Chapter 20 of Sefer Melachim A tells of the wars of Ben Hadad, king of Aram, against Achav, king of Israel. At the beginning of the chapter Ben Hadad comes up with thirty two kings and besieges Shomron, sending humiliating demands to Achav, and Achav, after the elders and the people tell him "do not listen and do not consent," refuses. A prophet approaches him and promises him victory "through the young men of the officers of the provinces," and indeed Aram is struck and Ben Hadad flees. From here on we will deal with: the prophet's warning regarding the coming year, the commission of inquiry of Aram's advisors, the second war in the valley, and the great sin of Achav in letting Ben Hadad slip from his hand.
וַיִּגַּשׁ הַנָּבִיא אֶל מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ לֵךְ הִתְחַזַּק וְדַע וּרְאֵה אֵת אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲשֶׂה כִּי לִתְשׁוּבַת הַשָּׁנָה מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם עֹלֶה עָלֶיךָ׃ - And the prophet approached the king of Israel and said to him: Go, strengthen yourself, and know and see what you must do, for at the turn of the year the king of Aram will come up against you.
The prophet who approaches Achav is Michayhu ben Yimla, and he tells him: prepare yourself, know that in another year the king of Aram will again come up against you. What is "at the turn of the year"? When the sun returns exactly to the same point at which it now stands; for the sun will not stand at this point again except after a full year.
And what is "strengthen yourself"? Two interpretations. The first: prepare yourself for war and for battle, so that we will not afterward need to appoint a commission to check whether there were weapons in the arsenal and whether the food was fresh. And the second interpretation, which is certainly included here: the Holy One, blessed be He, is performing a miracle for you so that you will draw conclusions from it. Strengthen yourself in faith in Hashem and in trust in Hashem, so that in another year, when the king of Aram returns to you, you will already be ready spiritually to defeat him.
וְעַבְדֵי מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם אָמְרוּ אֵלָיו אֱלֹהֵי הָרִים אֱלֹהֵיהֶם עַל כֵּן חָזְקוּ מִמֶּנּוּ וְאוּלָם נִלָּחֵם אִתָּם בַּמִּישׁוֹר אִם לֹא נֶחֱזַק מֵהֶם׃ - And the servants of the king of Aram said to him: Their God is a God of mountains, therefore they were stronger than us; but let us fight them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than them.
The advisors of the king of Aram need an excuse, and the gates of excuses were not locked. They are also afraid that the defeat will cost them their heads, and therefore they must provide an explanation: how did such a blunder happen, how did such a downfall occur? So they tell him: Israel has a secret weapon, their God. But know this, "their God is a God of mountains," His power is in the mountains and He has no power in the plain. They outsmarted us: they sent a company of men out of the city, made sure we would come after them to the mountain, to their home turf, and there they struck us. Next time we will be smarter: we will set the rules of the game, we will bring them to the plain, and there we will see how the power of their God weakens.
The Metzudat David asks: from where did they get this idea? Had they said that His power is only in the sea, there would be a basis for it: the waters of the Flood, the generation of Enosh that was washed away by water, Pharaoh and his servants in the sea, Sisera whom the brook of Kishon swept away. But "a God of mountains," from where? The Metzudat David explains: the Holy One, blessed be He, gave the Torah on the mountain, and from this they concluded that His power of dominion is on the mountain. Therefore let us be in the valley and the plain, and there we will see how He can prevail over us.
וְאֶת הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה עֲשֵׂה הָסֵר הַמְּלָכִים אִישׁ מִמְּקֹמוֹ וְשִׂים פַּחוֹת תַּחְתֵּיהֶם׃ - And do this thing: remove the kings each from his place, and set governors in their stead.
Here come the proposals for efficiency. This is a commission of inquiry with teeth, with operative conclusions and cautionary notes, a commission that lops off heads: if you want to succeed, remove the kings who stand at the head of the battalions and appoint "pachot" in their place. "Pachot" comes from the word pecha, a governor (as in "the deputies and the governors"), and its meaning is: to appoint in their place men whose power and importance are lesser.
