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1 Kings 20:22

Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

Go, strengthen thyself … - That is, “collect troops, raise fortifications, obtain allies … take all the measures thou canst to increase thy military strength. Be not rash, but consider well every step … for a great danger is impending.”

At the return of the year - i. e., “When the season for military operations again comes round.” The wars of the Oriental monarchs at this time, like those of early Rome, were almost always of the nature of annual incursions into the territories of their neighbors, begun in spring and terminating in early autumn. Sustained invasions, lasting over the winter into a second or a third year, are not found until the time of Shalmaneser 2 Kings 17:5; 2 Kings 18:9-10, and do not become common until the Median and Babylonian period.

Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary
Those about Benhadad advised him to change his ground. They take it for granted that it was not Israel, but Israel's gods, that beat them; but they speak very ignorantly of Jehovah. They supposed that Israel had many gods, to whom they ascribed limited power within a certain district; thus vain were the Gentiles in their imaginations concerning God. The greatest wisdom in worldly concerns is often united with the most contemptible folly in the things of God.
Conflicts between Israel and Aram-Damascus
The Omride Dynasty
The Golden Ages of the 9th & 8th centuries BCE
Elijah and Elisha