1 Kings 20:3
New International Version
Your silver and gold are mine, and the best of your wives and children are mine.’”

New Living Translation
‘Your silver and gold are mine, and so are your wives and the best of your children!’”

English Standard Version
‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your best wives and children also are mine.’”

Berean Standard Bible
saying, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘Your silver and gold are mine, and your best wives and children are mine!’ ”

King James Bible
Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.

New King James Version
‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your loveliest wives and children are mine.’ ”

New American Standard Bible
‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your most beautiful wives and children are also mine.’”

NASB 1995
‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your most beautiful wives and children are also mine.’”

NASB 1977
‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your most beautiful wives and children are also mine.’”

Legacy Standard Bible
‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your most beautiful wives and children are also mine.’”

Amplified Bible
‘Your silver and your gold are mine; your wives and your children, even the fairest, also are mine [as conditions of peace].’”

Christian Standard Bible
‘Your silver and your gold are mine! And your best wives and children are mine as well! ’ ”

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Your silver and your gold are mine! And your best wives and children are mine as well!’”

American Standard Version
Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.

Contemporary English Version
"Ahab, give me your silver and gold, your wives, and your strongest sons!"

English Revised Version
Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Your silver and gold are mine. Your beloved wives and children are mine."

Good News Translation
you surrender to him your silver and gold, your women and the strongest of your children."

International Standard Version
Your silver and gold belong to me. So do the most beautiful of your wives and children.'"

Majority Standard Bible
saying, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘Your silver and gold are mine, and your best wives and children are mine!’”

NET Bible
He said to him, "This is what Ben Hadad says, 'Your silver and your gold are mine, as well as the best of your wives and sons.'"

New Heart English Bible
'Your silver and your gold is mine. Your wives also and your children, even the best, are mine.'"

Webster's Bible Translation
Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the most comely, are mine.

World English Bible
‘Your silver and your gold are mine. Your wives also and your children, even the best, are mine.’”
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
and says to him, “Thus said Ben-Hadad: Your silver and your gold are mine, and your wives and your sons—the best—are mine.”

Young's Literal Translation
and saith to him, 'Thus said Ben-Hadad, 'Thy silver and thy gold are mine, and thy wives and thy sons -- the best -- are mine.'

Smith's Literal Translation
And he will say to him, Thus said the son of Hadad, Thy silver and thy gold it is to me; and thy wives and thy sons, the good, they are to me.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
He said: Thus saith Benadad: Thy silver, and thy gold is mine: and thy wives, and thy goodliest children are mine.

Catholic Public Domain Version
he said: “Thus says Benhadad: Your silver and your gold is mine. And your wives and your best sons are mine.”

New American Bible
and said to him, “This is Ben-hadad’s message: ‘Your silver and gold are mine, and your wives and your fine children are mine.’ ”

New Revised Standard Version
Your silver and gold are mine; your fairest wives and children also are mine.”
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Your silver and your gold are mine; and the most attractive of your wives and your children are mine also.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And said to him: “Thus says BarHadad: “Your silver and your gold is mine, and your wives and your sons who are beautiful are mine.”
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
and said unto him: 'Thus saith Ben-hadad: Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine.'

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Thy silver and thy gold are mine, and thy wives and thy children are mine.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Ben-Hadad Attacks Samaria
2Then he sent messengers into the city to Ahab king of Israel, 3saying, “This is what Ben-hadad says: ‘Your silver and gold are mine, and your best wives and children are mine!’” 4And the king of Israel replied, “Just as you say, my lord the king: I am yours, along with all that I have.”…

Cross References
Exodus 20:17
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Deuteronomy 5:21
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house or field, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

2 Samuel 12:1-4
Then the LORD sent Nathan to David, and when he arrived, he said, “There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. / The rich man had a great number of sheep and cattle, / but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food and drank from his cup; it slept in his arms and was like a daughter to him. ...

2 Kings 18:14-16
So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand from me.” And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. / Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the royal palace. / At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold with which he had plated the doors and doorposts of the temple of the LORD, and he gave it to the king of Assyria.

2 Kings 24:13
As the LORD had declared, Nebuchadnezzar also carried off all the treasures from the house of the LORD and the royal palace, and he cut into pieces all the gold articles that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD.

Isaiah 39:6-7
The time will surely come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. / And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, will be taken away to be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

Jeremiah 20:5
I will give away all the wealth of this city—all its products and valuables, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah—to their enemies. They will plunder them, seize them, and carry them off to Babylon.

Ezekiel 25:6-7
For this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you clapped your hands and stomped your feet and rejoiced over the land of Israel with a heart full of contempt, / therefore I will indeed stretch out My hand against you and give you as plunder to the nations. I will cut you off from the peoples and exterminate you from the countries. I will destroy you, and you will know that I am the LORD.’

Hosea 13:15
Although he flourishes among his brothers, an east wind will come—a wind from the LORD rising up from the desert. His fountain will fail, and his spring will run dry. The wind will plunder his treasury of every precious article.

Amos 3:11
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “An enemy will surround the land; he will pull down your strongholds and plunder your citadels.”