And why not appoint prominent men? For two reasons. First: when the army sees kings at its head, it grows proud and trusts in its own strength. If you place less powerful and less prominent men at its head, they will trust less in their strength and give themselves over more fully to the battle. Second: prominent men do not give themselves over, for a man's life is precious in his own eyes; simple men, by contrast, are ready to give their lives. The acts of valor in an army and in every campaign of war come precisely from the simple men. Therefore appoint men who are not prominent, and through them the war will be waged with self sacrifice.
וְאַתָּה תִמְנֶה לְךָ חַיִל כַּחַיִל הַנֹּפֵל מֵאוֹתָךְ וְסוּס כַּסּוּס וְרֶכֶב כָּרֶכֶב וְנִלָּחֲמָה אוֹתָם בַּמִּישׁוֹר אִם לֹא נֶחֱזַק מֵהֶם וַיִּשְׁמַע לְקֹלָם וַיַּעַשׂ כֵּן׃ - And you, count for yourself an army like the army that fell from you, and horse for horse and chariot for chariot, and let us fight them in the plain; surely we shall be stronger than they. And he listened to their voice and did so.
Now they tell him what his own role is: know that there was no problem at all with the arrangement of the army's forces. We had enough men to crush them, and there is no need to change that. The whole problem was in the point on which we put our finger. Therefore do not recruit a larger army - "an army like the army that fell from you", exactly the same number that went out the first time, "and horse for horse and chariot for chariot". Only change what we said needs changing, and you will see how everything turns for the good. The required change is in the conception of the war, not in the arrangement of the forces.
וַיְהִי לִתְשׁוּבַת הַשָּׁנָה וַיִּפְקֹד בֶּן הֲדַד אֶת אֲרָם וַיַּעַל אֲפֵקָה לַמִּלְחָמָה עִם יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And it came to pass at the turn of the year that Ben Hadad mustered Aram and went up to Aphek to war against Israel.
"At the turn of the year" - as the prophet had said, when the sun returned to that very same point. Ben Hadad musters Aram, holds a count, and goes up to Aphek. The Radak asks: Aphek is in the territory of Yehudah, and Ben Hadad comes to fight against Israel, in Shomron, so what does he have to do with the children of Yehudah? The Ralbag explains: Aphek was a place that had belonged to Yehudah and Aram had captured it from them, and now he goes through it on his way to fight against Israel. And why specifically to Aphek? Because there was a plain there, and they were, after all, seeking a plain.
וּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הׇתְפָּקְדוּ וְכׇלְכְּלוּ וַיֵּלְכוּ לִקְרָאתָם וַיַּחֲנוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל נֶגְדָּם כִּשְׁנֵי חֲשִׂפֵי עִזִּים וַאֲרָם מִלְאוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ׃ - And the children of Israel were mustered and provisioned and went to meet them; and the children of Israel encamped opposite them like two bare flocks of goats, while Aram filled the land.
Israel too held a count, "and provisioned" - they stocked up on supplies for the war, and went to meet them. "Chasifei" is from the word chasuf, bare, exposed, and "like two bare flocks of goats" means like two companies, like two herds of goats. And what does the verse come to teach us? Look at the difference: at first Israel was in a walled city and fought on the mountain, and now they are not so but go out to meet them into the field. Furthermore: the first time, Aram did not know how large Israel's army was; they thought a small group had gone out to them to seek peace, and afterward the surprise of the seven thousand men fell upon them, and even that was a tiny minority. But this time they all went out and were exposed to their eyes like two bare flocks of goats, and then it became clear that they were very few. The first time it was impossible to know their number, and now, as they march out in the open, one can see: is this the entire army? Two groups, all told.
וַיִּגַּשׁ אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר כֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה יַעַן אֲשֶׁר אָמְרוּ אֲרָם אֱלֹהֵי הָרִים יְהֹוָה וְלֹא אֱלֹהֵי עֲמָקִים הוּא וְנָתַתִּי אֶת כׇּל הֶהָמוֹן הַגָּדוֹל הַזֶּה בְּיָדֶךָ וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי אֲנִי יְהֹוָה׃ - And the man of God drew near and spoke to the king of Israel and said: So says Hashem, because Aram has said, Hashem is a God of mountains and not a God of valleys, therefore I shall give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am Hashem.
