1 Kings 20:31

Ben-Hadad's servants suggest appealing to Israel's reputedly merciful kings, wearing sackcloth and ropes to beg for his life. They gamble on Ahab's clemency.

Cross-references · 19

• Gen 37:34Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
• 2 Sam 3:31Then David ordered Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the funeral bier.
• 1 Kgs 20:23Meanwhile, the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they prevailed over us. Instead, we should fight them on the plains; surely then we will prevail.
• 1 Kgs 21:27–29When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly.
• 2 Sam 14:2So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.
• Esth 4:1–3When Mordecai learned of all that had happened, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the middle of the city, wailing loudly and bitterly.
• Esth 4:16“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!”
• Prov 20:28Loving devotion and faithfulness preserve a king; by these he maintains his throne.
• Isa 37:1On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.
• Isa 16:5in loving devotion a throne will be established in the tent of David. A judge seeking justice and hastening righteousness will sit on it in faithfulness.
• Isa 22:12On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
• Job 2:4“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give up all he owns in exchange for his life.
• Jonah 3:5–6And the Ninevites believed God. They proclaimed a fast and dressed in sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least.
• Eph 1:7–8In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
• Matt 10:28Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
• 2 Kgs 7:4If we say, ‘Let us go into the city,’ we will die there from the famine in the city; but if we sit here, we will also die. So come now, let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.”
• Rev 11:3And I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”
• 2 Kgs 5:13Naaman’s servants, however, approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?”
• 2 Kgs 19:1–2On hearing this report, King Hezekiah tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and entered the house of the LORD.

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