Worthy.Bible » STRONG » 1 Kings » Chapter 22 » Verse 2-50

1 Kings 22:2-50 King James Version with Strong's Concordance (STRONG)

2 And it came to pass in the third H7992 year, H8141 that Jehoshaphat H3092 the king H4428 of Judah H3063 came down H3381 to the king H4428 of Israel. H3478

3 And the king H4428 of Israel H3478 said H559 unto his servants, H5650 Know H3045 ye that Ramoth H7433 in Gilead H1568 is ours, and we be still, H2814 and take H3947 it not out of the hand H3027 of the king H4428 of Syria? H758

4 And he said H559 unto Jehoshaphat, H3092 Wilt thou go H3212 with me to battle H4421 to Ramothgilead? H7433 H1568 And Jehoshaphat H3092 said H559 to the king H4428 of Israel, H3478 I am as thou H3644 art, my people H5971 as thy people, H5971 my horses H5483 as thy horses. H5483

5 And Jehoshaphat H3092 said H559 unto the king H4428 of Israel, H3478 Enquire, H1875 I pray thee, at the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 to day. H3117

6 Then the king H4428 of Israel H3478 gathered H6908 the prophets H5030 together, H6908 about four H702 hundred H3967 men, H376 and said H559 unto them, Shall I go H3212 against Ramothgilead H7433 H1568 to battle, H4421 or shall I forbear? H2308 And they said, H559 Go up; H5927 for the Lord H136 shall deliver H5414 it into the hand H3027 of the king. H4428

7 And Jehoshaphat H3092 said, H559 Is there not here a prophet H5030 of the LORD H3068 besides, H5750 that we might enquire H1875 of him?

8 And the king H4428 of Israel H3478 said H559 unto Jehoshaphat, H3092 There is yet one H259 man, H376 Micaiah H4321 the son H1121 of Imlah, H3229 by whom we may enquire H1875 of the LORD: H3068 but I hate H8130 him; for he doth not prophesy H5012 good H2896 concerning me, but evil. H7451 And Jehoshaphat H3092 said, H559 Let not the king H4428 say H559 so.

9 Then the king H4428 of Israel H3478 called H7121 an H259 officer, H5631 and said, H559 Hasten H4116 hither Micaiah H4321 the son H1121 of Imlah. H3229

10 And the king H4428 of Israel H3478 and Jehoshaphat H3092 the king H4428 of Judah H3063 sat H3427 each H376 on his throne, H3678 having put on H3847 their robes, H899 in a void place H1637 in the entrance H6607 of the gate H8179 of Samaria; H8111 and all the prophets H5030 prophesied H5012 before H6440 them.

11 And Zedekiah H6667 the son H1121 of Chenaanah H3668 made H6213 him horns H7161 of iron: H1270 and he said, H559 Thus saith H559 the LORD, H3068 With these shalt thou push H5055 the Syrians, H758 until thou have consumed H3615 them.

12 And all the prophets H5030 prophesied H5012 so, saying, H559 Go up H5927 to Ramothgilead, H7433 H1568 and prosper: H6743 for the LORD H3068 shall deliver H5414 it into the king's H4428 hand. H3027

13 And the messenger H4397 that was gone H1980 to call H7121 Micaiah H4321 spake H1696 unto him, saying, H559 Behold now, the words H1697 of the prophets H5030 declare good H2896 unto the king H4428 with one H259 mouth: H6310 let thy word, H1697 I pray thee, be like the word H1697 of one H259 of them, and speak H1696 that which is good. H2896

14 And Micaiah H4321 said, H559 As the LORD H3068 liveth, H2416 what the LORD H3068 saith H559 unto me, that will I speak. H1696

15 So he came H935 to the king. H4428 And the king H4428 said H559 unto him, Micaiah, H4321 shall we go H3212 against Ramothgilead H7433 H1568 to battle, H4421 or shall we forbear? H2308 And he answered H559 him, Go, H5927 and prosper: H6743 for the LORD H3068 shall deliver H5414 it into the hand H3027 of the king. H4428

16 And the king H4428 said H559 unto him, How many times H6471 shall I adjure H7650 thee that thou tell H1696 me nothing but that which is true H571 in the name H8034 of the LORD? H3068