The prophet makes clear to Achav why he will be granted the victory: not because you are worthy or so righteous that a miracle is being done for you, but so that the name of Hashem should not be desecrated, since they say that the Holy One, blessed be He, is only the God of the mountains. Hashem tells him: I will fight your war, in order to show them that He rules and governs the entire world, all the earth, all of creation and all the worlds. This is the lesson that Aram needs to receive. For if you lose now, Aram will say: There, we told you their God is limited, and there would be here a terrible desecration of Hashem's name. Only for this reason does the Holy One, blessed be He, say: I will deliver them into your hand.
But there is something puzzling here: "And the man of God approached and spoke to the king of Israel and said" - what is the meaning of "and spoke and said," and what did he say the first time that is not written here? Rabbi Yochanan said: Wherever it says "and spoke and said," it must be expounded. And Rabbi Yochanan explains: the first statement was "And I will give all this great multitude into your hand"; and the second statement was that if Ben Hadad falls into your hand you should not have pity on him, but rather finish him off. And how do we know this, since there is no explicit revelation here? From the continuation: in the end he did not finish him off, and the prophet comes and tells him why he did not do as he was commanded. From here we learn that there was here a command to finish off the king of Aram.
The Malbim explains according to the plain meaning: the first statement is that he spoke with him about matters of the war, not in the name of Hashem, and reminded him of what he had told him in the previous war, that in the coming year there would be a war and that he should prepare properly. And afterward he told him in the name of Hashem: Know that even though you are not worthy in your own right, from the side of the Holy One, blessed be He, Hashem will avenge His honor, and therefore He will give them into your hand.
וַיַּחֲנוּ אֵלֶּה נֹכַח אֵלֶּה שִׁבְעַת יָמִים וַיְהִי בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי וַתִּקְרַב הַמִּלְחָמָה וַיַּכּוּ בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת אֲרָם מֵאָה אֶלֶף רַגְלִי בְּיוֹם אֶחָד׃ - And these camped opposite those for seven days, and it was on the seventh day that the battle drew near, and the children of Israel struck Aram, one hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day.
"These opposite those" - they arrayed battle line against battle line. And here there was a victory not in the way of nature. One hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day! Note the proportion: all those who fell in all of Israel's wars until today number about twenty three to twenty five thousand people, and that in wars that lasted months. And here we are speaking of one day and one hundred thousand foot soldiers. This is something beyond estimation. Even just to kill one hundred thousand people in one day, without any battle at all, with a machine gun, that already takes more than a day. And here we are speaking of a battle and a war. A miracle above and beyond all the ways of nature.
וַיָּנֻסוּ הַנּוֹתָרִים אֲפֵקָה אֶל הָעִיר וַתִּפֹּל הַחוֹמָה עַל עֶשְׂרִים וְשִׁבְעָה אֶלֶף אִישׁ הַנּוֹתָרִים וּבֶן הֲדַד נָס וַיָּבֹא אֶל הָעִיר חֶדֶר בְּחָדֶר׃ - And the remainder fled to Afek, to the city, and the wall fell upon twenty seven thousand men, the ones who remained; and Ben Hadad fled and came into the city, room within room.
And if this is not enough, the next verse comes to show that the miracle is a miracle squared: there remained another twenty seven thousand who were saved, and they flee into the city, and there, "by their fortune," the wall falls upon them and kills them all. And Ben Hadad himself, the king, survived, fled and entered the city "room within room," for they hid him in some inner room.
וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו עֲבָדָיו הִנֵּה נָא שָׁמַעְנוּ כִּי מַלְכֵי בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי מַלְכֵי חֶסֶד הֵם נָשִׂימָה נָּא שַׂקִּים בְּמׇתְנֵינוּ וַחֲבָלִים בְּרֹאשֵׁנוּ וְנֵצֵא אֶל מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל אוּלַי יְחַיֶּה אֶת נַפְשֶׁךָ׃ - And his servants said to him: Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are kings of kindness; let us put sackcloth on our loins and ropes on our heads and go out to the king of Israel; perhaps he will spare your life.
