Syrian camp, while 7,000 of the regular troops followed behind. The little band left the gates of Samaria and proceeded towards the pavilions, or rather "the tents and booths of branches, boughs, and brushwood, which were erected for the Syrian chiefs in the camp, as they are still erected for the Turkish pashas and agas in their expeditions1." Though it was only high noon, Benhadad with his vassal chiefs was carousing over his winecups. But he no sooner heard of the approach of the little band from the city, than with drunken insolence he ordered that they should be taken alive, whether they came for peace or war. The force, however, sent to execute this order found it no easy one, for the 232 "princes of the provinces" offered a strenuous resistance, and struck down all who opposed them. This, and the sight of the 7,000 following behind, filled the Syrian host with a sudden panic, and they fled precipitately, headed by Benhadad himself on a fleet horse, and pursued by the victorious Israelites, who inflicted upon them a great slaughter (1 K. xx. I—22).

Thus Samaria was delivered. But the same prophet, who had predicted the victory, now warned Ahab to be on his guard, for with the return of spring the enemy would renew the invasion, which duly came to pass. Annoyed at their late humbling defeat, the Syrians had concluded that it was owing to the fact that they had attacked in a hilly region a people, whose gods were gods of the hills. They now resolved to fight in a more level region, and in place of the vassal kings, who probably had been the first to fly in the late battle, they had substituted captains, and mustered an army as large as the last. Accordingly, at the season named by the prophet, they advanced with a vast host to Aphek3, a town

1 See Keil on 1 K. xx. 16.

2 See Kitto's Daily Bible Illustr. IV. pp. 286, 287.

3 Now called Fik, a considerable village on the top of a

in the level country, east of the Jordan, on the military road from Syria to Israel. Hither the army of Ahab went forth to meet them, and encamped, appearing like two little flocks of kids in comparison of their formidable foes, who filled the country round. But again a prophet appeared to encourage Ahab, and assure him of a second victory. The Syrians had imagined Jehovah to be merely a god of the hills, they should know that he was a god also of the valleys (1 K. xx. 28).

For seven days the two armies confronted one another, and then the battle was joined. The Syrians were utterly routed, and fled in confusion to Aphek, resolved there to make a stand. But the wall of the town, in consequence probably of a sudden earthquake, fell with a terrible crash and buried upwards of 27,000 in the ruins1. Benhadad himself with his immediate attendants escaped, and was advised by them to throw himself on the mercy of the conqueror. They proposed to go forth with sackcloth on their loins and ropes on

mountain (Thomson, p. 388), at the head of the Wady Fik, 6 miles east of the sea of Galilee, "the great road between Damascus, Nablous, and Jerusalem, still passing through the village." Smith's Bib. Dict.

"This tremendous destruction was caused, as I suppose, by an earthquake; and after having seen the effects of the earthquake in Safed and Tiberias, I can easily understand this narrative. We are not required to limit the catastrophe to the falling of a single wall; or, if this be insisted on, we have only to suppose that it was the wall of the city, and a little consideration will convince any one familiar with Oriental fortifications that it might overwhelm a whole army. Those ramparts were very lofty and massive. An open space was always left along their base, and this would be packed, from end to end, by the remnants of Benhadad's mighty host, and escape from the falling towers would be impossible. Burckhardt informs us that the town is built round the base of a hill, in the shape of a crescent, and this peculiarity of the site would render the destruction only the more extensive and inevitable." Thomson's Land and the Book, p. 389.

their heads, and plead for their lives. Mounted in his chariot Ahab received the envoys, enquired after the welfare of his late dreaded enemy, and called him his brother. The word brother revived the courage of the Syrian ambassadors, and they were presently bidden to return and usher their master into Ahab's presence. Benhadad came, and was invited to take his place in the chariot by the side of his conqueror. Grateful for this unexpected clemency, he promised to restore to the king of Israel all the towns his father had taken from the Israelites, and to permit his subjects to have a quarter in the Syrian capital, similar to that which Benhadad's father had obtained in Samaria (1 K. xx. 34).

