Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
Disguised himself with ashes upon his face - It does not immediately appear how putting ashes upon his face could disguise him. Instead of apher , dust, Houbigant conjectures that it should be aphad , a fillet or bandage. It is only the corner of the last letter which makes the difference; for the daleth and resh are nearly the same, only the shoulder of the former is square, the latter round. That bandage, not dust, was the original reading, seems pretty evident from its remains in two of the oldest versions, the Septuagint and the Chaldee; the former has , "And he bound his eyes with a fillet." The latter has ukerich bemaaphira einohi ; "And he covered his eyes with a cloth." The MSS. of Kennicott and De Rossi contain no various reading here; but bandage is undoubtedly the true one. However, in the way of mortification, both the Jews and Hindoos put ashes upon their heads and faces, and make themselves sufficiently disgusting.
Other Adam Clarke entries containing 1 Kings 20:38:
1 Kings 20:41
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