And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Even by the young men of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall order the battle? And he answered, Thou.

And Achab said: By whom? And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: By the servants of the princes of the provinces. And he said: Who shall begin to fight? And he said: Thou.

And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith Jehovah: By the servants of the princes of the provinces. Then he said, Who shall begin the battle? And he said, Thou.

And Ahab saith, 'By whom?' and he saith, 'Thus said Jehovah, By the young men of the heads of the provinces;' and he saith, 'Who doth direct the battle?' and he saith, 'Thou.'

And Ahab said, By whom? And he said, The Lord says, By the servants of the chiefs who are over the divisions of the land. Then he said, By whom is the fighting to be started? And he made answer, By you.

Ahab said, 'By whom?' He said, 'Thus says the LORD, 'By the young men of the governors of the districts.' Then he said, 'Who shall begin the battle?' He answered, 'You.'

And Ahab said, "By whom?" And he said to him: "Thus says the Lord: By the footmen of the leaders of the provinces." And he said, "Who should begin to do battle?" And he said, "You should."

The "princes of the provinces" are the governors of districts, many of whom may have fled to the capital, as the hostile army advanced through Galilee and northern Samaria. The "young men" are their attendants, youths unaccustomed to war.
Who shall order the battle? - i. e., "Who shal join battle, begin the attack? We or the enemy?" The reply was, that the Israelites were to attack.

By the young men of the princes of the provinces - These were probably some chosen persons out of the militia of different districts, raised by the princes of the provinces; the same as we would call lord-lieutenants of counties.

And Ahab said, by whom?.... Knowing he had no army with him sufficient to go out with against the Syrian army:
and he said, thus saith the Lord, even by the young men of the princes of the provinces; either such, as Kimchi thinks, who were brought up with him; or, as others, the sons of governors of provinces, who were kept as hostages, that their fathers might not rebel; neither of which is likely: but rather the servants of such princes who waited on them, and lived delicately and at ease, and were not trained up to military exercise, even by these should the victory be obtained:
then he said, who shall order the battle? begin the attack, we or they? or who shall conduct it, or be the general of the army, go before it, and lead them on? Ahab might think, being an idolater, that the Lord would not make use of him, or otherwise who could be thought of but himself?
and he answered, thou; thou must be the commander, go forth with the army, and make the attack upon the enemy.

He said, &c. - Not by old and experienced soldiers, but by those young men; either the sons of the princes, and great men of the land, who were fled thither for safety; or their pages, or servants that used to attend them: who are bred up delicately, and seem unfit for the business. Thou - Partly to encourage the young men to fight courageously, as being the presence of their prince: and partly, that it might appear, that the victory was wholly due to God's gracious providence, and not to the valour or worthiness of the instruments.