So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face.
The setting is the defeat of Ben-hadad, king of Syria, in which God made another effort to win the weak Ahab. In its wider context of 1 Kings 20:35-43, the account illustrates how neglecting an assigned duty lets a person entrusted to one's care escape. The king's servant admitted that the escape happened because he had become occupied elsewhere, being busy here and there. Preoccupation with many cares and distraction stands as a chief cause of neglecting the work assigned to each servant.
The setting is the defeat of Ben-hadad, king of Syria, in which God made another effort to win the weak Ahab. In its wider context of 1 Kings 20:35-43, the account illustrates how neglecting an assigned duty lets a person entrusted to one's care escape. The king's servant admitted that the escape happened because he had become occupied elsewhere, being busy here and there. Preoccupation with many cares and distraction stands as a chief cause of neglecting the work assigned to each servant.