17 And he said, H559 I saw H7200 all Israel H3478 scattered H6327 upon the hills, H2022 as sheep H6629 that have not a shepherd: H7462 and the LORD H3068 said, H559 These have no master: H113 let them return H7725 every man H376 to his house H1004 in peace. H7965

18 And the king H4428 of Israel H3478 said H559 unto Jehoshaphat, H3092 Did I not tell H559 thee that he would prophesy H5012 no good H2896 concerning me, but evil? H7451

19 And he said, H559 Hear H8085 thou therefore the word H1697 of the LORD: H3068 I saw H7200 the LORD H3068 sitting H3427 on his throne, H3678 and all the host H6635 of heaven H8064 standing H5975 by him on his right hand H3225 and on his left. H8040

20 And the LORD H3068 said, H559 Who shall persuade H6601 Ahab, H256 that he may go up H5927 and fall H5307 at Ramothgilead? H7433 H1568 And one said H559 on this manner, H3541 and another said H559 on that manner. H3541

21 And there came forth H3318 a spirit, H7307 and stood H5975 before H6440 the LORD, H3068 and said, H559 I will persuade H6601 him.

22 And the LORD H3068 said H559 unto him, Wherewith? And he said, H559 I will go forth, H3318 and I will be a lying H8267 spirit H7307 in the mouth H6310 of all his prophets. H5030 And he said, H559 Thou shalt persuade H6601 him, and prevail H3201 also: go forth, H3318 and do H6213 so.

23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD H3068 hath put H5414 a lying H8267 spirit H7307 in the mouth H6310 of all these thy prophets, H5030 and the LORD H3068 hath spoken H1696 evil H7451 concerning thee.

24 But Zedekiah H6667 the son H1121 of Chenaanah H3668 went near, H5066 and smote H5221 Micaiah H4321 on the cheek, H3895 and said, H559 Which way H335 went H5674 the Spirit H7307 of the LORD H3068 from me to speak H1696 unto thee?

25 And Micaiah H4321 said, H559 Behold, thou shalt see H7200 in that day, H3117 when thou shalt go H935 into an inner H2315 chamber H2315 to hide H2247 thyself.

26 And the king H4428 of Israel H3478 said, H559 Take H3947 Micaiah, H4321 and carry him back H7725 unto Amon H526 the governor H8269 of the city, H5892 and to Joash H3101 the king's H4428 son; H1121

27 And say, H559 Thus saith H559 the king, H4428 Put H7760 this fellow in the prison, H1004 H3608 and feed H398 him with bread H3899 of affliction H3906 and with water H4325 of affliction, H3906 until I come H935 in peace. H7965

28 And Micaiah H4321 said, H559 If thou return H7725 at all H7725 in peace, H7965 the LORD H3068 hath not spoken H1696 by me. And he said, H559 Hearken, H8085 O people, H5971 every one of you.

29 So the king H4428 of Israel H3478 and Jehoshaphat H3092 the king H4428 of Judah H3063 went up H5927 to Ramothgilead. H7433 H1568

30 And the king H4428 of Israel H3478 said H559 unto Jehoshaphat, H3092 I will disguise H2664 myself, and enter H935 into the battle; H4421 but put thou on H3847 thy robes. H899 And the king H4428 of Israel H3478 disguised H2664 himself, and went H935 into the battle. H4421

31 But the king H4428 of Syria H758 commanded H6680 his thirty H7970 and two H8147 captains H8269 that had rule over his chariots, H7393 saying, H559 Fight H3898 neither with small H6996 nor great, H1419 save only with the king H4428 of Israel. H3478

32 And it came to pass, when the captains H8269 of the chariots H7393 saw H7200 Jehoshaphat, H3092 that they said, H559 Surely it is the king H4428 of Israel. H3478 And they turned aside H5493 to fight H3898 against him: and Jehoshaphat H3092 cried out. H2199

33 And it came to pass, when the captains H8269 of the chariots H7393 perceived H7200 that it was not the king H4428 of Israel, H3478 that they turned back H7725 from pursuing H310 him.

