John Gill Commentary 1 Kings 20:42

"And he said unto him, Thus saith Jehovah, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people." — 1 Kings 20:42 (ASV)

And he said unto him, thus says the Lord
He spoke not his own sense, and in his own words, but in the name of the Lord, for which he had authority, that it might have the greater weight with Ahab:

because you have let go out of your hand a man whom I appointed to
utter destruction ;
meaning Benhadad; or "the man of my anathema or curse" ^F23 ; cursed of God for his blasphemy of him, and devoted by him to ruin on that account; or "of my net" ^F24 , being by his providence brought into a net or noose at Aphek, out of which he could not have escaped, had not Ahab let him go:

therefore your life shall go for his life ;
as it shortly did, and that by the hand of a Syrian soldier, (1 Kings 22:34 1 Kings 22:35) ,

and your people for his people ;
which was fulfilled by Hazael king of Syria, the sins of Israel rendering them deserving of the calamities they endured by his means, see (2 Kings 8:12) (10:32) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F23: (ymrx vya) "vir anathematis mei", Montanus, Piscator.
• F24: "Vir retis mei"; so some in Vatablus.