Βασιλειῶν Γʹ 20
1 καὶ ἀμπελὼν εἷς ἦν τῷ Ναβουθαι τῷ Ιεζραηλίτῃ παρὰ τῷ ἅλῳ Αχααβ βασιλέως Σαμαρείας
Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, gathered all his army, and he persuaded 32 other kings to join him with their armies and horses and chariots. They marched to Samaria [city, the capital of Israel], and surrounded it, and [prepared to] attack it.
2 καὶ ἐλάλησεν Αχααβ πρὸς Ναβουθαι λέγων δός μοι τὸν ἀμπελῶνά σου καὶ ἔσται μοι εἰς κῆπον λαχάνων ὅτι ἐγγίων οὗτος τῷ οἴκῳ μου καὶ δώσω σοι ἀμπελῶνα ἄλλον ἀγαθὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτόν εἰ δὲ ἀρέσκει ἐνώπιόν σου δώσω σοι ἀργύριον ἀντάλλαγμα τοῦ ἀμπελῶνός σου τούτου καὶ ἔσται μοι εἰς κῆπον λαχάνων
Ben-Hadad sent messengers into the city to King Ahab, to say this to him: “This is what King Ben-Hadad says:
3 καὶ εἶπεν Ναβουθαι πρὸς Αχααβ μή μοι γένοιτο παρὰ θεοῦ μου δοῦναι κληρονομίαν πατέρων μου σοί
‘[You must give to] me all your silver and gold, your (good-looking/most beautiful) wives/women and strongest children.’”
4 καὶ ἐγένετο τὸ πνεῦμα Αχααβ τεταραγμένον καὶ ἐκοιμήθη ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης αὐτοῦ καὶ συνεκάλυψεν τὸ πρώσωπον αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἔφαγεν ἄρτον
The king of Israel replied to them, “Tell this to King Ben-Hadad: ‘I agree to do what you requested. You can have me and everything that I own.’”
5 καὶ εἰσῆλθεν Ιεζαβελ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ ἐλάλησεν πρὸς αὐτόν τί τὸ πνεῦμά σου τεταραγμένον καὶ οὐκ εἶ σὺ ἐσθίων ἄρτον
[The messengers told that to] Ben-Hadad, and he [sent them back with] another message: “I sent a message to you saying that you must give me all your silver and gold and your wives and your children.
6 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτήν ὅτι ἐλάλησα πρὸς Ναβουθαι τὸν Ιεζραηλίτην λέγων δός μοι τὸν ἀμπελῶνά σου ἀργυρίου εἰ δὲ βούλει δώσω σοι ἀμπελῶνα ἄλλον ἀντ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ εἶπεν οὐ δώσω σοι κληρονομίαν πατέρων μου
But [in addition to that], about this time tomorrow, I will send some of my officials to search your palace and the houses of your officials, and to bring to me everything that pleases them.”
7 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτὸν Ιεζαβελ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ σὺ νῦν οὕτως ποιεῖς βασιλέα ἐπὶ Ισραηλ ἀνάστηθι φάγε ἄρτον καὶ σαυτοῦ γενοῦ ἐγὼ δώσω σοι τὸν ἀμπελῶνα Ναβουθαι τοῦ Ιεζραηλίτου
King Ahab summoned all the leaders of Israel, and said to them, “You can see/realize for yourselves that this man is trying to cause much trouble. He sent me a message insisting that I must give him my wives and my children, my silver and my gold, and I agreed to do that.”
8 καὶ ἔγραψεν βιβλίον ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Αχααβ καὶ ἐσφραγίσατο τῇ σφραγῖδι αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπέστειλεν τὸ βιβλίον πρὸς τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους καὶ τοὺς ἐλευθέρους τοὺς κατοικοῦντας μετὰ Ναβουθαι
The leaders and all the other people said to him, “Do not pay any attention to him! Do not do what he is requesting!”
9 καὶ ἐγέγραπτο ἐν τοῖς βιβλίοις λέγων νηστεύσατε νηστείαν καὶ καθίσατε τὸν Ναβουθαι ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ λαοῦ
So Ahab said to Ben-Hadad’s messengers, “Tell the king that I agree to give him the things that he first requested, but I do not agree to allow his officials to take anything that they want from my palace and from the houses of my officials.” So the messengers [reported that to King Ben-Hadad, and they] returned with another message from Ben-Hadad.
