And you must raise an army like the one you have lost—horse for horse and chariot for chariot—so we can fight the Israelites on the plain, where we will surely prevail.” And the king approved their plan and acted accordingly.
We have here an account of another successful campaign which Ahab, by divine aid, made against the Syrians, in which he gave them a greater defeat than in the former. Strange! Ahab idolatrous and yet victorious, a persecutor and yet a conqueror! God has wise and holy ends in suffering wicked men to prosper, and glorifies his own name thereby. I.
Commenting on 1 Kings 20:22-30
And number thee an army like the army that thou hast lost,.... Raise an army of an equal number, which they supposed he was able to do: horse for horse and chariot for chariot; as many horses and chariots as he had before: and we will fight against them in the plain; where they could make use of their horses and chariots to greater advantage...
1Ki 20:23-25 The Second Victory. - 1Ki 20:23, 1Ki 20:24. The servants (ministers) of Benhadad persuaded their lord to enter upon a fresh campaign, attributing the defeat they had sustained to two causes, which could be set aside, viz., to the supposed nature of the gods of Israel, and to the position occupied by the vassal-kings in the army.
Commenting on 1 Kings 20:23-25