John Gill Commentary


John Gill Commentary
"Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not." — 1 Kings 20:7 (ASV)
Then the King of Israel called all the elders of the land
His poor sneaking spirit was a little aroused with the last message, and therefore called a council of the elders of the people upon it, which was a piece of wisdom in him:
and said, mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeks mischief ;
nothing less than the entire ruin of the nation:
for he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my
silver, and for my gold, and I did not deny him ;
in the sense he understood him, which was, that he was to be a vassal, and tributary to him, for the sake of holding these, which yet was very mean; but he wanted to have these in hand, and not them only, but the pillaging of all his subjects.