=1‒3= (compare 1 Kings xxii. 1‒4).
THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN JEHOSHAPHAT AND AHAB.
¹Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance; and he
joined affinity with Ahab.
=1.= _joined affinity_] Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat married Athaliah
the daughter of Ahab (2 Kings viii. 16, 18, 26). Athaliah though called
“daughter” of Omri in 2 Kings viii. 26 was really his grand-daughter.
²And after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samaria. And
Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the
people that were with him, and moved him to go up _with him_ to
Ramoth-gilead.
=2.= _killed sheep and oxen_] This phrase implies a _feast_, for flesh
is eaten in the East only on festal occasions. The phrase used for
supplying necessary food is _to set bread and water before one_.
_Ramoth-gilead_] Deuteronomy iv. 43; 1 Kings iv. 13, xxii. 3;
2 Kings viii. 28, ix. 1 and 14. Ramoth was a city of refuge and (under
Solomon) the seat of the governor of a province. Probably it was the
most important Israelite city east of Jordan. Its site has not been
certainly identified (see Barnes’ note on 1 Kings iv. 13). Probably it
was on the Yarmuk near Edrei. In 1 Chronicles vi. 80 it is mentioned as
a city assigned to the sons of Merari. Apparently it was captured from
Israel by the Syrians in the time of Baasha or of Omri, and was not
restored in accordance with the treaty referred to in 1 Kings xx. 34.
³And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah,
Wilt thou go with me to Ramoth-gilead? And he answered him, I am
as thou art, and my people as thy people; and _we will be_ with
thee in the war.
=3.= _and_ we will be _with thee in the war_] In 1 Kings the
corresponding phrase is, _my horses as thy horses_. The phrases in
1 Kings need not be more than the expression of oriental politeness.
At the present day the Arab says to his guest, _My house is thy house_,
but he generally means very little by the words. The Chronicler,
however, interpreting by the event, turns the vaguer phrase of Kings
into a definite promise.
=4‒27= (= 1 Kings xxii. 5‒28).
THE PROPHECY OF MICAIAH.
This narrative, apart from its intrinsic interest, is of great value
for the welcome light it throws upon the prophets in Israel. The direct
references of the later Prophets have accustomed us to the thought that
_they_ had to contend with unworthy representatives of their calling.
Here we are made to realise with peculiar vividness that even in the
early stages of the national history the false prophet was a menace
to Israel’s spiritual enlightenment. Micaiah spake few words, yet he
deserves to rank with the great Prophets. He resembles them at least
in his overmastering conviction of the truth and in his resolution to
proclaim it, whatever cost of personal suffering it may entail. His
opponents were professedly servants of Jehovah, and it is noteworthy
that Micaiah does not accuse them of deliberate intent to deceive Ahab
but rather of self-deception and ignorance of the truth (verse 21).
Their ignorance of course was blameworthy, for it was due to their
willingness to prophesy smooth things: they lacked that utter integrity
of heart and entire devotion to his prophetic calling which Micaiah
possessed.
⁴And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Inquire, I pray
thee, at the word of the LORD to-day.
=4.= _Jehoshaphat_] Compare 1 Kings iii. 11.
_Inquire ... at the word_] Compare Daniel ii. 10 (Authorized Version),
“no king ... asked such things at any magician.” The use of “at” after
verbs of asking is obsolete.
⁵Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, four
hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to
battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God shall
deliver it into the hand of the king.
=5.= _the prophets_] These no doubt were prophets of Jehovah (not of
Baal); compare verse 4 and note on verse 6.
_Shall we go ... or shall I forbear?_] In 1 Kings, “Shall I go ... or
shall I forbear?” (so LXX., but not Peshitṭa, of Chronicles).