10 καὶ ἐγκαθίσατε δύο ἄνδρας υἱοὺς παρανόμων ἐξ ἐναντίας αὐτοῦ καὶ καταμαρτυρησάτωσαν αὐτοῦ λέγοντες ηὐλόγησεν θεὸν καὶ βασιλέα καὶ ἐξαγαγέτωσαν αὐτὸν καὶ λιθοβολησάτωσαν αὐτόν καὶ ἀποθανέτω
In that message he said, “[We will destroy] your city [completely, with the result that] there will not be enough dust and rubble left for each of my soldiers to have one handful! I hope/wish that the gods will strike me dead if we do not do that!”
11 καὶ ἐποίησαν οἱ ἄνδρες τῆς πόλεως αὐτοῦ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ οἱ ἐλεύθεροι οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν τῇ πόλει αὐτοῦ καθὰ ἀπέστειλεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς Ιεζαβελ καθὰ γέγραπται ἐν τοῖς βιβλίοις οἷς ἀπέστειλεν πρὸς αὐτούς
King Ahab replied [to the messengers], “Tell King Ben-Hadad that a soldier who is putting on his armor [preparing to fight a battle] [MTY] should not boast at that time; he [should wait until] after he wins the battle.”
12 ἐκάλεσαν νηστείαν καὶ ἐκάθισαν τὸν Ναβουθαι ἐν ἀρχῇ τοῦ λαοῦ
Ben-Hadad heard that message while he and the other rulers were drinking [wine] in their temporary shelters. He told his men to prepare to attack [MTY] the city. So his men did that.
13 καὶ ἦλθον δύο ἄνδρες υἱοὶ παρανόμων καὶ ἐκάθισαν ἐξ ἐναντίας αὐτοῦ καὶ κατεμαρτύρησαν αὐτοῦ λέγοντες ηὐλόγηκας θεὸν καὶ βασιλέα καὶ ἐξήγαγον αὐτὸν ἔξω τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἐλιθοβόλησαν αὐτὸν λίθοις καὶ ἀπέθανεν
At that moment, a prophet came to King Ahab and said to him, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘[Do not be at all afraid of] [RHQ] the large enemy army that you see! I will enable your army to defeat them today, and you will know that it is I, Yahweh, [who have the power to do what I say that I will do].’”
14 καὶ ἀπέστειλαν πρὸς Ιεζαβελ λέγοντες λελιθοβόληται Ναβουθαι καὶ τέθνηκεν
Ahab asked, “What group [of our army] will defeat them?” The prophet replied, “The young soldiers who are commanded by the district governors will do it.” The king asked, “Who should lead the attack?” The prophet replied, “You should!”
15 καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἤκουσεν Ιεζαβελ καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς Αχααβ ἀνάστα κληρονόμει τὸν ἀμπελῶνα Ναβουθαι τοῦ Ιεζραηλίτου ὃς οὐκ ἔδωκέν σοι ἀργυρίου ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν Ναβουθαι ζῶν ὅτι τέθνηκεν
So Ahab gathered the young soldiers who were commanded by the district governors. There were 232 of those men. Then he also summoned all the Israeli army. There were [only] 7,000 soldiers.
16 καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἤκουσεν Αχααβ ὅτι τέθνηκεν Ναβουθαι ὁ Ιεζραηλίτης καὶ διέρρηξεν τὰ ἱμάτια ἑαυτοῦ καὶ περιεβάλετο σάκκον καὶ ἐγένετο μετὰ ταῦτα καὶ ἀνέστη καὶ κατέβη Αχααβ εἰς τὸν ἀμπελῶνα Ναβουθαι τοῦ Ιεζραηλίτου κληρονομῆσαι αὐτόν
They started to attack at noon, while Ben-Hadad and the other rulers were getting drunk in their temporary shelters.
17 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Ηλιου τὸν Θεσβίτην λέγων
The young soldiers advanced first. Some scouts who had been sent out by Ben-Hadad reported to him, “There are men coming out of Samaria [city]”!
