1Now three years passed without war between Syria and Israel. 2And it came to pass, in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went down to visit the king of Israel. 3And the king of Israel said to his servants, Have you known that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, but we are being inactive to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria? 4And he said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to fight at Ramoth Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. 5Also Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, Please inquire at the Word of Jehovah today. 6So the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to fight, or shall I refrain? And they said, Go up, for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king. 7And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not still a prophet of Jehovah here, that we may inquire of Him? 8And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of Jehovah; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so! 9Then the king of Israel summoned a certain official and said, Bring Micaiah the son of Imlah quickly! 10And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, having put on their robes, sat each on his throne, at a vacant spot at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 11And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself; and he said, Thus says Jehovah: With these you shall thrust at the Syrians to destroy them. 12And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for Jehovah will deliver it into the king's hand. 13And the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah spoke to him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets with one mouth are agreeable to the king. Please, let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak pleasant things. 14And Micaiah said, As Jehovah lives, whatever Jehovah says to me, that I will speak. 15So he came to the king; and the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall we refrain? And he answered him, Go and prosper, for Jehovah will deliver it into the hand of the king! 16And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of Jehovah? 17Then he said, I have seen all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep having no shepherd. And Jehovah said, These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace. 18And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? 19And Micaiah said, Therefore hear the Word of Jehovah: I saw Jehovah sitting on His throne, and all the host of Heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left. 20And Jehovah said, Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead? So one said this, and another was saying that. 21Then a spirit came forward and stood before Jehovah, and said, I will entice him. 22And Jehovah said to him, In what way? And he said, I will go out and be a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets. And Jehovah said, You shall entice him, and also prevail. Go out and do so. 23Therefore now behold, Jehovah has put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and Jehovah has spoken calamity against you. 24Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way did the spirit from Jehovah go from me to speak to you? 25And Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide! 26So the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and return him to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king's son; 27and say, Thus says the king: Put this fellow in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction, until I come in peace. 28And Micaiah said, If you return to come back in peace, Jehovah has not spoken by me. And he said, All you people, pay attention! 29So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 30And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself and go into battle; but you put on your robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. 31Now the king of Syria had commanded the thirty-two commanders of his chariots, saying, Fight with no one small or great, but only with the king of Israel. 32And so it was, when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel! Therefore they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out. 33And it happened, when the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him. 34Now a certain man drew a bow at random, and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, Turn your hand and take me out of the battle, for I am wounded. 35And the battle increased that day; and the king was propped up in his chariot, facing the Syrians, and died at evening. And the blood ran out from the wound onto the floor of the chariot. 36And as the sun was going down, a shout went throughout the camp, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own land! 37So the king died, and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria. 38And someone washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armor; according to the Word of Jehovah which He had spoken. 39Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, the ivory house which he built and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel. 40So Ahab rested with his fathers. And Ahaziah his son reigned in his place. 41Jehoshaphat the son of Asa had become king over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. 42Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 43And he walked in all the ways of his father Asa. He did not turn aside from them, doing what was right in the eyes of Jehovah. Nevertheless the high places were not taken away, for the people offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. 44Also Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. 45Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, the might that he showed, and how he made war, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah. 46And the rest of the male temple prostitutes, who had remained in the days of his father Asa, he removed out of the land. 47There was then no king in Edom, only a deputy of the king. 48Jehoshaphat had made merchant ships to go to Ophir for gold; but they did not go, for the ships were wrecked at Ezion Geber. 49Then Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with your servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not. 50And Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David his father. And Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 51Ahaziah the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel. 52And he did evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and walked in the ways of his father and in the ways of his mother and in the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; 53for he served Baal and bowed down to him, and provoked Jehovah the God of Israel to anger, according to all that his father had done.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 AHAB SLAIN AT RAMOTH-GILEAD. (1Ki. 22:1-36)
continued three years without war between Syria and Israel--The disastrous defeat of Ben-hadad had so destroyed his army and exhausted the resources of his country, that, however eager, he was unable to recommence active hostilities against Israel. But that his hereditary enmity remained unsubdued, was manifest by his breach of faith concerning the treaty by which he had engaged to restore all the cities which his father had seized (
1Kgs 20:34).
2 Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel--It was singular that a friendly league between the sovereigns of Israel and Judah should, for the first time, have been formed by princes of such opposite characters--the one pious, the other wicked. Neither this league nor the matrimonial alliance by which the union of the royal families was more closely cemented, met the Lord's approval (
2Chr 19:2). It led, however, to a visit by Jehoshaphat, whose reception in Samaria was distinguished by the most lavish hospitality (
2Chr 18:2). The opportunity of this visit was taken advantage of, to push an object on which Ahab's heart was much set.