⁶But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here besides a prophet of
the LORD, that we might inquire of him? ⁷And the king of Israel
said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may
inquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he never prophesieth
good concerning me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son
of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
=6.= _But Jehoshaphat said_] The insertion of this lengthy account of
an event which principally concerns the Northern Kingdom is remarkable,
seeing that the Chronicler nowhere else inserts a narrative dealing
with the affairs of north Israel. Some commentators find the chief
motive for its insertion in this verse which credits Jehoshaphat with
an honourable desire to ascertain Jehovah’s real will. A secondary
motive may be that the story shows very clearly the obstinate
wickedness of Ahab, as the Chronicler would regard it, and so lends
point to the censure which is subsequently passed on Jehoshaphat (xix.
2) for his alliance with the northern king.
_Is there not here besides a prophet of the LORD_] Or, =Hath not the
LORD here yet another prophet=. The unanimity of the four hundred
prophets aroused the suspicion of Jehoshaphat.
⁸Then the king of Israel called an officer¹, and said, Fetch
quickly Micaiah the son of Imla.
¹ Or, _eunuch_.
=8.= _called an officer_] The Hebrew word means “eunuch.” From 1 Samuel
viii. 15 we may perhaps conclude that such officers were known in
Israel from the very beginning of the monarchy. Compare 1 Chronicles
xxviii. 1, note.
⁹Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat
each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, and they sat in an
open place¹ at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the
prophets prophesied before them.
¹ Hebrew _a threshing-floor_.
=9.= _in an open place_] Render, =in a threshing-floor=. The
threshing-floor was convenient as being a large flat open space;
compare Genesis l. 10; 1 Chronicles xiii. 9, xxi. 18 ff.
¹⁰And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron,
and said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push
the Syrians, until they be consumed. ¹¹And all the prophets
prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for
the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king. ¹²And the
messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying, Behold,
the words of the prophets _declare_ good to the king with one
mouth: let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of
theirs, and speak thou good.
=10.= _made him horns of iron_] For a similar use of symbolic action by
a prophet compare Jeremiah xxvii. 2 (also xxviii. 10). For the meaning
of the phrase compare Amos vi. 13, “Have we not taken to us horns?” i.e.
“Have we not acquired military power?”
_shalt thou push_] Compare Deuteronomy xxxiii. 17. So Rameses II
is described in an Egyptian psalm as “the strong bull against the
Ethiopians; his horn pushes them.” (Erman, _Ancient Egypt_, English
Translation, p. 57.)
¹³And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what my God saith, that
will I speak.
=13.= _what my God saith_] Render, =surely, what my God shall say=. The
Divine message has not yet come to the prophet.
¹⁴And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him,
Micaiah¹, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I
forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper; and they shall be
delivered into your hand.
¹ Hebrew _Micah_.
=14.= _Go ye up ... into your hand_] Micaiah addresses both kings. In
1 Kings Ahab only is addressed, _Go and prosper, for the LORD shall
deliver it into the hand of the king_. Micaiah repeats in mocking tones
the utterance of the other prophets.
¹⁵And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee
that thou speak unto me nothing but the truth in the name of the
LORD?
=15.= _that thou speak unto me nothing but the truth_] The scorn in
Micaiah’s voice was noticed by the king.
¹⁶And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as
sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no
master; let them return every man to his house in peace. ¹⁷And
the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that
he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?
=16.= _as sheep that have no shepherd_] Compare Matthew ix. 36.
_the LORD said, These have no master; let them return_, etc.] The
prophet has had a vision of Israel’s army, defeated and scattered, like
a flock of sheep wandering shepherdless upon the mountains. God, he
means, proclaims that in the coming battle their king will fall and
they will be beaten and dispersed.
¹⁸And he said, Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD: I saw
the LORD sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven
standing on his right hand and on his left.
=18.= _And he said_] There are three stages in the prophet’s dealings
with the king, (1) irony in verse 14, (2) serious advice in verse 16,
(3) denunciation of death in verses 18‒22.