18 ἀνάστηθι καὶ κατάβηθι εἰς ἀπαντὴν Αχααβ βασιλέως Ισραηλ τοῦ ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ ἰδοὺ οὗτος ἐν ἀμπελῶνι Ναβουθαι ὅτι καταβέβηκεν ἐκεῖ κληρονομῆσαι αὐτόν
He said, “It does not matter whether they are coming to fight against us or to ask for peace. Capture them, but do not kill them
19 καὶ λαλήσεις πρὸς αὐτὸν λέγων τάδε λέγει κύριος ὡς σὺ ἐφόνευσας καὶ ἐκληρονόμησας διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ ᾧ ἔλειξαν αἱ ὕες καὶ οἱ κύνες τὸ αἷμα Ναβουθαι ἐκεῖ λείξουσιν οἱ κύνες τὸ αἷμά σου καὶ αἱ πόρναι λούσονται ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου
The young Israeli soldiers went out of the city to attack [the Syrian army], and the other soldiers in the Israeli army followed them.
20 καὶ εἶπεν Αχααβ πρὸς Ηλιου εἰ εὕρηκάς με ὁ ἐχθρός μου καὶ εἶπεν εὕρηκα διότι μάτην πέπρασαι ποιῆσαι τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιον κυρίου παροργίσαι αὐτόν
Each [Israeli soldier] killed a [Syrian] soldier. The rest of the Syrian army then ran away, and the Israeli soldiers pursued them. But King Ben-Hadad escaped riding his horse, along with some other men riding horses.
21 τάδε λέγει κύριος ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἐπάγω ἐπὶ σὲ κακὰ καὶ ἐκκαύσω ὀπίσω σου καὶ ἐξολεθρεύσω τοῦ Αχααβ οὐροῦντα πρὸς τοῖχον καὶ συνεχόμενον καὶ ἐγκαταλελειμμένον ἐν Ισραηλ
Then the king of Israel went out [of the city], and he and his soldiers captured [all] the [other Syrian] horses and chariots, and also killed a large number of Syrian soldiers.
22 καὶ δώσω τὸν οἶκόν σου ὡς τὸν οἶκον Ιεροβοαμ υἱοῦ Ναβατ καὶ ὡς τὸν οἶκον Βαασα υἱοῦ Αχια περὶ τῶν παροργισμάτων ὧν παρώργισας καὶ ἐξήμαρτες τὸν Ισραηλ
Then that same prophet went to King Ahab and said to him, “Go back and prepare your soldiers, and think carefully about what will be necessary for you to do, because the king of Syria with attack with his army again in the springtime of next year.”
23 καὶ τῇ Ιεζαβελ ἐλάλησεν κύριος λέγων οἱ κύνες καταφάγονται αὐτὴν ἐν τῷ προτειχίσματι Ιεζραελ
[After the Syrian army was defeated, ] Ben-Hadad’s officials said to him, “The gods that the Israelis [worship] are gods [who live] in the hills. [Samaria is built on a hill, and] that is why their soldiers were able to defeat us. But if we fight against them in the plains/lowlands, we certainly will be able to defeat them.
24 τὸν τεθνηκότα τοῦ Αχααβ ἐν τῇ πόλει φάγονται οἱ κύνες καὶ τὸν τεθνηκότα αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ φάγονται τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ
So, this is what you should do: You must remove the 32 kings [who are leading your troops] and replace them with army commanders.
25 πλὴν ματαίως Αχααβ ὡς ἐπράθη ποιῆσαι τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιον κυρίου ὡς μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν Ιεζαβελ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ
Then gather an army like the army that was defeated. Gather an army that has as many horses and chariots as the first army had. Then we will fight the Israelis in the plains/lowlands, and we will surely defeat them.” Ben-Hadad agreed with them, and he did what they suggested.
26 καὶ ἐβδελύχθη σφόδρα πορεύεσθαι ὀπίσω τῶν βδελυγμάτων κατὰ πάντα ἃ ἐποίησεν ὁ Αμορραῖος ὃν ἐξωλέθρευσεν κύριος ἀπὸ προσώπου υἱῶν Ισραηλ
In the spring of the following year, he gathered his soldiers and marched [with them] to Aphek [city east of Galilee Lake], to fight against the Israeli army.
27 καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ λόγου ὡς κατενύγη Αχααβ ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ἐπορεύετο κλαίων καὶ διέρρηξεν τὸν χιτῶνα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐζώσατο σάκκον ἐπὶ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐνήστευσεν καὶ περιεβάλετο σάκκον ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ ἐπάταξεν Ναβουθαι τὸν Ιεζραηλίτην
The Israeli army was also gathered together, and they were equipped with the things that they needed [for the battle]. Then they marched out and formed two groups facing the Syrian army. Their army was very small; they resembled two small flocks of goats, whereas the Syrian army [was very large and] spread all over the countryside.