We have heard that the kings of Israel are kings of kindness, a nation that acts kindly even with its enemies. Let us therefore show him submission: we will put sackcloth upon ourselves, and show him that we are ready to be before him as prisoners of war, and perhaps he will spare and have mercy. And indeed there are three traits in Israel: those who perform acts of kindness, the bashful, and the merciful, and whoever does not have these traits is missing a screw. Except that the next verse comes to teach us that sometimes, if a person does not walk in the path of holiness, he uses the mercy and the bashfulness and the acts of kindness for impurity. Just as we see among all sorts of people who spare and have mercy on our enemies, who cannot bear to see the suffering of our cousins.
וַיַּחְגְּרוּ שַׂקִּים בְּמׇתְנֵיהֶם וַחֲבָלִים בְּרָאשֵׁיהֶם וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמְרוּ עַבְדְּךָ בֶן הֲדַד אָמַר תְּחִי נָא נַפְשִׁי וַיֹּאמֶר הַעוֹדֶנּוּ חַי אָחִי הוּא׃ - And they girded sackcloth on their loins and ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel and said: Your servant Ben Hadad says, please let my soul live. And he said: Is he still alive? He is my brother.
Even without having stood with him on the front lines, Achav calls him "my brother": he is as dear to me as a brother, he has nothing to worry about, I will do him no harm. And they said, "your servant Ben Hadad" - he is willing to be even your servant, as long as you let him live. And here Achav acted foolishly twice over: first, when an enemy falls into your hands in such a situation, the first thing you must do is kill him; you won the battle, so kill the king. And if you do not kill him, take him as a servant. Yet Achav not only failed to kill him, he even waived the servitude that was offered to him: you are my brother, you are a free man, you are at liberty. I do not even wish to hold you as a servant - "he is my brother."
And this was their strategy: let us present ourselves before him as lowly, for he is a man of great kindness. When someone opposes me, it emboldens me to force my will upon him; but when he agrees with me, he has taken the sting out. There is no valor here at all. If someone comes and says, "Here, hang me, you are right" - what valor is there in hanging such a man? Had he struggled, it is possible that in the course of the struggle I would even kill him; but when he does not struggle, mercy is often aroused, for there is no valor here, only something that would be perceived as sheer cruelty. Therefore they said: let us present ourselves as lowly, and then he will have mercy on us.
וְהָאֲנָשִׁים יְנַחֲשׁוּ וַיְמַהֲרוּ וַיַּחְלְטוּ הֲמִמֶּנּוּ וַיֹּאמְרוּ אָחִיךָ בֶן הֲדַד וַיֹּאמֶר בֹּאוּ קָחֻהוּ וַיֵּצֵא אֵלָיו בֶּן הֲדַד וַיַּעֲלֵהוּ עַל הַמֶּרְכָּבָה׃ - And the men divined, and they hastened and caught it from him, and said, "Your brother Ben Hadad." And he said, "Come, take him." And Ben Hadad came out to him, and he brought him up onto the chariot.
"Yenachashu" is from the root nachash, divination, as in "there is no divination in Yaakov." What is divination? They would draw an omen from all sorts of phenomena and events that occurred: his staff fell from his hand, a sign that he will have a bad day; he left his house and met an important person, a sign that he will succeed in his affairs; a black cat passed, woe and alas; a white cat passed, a sign that there will be no mice in his house, and so on. Somewhat like what Eliezer did: "And it shall be that the maiden to whom I say." And the Gemara already discusses what divination is forbidden and what is permitted. Here "and the men divined" - they took it as an omen: since words of peace fell from Achav's mouth, even if we say he did not mean to say them, it is already a good sign that something good came out of his mouth.
"And they hastened and caught it" - they hurried to conclude that it was so. And what does "lehachlit" mean? "Muchlat" is fixed and permanent, as in "the house shall be assured (muchlat) to the man," which Targum renders as "lachalutin," permanently; and as in a confirmed (muchlat) metzora versus a quarantined (musgar) metzora: the confirmed one remains in his tzaraat permanently until a change occurs in him, while the quarantined one is only for seven days. So they hurried to establish the matter with certainty, that it was indeed so.