This impolitic clemency to an unrelenting national foe was sternly rebuked by one of the sons of the prophets. Having caused himself to be wounded and disguised with a headband, he awaited Ahab's coming along the road, and said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the late battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver; and as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. Instantly Ahab decided the matter, and pronounced that he must bear the penalty. On this the headband was removed, and the king perceived not only that the speaker was a scholar of the prophets, but understood also the true meaning of his parable. Because he had spared a man, whom Jehovah had devoted to utter destruction, the punishment should fall upon him and his people, which he had failed to execute on Benhadad (1 K. xx. 35—43).

CHAPTER III.

MURDER OF NABOTH-BATTLE OF RAMOTHGILEAD.

1 KINGS XXI. XXII.

2 CHR. XVIII. B. C. 898.

SHORTLY after these events an incident occurred,

which brought down upon Ahab and his house an awful doom. Adjoining his palace at Jezreel was a vineyard belonging to a native of the place named NABOTH. Eagerly desirous to add the vineyard to his palace grounds and convert it into a garden of herbs, Ahab proposed to its owner to purchase it, or give him in exchange another and even a better piece of ground. This Naboth stoutly refused to do, alleging his unwillingness to part with the inheritance of his fathers (Lev. XXV. 23; Num. xxxvi. 8). Annoyed at this rebuff, the king returned to his palace, and in his vexation flung himself on his bed, turned away his face, and would eat no bread. While in this mood he was visited by Jezebel, to whom he explained the cause of his vexation. She instantly resolved to take the matter into her own hands, and bade her lord trouble himself no more, she would give him the vineyard. Thereupon she wrote a warrant in Ahab's name, sealed it with his seal, and sent it to the elders of the city, directing that, as if on the occasion of some great calamity, a solemn fast should be proclaimed; that two men should be set up to charge Naboth with blasphemy against God and the king, and that then he should be stoned to death (Exod. xxii. 28; Lev. xxiv. 15, 16). It is a striking proof of the degeneracy of the nation at this period, that the elders of Jezreel never for one moment scrupled about carrying out this inhuman order. Naboth was dragged forth, arraigned, condemned, and stoned together with his sons (Sec

2 K. ix. 26), and the elders reported to the queen that the guilt of blasphemy against Jehovah and His anointed had been avenged1. The vineyard had now lapsed to the crown, and Jezebel bade her lord go down and take possession of it. But on proceeding thither, the king found himself confronted by no other than the great Elijah, who in words of utmost sternness denounced the late cruel murder, and declared the sentence of the Lord. The king and all his house should share the fate of Jeroboam and of Baasha; his queen should be eaten by the dogs at the wall of Jezreel, and dogs should lick up his own blood on the very spot where they had licked up that of Naboth. Appalled at this awful sentence, Ahab rent his clothes, put on sackcloth, fasted, and displayed all the signs of a sincere repentance. Such as it was, it was accepted, and Elijah was bidden to announce to him that the punishment should not be inflicted during his own lifetime, but in his son's days it would surely descend upon his house (1 K. xxi. 29).

Meanwhile the relations between the rival kingdoms of Israel and Judah had been more peaceful than at any other period, since they had parted 60 years before at Shechem. Not only were hostilities laid aside, but an alliance between the sovereigns was cemented by the marriage of JEHORAM, son of Jehoshaphat, with ATHALIAH, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. Moreover about the 16th year of his reign, B.c. 898, the king of Judah went on a visit to the court of Israel. He was received with every mark of distinction, and Ahab slew sheep and oxen in abundance for him and his retinue (2 Chr. xviii. 2). During this visit, the king of Israel took occasion to propose to his ally that they should undertake an ex

1 "The place of execution was by the large tank or reservoir, which still remains on the slope of the hill of Samaria, immediately outside the walls." Article Naboth, in Smith's Bib. Dict.