Timeat princeps ne scelerati cujusquam muneribus vel adulationibus decipiatur
A King Enticed by Flattery
A prince must beware of the gifts and flatterers of the wicked, as shown when Ahab rashly shows mercy to Benadab and makes a covenant with him.
A ruler should be cautious about what we read in the history of the kings, so that he is not lured by the gifts or flattery of any wicked person, or misled by their praise: Benadab, fleeing, took refuge in an inner chamber within a city. His servants said to him: 'Look, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful; so let us put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads, and let us go out to the king of Israel — perhaps he will spare our lives.'1 They tied sackcloth around their waists and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel — that is, Ahab — and said: 'Your servant Benadab says: I beg you, let my life be spared.'2 And he said: 'If he is still alive, he is my brother.' The men took this as a good sign, and quickly seized on the word from his mouth and said: 'Your brother Benadab.' And he said to them: 'Go, bring him.' So Benadab went out to him, and he brought him up into his own chariot. He said to him: 'The cities my father took from your father I will restore; and I will make streets for you in Damascus, just as my father made them in Samaria — and I, as your ally, will withdraw from you.'3
The Cost of Disobedience
A prophet's parable of disobedience leads to his own death by a lion, and another prophet prepares to confront the king through a disguised encounter.
So he made a covenant with him and let him go. Then one of the sons of the prophets said to his companion, at the Lord's command: Strike me. But he refused to strike him. He said to him: Because you wouldn't obey the voice of the Lord, the moment you leave me, a lion will strike you down. And after he'd gone a little way off, a lion found him and struck him down. Then, coming upon another man, he said to him: Strike me. That man struck him and wounded him. So the prophet went off and met the king on the road, disguising himself by smearing dust on his face and over his eyes.4
The King Condemns Himself
Through a prophet's parable, the king pronounces his own judgment by condemning the release of a man worthy of death, and the Lord pronounces the penalty.
And as he was passing by, he called out to the king and said: 'Your servant had gone out to fight hand to hand, and when a certain man had fled, someone brought him to me and said: Guard this man; if he slips, your life will be forfeit for his life, or you'll pay a talent of silver.' But while I was troubled and turning this way and that, suddenly he was nowhere to be found. And the king of Israel said to him: 'This is your own judgment — you yourself have decided it.' At once he wiped the dust from his face, and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets. He said to him: 'Thus says the Lord: Because you released a man worthy of death from your hand, your life will be forfeit for his life, and your people for his people.' (1 Kings 20:30-42.)✦ (1 Kings 20:30-42.)
Read the original Latin
Timeatque princeps quod in Regum historia legitur, ne muneribus vel blanditiis cujusquam scelerati pelliciatur, vel adulationibus decipiatur: Benadab, inquit, fugiens ingressus est civitatem in cubiculo quod erat intra cubiculum. Dixeruntque ei servi sui: Ecce audivimus quod reges domus Israel clementes sint: ponamus itaque saccos in lumbis nostris, et funiculos in capitibus nostris, et egrediamur ad regem Israel; forsitan salvabit animas nostras. Accinxerunt saccis lumbos suos, et posuerunt funiculos in capitibus suis, veneruntque ad regem Israel, scilicet Achab, et dixerunt: Servus tuus Benadab dicit: Vivat, oro te, anima mea. Et ille ait: Si adhuc vivit, frater meus est. Quod acceperunt viri pro omine, et festinantes rapuerunt verbum ex ore ejus, atque dixerunt: Frater tuus Benadab. Et dixit eis: Ite, adducite eum. Egressus est ergo ad eum Benadab, et levavit eum in currum suum. Qui dixit ei: Civitates, quas tulit pater meus a patre tuo, reddam; et plateas fac tibi in Damasco, sicut fecit pater meus in Samaria, et ego foederatus recedam a te.
Pepigit ergo foedus, et dimisit eum. Tunc vir quidam de filiis prophetarum dixit ad socium suum in sermone Domini: Percute me. At ille noluit percutere. Cui ait: Quia noluisti audire vocem Domini, ecce recedes a me, et percutiet te leo. Cumque paululum recessisset ab eo, invenit eum leo, atque percussit. Sed et alterum inveniens virum, dixit ad eum: Percute me. Qui percussit eum, et vulneravit. Abiit ergo propheta, et occurrit regi in via, et mutavit aspersione pulveris os et oculos suos.
Cumque transiret, clamavit ad regem, et ait: Servus tuus egressus est ad praeliandum cominus; cumque fugisset vir unus, adduxit eum quidam ad me, et ait: Custodi virum istum: qui si lapsus fuerit, erit anima tua pro anima ejus, aut talentum argenti appendes. Dum autem ego turbatus huc illucque me verterem, subito non comparuit. Et ait rex Israel ad eum: Hoc est judicium tuum, quod ipse decrevisti. At ille statim abstersit pulverem dc facie sua, et cognovit eum rex Israel, quod esset de prophetis. Qui ait ad eum: Haec dicit Dominus, quia dimisisti virum dignum morte de manu tua, erit anima tua pro anima ejus, et populus tuus pro populo ejus (III Reg. XX, 30-42).
Scripture echoes
- ↩1Kgs.20.42 — And he said to him, 'Thus says the LORD: Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.'
Notes
- 1 ↩salvabit animas nostras rendered 'spare our lives' rather than 'save our souls' to keep the concrete, desperate tone of the petition; anima here is life before God.
- 2 ↩Vivat, oro te, anima mea rendered 'I beg you, let my life be spared' to preserve the direct, urgent petition while keeping anima in its concrete sense.
- 3 ↩foederatus rendered 'ally' rather than 'confederate' to keep the political sense readable without archaic legal diction; precise treaty nuance is uncertain.
- 4 ↩The Latin 'mutavit aspersione pulveris os et oculos suos' describes a deliberate prophetic disguise act (cf. 1 Kings 13:18 LXX/MT tradition). 'Os' here means 'face' (os, oris) not 'bone' (os, ossis). The dust is both a sign of mourning and a means of concealment.
On the Person and Ministry of the King (De regis persona et regio ministerio) companion
Keep the examination going after day 7
Chosen Portion delivers a short historic devotional reading and prayer to your phone every morning — free.
The same counsel Hincmar prepared for a reigning king arrives as short daily portions in Chosen Portion, so leaders can pray through the whole treatise a few minutes at a time.
- A 5-minute reading and prayer each morning, drawn from 1,000 years of royal devotional texts
- Continue Hincmar's leadership examination with daily portions from the full 34-chapter treatise
- Set one reminder once; a fresh portion is ready every day at the time you choose