1 Kings 20:37

THE MESSAGE

He then found another man and said, "Hit me; wound me." That man did it—hit him hard in the face, drawing blood.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The prophet found another man and said to him, “Strike me!” So the man struck him, inflicting a wound.

Hebrew Names Version
Then he found another man, and said, Please strike me. The man struck him, smiting and wounding him.

King James Version
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him.

English Standard Version
Then he found another man and said, "Strike me, please." And the man struck him—struck him and wounded him.

New Century Version
The prophet went to another man and said, "Hit me, please!" So the man hit him and hurt him.

New English Translation
He found another man and said, "Wound me!" So the man wounded him severely.

Amplified Bible
Then the prophet found another man and said, "Please strike me." So the man struck him hard, wounding him.

New American Standard Bible
Then he found another man and said, "Please strike me." And the man struck him, injuring him.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then he founde another man, and sayde, Smite mee, I pray thee. And the man smote him, and in smiting wounded him.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then he found another man and said, "Please strike me." And the man struck him, wounding him.

Contemporary English Version
The prophet found someone else and said, "Hit me!" So this man beat him up.

Complete Jewish Bible
The prophet went to another man and said, "Hit me!" The man struck him a blow and wounded him.

Darby Translation
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him violently, and wounded [him].

Easy-to-Read Version
The first prophet went to another man and said, "Hit me!" This man hit him and hurt the prophet.

George Lamsa Translation
Then he found another man and said to him, Strike me. And the man struck him, and wounded him.

Good News Translation
Then this same prophet went to another man and said, "Hit me!" This man did so; he hit him a hard blow and hurt him.

Lexham English Bible
Then he found another man and said, "Strike me, please," so the man struck him sharply and wounded him.

Literal Translation
And he found another man and said, Please strike me. And the man struck him, striking and wounding.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And he founde another man, and sayde: I praye the smyte me. And the man smote him, and wounded him,

American Standard Version
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, smiting and wounding him.

Bible in Basic English
Then he came across another man, and said, Give me a wound. And the man gave him a blow wounding him.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then he founde another man, & sayde: Smyte me I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smyting he wounded him.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Then he found another man, and said: 'Smite me, I pray thee.' And the man smote him, smiting and wounding him.

King James Version (1611)
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting hee wounded him.

English Revised Version
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, smiting and wounding him.

Berean Standard Bible
Then the prophet found another man and said, "Strike me, please!" So the man struck him and wounded him,

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
But also the prophete foond another man, and he seide to that man, Smyte thou me. Which smoot him, and woundide him.

Young's Literal Translation
And he findeth another man, and saith, `Smite me, I pray thee;' and the man smiteth him, smiting and wounding,

Update Bible Version
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray you. And the man smote him, smiting and wounding him.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded [him].

World English Bible
Then he found another man, and said, Please strike me. The man struck him, smiting and wounding him.

New King James Version
And he found another man, and said, "Strike me, please." So the man struck him, inflicting a wound.

New Living Translation
Then the prophet turned to another man and said, "Hit me!" So he struck the prophet and wounded him.

New Life Bible
Then he found another man and said, "Hit me." And the man hit him, and hurt him.

New Revised Standard
Then he found another man and said, "Strike me!" So the man hit him, striking and wounding him.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then found he another man, and said, - Smite me, I pray thee. So the man smote him - kept on smiting and wounding.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Then he found another man, and said to him: Strike me. And he struck him and wounded him.

Revised Standard Version
Then he found another man, and said, "Strike me, I pray." And the man struck him, smiting and wounding him.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then he found another man and said, "Please strike me." And the man struck him, wounding him.

