1 Kings 20:10

“And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, etc.] That is, to Ahab: the gods do so unto me, and more also; bring greater evils upon me than I can think or express: if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me, signifying that he made no doubt of it of reducing it to dust by numbers of men he should bring with him, which would be so many, that if each was to take an handful of dust of the ruins of Samaria, there would not enough for them all; which was an hectoring and parabolical speech, uttered in his wrath and fury. Ver. 11 And the king of Israel answered and said, etc.] Very mildly and very wisely: tell him, let not him that girdeth on his harness boast…”

“If the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls ... - In its general sense this phrase is undoubtedly a boast that the number of Ben-hadad’s troops was such as to make resistance vain and foolish. We may parallel it with the saying of the Trachinian at Thermopylae, that the Persian arrows would darken the light of the sun. Probably the exact meaning is, “When your town is reduced to ruins, as it will be if you resist, the entire heap will not suffice to furnish a handful of dust to each soldier of my army, so many are they.” There was a threat in the message as well as a boast. return to 'Top of Page'”

“And said, &c. - If I do not assault thy city with so numerous an army, as shall turn all thy city into an heap of dust, and shall be sufficient to carry it all away, though every soldier take but one handful of it. 3 Kings (1 Kings) 20:11”

“20:10-11 Ben-hadad’s third delegation delivered an ultimatum: Surrender or die. His caustic threat to thoroughly plunder Samaria was reinforced with a curse, an example of the psychological warfare often practiced in the ancient Near East (see 2 Kgs 18:19-35). • Ahab’s third reply to Ben-hadad contained proverbial wisdom. The outcome of the conflict was not yet sealed.”

“The gods: Kg1 19:2; Act 23:12 if the dust: Sa2 17:12, Sa2 17:13; Kg2 19:23, Kg2 19:24; Isa 10:13, Isa 10:14, Isa 37:24, Isa 37:25 follow me: Heb. are at my feet, Exo 11:8 \*marg. Jdg 4:10 3 Kings (1 Kings) 20:11”