And what is "hamimenu"? Rashi explains that the hei of "hamimenu" attaches to the preceding word, as though it were written "vayachlituha mimenu" - they concluded that the matter truly came from him. And the Malbim explains differently: at first they did not believe that he said it wholeheartedly, and they thought he was mocking them, and so "they divined hamimenu" - they began to divine whether it was from him or not from him, as ones in doubt. And in the second stage "they hastened and concluded," they hurried and concluded that the matter indeed came from him. And immediately they display brotherhood from the other side as well: "your brother Ben Hadad" - seizing on his own words in order to exploit the momentum and say that he too said he was your brother and that you are fond of him. And then Ben Hadad came out, and Achav brought him up onto the chariot.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו הֶעָרִים אֲשֶׁר לָקַח אָבִי מֵאֵת אָבִיךָ אָשִׁיב וְחֻצוֹת תָּשִׂים לְךָ בְדַמֶּשֶׂק כַּאֲשֶׁר שָׂם אָבִי בְּשֹׁמְרוֹן וַאֲנִי בַּבְּרִית אֲשַׁלְּחֶךָּ וַיִּכְרׇת לוֹ בְרִית וַיְשַׁלְּחֵהוּ׃ - And he said to him, "The cities that my father took from your father I will restore, and you shall set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus, as my father set up in Shomron." "And I, with a covenant I will send you off." And he made a covenant with him and sent him off.
Ben Hadad says to Achav: all the cities that my father took from your father, from Omri the father of Achav, I will restore to you. And not only that, but "and you shall set up marketplaces for yourself in Damascus": in Damascus, which is the capital of my kingdom, you may establish markets, you will have there a governing presence and privileges, just as my father had rule and markets in Shomron. The main thing is - send me off in peace.
And what does Achav answer? "And I, with a covenant I will send you off" - yes, the speaker here is Achav, and he made a covenant with him and sent him off. Says the Malbim: he did not take cities from him, nor marketplaces, nor anything. Achav said to him: I forgo it all, if you sign a covenant with me, that is enough for me. A cease fire, exactly like the Oslo Accords: you take everything and I ask for nothing. Terror, the war on terror, collecting weapons - not needed, it is hard for you, you cannot manage it, fine, we give everything and you give nothing. And so Achav doubled and tripled his sin: not only did he fail to kill him, and not only did he fail to take him as a servant, but even what he was willing to give you as proof of subjugation you refused to accept, and you did not even want governance over him. And indeed we will see further on that this became a snare for Achav, and he suffered because of it, and in the end he had to stand against this nation in battle yet again.
וְאִישׁ אֶחָד מִבְּנֵי הַנְּבִיאִים אָמַר אֶל רֵעֵהוּ בִּדְבַר יְהֹוָה הַכֵּינִי נָא וַיְמָאֵן הָאִישׁ לְהַכֹּתוֹ׃ - And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow by the word of Hashem: Strike me, please. But the man refused to strike him.
Who is the prophet who appears here for the third time in the chapter? Michayhu ben Yimla, and he is the one who forms the connection with Achav. And here a strange story unfolds that seemingly has nothing to do with the matter, but later we will stitch it all together and see how the pieces connect. Michayhu ben Yimla approaches one of his fellows and says to him: I have received a prophecy that you must strike me, strike me please. And the man refuses: I would not raise a hand even against a fly, I am against blows, a pacifist, against wars and against violence, I strike no one.
וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ יַעַן אֲשֶׁר לֹא שָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקוֹל יְהֹוָה הִנְּךָ הוֹלֵךְ מֵאִתִּי וְהִכְּךָ הָאַרְיֵה וַיֵּלֶךְ מֵאֶצְלוֹ וַיִּמְצָאֵהוּ הָאַרְיֵה וַיַּכֵּהוּ׃ - And he said to him: Because you did not obey the voice of Hashem, behold, when you depart from me a lion shall strike you. And he departed from him, and the lion found him and struck him.
One who transgresses the words of a prophet, what is his sentence? Liable to death, an explicit verse in the Torah. He departed from him, and the lion found him and struck him.
וַיִּמְצָא אִישׁ אַחֵר וַיֹּאמֶר הַכֵּינִי נָא וַיַּכֵּהוּ הָאִישׁ הַכֵּה וּפָצֹעַ׃ - And he found another man and said: Strike me, please. And the man struck him, striking and wounding.
The prophet looks for another volunteer, and this one no longer plays clever games: they told him to strike, and he struck. And in truth one cannot say that this was merely the prophet's command; if a prophet comes to you and tells you to strike me, who would not obey the words of the prophet? And he did not suffice with a blow, but struck and also wounded.
