1-Kings - 22:11



11 Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said, "Thus says Yahweh, 'With these you shall push the Syrians, until they are consumed.'"

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of 1-Kings 22:11.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.
And Sedecias the son of Chanaana made himself horns of iron, and said: Thus saith the Lord: With these shalt thou push Syria, till thou destroy it.
And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron, and he said, Thus saith Jehovah: With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have exterminated them.
And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah maketh for himself horns of iron, and saith, 'Thus said Jehovah, By these thou dost push the Aramaeans till they are consumed;'
And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, The Lord says, Pushing back the Aramaeans with these, you will put an end to them completely.
And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said: 'Thus saith the LORD: With these shalt thou gore the Arameans, until they be consumed.'
Also, Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made for himself horns of iron, and he said, "Thus says the Lord: With these, you shall threaten Syria, until you destroy it."

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

Horns of iron - The horn in Scripture is the favorite symbol of power; and pushing with the horn is a common metaphor for attacking and conquering enemies (see Deuteronomy 33:17; Compare Psalm 44:5; Daniel 8:4). Zedekiah, in employing a symbolic action, was following the example of a former Israelite prophet 1-Kings 11:30.
Thus saith the Lord - Or, יהוה yehovâh. Zedekiah lays aside the unmeaningful "Lord" אדני 'ǎdonāy of the general company of Israelite prophets 1-Kings 22:6, and professes to have a direct message from Yahweh to Ahab. He may have believed his own words, for the "lying spirit" 1-Kings 22:22 may have seemed to him a messenger from Yahweh. All the rest followed his example 1-Kings 22:12.

Zedekiah - made him horns of iron - This was in imitation of that sort of prophecy which instructed by significative actions. This was frequent among the prophets of the Lord.

And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him (i) horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.
(i) The true prophets of God were accustomed to use signs for the confirmation of their doctrine, (Isaiah 20:2; Jeremiah 7:2) in which the false prophets imitated them, thinking by it to make their doctrine more believable.

And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron,.... Horns are emblems of power and might, and iron ones of greater strength still; the prophets sometimes made use of visible signs, to represent the things they prophesied of should come to pass, see Isaiah 20:2, and the same method this prophet took:
and he saith, thus saith the Lord; imitating the true prophets: with these shall thou push the Syrians until thou hast consumed them: Abarbinel thinks he had in view the blessing of Joseph by Moses, Deuteronomy 33:17 where he is compared to a bullock with horns; and these said to be the ten thousands of Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh; and Ahab being of the tribe of Joseph, and ruling in Ephraim and Manasseh, the prophet chose to make use of this emblem for his encouragement.

Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron--Small projections, of the size and form of our candle extinguishers (worn in many parts of the East as military ornaments), were worn by the Syrians of that time, and probably by the Israelite warriors also. Zedekiah, by assuming two horns, personated two heroes, and, pretending to be a prophet, wished in this manner to represent the kings of Israel and Judah in a military triumph. It was a symbolic action, to impart greater force to his language (see Deuteronomy 33:17); but it was little more than a flourish with a spontoon [CALMET, Fragments].

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