King James Version

1 Kings 20:23

And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

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Hebrew

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וְעַבְדֵ֨יveavdeand servantעֶבֶדconjunction, noun, common, masculine, plural, construct — “and servant”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH5650a servant[idiom] bondage, bondman, (bond-) servant, (man-) servant.מֶֽלֶךְmelekhkingמֶלֶךְnoun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “king”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH4428a kingking, royal.אֲרָ֜םaramAramאֲרָםnoun, proper name — “Aram”H758Aram or Syria, and its inhabitants; also the name of the son of Shem, a grandson of Nahor, and of an IsraeliteAram, Mesopotamia, Syria, Syrians.אָמְר֣וּamervsayאָמַרverb, qal, perfect, 3rd person, common, plural — “say”, a completed actionH559to say (used with great latitude)answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, [phrase] (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, [idiom] desire, determine, [idiom] expressly, [idiom] indeed, [idiom] intend, name, [id…אֵלָ֗יוelayvamongאֵלpreposition, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, singular — “among”H413near, with or among; often in general, toabout, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, [idiom] hath, in(-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).אֱלֹהֵ֤יeloheGodאֱלֹהִיםnoun, common, masculine, plural, construct — “God”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH430gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlativeangels, [idiom] exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), [idiom] (very) great, judges, [idiom] mighty.הָרִים֙harimhillהַרnoun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “hill”, the ordinary formH2022a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)hill (country), mount(-ain), [idiom] promotion.אֱלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔םeloheyhemGodאֱלֹהִיםnoun, common, masculine, plural, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “God”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH430gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlativeangels, [idiom] exceeding, God (gods) (-dess, -ly), [idiom] (very) great, judges, [idiom] mighty.עַלalaboveעַלpreposition — “above”H5921above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsabove, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, [idiom] as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, [idiom] both and, by (reason of), [idiom] had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of,…כֵּ֖ןkenas... asכֵּןparticle, demonstrative — “as... as”H3651properly, set upright; hence (figuratively as adjective) just; but usually (as adverb or conjunction) rightly or so (in various applications to manner, time and relation; often with other particles)[phrase] after that (this, -ward, -wards), as... as, [phrase] (for-) asmuch as yet, [phrase] be (for which) cause, [phrase] following, howbeit, in (the) like (manner, -wise), [idiom] the more, right, (even) so, state, straightway, such (th…חָזְק֣וּchazeqvbe constantחָזַקverb, qal, perfect, 3rd person, common, plural — “be constant”, a completed actionH2388to fasten upon; hence, to seize, be strong (figuratively, courageous, causatively strengthen, cure, help, repair, fortify), obstinate; to bind, restrain, conqueraid, amend, [idiom] calker, catch, cleave, confirm, be constant, constrain, continue, be of good (take) courage(-ous, -ly), encourage (self), be established, fasten, force, fortify, make hard, harden, help, (lay) hold (fast), lean, maintai…מִמֶּ֑נּוּmimenvfromמִןpreposition, suffix, pronominal, 1st person, common, plural — “from”H4480properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many sensesabove, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, [idiom] neither, [idiom] nor, (out) of, over, since, [idiom] then, through, [idiom] whether, with.וְאוּלָ֗םveulamand howbeitאוּלָםconjunction, adverb — “and howbeit”H199however or on the contraryas for, but, howbeit, in very deed, surely, truly, wherefore.נִלָּחֵ֤םnilachemdevourלָחַםverb, niphal, imperfect, 1st person, common, plural — “devour”, an unfinished actionH3898to feed on; figuratively, to consume; by implication, to battle (as destruction)devour, eat, [idiom] ever, fight(-ing), overcome, prevail, (make) war(-ring).אִתָּם֙itamamongאֵתpreposition, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “among”H854properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), near; hence, generally, with, by, at, among, etc.against, among, before, by, for, from, in(-to), (out) of, with. Often with another prepositional prefix.בַּמִּישׁ֔וֹרbamishorin plainמִישׁוֹרpreposition, with the article, noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute — “in plain”, the ordinary formH4334a level, i.e. a plain (often used (with the article prefix) as a proper name of certain districts); figuratively, concord; also straightness, i.e. (figuratively) justice (sometimes adverbially, justly)equity, even place, plain, right(-eously), (made) straight, uprightness.אִםimoh thatאִםconjunction — “oh that”H518used very widely as demonstrative, lo!; interrogative, whether?; or conditional, if, although; also Oh that!, when; hence, as a negative, not(and, can-, doubtless, if, that) (not), [phrase] but, either, [phrase] except, [phrase] more(-over if, than), neither, nevertheless, nor, oh that, or, [phrase] save (only, -ing), seeing, since, sith, [phrase] surely (no more, none, not), t…לֹ֥אlono , -r,לֹאparticle, negative — “no , -r,”H3808not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles[idiom] before, [phrase] or else, ere, [phrase] except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), ([idiom] as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, [phrase] surely, [phrase] as trul…נֶחֱזַ֖קnechezaqbe constantחָזַקverb, qal, imperfect, 1st person, common, plural — “be constant”, an unfinished actionH2388to fasten upon; hence, to seize, be strong (figuratively, courageous, causatively strengthen, cure, help, repair, fortify), obstinate; to bind, restrain, conqueraid, amend, [idiom] calker, catch, cleave, confirm, be constant, constrain, continue, be of good (take) courage(-ous, -ly), encourage (self), be established, fasten, force, fortify, make hard, harden, help, (lay) hold (fast), lean, maintai…מֵהֶֽםmehemfromמֵהֶֽםpreposition, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “from”from

Jewish translation (JPS 1917)

And the servants of the king of Aram said unto him: 'Their God is a God of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their god is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we: but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they.

Young’s Literal Translation

And the servants of the king of Aram said unto him, 'Gods of hills [are] their gods, therefore they were stronger than we; and yet, we fight with them in the plain — are we not stronger than they?

World English Bible

The servants of the king of Syria said to him, “Their god is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we. But let’s fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.

Darby Translation

And the servants of the king of Syria said to him, Their gods are gods of the mountains; therefore they were stronger than we; but if we fight against them on the plateau, shall we not be stronger than they?

Douay-Rheims

But the servants of the king of Syria said to him: Their gods are gods of the hills, therefore they have overcome us: but it is better that we should fight against them in the plains, and we shall overcome them.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

And the Lord spoke of Jezabel, saying, The dogs shall devour her within the fortification of Jezrael.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Καὶ τῇ Ἰεζάβελ ἐλάλησε Κύριος, λέγων, οἱ κύνες καταφάγονται αὐτὴν ἐν τῷ προτειχίσματι τοῦ Ἰεζράελ·