1 Kings 20:11
9 So Ahab answered the messengers of Ben-hadad, “Tell my lord the king, ‘All that you demanded of your servant the first time I will do, but this thing I cannot do.’” So the messengers departed and relayed the message to Ben-hadad.
10 Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”
And the king of Israel replied, “Tell him: ‘The one putting on his armor should not boast like one taking it off.’”
12 Ben-hadad received this message while he and the kings were drinking in their tents, and he said to his servants, “Take your positions.” So they stationed themselves against the city.
13 Meanwhile a prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Do you see this entire great army? Behold, I will deliver it into your hand this very day, and you will know that I am the LORD.’”
Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- And the king of Israel replied, “Tell him: ‘The one putting on his armor should not boast like one taking it off.’”
- KJV
- And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.
- WEB
- The king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘Don’t let him who puts on his armor brag like he who takes it off.’”
- ASV
- And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on [his armor] boast himself as he that putteth it off.
- DARBY
- And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell [him], Let not him that girdeth on boast himself as he that putteth off!
- BLB
- And the king of Israel answered and said, “Declare: ‘Let not him who is girding boast as him who is loosing.’”
- ÅB
- Da svarte Israels konge og sa: Si til ham: Ikke skulle den som binder sverdet om seg, rose seg lik den som løser det av seg!
- OTB
- Men Israels konge svarte: "Si til ham: La ikke den som tar på seg rustningen rose seg som den som tar den av."
- B1930
- Da svarte Israels konge og sa: Si til ham: Ikke skulde den som binder sverdet om sig, rose sig lik den som løser det av sig!
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Proverbs 27:1
Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 9:11
I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.
Read in contextIsaiah 10:15–16
Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
Read in context1 Samuel 17:44–47
“Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
Read in contextMatthew 26:75
Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Read in contextMatthew 26:33–35
Peter said to Him, “Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will.”
Read in context1 Samuel 14:12–13
So the men of the outpost called out to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come on up, and we will teach you a lesson!” “Follow me,” Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.”
Read in context1 Samuel 14:6
Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
Read in context