1 Kings 22:31

New Living Translation

Meanwhile, the king of Aram had issued these orders to his thirty-two chariot commanders: "Attack only the king of Israel. Don't bother with anyone else!"

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone at all except the king of Israel.”

Hebrew Names Version
Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Yisra'el.

King James Version
But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

English Standard Version
Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, "Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel."

New Century Version
The king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, "Don't fight with anyone—important or unimportant—except the king of Israel."

New English Translation
Now the king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, "Do not fight common soldiers or high-ranking officers; fight only the king of Israel."

Amplified Bible
Now the king of Aram (Syria) had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, "Do not fight with [anyone, either] small or great, but with [Ahab] the king of Israel alone."

New American Standard Bible
Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two commanders of his chariots, saying, "Do not fight with the small or great, but only with the king of Israel."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the King of Aram commaunded his two and thirtie captaines ouer his charets, saying, Fight neither with small, nor great, saue onely against the King of Israel.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two commanders of his chariots, saying, "Do not fight with small or great, but with the king of Israel alone."

Contemporary English Version
The king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders to attack only Ahab.

Complete Jewish Bible
Now the king of Aram had ordered the thirty-two chariot commanders, "Don't attack anyone of either high or low rank, only the king of Isra'el."

Darby Translation
And the king of Syria commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots saying, Fight neither with small nor great, but with the king of Israel only.

Easy-to-Read Version
The king of Aram had 32 chariot commanders. He gave them this command, "Don't go after anyone except the king of Israel, no matter how important they are."

George Lamsa Translation
But the king of Aram commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

Good News Translation
The king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders to attack no one else except the king of Israel.

Lexham English Bible
The king of Aram commanded his thirty-two chariot commanders, saying, "You shall not fight with small or great, but only against the king of Israel, him alone!"

Literal Translation
And the king of Syria commanded the thirty two commanders of the chariots, saying, You shall not fight with small or great, but with the king of Israel.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But the kynge of Siria commaunded the rulers of his charettes (of whom there were two and thirtie) and saide: Ye shal fight nether agaynst small ner greate, but onely agaynst the kynge of Israel.

American Standard Version
Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty and two captains of his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

Bible in Basic English
Now the king of Aram had given orders to the thirty-two captains of his war-carriages, saying, Make no attack on small or great, but only on the king of Israel.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
But the king of Syria commaunded the thirtie and two captaynes that had rule ouer his charettes, saying: Fight neither with small nor great, saue onely against the king of Israel.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty and two captains of his chariots, saying: 'Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.'

King James Version (1611)
But the King of Syria commanded his thirtie and two Captaines that had rule ouer his charets, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, saue only with the king of Israel.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the king of Syria had charged the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, Fight not against small or great, but against the king of Israel only.

English Revised Version
Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty and two captains of his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

Berean Standard Bible
Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, "Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sotheli the kyng of Sirie hadde comaundid to two and thritti princes of charis, and seide, Ye schulen not fiyte ayens ony man lesse, ethir more, no but ayens the kyng of Israel oonli.

Young's Literal Translation
And the king of Aram commanded the heads of the charioteers whom he hath -- thirty and two -- saying, `Ye do not fight with small or with great, but with the king of Israel by himself.'

Update Bible Version
Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

Webster's Bible Translation
But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

World English Bible
Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

New King James Version
Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, "Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel."

New Life Bible
Now the king of Syria had told the thirty-two captains of his war-wagons, "Do not fight with the small or strong. But only fight with the king of Israel."

New Revised Standard
Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, "Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now, the king of Syria, had commanded the captains of chariots which he had, thirty and two, saying, Ye shall not fight with small or great, - save with the king of Israel alone.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the king of Syria had commanded the two and thirty captains of the chariots, saying: You shall not fight against any, small or great, but against the king of Israel only.

Revised Standard Version
Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, "Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel."

THE MESSAGE
Meanwhile, the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders (there were thirty-two of them): "Don't bother with anyone, whether small or great; go after the king of Israel and him only."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Now the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two captains of his chariots, saying, "Do not fight with small or great, but with the king of Israel alone."

Contextual Overview

²⁹ So King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah led their armies against Ramoth-gilead. ³⁰ The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "As we go into battle, I will disguise myself so no one will recognize me, but you wear your royal robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle. ³¹ Meanwhile, the king of Aram had issued these orders to his thirty-two chariot commanders: "Attack only the king of Israel. Don't bother with anyone else!" ³² So when the Aramean chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat in his royal robes, they went after him. "There is the king of Israel!" they shouted. But when Jehoshaphat called out, ³³ the chariot commanders realized he was not the king of Israel, and they stopped chasing him. ³⁴ An Aramean soldier, however, randomly shot an arrow at the Israelite troops and hit the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. "Turn the horses and get me out of here!" Ahab groaned to the driver of his chariot. "I'm badly wounded!" ³⁵ The battle raged all that day, and the king remained propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran down to the floor of his chariot, and as evening arrived he died. ³⁶ Just as the sun was setting, the cry ran through his troops: "We're done for! Run for your lives!" ³⁷ So the king died, and his body was taken to Samaria and buried there. ³⁸ Then his chariot was washed beside the pool of Samaria, and dogs came and licked his blood at the place where the prostitutes bathed, just as the Lord had promised.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

thirty and two: 1 Kings 20:24, 2 Chronicles 18:30

Fight: 1 Kings 20:33-42

small nor great: Genesis 19:11, 1 Samuel 30:2, Jeremiah 16:6

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 17:2 - I will smite 2 Samuel 18:3 - if we flee 1 Kings 20:34 - So he made a covenant 1 Kings 20:42 - Because 1 Kings 22:33 - that they turned 1 Kings 22:36 - there went 2 Kings 6:8 - the king 2 Kings 6:24 - gathered

Gill's Notes on the Bible

But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had the rule over his chariots,.... This was the number of his kings in the first battle with Israel, and of his captains in the second, 1 Kings 20:1, and the same number he had now, being very probably not only the number of his chariots, but the division of his army was into so many battalions, under the command of these captains of chariots:

saying, fight neither with small nor great; of those that belonged to Jehoshaphat:

save only with the king of Israel; and his men; for it can hardly be thought that his orders were to fight with none, nor kill any in the battle but Ahab personally; though it is very probable he might give them directions to aim at him chiefly, knowing that, if he was killed or taken, his army would flee or surrender; and he might be desirous of getting him into his hands, as he had been in his; and the rather his spite was against him, as he was the mover of the war.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Commanded - “Had commanded.” Ben-hadad delivers his order in the hyperbolical style common in the East. His meaning is, “Make it your chief object to kill or take the king of Israel.” Apparently, his own defeat and captivity were still rankling in his mind, and he wished to retaliate on Ahab, the humiliation which he considered himself to have suffered. He shows small appreciation of the generosity which had spared his life and restored him to his kingdom.