1-kings 20:10
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And Benhadad sent to him, and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And Benhadad sent to him, and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
American Standard Version (ASV)
And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
Then Ben-hadad sent to him, saying, May the gods' punishment be on me if there is enough of the dust of Samaria for all the people at my feet to take some in their hands.
Webster's Revision
And Ben-hadad sent to him, and said, The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
World English Bible
Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, "The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people who follow me."
English Revised Version (ERV)
And Ben-hadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
Clarke's 1-kings 20:10 Bible Commentary
If the dust of Samaria shall suffice - This is variously understood. Jonathan translates thus: "If the dust of Shomeron shall be sufficient for the soles of the feet of the people that shall accompany me;" i.e., I shall bring such an army that there will scarcely be room for them to stand in Samaria and its vicinity.
Barnes's 1-kings 20:10 Bible Commentary
If the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls ... - In its general sense this phrase is undoubtedly a boast that the number of Ben-hadad's troops was such as to make resistance vain and foolish. We may parallel it with the saying of the Trachinian at Thermopylae, that the Persian arrows would darken the light of the sun. Probably the exact meaning is, "When your town is reduced to ruins, as it will be if you resist, the entire heap will not suffice to furnish a handful of dust to each soldier of my army, so many are they." There was a threat in the message as well as a boast.
Wesley's 1-kings 20:10 Bible Commentary
20:10 And said, &c. - If I do not assault thy city with so numerous an army, as shall turn all thy city into an heap of dust, and shall besufficient to carry it all away, though every soldier take but one handfulof it.