34 And a certain man H376 drew H4900 a bow H7198 at a venture, H8537 and smote H5221 the king H4428 of Israel H3478 between the joints H1694 of the harness: H8302 wherefore he said H559 unto the driver of his chariot, H7395 Turn H2015 thine hand, H3027 and carry me out H3318 of the host; H4264 for I am wounded. H2470

35 And the battle H4421 increased H5927 that day: H3117 and the king H4428 was stayed up H5975 in his chariot H4818 against H5227 the Syrians, H758 and died H4191 at even: H6153 and the blood H1818 ran out H3332 of the wound H4347 into the midst H2436 of the chariot. H7393

36 And there went H5674 a proclamation H7440 throughout the host H4264 about the going down H935 of the sun, H8121 saying, H559 Every man H376 to his city, H5892 and every man H376 to his own country. H776

37 So the king H4428 died, H4191 and was brought H935 to Samaria; H8111 and they buried H6912 the king H4428 in Samaria. H8111

38 And one washed H7857 the chariot H7393 in the pool H1295 of Samaria; H8111 and the dogs H3611 licked up H3952 his blood; H1818 and they washed H7364 his armour; H2185 according unto the word H1697 of the LORD H3068 which he spake. H1696

39 Now the rest H3499 of the acts H1697 of Ahab, H256 and all that he did, H6213 and the ivory H8127 house H1004 which he made, H1129 and all the cities H5892 that he built, H1129 are they not written H3789 in the book H5612 of the chronicles H1697 H3117 of the kings H4428 of Israel? H3478

40 So Ahab H256 slept H7901 with his fathers; H1 and Ahaziah H274 his son H1121 reigned H4427 in his stead.

41 And Jehoshaphat H3092 the son H1121 of Asa H609 began to reign H4427 over Judah H3063 in the fourth H702 year H8141 of Ahab H256 king H4428 of Israel. H3478

42 Jehoshaphat H3092 was thirty H7970 and five H2568 years H8141 old H1121 when he began to reign; H4427 and he reigned H4427 twenty H6242 and five H2568 years H8141 in Jerusalem. H3389 And his mother's H517 name H8034 was Azubah H5806 the daughter H1323 of Shilhi. H7977

43 And he walked H3212 in all the ways H1870 of Asa H609 his father; H1 he turned not aside H5493 from it, doing H6213 that which was right H3477 in the eyes H5869 of the LORD: H3068 nevertheless the high places H1116 were not taken away; H5493 for the people H5971 offered H2076 and burnt incense H6999 yet in the high places. H1116

44 And Jehoshaphat H3092 made peace H7999 with the king H4428 of Israel. H3478

45 Now the rest H3499 of the acts H1697 of Jehoshaphat, H3092 and his might H1369 that he shewed, H6213 and how he warred, H3898 are they not written H3789 in the book H5612 of the chronicles H1697 H3117 of the kings H4428 of Judah? H3063

46 And the remnant H3499 of the sodomites, H6945 which remained H7604 in the days H3117 of his father H1 Asa, H609 he took H1197 out of the land. H776

47 There was then no king H4428 in Edom: H123 a deputy H5324 was king. H4428

48 Jehoshaphat H3092 made H6213 H6240 ships H591 of Tharshish H8659 to go H3212 to Ophir H211 for gold: H2091 but they went H1980 not; for the ships H591 were broken H7665 at Eziongeber. H6100

49 Then said H559 Ahaziah H274 the son H1121 of Ahab H256 unto Jehoshaphat, H3092 Let my servants H5650 go H3212 with thy servants H5650 in the ships. H591 But Jehoshaphat H3092 would H14 not.

50 And Jehoshaphat H3092 slept H7901 with his fathers, H1 and was buried H6912 with his fathers H1 in the city H5892 of David H1732 his father: H1 and Jehoram H3088 his son H1121 reigned H4427 in his stead.

Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 1 Kings 22

Commentary on 1 Kings 22 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary


Verses 1-40

Allied Campaign of Ahab and Jehoshaphat against the Syrians at Ramoth, and Death of Ahab (compare 2 Chron 18:2-34). - 1 Kings 22:1. “And they rested three years; there was no war between Aram and Israel,” ישׁב here is to keep quiet, to undertake nothing, as in Judges 5:17, etc. The subject to ויּשׁבוּ is Aram and Israel mentioned in the second clause. The length of time given here points back to the end of the war described in 1 Kings 20.

