; 14:2; 2Ki 19:1,2; Es 4:1-3; Isa 22:12
Isa 37:1; Jon 3:5,6; Re 11:3
peradventure.
2Ki 7:4; Es 4:16; Job 2:4; Mt 10:28

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

Context

  • 1 Kings 20:30

    But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Ben–hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.

  • 1 Kings 20:31

    And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings: let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: peradventure he will save thy life.

  • 1 Kings 20:32

    So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben–hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.

Read all of 1 Kings 20

1 Kings 20:31 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Entonces sus siervos le dijeron: He aquí, hemos oído de los reyes de la casa de Israel que son reyes clementes: pongamos pues ahora sacos en nuestros lomos, y sogas en nuestras cabezas, y salgamos al rey de Israel: por ventura te salvará la vida.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Et ses serviteurs lui dirent: Voici, nous avons entendu dire que les rois de la maison d’Israël sont des rois doux et cléments; mettons, je te prie, des sacs sur nos reins et des cordes à nos têtes, et sortons vers le roi d’Israël: peut-être qu’il laissera vivre ton âme.
German
Elberfelder 1871
Da sprachen seine Knechte zu ihm: Siehe doch, wir haben gehört, daß die Könige des Hauses Israel gnädige Könige sind; laß uns doch Sacktuch um unsere Lenden legen und Stricke um unsere Häupter, und zum König von Israel hinausgehen; vielleicht läßt er deine Seele am Leben.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Dixeruntque ei servi sui: Ecce, audivimus quod reges domus Israël clementes sint: ponamus itaque saccos in lumbis nostris, et funiculos in capitibus nostris, et egrediamur ad regem Israël: forsitan salvabit animas nostras.