1 Kings 20:41

1Ki 20:41 And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he [was] of the prophets.

Ver. 41. And the king of Israel discerned him.] He had known him before for a prophet, and was ill-affected unto him for his plain dealing. {1Ki 22:8}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 20:41. And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face — Threw off his disguise immediately, by pulling off the cloth or bandage wherewith his face, or a part of it, had been concealed. And the king of Israel discerned him — Either by his face, which was known to the king, or to some of the courtiers there present: or, by the manner of his address to him, which, being changed, was now such as the prophets generally used.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 41. Took the ashes away] He took the bandage from off his eyes: see on 1Kg 20:38. It was no doubt of thin cloth, through which he could see, while it served for a sufficient disguise.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

41. the ashes away from his face] Here R.V. (as in 38) the head band from his eyes.

that he was of the prophets] It is clear that the prophets were distinguished by dress, or in some evident manner, so that they were easy of recognition. Perhaps the hairy prophetic mantle was the usual garb, and that on the present occasion the prophet had some wrapping thrown over that, which he laid aside along with the head band, and then the king recognised his character.

out of thy hand] The LXX. represents the pronoun, which is omitted in the Hebrew text, perhaps only by a slip of the scribe.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he hasted, and took away the ashes from his face,.... Took off the linen cloth from his eyes, unveiled or unmasked himself:

and the king of Israel discerned him, that he was of the prophets; he knew him again, having seen him once or twice before; otherwise there could be nothing in his face that could discover him to be a prophet, rather he was to be known by his habit.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He was of the prophets - Josephus and others conjecture that this prophet was Micaiah, the son of Imlah (but compare 1Ki 20:13 note).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Either,

1. By his face, which was known either to the king, or to some of his courtiers there present. Or,

2. By the change of the manner of his address to him, which now was such as the prophets used.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And he hasted, and took the ashes away from his face Heb. removed the covering from upon his eyes; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. That is, he was one of the prophets who were known to him The face alone would hardly have proclaimed him a prophet. And the prophet"s dress would of course have been laid aside when the disguise was assumed.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then the disciple of the prophets drew the bandage quickly from his eyes, so that the king recognised him as a prophet, and announced to him the word of the Lord: "Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man of my ban (i.e., Benhadad, who has fallen under my ban), thy life shall stand for his life, and thy people for his people," i.e., the destruction to which Benhadad was devoted will fall upon thee and thy people. The expression אישׁ־חרמי (man of my ban) showed Ahab clearly enough what ought to have been done with Benhadad. A person on whom the ban was pronounced was to be put to death (Lev 27:29).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

let go from your hand

Here the word "hand" is metonymy for power. AT: "released" or "spared the life of" (See: Metonymy)

your life will take the place of his life, and your people for his people

"you will die in his place, and your people will die in the place of his people"

translationWords

prophet

Yahweh

hand

die

people group

anger

Samaria

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.