As the sun was setting, the cry rang out in the army: “Every man to his own city, and every man to his own land!”
Parallel translations
- WEB A cry went throughout the army about the going down of the sun, saying, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!”
- KJV And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.
- NKJV Then, as the sun was going down, a shout went throughout the army, saying, “Every man to his city, and every man to his own country!”
- NASB Then the word passed throughout the army close to sunset, saying, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!”
- NLT Just as the sun was setting, the cry ran through his troops: “We’re done for! Run for your lives!”
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
At sunset the cry goes out for every soldier to return home, signaling Israel's defeat with the king's death.
Overview
With Ahab dead, the army disperses, fulfilling Micaiah's vision of Israel scattered like sheep without a shepherd. The collapse confirms that the campaign undertaken against God's word ends in failure. The verse closes the battle with the proof that God's prophecy stood true.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 2 Kgs 14:12And Judah was routed before Israel, and every man fled to his home.
- 1 Sam 4:10So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great—thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel fell.
- 1 Kgs 12:16When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home,
- 1 Kgs 22:31Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.”
- Judg 21:24And at that time, each of the Israelites returned from there to his own tribe and clan, each to his own inheritance.
- Judg 7:7–8Then the LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men who lapped the water I will save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand. But all the others are to go home.”
- 2 Sam 19:8So the king got up and sat in the gate, and all the people were told: “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” So they all came before the king. Meanwhile, the Israelites had fled, each man to his home.
- 1 Kgs 12:24that this is what the LORD says: ‘You are not to go up and fight against your brothers, the Israelites. Each of you must return home, for this word is from Me.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and turned back according to the word of the LORD.
- 1 Kgs 22:17So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 22:36 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.