TRV
Translation
King James Version
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 will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
KJV (with Strong's)
And there came H5066 a man H376 of God H430, and spake H559 unto the king H4428 of Israel H3478, and said H559, Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068, Because the Syrians H758 have said H559, The LORD H3068 is God H430 of the hills H2022, but he is not God H430 of the valleys H6010, therefore will I deliver H5414 all this great H1419 multitude H1995 into thine hand H3027, and ye shall know H3045 that I am the LORD H3068.
Complete Jewish Bible
At this point, a man of God approached and said to the king of Isra'el, "Here is what ADONAI says: 'Because Aram said that ADONAI is a God of the hills but not a God of the valleys, I will hand over to you this entire huge army. Then you will know that I am ADONAI.'"
Berean Standard Bible
Then the man of God approached the king of Israel and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not of the valleys, I will deliver all this great army into your hand. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”
American Standard Version
And a man of God came near and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith Jehovah, Because the Syrians have said, Jehovah is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys; therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
World English Bible Messianic
A man of God came near and spoke to the king of Israel, and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The LORD is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys”; therefore I will deliver all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD.’”
Geneva Bible (1599)
And there came a man of God, and spake vnto the King of Israel, saying, Thus sayeth the Lord, Because the Aramites haue sayd, The Lord is the God of the mountaines, and not God of the valleis, therefore will I deliuer all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.
Young's Literal Translation
And there cometh nigh a man of God, and speaketh unto the king of Israel, and saith, `Thus said Jehovah, Because that the Aramaeans have said, God of hills is Jehovah, and He is not God of valleys--I have given the whole of this great multitude into thy hand, and ye have known that I am Jehovah.'
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In the KJVVerse 9,437 of 31,102
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Commentary on 1 Kings 20 verses 22–30
22 ¶ And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
23 And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.
24 And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms:
25 And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so.
26 And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel.
27 And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country.
28 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 will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
29 And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day.
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.
We have here an account of another successful campaign which Ahab, by divine aid, made against the Syrians, in which he gave them a greater defeat than in the former. Strange! Ahab idolatrous and yet victorious, a persecutor and yet a conqueror! God has wise and holy ends in suffering wicked men to prosper, and glorifies his own name thereby.
I. Ahab is admonished by a prophet to prepare for another war, Kg1 20:22. It should seem, he was now secure, and looked but a little way before him. Those that are careless of their souls are often as careless of their outwards affairs; but the prophet (to whom God made known the following counsels of the Syrians) told him they would renew their attempt at the return of the year, hoping to retrieve the honour they had lost and be avenged for the blow they had received. He therefore bade him strengthen himself, put himself into a posture of defence, and be ready to give them a warm reception. God had decreed the end, but Ahab must use the means, else he tempts God: "Help thyself, strengthen thyself, and God will help and strengthen thee." The enemies of God's Israel are restless in their malice, and, though they may take some breathing-time for themselves, yet they are still breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the church. It concerns us always to expect assaults from our spiritual enemies, and therefore to mark and see what we do.
II. Ben-hadad is advised by those about him concerning the operations of the next campaign. 1. They advised him to change his ground, Kg1 20:23. They took it for granted that it was not Israel, but Israel's gods, that beat them (so great a regard was then universally had to invisible powers); but they speak very ignorantly of Jehovah - that he was many, whereas he is one and his name one, - that he was their God only, a local deity, peculiar to that nation, whereas he is the Creator and ruler of all the world, - and that he was a God of the hills only, because David their great prophet had said, I will lift up my eyes to the hills whence cometh my help (Psa 121:1), and that his foundation was in the holy mountain (Psa 87:1; Psa 78:54), and much was said of his holy hill (Psa 15:1; Psa 24:3); supposing him altogether such a one as their imaginary deities, they fancied he was confined to his hills, and could not or would not come down from them, and therefore an army in the valley would be below his cognizance and from under his protection. Thus vain were the Gentiles in their imaginations concerning God, so wretchedly were their foolish hearts darkened, and, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. 2. They advised him to change his officers (Kg1 20:24, Kg1 20:25), not to employ the kings, who were commanders by birth, but captains rather, who were commanders by merit, who were inured to war, would not affect to make a show like the kings, but would go through with business. Let every man be employed in that which he is brought up to and used to, and preferred to that which he is fit for. Syria, it seems, was rich and populous, when it could furnish recruits sufficient, after so great a defeat, horse for horse, chariot for chariot.
III. Both armies take the field. Ben-hadad, with his Syrians, encamps near Aphek, in the tribe of Asher. It is probable that Asher was a city in his own possession, one of those which his father had won (Kg1 20:34), and the country about it was flat and level, and fit for his purpose, Kg1 20:26. Ahab, with his forces, posted himself at some distance over against them, Kg1 20:27. The disproportion of numbers was very remarkable. The children of Israel, who were cantoned in two battalions, looked like two little flocks of kids, their numbers small, their equipage mean, and the figure they made contemptible; but the Syrians filled the country with their numbers, their noise, their chariots, their carriages, and their baggage.