28 καὶ ἐγένετο ῥῆμα κυρίου ἐν χειρὶ δούλου αὐτοῦ Ηλιου περὶ Αχααβ καὶ εἶπεν κύριος
A prophet came to King Ahab and said to him, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘The Syrians say that I am a god who lives in the hills, and that I am not a god who lives in the valleys. So I will [show that they are wrong by] enabling your men to defeat this huge army [IDM] [in the valley], and you will know that I, Yahweh, [have done it].’”
29 ἑώρακας ὡς κατενύγη Αχααβ ἀπὸ προσώπου μου οὐκ ἐπάξω τὴν κακίαν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ ἀλλ’ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐπάξω τὴν κακίαν
The two armies stayed in their tents for seven days, in groups that faced each other. Then, on the seventh day, they started fighting. The Israeli army killed 100,000 Syrian soldiers.
30 καὶ συνήθροισεν υἱὸς Αδερ πᾶσαν τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνέβη καὶ περιεκάθισεν ἐπὶ Σαμάρειαν καὶ τριάκοντα καὶ δύο βασιλεῖς μετ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ πᾶς ἵππος καὶ ἅρμα καὶ ἀνέβησαν καὶ περιεκάθισαν ἐπὶ Σαμάρειαν καὶ ἐπολέμησαν ἐπ’ αὐτήν
The other Syrian soldiers ran away into Aphek City. Then the wall of the city collapsed and killed 27,000 more Syrian soldiers. Ben-Hadad also escaped into the city, and hid in the back room of a house.
31 καὶ ἀπέστειλεν πρὸς Αχααβ βασιλέα Ισραηλ εἰς τὴν πόλιν
His officials went to him and said, “We have heard a report that the Israelis act mercifully. So allow us to go to the king of Israel, wearing coarse sacks around our waists and ropes on our heads/necks [to indicate that we will be his slaves]. Perhaps [if we do that, ] he will allow you to remain alive.”
32 καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτόν τάδε λέγει υἱὸς Αδερ τὸ ἀργύριόν σου καὶ τὸ χρυσίον σου ἐμόν ἐστιν καὶ αἱ γυναῖκές σου καὶ τὰ τέκνα σου ἐμά ἐστιν
[The king permitted them to do that, ] so they wrapped coarse sacks around their waists and put ropes on their heads/necks, and they went to the king of Israel and said to him, “Ben-Hadad, who greatly respects you, says, ‘Please do not kill me.’” Ahab replied, “Is he still alive? He is like a brother to me!”
33 καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ βασιλεὺς Ισραηλ καὶ εἶπεν καθὼς ἐλάλησας κύριε βασιλεῦ σὸς ἐγώ εἰμι καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐμά
Ben-Hadad’s officials were trying to find out if Ahab would act mercifully, and when Ahab said “brother,” they (were optimistic/thought that Ahab would be merciful). So they replied, “Yes, he is like your brother!” Ahab said, “Go and bring him to me.” So they [went and] brought Ben-Hadad to him. [When Ben-Hadad arrived, ] Ahab told him to get in his chariot [and sit with him].
34 καὶ ἀνέστρεψαν οἱ ἄγγελοι καὶ εἶπον τάδε λέγει υἱὸς Αδερ ἐγὼ ἀπέσταλκα πρὸς σὲ λέγων τὸ ἀργύριόν σου καὶ τὸ χρυσίον σου καὶ τὰς γυναῖκάς σου καὶ τὰ τέκνα σου δώσεις ἐμοί
Ben-Hadad said to him, “I will give back to you the towns that my father’s army took from your father. And I will allow you to set up market areas for your merchants in Damascus [my capital], just as my father did in Samaria [your capital].” Ahab replied, “Because you agree to do that, I will not execute you.” So Ahab made an agreement with Ben-Hadad, and allowed him to go home.
35 ὅτι ταύτην τὴν ὥραν αὔριον ἀποστελῶ τοὺς παῖδάς μου πρὸς σέ καὶ ἐρευνήσουσιν τὸν οἶκόν σου καὶ τοὺς οἴκους τῶν παίδων σου καὶ ἔσται τὰ ἐπιθυμήματα ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν ἐφ’ ἃ ἂν ἐπιβάλωσι τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῶν καὶ λήμψονται
Then Yahweh spoke to a member of a group of prophets and said to him, “Ask one of your fellow prophets to strike and wound you.” [So he did what Yahweh told him to do]. [He said to one of his fellow prophets, ‘Strike me and wound me].’ But that man refused to do it.
