1 Kings 20:7

ISRAEL'S ELDERS DEMAND THAT AHAB RESIST BEN-HADAD

"Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this man seeketh mischief: for he sent unto me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver, and for my gold; and I denied him not. And all the elders and all the people said unto him, Hearken thou not, neither consent. Wherefore he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for thy servant at the first I will do, but this thing I may not do. And the messengers departed and brought him word again. And Benhadad sent unto 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. And the king of Israel answered and said, Let not him that girdeth on his armor boast himself as he that putteth it off. And it came to pass, when Benhadad heard this message, as he was drinking, he and the kings that were with him, in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city."

"The king ... called all the elders" (1 Kings 20:7). As Jamieson said, "There is reason to believe that Ahab would have yielded even to Benhadad's further demands had not the voice of these elders and all the people been raised against it."[10]

"If the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls, etc." (1 Kings 20:10). Cook's interpretation of this threat was, "If you resist, your town shall be reduced to ruins; and all the remains will not suffice to furnish a handful of dust to each of my soldiers, they are so many."[11]

"Let not him that girdeth on his armor boast himself as he that putteth it off" (1 Kings 20:11). "This was one of the wisest words that Ahab ever spoke; and it is a good memento to us all."[12]

"Set yourselves in array" (1 Kings 20:12). This is the equivalent of "Let the attack begin."