וַיֵּלֶךְ הַנָּבִיא וַיַּעֲמֹד לַמֶּלֶךְ עַל הַדָּרֶךְ וַיִּתְחַפֵּשׂ בָּאֲפֵר עַל עֵינָיו׃ - And the prophet went and stood for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes over his eyes.
The prophet goes and stands by the way, at the place where he knows the king is about to pass. And what is "and he disguised himself with ashes"? One explanation, that of Rashi, is that afer is as Targum Yonatan renders it, "me'afra," a wrap, a kind of cloak (in the language of the verse, that a person who goes in to have his hair cut places a wrap upon himself), and he covered himself with it so that they would not recognize him. This is "vayitchapes," for every expression of chipus here is an expression of changing clothes, as one disguises oneself on Purim. And a further explanation, that of the Radak: he placed actual ashes over his eyes so that they would not recognize him. And some explain a veil, "afer" from the root pe'er, as in "pa'arei hamigba'ot," that he placed a veil over his eyes so that he would not be recognized.
וַיְהִי הַמֶּלֶךְ עֹבֵר וְהוּא צָעַק אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֹּאמֶר עַבְדְּךָ יָצָא בְקֶרֶב הַמִּלְחָמָה וְהִנֵּה אִישׁ סָר וַיָּבֵא אֵלַי אִישׁ וַיֹּאמֶר שְׁמֹר אֶת הָאִישׁ הַזֶּה אִם הִפָּקֵד יִפָּקֵד וְהָיְתָה נַפְשְׁךָ תַּחַת נַפְשׁוֹ אוֹ כִכַּר כֶּסֶף תִּשְׁקוֹל׃ - And it was, as the king passed by, that he cried out to the king and said: Your servant went out into the midst of the battle, and behold, a man turned aside and brought a man to me and said: Guard this man; if he is missing, then your life shall be for his life, or you shall weigh out a talent of silver.
He comes and tells him: I went out to battle, a man came to me and entrusted another man into my hands, and warned me to guard him so that he would not escape. And he said to me: If he is missing from your hand, if he escapes from you, you are liable to death. And what is "or you shall weigh out a talent of silver"? Two explanations: the first, that a talent of silver will be taken from you; and the second, as the words of the Ralbag, that if you guard him properly you will receive a talent of silver, that is, if he is missing, your life is for his life, and if he is not missing, you shall weigh out a talent of silver.
וַיְהִי עַבְדְּךָ עֹשֵׂה הֵנָּה וָהֵנָּה וְהוּא אֵינֶנּוּ וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל כֵּן מִשְׁפָּטֶךָ אַתָּה חָרָצְתָּ׃ - And as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone. And the king of Israel said to him: So shall your sentence be; you yourself have decided it.
He tells him: I was not paying attention, I was busy here and there, and then my eyes strayed from him and he was gone, the man disappeared. The king of Israel says to him: I am sorry, there is nothing I can do to help. "So shall your sentence be; you yourself have decided it" - you set it and agreed that your life would be forfeit in place of his, so you will pay with your life.
And what in fact did the prophet tell him? The Malbim says: he did not tell a made up story, but the matter exactly as it happened, an actual event. I too, the prophet, was in the war, and Hashem delivered Ben Hadad into the hand of Achav so that he would kill him; and if the thing was not done, I too am guilty, for I was commanded to rebuke you and to prevent you from doing it. And Hashem warned that if the captive should be missing, they would be punished in body or in money. The Malbim does not explain "or a talent of silver" the way we explained it earlier, that if you keep watch you will receive money; rather this was the condition: "and your life shall be in place of his life, or you shall weigh out a talent of silver" - either your life will be taken from you or your money will be taken, or both.
And the Malbim says that this is indeed what happened afterward: it was decreed that his life would be taken, and they took the life of Achav, for Achav was killed. And the prophet was struck in his body, as we saw that the prophet was beaten. And in money, as we will see later that the army of Aram plundered the wealth of Israel, and this is "or you shall weigh out silver." All three things were fulfilled in them. And this is "as your servant was busy here and there" - I the prophet was occupied with other matters and did not set my heart to warn you, Achav, in time, "and he was gone" - and behold you sent Ben Hadad away in peace. But the king did not understand all this, for Achav had not read the Malbim; he thought they were telling him a story, and he immediately ruled: "So shall your sentence be; you yourself have decided it" - you deserve both to pay money and to die, all of it is coming to you.
