Thematic Bible: Besieged by ben-hadad

And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad, king of Syria, gathered all his host and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria as they besieged it until an ass's head was sold for eighty pieces of silver and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung for five pieces of silver. And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, a woman cried unto him, saying, Save me, my lord, O king. read more.
And he said, If the LORD does not save thee, from where shall I save thee? Out of the threshingfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said unto her, What ails thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son and ate him. And I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son that we may eat him. But she has hid her son. And when the king heard the words of the woman, he rent his clothes; and he passed by like this upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. Then he said, God do so and more also to me, if the head of Elisha, the son of Shaphat, shall remain upon him today. And Elisha sat in his house, and the elders sat with him; and the king sent a man unto him. But before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See ye how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold him fast at the door; is not the sound of his master's feet behind him? And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him; and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; for what should I wait for the LORD any longer?

Then Benhadad, the king of Syria, gathered all his host together; and there were thirty-two kings with him and horses and chariots; and he went up and besieged Samaria and warred against it. And he sent messengers to Ahab, king of Israel, into the city and said unto him, Thus hath Benhadad said, Thy silver and thy gold is mine; thy wives also and thy children, even the goodliest, are mine. read more.
And the king of Israel answered and said, My lord, O king, according to thy word, I am thine and all that I have. And the messengers came again and said, Thus hath Benhadad said, Although I have sent unto thee, saying, Thou shalt deliver me thy silver and thy gold and thy wives and thy children, yet I will send my slaves unto thee tomorrow about this time, and they shall search thy house and the houses of thy slaves; and it shall be that whatever is precious in thine eyes, they shall put it in their hand and take it away. Then the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, Understand, I pray you, and see how this man seeks only evil, 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 not unto him, nor consent. So he said unto the messengers of Benhadad, Tell my lord the king, All that thou didst send for to thy slave 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 again and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, that the dust of Samaria shall not be enough for the open hands of all the people that follow me. And the king of Israel answered and said, Tell him, Let not him that girds on his harness boast as he that puts it off. And when he heard this word, as he was drinking with the kings in the pavilions, he said unto his slaves, Set yourselves in array. And they set themselves in array against the city.