IV. Ahab is encouraged to fight the Syrians, notwithstanding their advantages and confidence. A man of God is sent to him, to tell him that this numerous army shall all be delivered into his hand (Kg1 20:28), but not for his sake; be it known to him, he is utterly unworthy for whom God will do this. God would not do it because Ahab had praised God or prayed to him (we do not read that he did either), but because the Syrians had blasphemed God, and had said, He is the God of the hills and not of the valleys; therefore God will do it in his own vindication, and to preserve the honour of his own name. If the Syrians had said, "Ahab and his people have forgotten their God, and so put themselves out of his protection, and therefore we may venture to attack them," God would probably have delivered Israel into their hands; but when they go upon a presumption so very injurious to the divine omnipotence, and the honour of him who is Lord of all hosts, not only in hills and valleys, but in heaven and earth, which they are willingly ignorant of, they shall be undeceived, at the expense of that vast army which is so much their pride and confidence.
V. After the armies had faced one another seven days (the Syrians, it is likely, boasting, and the Israelites trembling), they engaged, and the Syrians were totally routed, 100,000 men slain by the sword of Israel in the field of battle (Kg1 20:29), and 27,000 men, that thought themselves safe under the walls of Aphek, a fortified city (from the walls of which the shooters might annoy the enemy if they pursued them, Sa2 11:24), found their bane where they hoped for protection: the wall fell upon them, probably overthrown by an earthquake, and, the cities of Canaan being walled up to heaven, it reached a great way, and they were all killed, or hurt, or overwhelmed with dismay. Ben-hadad, who thought his city Aphek would hold out against the conquerors, finding it thus unwalled, and the remnant of his forces dispirited and dispersed, had nothing but secresy to rely upon for safety, and therefore hid himself in a chamber within a chamber, lest the pursuers should seize him. See how the greatest confidence often ends in the greatest cowardice. "Now is the God of Israel the God of the valleys or no?" He shall know now that he is forced into an inner chamber to hide himself, see Kg1 22:25.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 22–30. Public domain.
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Ephrem the SyrianAD 373
ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 20:1
Here the Scripture relates the two battles of the king of Israel against the Arameans, at which we have already hinted, and the twin slaughters of the Arameans, of which the second caused the death of 127, men, as God took his revenge on the impious voice of the Arameans, who said about the true God worshiped by the Israelites, “The Lord is a god of the hills, but he is not a god of the valleys.”
Ambrose of MilanAD 397
LETTER 80
Thus the saints go up to the Lord, the wicked go down to sin; the saints are on the mountains, the guilty in the valleys. “For he is the God of the mountains and not the God of the valleys.” Those who dwelt in the houses of the plain where God does not dwell could not have the house of God within them, for this is the house that God sought from them so that they might build up themselves and rear within themselves the temple of God from living stones of faith. He did not want buildings made with earthen walls or wooden roofs, for the hand of an enemy would have been able to overthrow them. He wanted that temple that is built in human hearts, to whom it might be said, “You are the temple of God,” in which the Lord Jesus might dwell and from there set out to redeem all humankind. There also could be prepared a sacred chamber in the womb of the Virgin where the King of heaven might live and a human body become the temple of God, which, though it was destroyed, might yet be restored to life on the third day.
Salvian the PresbyterAD 500
THE GOVERNANCE OF GOD 7.8
Did not the Lord wish Ben-hadad, king of Syria, whom besides countless thousands of his own people, thirty-two kings and armies of the same number of kings served, to be conquered by a few foot soldiers of the princes in order that he who was the author of such victory would be acknowledged?