_the host of heaven_] angelic beings are meant, as in Psalms ciii. 21,
and probably also in Nehemiah ix. 6; Daniel iv. 35, etc., but in these
passages the usual meaning “the stars” is possible. The parallel verse
in Kings (1 Kings xxii. 19) is apparently the earliest clear instance
of the phrase in the significance “angelic beings.”
¹⁹And the LORD said, Who shall entice¹ Ahab king of Israel, that
he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one spake saying
after this manner, and another saying after that manner.
¹ Or, _deceive_.
=19.= _Who shall entice Ahab_] So 1 Kings (Revised Version). The same
Hebrew word is used in Jeremiah xx. 7, “thou hast deceived (margin
‘enticed’) me,” where Jeremiah complains that he has been called to the
fruitless labour of a hated prophet. For the underlying thought that
delusion is sometimes a preliminary part of Divine punishment compare
2 Thessalonians ii. 11 (compare 2 Thessalonians ii. 9) and the famous
saying, “quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat.” It should be noted
however that the “lying spirit” in the mouth of the 400 prophets played
only a subordinate part in Ahab’s fall, and indeed could have played
no part at all, but for the fact that the king was more than willing
to be enticed. Ahab had already made up his mind; he consulted the 400
only as an afterthought to satisfy Jehoshaphat (verse 4), he excluded
the plain-speaking Micaiah until Jehoshaphat insisted on his presence
(verses 6, 7), and he scorned the true prophet’s warning of the
falseness of the 400 (verse 26). Delusion as a Divine punishment comes
only upon the man who is willing to be deluded.
²⁰And there came forth a spirit¹, and stood before the LORD, and
said, I will entice him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith?
²¹And he said, I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in
the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt entice
him, and shalt prevail also: go forth, and do so.
¹ Hebrew _the spirit_.
=20.= _a spirit_] Hebrew _the spirit_, but the definite article
simply singles out one spirit from the rest. The Evil Spirit (Hebrew
“the Satan”) is not meant here but simply a superhuman being, such
as was generally conceived to be the cause of the ecstatic condition
manifested by prophets of this type (compare 1 Samuel x. 5, 6).
²²Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in
the mouth of these thy prophets; and the LORD hath spoken evil
concerning thee.
=22.= _the LORD hath put a lying spirit..._] This and the preceding
verse are singularly interesting for the frankness with which they
apparently regard Jehovah as causing _moral_ evil. Of course the
passage is not to be regarded as a philosophical pronouncement on the
origin of moral evil. Rather is it to be treated as a naïve expression
regarding a great fact of human life――see the conclusion of the note
on verse 19, _who shall entice Ahab_. _Physical_ evils are constantly
declared in the Old Testament to originate in Jehovah’s will; they are
often sent by Him as punishments for sin. Here too it is only as the
penalty of previous sinfulness (verse 8 “I hate him”) that the evil
moral condition of the prophets who are deluded by the lying spirit
from Jehovah is imposed. A parallel may be found in Ezekiel xiv. 1‒11.
It is, however, a higher plane of thought when Jeremiah expresses the
conviction that the false prophets of his day are not inspired at all
by Jehovah, but speak solely out of their own hearts (Jeremiah xxiii.
16, 21).
²³Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote
Micaiah upon the cheek, and said, Which way went the spirit of
the LORD from me to speak unto thee?
=23.= _Zedekiah_] He takes the lead as in verse 10.
_smote ... upon the cheek_] This phrase is tantamount to “gave an
insulting blow”; compare Micah v. 1; Matthew v. 39.
²⁴And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day, when
thou shalt go into an inner chamber¹ to hide thyself.
¹ Or, _from chamber to chamber_.
=24.= _Behold, thou shalt see_] Micaiah answers Zedekiah’s gibe with
the verb “see” (rather than “know”) because of its double meaning,
“Behold, thou shalt be a seer, thou shalt possess the power of vision,”
_when it is too late_.
_go into an inner chamber_] i.e. seek safety in hiding from enemies;
compare 1 Kings xx. 30 (same Hebrew phrase).
