1 Kings 20:30

But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city,.... Which perhaps was in the hands of the Syrians, and was designed for a retreat for them, should they be beaten: and there a wall fell upon twenty seven

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

The wall, or, the walls, (the singular number for the plural, than which nothing more frequent,) of the city; or of some great castle or fort in or near the city, in which they were now fortifying themselves; or of some part of the city where they lay. Which might possibly happen through natural causes; but most probably was effected by the mighty power of God, then sending some sudden earthquake, or violent storm of wind, which threw down the wall, or walls, upon them; or doing this by the ministry of angels; which cannot be incredible to any man, except to him that denies the truth of all the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testament; which being attested, many of them, by Jews and heathens, it is the height of folly and impudence to deny. For if ever miracle was to be wrought, now seems to have been the proper time and season for it; when the blasphemous Syrians denied the sovereign and infinite power of God, and thereby in some sort obliged him, for his own honour, to give a proof of it; and to show that he was the God of the plains as well as of the mountains, and that he could as effectually destroy them in their strongest holds as in the open fields, and make the very walls, to whose strength they trusted for their defence, to be the instruments of their ruin. But it may be further observed, that it is not said that all these were killed by the fall of this wall; but only that the wall fell upon them, killing some, and wounding others, as is usual in those cases. Nor is it necessary that the wall should fall upon every individual person; but it is sufficient to justify this phrase, if it fell upon the main body of them; for the words in the Hebrew ran thus, the wall fell upon twenty-seven thousand (not of the men that are left, as we render it, but) which were left of that great army. Into the city; either, 1. Out of the fields, as the rest of his army did; which is distinctly and particularly noted of him, because he was the most eminent person in it, and the head of it. Compare the title of . Or, 2. At and from the noise and report of that terrible fall of the wall, or walls; which possibly might be in the outside or suburbs of the city; from whence he fled further into the city. Into an inner chamber; or, a chamber within a chamber; where he supposed he might lie hid, till he had an opportunity of making an escape, or of obtaining mercy.

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 Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.Ver. 30. But the rest fled to Aphek.] See on 1 Kings 20:26. No place can secure a blasphemer from the divine vengeance. And there a wall fell] By some earthquake, likely, or other immediate hand of God, for their insolency against him. The stones in the wall of Aphek shall sooner turn executioners, than a blasphemous Aramite shall escape unrevenged. At the coronation of Pope Clement V, John, duke of Brittany, with others, were in like sort slain by the fall of a wall at Lyons; Philip, king of France, was thereby also wounded; the Pope himself was struck off his horse, his crown struck off his head, and a carbuncle of very great price lost out of it. A fair warning to that foul sinner who had upon his head the names of blasphemy. Into an inner chamber.] Into a chamber within a chamber, glad to hide himself in any hole. So Manasseh that faced the heavens in his prosperity, in trouble basely hides his head among the bushes. Gidlimer overcome by Bellisarius, and besieged, sent to beg of him three things; (1.) A piece of bread to ease his hunger; (2.) A sponge to dry his eyes; (3.) A harp to cheer up his heart, well-nigh broke with grief. Jac. Revius.

(30) A wall—properly, the wall of the city, whether falling by earthquake, or in the storming of the place, by Israel. The numbers in the text are very large, as in many other instances. It is possible (see Introduction) that there may be corruption, although the same numbers are found in the ancient versions. But the massing in small space of Oriental armies, and the extra ordinary slaughter consequent on it, are well illustrated in history; as, for instance, in the Greek wars with Persia or even our own experience in India.

Verse 30. A wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand] From the first view of this text it would appear that when the Syrians fled to Aphek, and shut themselves within the walls, the Israelites immediately brought all hands, and sapped the walls, in consequence of which a large portion fell, and buried twenty-seven thousand men. But perhaps the hand of God was more immediately in this disaster; probably a burning wind is meant. See at the end of the chapter. 1Kg 20:43. Came into the city, into an inner chamber.] However the passage above may be understood, the city was now, in effect, taken; and Ben-hadad either betook himself with his few followers to the citadel or to some secret hiding-place, where he held the council with his servants immediately mentioned.

30. and there a [R.V. and the] wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the [R.V. omits of the] men] The noun is definite in the original, and must refer to the city wall of Aphek. The narrative gives no clue to the cause of the disaster. But the divine promise of victory seems to warrant us in concluding that it was by divine interposition, through an earthquake it may be, that a destruction so tremendous was wrought among the enemy. The small number of Israel could not have availed even for the slaughter of those who fell in the battle. And Ben-hadad fled] He was probably on or near the walls when the great disaster occurred, and in terror gat him to the more central parts of the city. into an inner chamber] Literally, ‘a chamber within a chamber’. The LXX. has εἰςτὸνοἷκοντοῦκοιτῶνοςεἰςτὸταμιεῖον, ‘into the bedchamber, even into the innermost room’. Josephus says ‘an underground room’. What is meant is no doubt some room as far removed from the entrance as possible, so that he might be hidden for a good while at all events, and perhaps remain altogether undiscovered.

A wall - “The wall,” i. e., the wall of the town. We may suppose a terrific earthquake during the siege of the place, while the Syrians were manning the defenses in full force, which threw down the

30. A wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand — “This tremendous destruction was caused, as I suppose, by an earthquake; and, after having seen the effects of an earthquake in Safed and Tiberias, I