Then the king of Israel replied, “Tell him, ‘He who straps on his weapons had better not boast like one who takes them 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.
- BSB And the king of Israel replied, “Tell him: ‘The one putting on his armor should not boast like one taking 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.’ ”
- 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 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 27:1Don’t boast about tomorrow; for you don’t know what a day may bring.
- Isa 10:15–16Should an ax brag against him who chops with it? Should a saw exalt itself above him who saws with it? As if a rod should lift those who lift it up, or as if a staff should lift up someone who is not wood.
- 1 Sam 17:44–47The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the field.”
- Eccl 9:11I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.
- 1 Sam 14:12–13The men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something!” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me; for Yahweh has delivered them into the hand of Israel.”
- 1 Sam 14:6Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint on Yahweh to save by many or by few.”
- Matt 26:75Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” He went out and wept bitterly.
- Matt 26:33–35But Peter answered him, “Even if all will be made to stumble because of you, I will never be made to stumble.”
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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.