And the king of Israel went to his house sullen and displeased, and came to Samaria.
All Commentaries on 1 Kings 20:43 Go To 1 Kings 20
John Chrysostom
AD 407
After the second man had struck and wounded him, the prophet bound his own head with a bandage, covered his eyes and disguised himself. Why did he do this? He was going to accuse the king and condemn him for saving the life of the king of the Syrians. Now Ahab was an impious man and always a foe to the prophets. The prophet did not wish Ahab to recognize him and then drive him from his sight; if the king drove him away, he would not hear the prophet’s words of correction. So the prophet concealed his face and any statement of his business in the hope that this would give him the advantage when he did speak and that he might get the king to agree to the terms he wanted.
When the king was passing by, the prophet called aloud to him and said, “Your servant went forth to the campaign of war. Behold, a man brought another man to me and said to me: ‘Guard this man for me. If he shall leap away and bound off, it will be your life for his life, or you will pay a talent of silver.’ And it happened that as your servant turned his eyes this way and that, the man was not there.” And the king of Israel said to him: “This is your judgment before me: You killed the man.” And the prophet hurried to take the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the sons of the prophets. And he said to the king: “So says the Lord: ‘Because you let go from your hand a man worthy of death, it will be your life for his life, and our people for his people.’ ”
Do you see how not only God but also people make this kind of judgment because both God and people heed the end and the causes rather than the nature of what is done? Certainly even the king said to him, “This is your judgment before me: you killed the man.” You are a murderer, he said, because you let an enemy go. The prophet put on the bandage and presented the case as if it were not the king but somebody else on trial, so that the king might pass the proper sentence. And, in fact, this did happen. So after the king condemned him, the prophet tore off the bandage and said, “Because you let go from your hand a man worthy of death, it will be your life for his life and your people for his people.” Did you see what a penalty the king paid for his act of kindness? And what punishment he endured in return for his untimely sparing of his foe? The one who spared a life is punished; another, who killed a man, was held in esteem. Phinehas certainly killed two people in a single moment of time—a man and his wife; and after he killed them, he was given the honor of the priesthood. His act of bloodshed did not defile his hand; it even made them cleaner. So you see that he who struck him perishes; you see that he who spared a man’s life is punished, while he who refused to spare a life is held in esteem. Therefore, always look into the decrees of God before you consider the nature of your own actions. Whenever you find something that accords with his decree, approve that—and only that.