36 καὶ ἐκάλεσεν ὁ βασιλεὺς Ισραηλ πάντας τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους καὶ εἶπεν γνῶτε δὴ καὶ ἴδετε ὅτι κακίαν οὗτος ζητεῖ ὅτι ἀπέσταλκεν πρός με περὶ τῶν γυναικῶν μου καὶ περὶ τῶν υἱῶν μου καὶ περὶ τῶν θυγατέρων μου τὸ ἀργύριόν μου καὶ τὸ χρυσίον μου οὐκ ἀπεκώλυσα ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ
So the prophet said to him, “Because you refused to obey what Yahweh told you to do, a lion will kill you as soon as you leave me.” And as soon as he left that prophet, a lion suddenly pounced on him and killed him.
37 καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ πᾶς ὁ λαός μὴ ἀκούσῃς καὶ μὴ θελήσῃς
Then the prophet found another prophet, and said to him, “Strike me!” So that man hit him [very hard] and injured him.
38 καὶ εἶπεν τοῖς ἀγγέλοις υἱοῦ Αδερ λέγετε τῷ κυρίῳ ὑμῶν πάντα ὅσα ἀπέσταλκας πρὸς τὸν δοῦλόν σου ἐν πρώτοις ποιήσω τὸ δὲ ῥῆμα τοῦτο οὐ δυνήσομαι ποιῆσαι καὶ ἀπῆραν οἱ ἄνδρες καὶ ἐπέστρεψαν αὐτῷ λόγον
Then the prophet put a large bandage/cloth over his face so that no one would recognize him. Then he went and stood alongside the road, waiting for the king to come by.
39 καὶ ἀνταπέστειλεν πρὸς αὐτὸν υἱὸς Αδερ λέγων τάδε ποιήσαι μοι ὁ θεὸς καὶ τάδε προσθείη εἰ ἐκποιήσει ὁ χοῦς Σαμαρείας ταῖς ἀλώπεξιν παντὶ τῷ λαῷ τοῖς πεζοῖς μου
When the king passed by, the prophet cried out to him, saying “Your majesty, [after I was wounded] while I was fighting in a battle, a soldier brought to me one of our enemies that he had captured, and said to me, ‘Guard this man! If he escapes, you must pay me 3,000 pieces of silver, and if you do not pay that, you will be executed!’
40 καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ βασιλεὺς Ισραηλ καὶ εἶπεν ἱκανούσθω μὴ καυχάσθω ὁ κυρτὸς ὡς ὁ ὀρθός
But while I was busy doing other things, the man escaped!” The king of Israel said to him, “That is your problem! You yourself have said that you deserve to be punished.”
41 καὶ ἐγένετο ὅτε ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ τὸν λόγον τοῦτον πίνων ἦν αὐτὸς καὶ πάντες οἱ βασιλεῖς μετ’ αὐτοῦ ἐν σκηναῖς καὶ εἶπεν τοῖς παισὶν αὐτοῦ οἰκοδομήσατε χάρακα καὶ ἔθεντο χάρακα ἐπὶ τὴν πόλιν
The prophet immediately took off the bandage, and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets.
42 καὶ ἰδοὺ προφήτης εἷς προσῆλθεν τῷ βασιλεῖ Ισραηλ καὶ εἶπεν τάδε λέγει κύριος εἰ ἑόρακας πάντα τὸν ὄχλον τὸν μέγαν τοῦτον ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ δίδωμι αὐτὸν σήμερον εἰς χεῖρας σάς καὶ γνώσῃ ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος
And the prophet said to him, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘You have allowed that man [Ben-Hadad] to escape after I commanded you to be sure to execute him! Since you did not do that, you will be killed instead. And your army will be destroyed because you allowed [some of] his army to escape!’”
43 καὶ εἶπεν Αχααβ ἐν τίνι καὶ εἶπεν τάδε λέγει κύριος ἐν τοῖς παιδαρίοις τῶν ἀρχόντων τῶν χωρῶν καὶ εἶπεν Αχααβ τίς συνάψει τὸν πόλεμον καὶ εἶπεν σύ
The king went back home to Samaria, very angry and depressed/dejected.
