1 Kings 20:7

“Then the King of Israel called all the elders of the land, etc.] His poor sneaking spirit was a little aroused with the last message, and therefore called a council of the elders of the people upon it, which was a piece of wisdom in him: and said, mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief; nothing less than the entire ruin of the nation: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold, and I denied him not; in the sense he understood him, which was, that he was to be a vassal, and tributary to him, for the sake of holding these, which yet was very mean; but he wanted to have these in hand, and not them only, but the pillaging of all his…”

“The political institution of a Council of elders (Exodus 3:16, etc.), which had belonged to the undivided nation from the sojourn in Egypt downward, had therefore been continued among the ten tribes after their separation, and still held an important place in the system of Government. The Council was not merely called together when the king needed it, but held its regular sittings at the seat of government; and hence, “all the elders of the land” were now present in Samaria. On the “elders of towns,” see 1 Kings 21:8-14. Apparently the king had not thought it necessary to summon the Council when the first terms were announced to him, inasmuch as they touched only himself. The fresh demands…”

“Seeketh mischief - Though he pretended peace, upon these terms propounded, it is apparent by those additional demands, that he intends nothing less than our utter ruin. I denied not - I granted his demands in the sense before mentioned. 3 Kings (1 Kings) 20:10”

“20:7-9 When Ben-hadad’s second delegation made even greater demands (see 1 Sam 11:1-2), Ahab recognized that Ben-hadad seemed bent on war. Ahab repeated his compliance with Ben-hadad’s first demand but rejected the second. • my lord the king: Ahab addressed Ben-hadad in polite diplomatic terms, conceding his willingness to accept the Aramean king’s rule. Perhaps he hoped that his courteous reply would still avoid military confrontation.”

“all the elders: Kg1 8:1; Kg2 5:7; Ch1 13:1, Ch1 28:1; Pro 11:14 Mark: Kg2 5:7 seeketh mischief: Job 15:35; Psa 7:14, Psa 36:4, Psa 62:3, Psa 140:2; Pro 6:14, Pro 11:27, Pro 24:2; Dan 11:27; Rom 3:13-18 denied him not: Heb. kept not back from him, Kg1 20:4 3 Kings (1 Kings) 20:10”