1 Kings 20:39

And as the king passed by, he cried unto the king [in his capacity of supreme judge; see on 1 Kings 3:9 ]: and he said, Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle [ i.e; the recent battle]; and , behold, a man turned aside [ סָר ; cf. 1 Kings 22:43 ; Exodus 3:3 ; Exodus 32:8 . But Ewald, al . would read, סַר prince or captain (properly שַׂר ), a change which certainly lends force to the apologue, and makes the analogy more complete. Only such an officer was entitled to give such an order. Moreover just as a common soldier ought to obey his captain, so should Ahab have obeyed God. But as our present text yields a good and sufficient meaning, we are hardly warranted in making any change], and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay [Heb. weigh . There was then no coinage. Payments were made by means of bars of silver or gold] a talent of silver. [A considerable sum—about £400. "The prisoner is thus represented to be a very important personage" (Thenius). There is a hint at Ben-hadad. Ewald holds that the wounds represented the penalty inflicted instead of the talent which a common soldier naturally could not pay.]