1 Kings 20:39

When the king passed by, he called out to the king, “Your servant went out into the heat ¹  of the battle, and then a man turned aside and brought me a prisoner. ²  He told me, ‘Guard this prisoner. If he ends up missing for any reason, ³  you will pay with your life or with a talent ⁴  of silver.’ ⁵ 

Ex 21:30; Jud 9:7-20; 2Sa 12:1-7; 2Sa 14:5-7; 1Ki 20:42; 2Ki 10:24; Job 36:18; Ps 49:7; Pr 6:35; Pr 13:8; Mr 12:1-12; 1Pe 1:18,19

¹ tn Heb “middle.”

² tn Heb “man” (also a second time later in this verse).

³ tn Heb “if being missed, he is missed.” The emphatic infinitive absolute before the finite verbal form lends solemnity to the warning.

⁴ tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 75 pounds of silver.

⁵ tn Heb “your life will be in place of his life, or a unit of silver you will pay.”