1 Kings 22:2-4

In the third year (not necessarily “towards the end of it,” as Thenius supposes, for Jehoshaphat's visit preceded the renewal of the war) Jehoshaphat visited the king of Israel, with whom he had already formed a marriage alliance by marrying his son to Ahab's daughter (2 Chronicles 18:1; 2 Kings 8:18). Ahab then said to his servants that the king of Syria had kept the city of Ramoth in Gilead (probably situated on the site of the present Szalt : see at Deuteronomy 4:43), which he ought to have given up, according to the conditions of the peace in 1 Kings 20:34, and asked Jehoshaphat whether he would go with him to the war against Ramoth, which the latter promised to do. “I as thou, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses;” i.e., I am at thy service with the whole of my military power. In the place of the last words we have therefore in the Chronicles ועמך בּמּלחמה , “I am with thee in the war,” i.e., I will assist thee in the war.

1 Kings 22:5-7

But as Jehoshaphat wished also to inquire the word of the Lord concerning the war, Ahab gathered together about 400 prophets, who all predicted as out of one mouth a prosperous result to the campaign. These 400 prophets are neither the 400 prophets of Asherah who had not appeared upon Carmel when Elijah was there (1 Kings 18:19-20), nor prophets of Baal, as some of the earlier commentators supposed, since Ahab could not inquire of them את־דּבר יהוה . On the other hand, they were not “true prophets of Jehovah and disciples of the prophets” (Cler., Then.), but prophets of Jehovah worshipped under the image of an ox, who practised prophesying as a trade without any call from God, and even if they were not in the pay of the idolatrous kings of Israel, were at any rate in their service. For Jehoshaphat did not recognise them as genuine prophets of Jehovah, but inquired whether there was not such a prophet still in existence (1 Kings 22:7), that they might inquire the will of the Lord of him ( מאותו ).

1 Kings 22:8

Ahab then named to him one, but one whom he hated, because he never prophesied good concerning him, but only evil,

(Note: Just as Agamemnon says to Calchas in Il . iv. 106: μάντι κακῶν, ου ̓ πώποτέ μοι τὸ κρήγουν εἶπας, κ.τ.λ. )

namely, Micah the son of Jimlah. Josephus and the Rabbins suppose him to have been the prophet, whose name is not given, who had condemned Ahab in the previous war for setting Benhadad at liberty (1 Kings 20:35.). But there is no foundation for this, and it is mere conjecture. At any rate, Ahab had already come to know Micah as a prophet of evil, and, as is evident from 1 Kings 22:26, had had him imprisoned on account of an unwelcome prophecy. Ahab's dislike to this prophet had its root in the belief, which was connected with heathen notions of prophecy and conjuring, that the prophets stood in such a relation to the Deity that the latter necessarily fulfilled their will; a belief which had arisen from the fact that the predictions of true prophets always came to pass (see at Numbers 22:6 and Numbers 22:17).

1 Kings 22:9

By Jehoshaphat's desire, Ahab nevertheless sent a chamberlain ( סריס ; see at 1 Samuel 8:15 and Genesis 37:36) to fetch Micah ( מהרה , bring quickly).

1 Kings 22:10-12

In the meantime the prophets of the calves continued to prophesy success before the two kings, who sat upon thrones “clothed in robes,” i.e., in royal attire, upon a floor in front of the gate of Samaria. גּרן , a threshing-floor, i.e., a levelled place in the open air. In order to give greater effect to their announcement, one of them, named Zedekiyah the son of Cnaanah, made himself iron horns, probably iron spikes held upon the head (Thenius), and said, “With these wilt thou thrust down Aram even to destruction.” This symbolical action was an embodiment of the figure used by Moses in the blessing of Joseph (Deuteronomy 33:17): “Buffalo horns are his (Joseph's) horns, with them he thrusts down nations” (vid., Hengstenberg, Beitrr . ii. p. 131), and was intended to transfer to Ahab in the case before them that splendid promise which applied to the tribe of Ephraim. But the pseudo-prophet overlooked the fact that the fulfilment of the whole of the blessing of Moses was dependent upon fidelity to the Lord. All the rest of the prophets adopted the same tone, saying, “Go to Ramoth, and prosper,” i.e., and thou wilt prosper. (On this use of two imperatives see Ges. §130, 2).

1 Kings 22:13-14

The messenger who fetched Micah tried on the way to persuade him to prophesy success to the king as the other prophets had done; but Micah replied with a solemn oath, that he would only speak what Jehovah said to him.

