Thematic Bible: Token in mourning

Then his servants said to him, "Please now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are kings of mercy. Let us now put sackcloth on around our waists and ropes on our heads. Then let us go out to the king of Israel. Perhaps {he will let you live}." So they tied sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads. Then they went to the king of Israel and said, "Your servant Ben-Hadad says, 'Please let me live.'" And he said, "[Is] my brother still alive?" The men took this as a good omen and they quickly accepted [it] as true from him, and they said, "Your brother Ben-Hadad [lives]." So he said, "Go, get him." Ben-Hadad came out to him, and [Ahab] pulled him up on the chariot.

"And if [they] are tied up with fetters, [if] they are caught in [the] cords of misery,