3 Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours--a Levitical and free town on the north border of Gad (
Deut 4:43;
Josh 21:38), on the site of the present Salt Lake, in the province of Belka. It lay within the territories of the Israelitish monarch, and was unjustly alienated; but whether it was one of the cities usurped by the first Ben-hadad, which his son had promised to restore, or was retained for some other reasons, the sacred historian has not mentioned. In the expedition which Ahab meditated for the recovery of this town, the aid of Jehoshaphat was asked and promised (see
2Chr 18:3). Previous to declaring hostilities, it was customary to consult the prophets (see on
1Sam 28:8); and Jehoshaphat having expressed a strong desire to know the Lord's will concerning this war, Ahab assembled four hundred of his prophets. These could not be either the prophets of Baal or of Ashteroth (
1Kgs 18:19), but seem (
1Kgs 22:12) to have been false prophets, who conformed to the symbolic calf-worship of Jehovah. Being the creatures of Ahab, they unanimously predicted a prosperous issue to the war. But dissatisfied with them, Jehoshaphat inquired if there was any true prophet of the Lord. Ahab agreed, with great reluctance, to allow Micaiah to be summoned. He was the only true prophet then to be found residing in Samaria, and he had to be brought out of prison (
1Kgs 22:26), into which, according to JOSEPHUS, he had been cast on account of his rebuke to Ahab for sparing the king of Syria.
10 a void place--literally, "a threshing-floor," formed at the gate of Samaria.
11 Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron--Small projections, of the size and form of our candle extinguishers (worn in many parts of the East as military ornaments), were worn by the Syrians of that time, and probably by the Israelite warriors also. Zedekiah, by assuming two horns, personated two heroes, and, pretending to be a prophet, wished in this manner to represent the kings of Israel and Judah in a military triumph. It was a symbolic action, to impart greater force to his language (see
Deut 33:17); but it was little more than a flourish with a spontoon [CALMET, Fragments].
14 what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak--On the way the messenger who conducted [Micaiah] to the royal presence informed him of the tenor of the prophecies already given and recommended him to agree with the rest, no doubt from the kindly motive of seeing him released from imprisonment. But Micaiah, inflexibly faithful to his divine mission as a prophet, announced his purpose to proclaim honestly whatever God should bid him. On being asked by the king, "Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I forbear?" the prophet gave precisely the same answer as the previous oracles that had been consulted; but it must have been given in a sarcastic tone and in ironical mockery of their way of speaking. Being solemnly urged to give a serious and truthful answer, Micaiah then declared the visionary scene the Spirit had revealed to him;--
17 I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd--The purport of this was that the army of Israel would be defeated and dispersed; that Ahab would fall in the battle, and the people return without either being pursued or destroyed by the enemy.
18 Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?--Since Ahab was disposed to trace this unwelcome truth to personal enmity, Micaiah proceeded fearlessly to tell the incensed monarch in full detail what had been revealed to him. The Hebrew prophets, borrowing their symbolic pictures from earthly scenes, described God in heaven as a king in His kingdom. And as earthly princes do nothing of importance without asking the advice of their counsellors, God is represented as consulting about the fate of Ahab. This prophetic language must not be interpreted literally, and the command must be viewed as only a permission to the lying spirit (
Rom 11:34) [CALMET].
24 Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek--The insolence of this man, the leader of the false prophets, seems to have been provoked by jealousy at Micaiah's assumed monopoly of the spirit of inspiration. This mode of smiting, usually with a shoe, is both severe and ignominious. The calm reply of the Lord's prophet consisted in announcing the fate of the false prophets who suffered as the advisers of the disastrous expedition.
26 Take Micaiah, . . . Put this fellow in prison--Ahab, under the impulse of vehement resentment, remands the prophet until his return.
27 bread of affliction, water of affliction--that is, the poorest prison fare. Micaiah submitted, but reiterated aloud, in the presence of all, that the issue of the war would be fatal to Ahab.
29 went up to Ramoth-gilead--The king of Israel, bent on this expedition, marched, accompanied by his ally, with all his forces to the siege; but on approaching the scene of action, his courage failed, and, hoping to evade the force of Micaiah's prophecy by a secret stratagem, he assumed the uniform of a subaltern, while he advised Jehoshaphat to fight in his royal attire. The Syrian king, with a view either to put the speediest end to the war, or perhaps to wipe out the stain of his own humiliation (
1Kgs 20:31), had given special instructions to his generals to single out Ahab, and to take or kill him, as the author of the war. The officers at first directed their assault on Jehoshaphat, but, becoming aware of their mistake, desisted. Ahab was wounded by a random arrow, which, being probably poisoned, and the state of the weather increasing the virulence of the poison, he died at sunset. The corpse was conveyed to Samaria; and, as the chariot which brought it was being washed, in a pool near the city, from the blood that had profusely oozed from the wound, the dogs, in conformity with Elijah's prophecy, came and licked it [
1Kgs 21:19]. Ahab was succeeded by his son Ahaziah [
1Kgs 22:40].
