1 Kings 20:16-18
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
16 [a]They marched out at noon, while Ben-hadad was drinking heavily in the pavilions with the thirty-two kings who were his allies. 17 When the aides of the provincial governors marched out first, Ben-hadad received word, “Some men have marched out of Samaria.” 18 He answered, “Whether they have come out for peace or for war, take them alive.”
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- 20:16–19 The narrator uses a sort of verbal split-screen technique to show us two separate and simultaneous scenes. At the gates of Samaria, the Israelite forces are coming out to battle (v. 16a): first the aides (lit., “young men”; v. 17a), then the whole army (v. 19). Meanwhile in the Aramean camp Ben-hadad is getting drunk (v. 16b), receiving reports (v. 17b) and issuing commands (v. 18).
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