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
First Kings 20:28 records a pivotal divine declaration, where the LORD, through an unnamed prophet, directly confronts and refutes the pagan Syrian misconception that His power is geographically confined. Following an initial Israelite victory in the mountainous terrain, the Syrians attributed their defeat to Yahweh being merely a "God of the hills." In response, God emphatically declares His intention to deliver their vast army into Israel's hands on the plains, stating His explicit purpose: "and ye shall know that I am the LORD." This pronouncement serves as a powerful assertion of God's universal sovereignty, omnipresence, and unique identity as the one true God, challenging the localized pagan deities and reinforcing His absolute authority over all creation and circumstances.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The verse employs several potent literary devices to convey its profound theological message with maximum impact. Contrast is central to the verse, highlighted by the explicit juxtaposition of "hills" and "valleys," which functions as a merism to symbolize the totality of the earth and all conceivable domains. This directly refutes the Syrian's limited and erroneous understanding of God's power. The entire verse is a prime example of Divine Speech, where God's direct words are conveyed through a prophet, lending absolute authority, infallibility, and weight to the message. There is also a strong element of Irony present: the Syrians' false theological premise (that God is limited to specific terrains) directly precipitates their downfall, serving as the very means by which God reveals His limitless and universal nature. Finally, the phrase "I am the LORD" is a powerful Statement of Self-Revelation, a recurring and foundational motif throughout the Old Testament that underscores God's unique, self-existent, incomparable, and covenantal identity.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
First Kings 20:28 profoundly articulates the foundational biblical truth of God's absolute and universal sovereignty. It serves as a powerful theological statement against any attempt to confine or limit the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. The Syrian's error was not merely a tactical misjudgment but a fundamental theological one, rooted in a polytheistic worldview that fragmented divine power across various localized deities. Yahweh's response unequivocally declares that He is not merely a national deity or a god of specific geographical features; He is the one true God whose dominion extends over all creation, all nations, and all circumstances. This truth is foundational to monotheism, asserting God's omnipresence and omnipotence, and it underpins the call for exclusive worship and unwavering trust in Him alone. The ultimate purpose of His actions, as revealed here, is always His self-revelation, ensuring that both His covenant people and the pagan nations "know" Him experientially as the unique and supreme LORD.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
The profound declaration in 1 Kings 20:28 remains powerfully relevant for believers today, serving as a steadfast anchor for our faith in a world that often seeks to compartmentalize God or dismiss His active presence in certain areas of life. Just as the Syrians mistakenly confined God to the "hills," we too can subtly fall into the trap of believing God is more present or powerful in our "spiritual" lives than in our "secular" work, or more actively involved in times of blessing than in seasons of struggle. This verse shatters such misconceptions, reminding us that God's sovereignty extends over every "hill" of triumph and every "valley" of adversity. Whether we face challenges in our careers, relationships, health, finances, or any other domain, God is not limited by our circumstances, our location, or our perception of His reach. He is ever-present, infinitely powerful, and actively working to reveal His glory and nature. Our trials, like the battle on the plains, can become profound opportunities for us and for those around us to "know that I am the LORD." This truth calls us to trust Him implicitly, to worship Him without reservation, and to live with the unwavering conviction that no situation is beyond His control or outside His redemptive purposes.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What was the Syrian's specific misconception about God?
Answer: The Syrians believed that the LORD, the God of Israel, was a localized deity whose power was confined to specific geographical regions, particularly the mountains or "hills" where the first battle took place. They thought that by moving the battle to the "valleys" or plains, they would be outside the LORD's domain and thus gain a tactical advantage. This reflected a common pagan belief in territorial gods, a worldview fundamentally opposed to Israel's understanding of Yahweh as the transcendent, universal God. This misunderstanding directly led to God's emphatic declaration of His universal sovereignty in 1 Kings 20:28.
Why was it important for Israel, and not just the Syrians, to "know" God through this event?
Answer: While the immediate context addresses the Syrian's pagan misconception, the phrase "and ye shall know that I am the LORD" also profoundly impacts Israel. Under King Ahab's reign, Israel had largely turned to idolatry, particularly the worship of Baal. This victory, orchestrated by God, served as a powerful and undeniable reminder to the Israelites that Yahweh, their covenant God, was the one true, living, and sovereign God, far superior to any pagan deity. It was a call for them to return to true worship and to experientially understand God's unique identity and power, much like His self-revelation to Israel in Exodus 6:7. This event was a divine lesson for both the nations and God's own people.
How does this verse relate to the concept of God's omnipresence?
Answer: This verse directly affirms God's omnipresence by refuting the idea of geographical limitations on His power. The Syrian's belief that God was only a "God of the hills" implied He was absent or powerless in the "valleys." God's decisive victory in the valleys demonstrates unequivocally that His presence and power are not confined by any physical space, geographical feature, or human construct. He is equally present, active, and sovereign in all places and at all times, a profound truth beautifully articulated in passages like Psalm 139:7-10. This reinforces that there is no place where one can escape His presence or where His power does not extend, affirming His boundless nature.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
The declaration "ye shall know that I am the LORD" in 1 Kings 20:28 finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. While God revealed His universal sovereignty through mighty acts in the Old Testament, these were but shadows pointing to the full and perfect revelation of His nature in His Son. Jesus, as the incarnate Word, is the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15), through whom all things were created, both in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible (Colossians 1:16). He is not merely the God of "hills" or "valleys," but the Lord over all creation, demonstrating His absolute authority over nature (Mark 4:39), sickness (Matthew 8:16), death (John 11:43-44), and sin (Mark 2:10). Through His perfect life, atoning death, and glorious resurrection, God's ultimate purpose—that all might "know" Him experientially and savingly—is realized. The Great Commission, to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19), is the New Testament extension of this Old Testament declaration, inviting people from every "hill" and "valley" of the earth to come to the saving knowledge of the one true God, revealed perfectly in Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all (Acts 10:36).