1 Kings 20:1 bbe — Now Ben-hadad, king of Aram, got all his army together, and thirty-two kings with him, and horses and carriages of war;…

1 Kings 20:1 in the Bible in Basic English reads: “Now Ben-hadad, king of Aram, got all his army together, and thirty-two kings with him, and horses and carriages of war; he went up and made war on Samaria, shutting it in.”

1 Kings 20:1 is found in the Old Testament, in the book of 1 Kings, chapter 20, verse 1.

1 Kings is traditionally attributed to Anonymous (traditionally Jeremiah). It was written c. 561–538 BC.

1 Kings tells of Solomon's wisdom and the building of the temple, then the painful division of the kingdom after his death. The northern kingdom plunges into idolatry under a series of wicked kings until the prophet Elijah is raised up to call Israel back to the LORD.

1 Kings explores themes including Wisdom, Temple, Divided Kingdom, Idolatry, Prophecy. These themes shape the meaning and context of 1 Kings 20:1.

1 Kings 20:1 is available on GodsGoodBook in the King James Version (KJV), American Standard Version (ASV), World English Bible (WEB), NET Bible, Young's Literal Translation, Darby Bible, Douay-Rheims Bible, and the Bible in Basic English. Each translation reflects different translation philosophies — use the translation picker on this page to compare them, or browse our full translations directory.

1 Kings 20:1 reads (BBE): “Now Ben-hadad, king of Aram, got all his army together, and thirty-two kings with him, and horses and carriages of war; he went up and made war on Samaria, shutting it in.” Read it aloud, break it into short phrases, repeat each phrase three times before adding the next, then put the phrases together. Reading it in multiple translations (above) often helps the meaning settle.