During back and forth negotiations mediated by messengers, tensions escalate to the point when Ben-Hadad begins beleaguering Ahab's capital city of Samaria.
[5] Comparatively little attention is given to describing the battles themselves; emphasis is on the personal conflict between the two kings, and the intervention of an unnamed prophet or "man of God" on the Samarian side is depicted as the game-changer that ensures Ahab's victory.
Elisha prays to Yahweh for divine intervention: an allied army shows up on the hills, and the enemy troops are struck by blindness.
[non-primary source needed] Some time later, Ben-Hadad king of Aram besieges Samaria, causing a great famine inside the city.
Yahweh had caused the Aramaean forces to flee, and four hungry Samarians with leprosy loot their camps before reporting the news of the enemy's sudden disappearance.