וַיְמַהֵר וַיָּסַר אֶת הָאֲפֵר מֵעֲלֵי עֵינָיו וַיַּכֵּר אֹתוֹ מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי מֵהַנְּבִיאִים הוּא׃ - And he hurried and removed the ashes from over his eyes, and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets.
When he removed the ashes, the covering or the veil, from over his eyes, Achav recognized that he was one of the prophets, and then the prophet already speaks with him openly.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו כֹּה אָמַר יְהֹוָה יַעַן שִׁלַּחְתָּ אֶת אִישׁ חֶרְמִי מִיָּד וְהָיְתָה נַפְשְׁךָ תַּחַת נַפְשׁוֹ וְעַמְּךָ תַּחַת עַמּוֹ׃ - And he said to him: So says Hashem, because you sent away from your hand the man I devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall be in place of his life, and your people in place of his people.
He tells him: the punishment that the prophet just suffered, those blows he received, is what will come upon you, Achav, because you sent away the man I devoted to destruction. And what is "chermi"? One explanation: from the word cherem, a term of war. Another explanation, a midrash aggadah: the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, how many snares and nets I spread for you until he fell into your hand. "Charamim" are traps and nets. How many nets I spread until I brought him to you: you killed a hundred thousand men in one day, I dropped the wall upon him, he went into a room within a room, I sent you men to tell you that he seeks peace, so you had men who knew where he was hiding, you could have taken one of them, held a gun to his temple, and told him bring me to him now. How much red carpet I spread for you to reach Ben Hadad, how many snares and nets, and you sent away from your hand the man I devoted to destruction? Therefore "your life shall be in place of his life, and your people in place of his people." And as we said, in the end "your people in place of his people" was not fulfilled completely, in the merit of that drop of blood that came out of the prophet.
וַיֵּלֶךְ מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל בֵּיתוֹ סַר וְזָעֵף וַיָּבֹא שֹׁמְרוֹנָה׃ - And the king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry, and he came to Shomron.
The king of Israel goes to his house sullen and angry, because he understands that there is a great rebuke here against him, and that he has gotten himself entangled with the Creator of the world. And as we mentioned in the past, Achav, although he was an idol worshipper, was "planted," meaning he was constantly wavering: leaning toward Hashem, and idolatry pulling him toward it, and again leaning toward Hashem. Therefore every time rebuke came to Achav we see him fold. So it was at Mount Carmel, when Eliyahu the prophet brought the people to cry out "Hashem is the God" - Achav folded; and so here: he goes sullen and angry, for he understands that these are not merely the words of the prophet but the word of Hashem, and that there is a rebuke here against him. And so it will appear later too in the matter of the vineyard of Navot the Yizreeli, that Navot's words trouble Achav and cause him to be sullen and angry, because he knows there is truth in the words and that there is a rebuke here from Hashem, and against this rebuke Achav could not stand. But note: all of this did not cause him to change his ways. The conscience troubles him, and many times the pangs of conscience do not change people's ways: he continues in the same path and the same behavior, only that there is something that bothers him and keeps bothering him, and he continues on his way.
The chapter opens with a victory granted to Achav so that he would grow stronger in faith, and continues with Aram's committee of inquiry, which invented an excuse - "their gods are gods of the mountains" - and asked to fight in the valley. The Holy One, blessed be He, grants Israel a victory that is a miracle squared, one hundred thousand foot soldiers in a single day and another twenty seven thousand beneath the wall, and this not because of Achav's merit but so that His name would not be desecrated. Yet at the decisive moment Achav failed: he did not kill Ben Hadad, he did not take him as a servant, and even the cities and the streets that were offered to him he did not accept, but rather made a covenant and sent him away. The prophet, in the story of the blows and the ashes, reveals to him that the punishment has three aspects - soul, body and property - and Achav goes to his house sullen and angry, knowing that he stands accused yet not changing his ways. And this is the great lesson: a nagging conscience is not the same as repentance, and mercy in a place where the Torah commanded destruction is not kindness but sin.