²⁵And the king of Israel said, Take ye Micaiah, and carry him
back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s
son;
=25.= _carry him back_] Micaiah is not to accompany the expedition,
having foretold its failure.
²⁶and say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison,
and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of
affliction, until I return in peace.
=26.= _bread of affliction ... water of affliction_] Compare Ezekiel
iv. 9‒11.
²⁷And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD
hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hear, ye peoples, all of you.
=27.= _ye peoples, all of you_] The “peoples” represented at this
gathering were probably, Israel, Judah, Edom, and Moab. The clause
occurs in Micah i. 2, and in all probability has been added to the text
of Kings (which the Chronicler here copies) by a glossator, who perhaps
thought that Micaiah and Micah were one and the same person.
=28‒34= (= 1 Kings xxii. 29‒37).
THE DEATH OF AHAB AT RAMOTH-GILEAD.
²⁸So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah
went up to Ramoth-gilead. ²⁹And the king of Israel said unto
Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and go into the battle; but
put thou on thy robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself;
and they went into the battle.
=29.= _I will disguise myself_] Despite the warning uttered by Micaiah
the two kings decide to seek battle, and Ahab, whose failing was not
the lack of courage, resolved to take part in the fighting. To avert
the fulfilment of the prophecy, he suggests that he should not wear his
royal insignia, whilst Jehoshaphat, whose life had not been threatened,
should wear his robes and be the obvious leader of the allied army.
_and they went into the battle_] 1 Kings (more correctly) _and he_
(Ahab) _went into the battle_ (so LXX. here).
³⁰Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his
chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only
with the king of Israel.
=30.= _the captains of his chariots_] _Thirty-two_ in number (1 Kings).
While the rest of the Syrian army met the Israelite attack, the
chariots were to act as an independent force, whose primary task should
be to kill or capture Ahab. The king of Syria felt himself overmatched
and thought that the only chance of victory lay in the fall of the
Israelite commander. Compare 2 Kings iii. 26 (the king of Moab tries to
break through to the king of Edom).
³¹And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw
Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore
they turned about to fight against him: but Jehoshaphat cried
out, and the LORD helped him; and God moved them _to depart_
from him. ³²And it came to pass, when the captains of the
chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they
turned back from pursuing him.
=31.= _saw Jehoshaphat ... to fight_] The captains of the chariots
who had been instructed to direct all their efforts towards slaying
the king of Israel, at length perceived Jehoshaphat conspicuous in his
royal robes. The various chariots turned aside from lesser enemies, and
then, discovering their mistake and obeying their orders, left him to
continue their search for Ahab.
_and God moved them_ to depart _from him_] These words anticipate verse
32 and are not found in 1 Kings Jehoshaphat’s cry was to his soldiers
for aid, but the Chronicler apparently took it to be a cry to Jehovah,
and accordingly added these words.
³³And a certain man drew his bow at a venture¹, and smote the
king of Israel between the joints of the harness²: wherefore he
said to the driver of the chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me
out of the host; for I am sore wounded.
¹ Hebrew _in his simplicity_.
² Or, _the lower armour and the breastplate_.
=33.= _And a certain man drew a bow_] Render, =But a certain man had
drawn a bow=. God had already brought about that which the Syrians were
labouring to perform.
_at a venture_] literally =in his innocence=, i.e. without knowing that
he was aiming at Ahab. Compare 2 Samuel xv. 11.
_between the joints of the harness_] Probably between the breastplate
(or coat of mail) and the appendages to it; the wound would be in the
lower part of the body.
³⁴And the battle increased that day: howbeit the king of Israel
stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the
even: and about the time of the going down of the sun he died.
=34.= _stayed himself up in his chariot_] 1 Kings _was stayed up_. Ahab
sustained his reputation as a good soldier (compare 1 Kings xx. 14,
xxii. 31) to the last; his death caused the failure of the attack on
Ramoth (1 Kings xxii. 36).