So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and [put] ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, [Is] he yet alive? he [is] my brother.
Ver. 32. So they girded sackcloth.] See 1 Kings 20:31 .
Thy servant Benhadad saith.] Not long since it was, Thy lord Benhadad saith, All that thou hast is mine. Pride goeth before a fall. It was a great foretoken of Darius's ruin, when in his proud embassy to Alexander he called himself king of kings, and cousin of the gods; but for Alexander, he called him his servant. Decent fortunas secundas superbiae, said he in Plautus, but without reason; Great men may well be proud. How much better Polybius, that grave historian, who by the example of M. Attilius Regulus, - haughty and merciless to the Carthaginians, of whom he was shortly after glad to crave mercy, - teacheth men to use their prosperity moderately; and not to look for any long continuance of it. a
I pray thee, let me live.] Life is a sweet mercy, Esther 7:3 ; Jeremiah 39:18 ; Jer 45:5 and man is a life loving creature, said Aesop.
He is my brother.] Haec non clementia fuit, sed dementia, saith one. This was not courtsey, but foolery. b Brother Benhadad will ere long fight against Ahab with that life which he had given him. 1Ki 22:31
a απιστειν τη τυχη και μαλιστα κατα τας ευπραγιαν .
b Chald. Paraph.