Contextual Overview

³¹ At about this same time Ben-Hadad king of Aram mustered his troops. He recruited in addition thirty-two local sheiks, all outfitted with horses and chariots. He set out in force and surrounded Samaria, ready to make war. He sent an envoy into the city to set his terms before Ahab king of Israel: "Ben-Hadad lays claim to your silver and gold, and to the pick of your wives and sons." The king of Israel accepted the terms: "As you say, distinguished lord; I and everything I have is yours." But then the envoy returned a second time, saying, "On second thought, I want it all—your silver and gold and all your wives and sons. Hand them over—the whole works. I'll give you twenty-four hours; then my servants will arrive to search your palace and the houses of your officials and loot them; anything that strikes their fancy, they'll take." The king of Israel called a meeting of all his tribal elders. He said, "Look at this—outrageous! He's just looking for trouble. He means to clean me out, demanding all my women and children. And after I already agreed to pay him off handsomely!" The elders, backed by the people, said, "Don't cave in to him. Don't give an inch." So he sent an envoy to Ben-Hadad, "Tell my distinguished lord, ‘I agreed to the terms you delivered the first time, but this I can't do—this I won't do!'" The envoy went back and delivered the answer. Ben-Hadad shot back his response: "May the gods do their worst to me, and then worse again, if there'll be anything left of Samaria but rubble." The king of Israel countered, "Think about it—it's easier to start a fight than end one." It happened that when Ben-Hadad heard this retort he was into some heavy drinking, boozing it up with the sheiks in their field shelters. Drunkenly, he ordered his henchmen, "Go after them!" And they attacked the city. Just then a lone prophet approached Ahab king of Israel and said, " God 's word: Have you taken a good look at this mob? Well, look again—I'm turning it over to you this very day. And you'll know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I am God ." Ahab said, "Really? And who is going to make this happen?" God said, "The young commandos of the regional chiefs." "And who," said Ahab, "will strike the first blow?" God said, "You." Ahab looked over the commandos of the regional chiefs; he counted 232. Then he assessed the available troops—7,000. At noon they set out after Ben-Hadad who, with his allies, the thirty-two sheiks, was busy at serious drinking in the field shelters. The commandos of the regional chiefs made up the vanguard. A report was brought to Ben-Hadad: "Men are on their way from Samaria." He said, "If they've come in peace, take them alive as hostages; if they've come to fight, the same—take them alive as hostages." The commandos poured out of the city with the full army behind them. They hit hard in hand-to-hand combat. The Arameans scattered from the field, with Israel hard on their heels. But Ben-Hadad king of Aram got away on horseback, along with his cavalry. The king of Israel cut down both horses and chariots—an enormous defeat for Aram. Sometime later the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, "On the alert now—build up your army, assess your capabilities, and see what has to be done. Before the year is out, the king of Aram will be back in force." Meanwhile the advisors to the king of Aram said, "Their god is a god of the mountains—we don't stand a chance against them there. So let's engage them on the plain where we'll have the advantage. Here's the strategy: Remove each sheik from his place of leadership and replace him with a seasoned officer. Then recruit a fighting force equivalent in size to the army that deserted earlier—horse for horse, chariot for chariot. And we'll fight them on the plain—we're sure to prove stronger than they are." It sounded good to the king; he did what they advised. As the new year approached, Ben-Hadad rallied Aram and they went up to Aphek to make war on Israel. The Israelite army prepared to fight and took the field to meet Aram. They moved into battle formation before Aram in two camps, like two flocks of goats. The plain was seething with Arameans. Just then a holy man approached the king of Israel saying, "This is God 's word: Because Aram said, ‘ God is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,' I'll hand over this huge mob of an army to you. Then you'll know that I am God ." The two armies were poised in a standoff for seven days. On the seventh day fighting broke out. The Israelites killed 100,000 of the Aramean infantry in one day. The rest of the army ran for their lives back to the city, Aphek, only to have the city wall fall on 27,000 of the survivors. Ben-Hadad escaped into the city and hid in a closet. Then his advisors told him, "Look, we've heard that the kings of Israel play by the rules; let's dress in old gunnysacks, carry a white flag of truce, and present ourselves to the king of Israel on the chance that he'll let you live." ³² So that's what they did. They dressed in old gunnysacks and carried a white flag, and came to the king of Israel saying, "Your servant Ben-Hadad said, ‘Please let me live.'" Ahab said, "You mean to tell me that he's still alive? If he's alive, he's my brother." ³³ The men took this as a good sign and concluded that everything was going to be all right: "Ben-Hadad is most certainly your brother!" The king said, "Go and get him." They went and brought him back by chariot. ³⁴ Ahab said, "I am prepared to return the cities that my father took from your father. And you can set up your headquarters in Damascus just as my father did in Samaria; I'll send you home under safe conduct." Then he made a covenant with him and sent him off. ³⁵ A man who was one of the prophets said to a bystander, "Hit me; wound me. Do it for God 's sake—it's his command. Hit me; wound me." But the man wouldn't do it. ³⁶ So he told him, "Because you wouldn't obey God 's orders, as soon as you leave me a lion will attack you." No sooner had the man left his side than a lion met him and attacked. ³⁷ He then found another man and said, "Hit me; wound me." That man did it—hit him hard in the face, drawing blood. ³⁸Then the prophet went and took a position along the road, with a bandage over his eyes, waiting for the king. It wasn't long before the king happened by. The man cried out to the king, "Your servant was in the thick of the battle when a man showed up and turned over a prisoner to me, saying, ‘Guard this man with your life; if he turns up missing you'll pay dearly.' But I got busy doing one thing after another and the next time I looked he was gone." The king of Israel said, "You've just pronounced your own verdict." ⁴¹ At that, the man ripped the bandage off his eyes and the king recognized who he was—one of the prophets! ⁴² The man said to the king, " God 's word: Because you let a man go who was under sentence by God , it's now your life for his, your people for his."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Smite me: 1 Kings 20:35, Exodus 21:12

so that: etc. Heb. smiting and wounding

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then he found another man, and said, smite me, I pray thee,.... This is not said to be his neighbour, nor one of the sons of the prophets, but a rustic man, and so stuck not to take him at his word:

and the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him; in his face; made some incision in his flesh, broke the skin, and fetched blood of him; perhaps somewhere about his eyes, by what follows: this he got done to him, that he might look like a wounded soldier, and thereby get the more easily to the speech of Ahab.