And the king of Israel replied, “Tell him: ‘The one putting on his armor should not boast like one taking it off.’”
Parallel translations
- WEB The king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘Don’t let him who puts on his armor brag like he who takes it off.’”
- KJV And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.
- ESV And the king of Israel answered, “Tell him, ‘Let not him who straps on his armor boast himself as he who takes it off.’”
- NKJV So the king of Israel answered and said, “Tell him, ‘Let not the one who puts on his armor boast like the one who takes it off.’ ”
- NASB Then the king of Israel replied, “Tell him, ‘He who straps on his weapons had better not boast like one who takes them off.’ ”
- NLT The king of Israel sent back this answer: “A warrior putting on his sword for battle should not boast like a warrior who has already won.”
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Ahab wisely retorts that a man putting on armor should not boast as one who has already won and is taking it off. The proverb warns against pride before the outcome is decided.
Overview
Ahab answers Ben-Hadad's threat with a shrewd proverb: do not celebrate victory before the battle is fought. Though Ahab is an ungodly king, here he speaks a true and humbling principle, that confidence belongs to the one who finishes, not the one who merely begins. The saying echoes the wider scriptural caution against boasting about tomorrow, since outcomes rest in the Lord's hands.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Prov 27:1Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
- Isa 10:15–16Does an axe raise itself above the one who swings it? Does a saw boast over him who saws with it? It would be like a rod waving the one who lifts it, or a staff lifting him who is not wood!
- 1 Sam 17:44–47“Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
- Eccl 9:11I saw something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong; neither is the bread to the wise, nor the wealth to the intelligent, nor the favor to the skillful. For time and chance happen to all.
- 1 Sam 14:12–13So the men of the outpost called out to Jonathan and his armor-bearer, “Come on up, and we will teach you a lesson!” “Follow me,” Jonathan told his armor-bearer, “for the LORD has delivered them into the hand of Israel.”
- 1 Sam 14:6Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
- Matt 26:75Then Peter remembered the word that Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
- Matt 26:33–35Peter said to Him, “Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will.”
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 20:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.