So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-ha'dad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive? he is my brother.
They girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel. It was considered an act of deep humility and submission for a vanquished foe to approach the conqueror with a sword suspended from his neck. A modern instance, which occurred on the storming of Bagdad by the Turks, 1638, is related in Thevenot's 'Travels,' Part 1:, p. 289. In the case of a defeated army, or remnant of an army, having resolved to beg for quarter the vanquished general sought an interview with the vizier or prime minister, by whom he was introduced to the king, and in token of his throwing himself and his remaining soldiers upon the victor's clemency, he appeared with a black coarse scarf about his neck, a badge of mourning, and a sword fastened to it by the hilt. The ropes used by Ben-hadad and his companions in misfortune were probably adopted for want of scarfs, or as extraordinary tokens of affliction. "On their heads" х bªraa'sheeyhem (H7218). So the Septuagint, epi tas kefalas autoon]. The Arabic version has 'necks,' and this conformable to the Oriental custom. Captives were dragged by ropes round their necks, bound together in companies, or in a line, the loop of the rope being passed round each neck, and their hands tied behind their backs, as is depicted on the monuments of Egypt, also on the Persian sculptures at Behistun. 'The whole of this demeanour,' says Sir John Malcolm ('History of Persia'), 'is a mode of begging clemency the most humble, and is considered by proud and barbarous men the most ignominious. It signifies, I approach you as a criminal, and bring myself to submit to whatever terms you may impose.'