The successors of Omri and Asa, each in his way, were worthy of their
fathers. Jehoshaphat, the son of Asa, was very wealthy. The treasures
which his father had sent to the Aramean ruler reverted to him in
consequence of his victory over the Ammonites, themselves the
conquerors of the Arameans, whom they had despoiled of their
possessions. (25) His power was exceedingly great; each division of his
army counted no less than one hundred and sixty thousand warriors. (26)
Yet rich and powerful as he was, he was so modest that he refused to
don his royal apparel when he went to the house of the prophet Elisha
to consult him; he appeared before him in the attire of one of the
people. (27) Unlike his father, who had little consideration for
scholars, Jehoshaphat was particularly gracious toward them. When a
scholar appeared before him, he arose, hastened to meet him, and
kissing and embracing him, greeted him with "Rabbi, Rabbi!" (28)
Jehoshaphat concerned himself greatly about the purity and
sanctification of the Temple. He was the author of the ordinance
forbidding any one to ascend the Temple mount whose term of uncleanness
had not expired, even though he had taken the ritual bath. (29) His
implicit trust in God made him a complete contrast to his skeptical
father. He turned to God and implored His help when to human reason
help seemed an utter impossibility. In the war with the Arameans, an
enemy held his sword at Jehoshaphat's very throat, ready to deal the
fatal blow, but the king entreated help of God, and it was granted.
(30)
In power and wealth, Ahab, king of Samaria, outstripped his friend
Jehoshaphat, for Ahab is one of that small number of kings who have
ruled over the whole world. (31) No less than two hundred and fifty-two
kingdoms acknowledged his dominion. (32) As for his wealth, it was so
abundant that each of his hundred and forty children possessed several
ivory palaces, summer and winter residences. (33) But what gives Ahab
his prominence among the Jewish kings is neither his power nor his
wealth, but his sinful conduct. For him the gravest transgressions
committed by Jeroboam were slight peccadilloes. At his order the gates
of Samaria bore the inscription: "Ahab denies the God of Israel." He
was so devoted to idolatry, to which he was led astray by his wife
Jezebel, that the fields of Palestine were full of idols. But he was
not wholly wicked, he possessed some good qualities. He was liberal
toward scholars, and he showed great reverence for the Torah, which he
studied zealously. When Ben-hadad exacted all he possessed his
wealth, his wives, his children he acceded to his demands regarding
everything except the Torah; that he refused peremptorily to surrender.
(34) In the war that followed between himself and the Syrians, he was
so indignant at the presumptuousness of the Aramean upstart that he
himself saddled his warhorse for the battle. His zeal was rewarded by
God; he gained a brilliant victory in a battle in which no less than a
hundred thousand of the Syrians were slain, as the prophet Micaiah had
foretold to him. (35) The same seer (36) admonished him not to deal
gently with Ben-hadad. God's word to him had been: "Know that I had to
set many a pitfall and trap to deliver him into thy hand. If thou
lettest him escape, thy life will be forfeit for his." (37)
Nevertheless the disastrous end of Ahab is not to be ascribed to his
disregard of the prophet's warning for he finally liberated
Ben-hahad, but chiefly to the murder of his kinsman Naboth, whose
execution on the charge of treason he had ordered, so that he might put
himself in possession of Naboth's wealth. (38) His victim was a pious
man, and in the habit of going on pilgrimages to Jerusalem on the
festivals. As he was a great singer, his presence in the Holy City
attracted many other pilgrims thither. Once Naboth failed to go on his
customary pilgrimage. Then it was that his false conviction took place
a very severe punishment for the transgression, but not wholly
unjustifiable. (39) Under Jehoshaphat's influence and counsel, Ahab did
penance for his crime, and the punishment God meted out to him was
thereby mitigated to the extent that his dynasty was not cut off from
the throne at this death. (40) In the heavenly court of justice, (41)
at Ahab's trial, the accusing witnesses and his defenders exactly
balanced each other in number and statements, until the spirit of
Naboth appeared and turned the scale against Ahab. The spirit of Naboth
it had been, too, that had let astray the prophets of Ahab, making them
all use the very same words in prophesying a victory at Ramothgilead.
This literal unanimity aroused Jehoshaphat's suspicion, and caused him
to ask for "a prophet of the Lord," for the rule is: "The same thought
is revealed to many prophets, but no two prophets express it in the
same words." (42) Jehoshaphat's mistrust was justified by the issue of
war. Ahab was slain in a miraculous way by Naaman, at the time only a
common soldier of the rank and file. God permitted Naaman's missile to
penetrate Ahab's armor, though the latter was harder than the former.
(43)
The mourning for Ahab was so great that the memory of it reached
posterity. (44) The funeral procession was unusually impressive; no
less than thirty-six thousand warriors, their shoulders bared, marched
before his bier. (45) Ahab is one of the few in Israel who have no
portion in the world to come. (46) He dwells in the fifth division of
the nether world, which is under the supervision of the angel Oniel.
However, he is exempt from the tortures inflicted upon his heathen
associates. (47)