Micah 2:2
They covet fields and seize them; they take away houses. They deprive a man of his home, a fellow man of his inheritance.

Matthew 6:19-21
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. / But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. / For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 19:21
Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

Mark 10:21
Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “There is one thing you lack: Go, sell everything you own and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”

Luke 12:15
And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”


Treasury of Scripture

Your silver and your gold is mine; your wives also and your children, even the best, are mine.

Exodus 15:9
The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.

Isaiah 10:13,14
For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man: …

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1 Kings 20
1. Ben-Hadad, not content with Ahab's homage, besieges Samaria
13. By the direction of a prophet, the Syrians are slain
22. As the prophet forewarned Ahab, the Syrians come against him in Aphek
28. By the word of the prophet, and God's judgment, the Syrians are smitten again
31. The Syrians submit; Ahab sends Ben-Hadad away with a covenant
35. The prophet, under the parable of a prisoner,
39. making Ahab judge himself, denounces God's judgment against him














Your silver and gold are mine
This phrase reflects the demands of Ben-hadad, the king of Aram, upon Ahab, the king of Israel. The demand for silver and gold signifies a claim over Israel's wealth and resources. In the ancient Near Eastern context, such demands were common in vassal treaties where a more powerful king would assert dominance over a lesser king. The Hebrew word for "silver" (כֶּסֶף, keseph) and "gold" (זָהָב, zahav) are often used in the Old Testament to denote wealth and prosperity. This demand highlights the vulnerability of Israel at this time and the pressure Ahab faced from external threats. Spiritually, it can be seen as a test of faith and reliance on God rather than material wealth.

and your best wives and children are mine as well
The demand for "your best wives and children" underscores the severity and personal nature of Ben-hadad's threat. In ancient times, taking wives and children was a way to ensure submission and loyalty, as it directly affected the personal and familial honor of the king. The Hebrew word for "wives" (נָשִׁים, nashim) and "children" (בָּנִים, banim) indicates not just a physical possession but a deeper intrusion into the personal and dynastic life of Ahab. This demand can be seen as an attack on the future and legacy of Israel, as children represent the continuation of a family line. From a spiritual perspective, this highlights the importance of trusting in God's protection over one's family and future, rather than succumbing to fear and intimidation from worldly powers.

Verse 3. - Thy silver and thy gold is mine [Heb. mine it is]; thy wives also and thy children [Nothing reveals Ben-hadad's object more clearly than the mention of Ahab's wives. When we consider how jealously the seraglio of an Eastern prince is guarded, and how the surrender of the harem is a virtual surrender of the throne (2 Samuel 16:21, 22; note on 1 Kings 2:22), and certainly a surrender of all manhood and self-respect, we see that his aim was to wound Ahab in his tenderest point, to humble him to the lowest depths of degradation, and possibly to force a quarrel upon him], even the goodliest [The LXX. omits this. Bahr says the word can only apply to the sons, and that it must mean the most eminent young men of the city - not Ahab's children - whom Ben-hadad demanded as hostages. But against this is

(1) Ahab's answer, "All that I have," etc.;

(2) the fact that Ben-hadad obviously meant insult and plunder; and

(3) the language of ver. 7, where see note], are mine. [Heb. mine are they. Rawlinson would explain this excessive demand of the Syrian king by the assumption that when it was made the siege had already lasted a long time, and that the people were now reduced to the greatest straits, circumstances which the historian, with the characteristic brevity of the sacred writers, omits to mention. But really no such supposition is needed. The overwhelming force which Ben-hadad had at his back would, in his eyes, justify any demands. And the prima facie view of ver. 2 is that the messengers were sent on the first approach of the army, or rather at the beginning of the siege.]

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
saying,
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר (way·yō·mer)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“This is what
ל֗וֹ (lōw)
Preposition | third person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

Ben-hadad
הֲדַ֔ד (hă·ḏaḏ)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1130: Ben-hadad -- 'son of Hadad', the name of several Aramean (Syrian) kings

says:
אָמַ֣ר (’ā·mar)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

‘Your silver
כַּסְפְּךָ֥ (kas·pə·ḵā)
Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 3701: Silver, money

and gold
וּֽזְהָבְךָ֖ (ū·zə·hā·ḇə·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 2091: Gold, something gold-colored, as oil, a clear sky

are
ה֑וּא (hū)
Pronoun - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

mine,
לִֽי־ (lî-)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's Hebrew

and your best
הַטּוֹבִ֖ים (haṭ·ṭō·w·ḇîm)
Article | Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 2896: Pleasant, agreeable, good

wives
וְנָשֶׁ֧יךָ (wə·nā·še·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

and children
וּבָנֶ֛יךָ (ū·ḇā·ne·ḵā)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 1121: A son

are
הֵֽם׃ (hêm)
Pronoun - third person masculine plural
Strong's 1992: They

mine!’”
לִי־ (lî-)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's Hebrew


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OT History: 1 Kings 20:3 Your silver and your gold is mine (1Ki iKi i Ki 1 Kg 1kg)
1 Kings 20:2
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