1 Kings 22:15-17

Micah's prophecy concerning the war, and his testimony against the lying prophets . - 1 Kings 22:15, 1 Kings 22:16. When Micah had come into the presence of the king, he replied to his question, “Shall we go against Ramoth?” etc., in just the same words as the pseudo-prophets, to show the king how he would speak if he were merely guided by personal considerations, as the others were. From the verbal agreement in his reply, and probably also from the tone in which he spoke, Ahab perceived that his words were ironical, and adjured him to speak only truth in the name of Jehovah. Micah then told him what he had seen in the spirit (1 Kings 22:17): “I saw all Israel scatter itself upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd;” and then added the word of the Lord: “These have no master; let them return every one to his house in peace.” That is to say, Ahab would fall in the war against Ramoth in Gilead, and his army scatter itself without a leader upon the mountains of Gilead, and then every one would return home, without being pursued and slain by the enemy. Whilst Zedekiyah attempted to give greater emphasis to his prophecy by symbolically transferring to Ahab's enterprise the success predicted by Moses, Micah, on the other hand, showed to the king out of the law that would really take place in the intended war, namely, that very state of things which Moses before his departure sought to avert from Israel, by the prayer that the Lord would set a man over the congregation to lead them out and in, that the congregation might not become as sheep that have no shepherd (Numbers 27:16-17).

1 Kings 22:18

But although Ahab had asked for a true word of the Lord, yet he endeavoured to attribute the unfavourable prophecy to Micah's persona enmity, saying to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell thee that he prophesies nothing good concerning me, but only evil (misfortune)?”

1 Kings 22:19-25

Micah was not led astray, however, by this, but disclosed to him by a further revelation the hidden ground of the false prophecy of his 400 prophets. וגו שׁמע לכן , “therefore, sc. because thou thinkest so, hear the word of Jehovah: I saw the Lord sit upon His throne, and all the army of heaven stand around him ( עליו עמד as in Genesis 18:8, etc.) on His right hand and on His left. And the Lord said, Who will persuade Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth in Gilead? and one spake so, the other so; and the spirit came forth (from the ranks of the rest), stood before Jehovah, and said, I will persuade him...I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And He (Jehovah) said, Persuade, and thou wilt also be able; go forth and do so. And now Jehovah has put a lying spirit into the mouth of all his prophets; but Jehovah (Himself) has spoken evil (through me) concerning thee.” The vision described by Micah was not merely a subjective drapery introduced by the prophet, but a simple communication of the real inward vision by which the fact had been revealed to him, that the prophecy of those 400 prophets was inspired by a lying spirit. The spirit ( הרוּח ) which inspired these prophets as a lying spirit is neither Satan, nor any evil spirit whatever, but, as the definite article and the whole of the context show, the personified spirit of prophecy, which is only so far a πνεῦμα ἀκάθαρτον τῆς πλάνης (Zechariah 13:2; 1 John 4:6) and under the influence of Satan as it works as שׁקר רוּח in accordance with the will of God. For even the predictions of the false prophets, as we may see from the passage before us, and also from Zechariah 13:2 and the scriptural teaching in other passages concerning the spiritual principle of evil, were not mere inventions of human reason and fancy; but the false prophets as well as the true were governed by a supernatural spiritual principle, and, according to divine appointment, were under the influence of the evil spirit in the service of falsehood, just as the true prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit in the service of the Lord. The manner in which the supernatural influence of the lying spirit upon the false prophets is brought out in Micah's vision is, that the spirit of prophecy ( רוח הנבואה ) offers itself to deceive Ahab as שׁקר רוּח in the false prophets. Jehovah sends this spirit, inasmuch as the deception of Ahab has been inflicted upon him as a judgment of God for his unbelief. But there is no statement here to the effect that this lying spirit proceeded from Satan, because the object of the prophet was simply to bring out the working of God in the deception practised upon Ahab by his prophets. - The words of Jehovah, “Persuade Ahab, thou wilt be able,” and “Jehovah has put a lying spirit,” etc., are not to be understood as merely expressing the permission of God, as the fathers and the earlier theologians suppose. According to the Scriptures, God does work evil, but without therefore willing it and bringing forth sin. The prophet's view is founded upon this thought: Jehovah has ordained that Ahab, being led astray by a prediction of his prophets inspired by the spirit of lies, shall enter upon the war, that he may find therein the punishment of his ungodliness. As he would not listen to the word of the Lord in the mouth of His true servants, God had given him up ( παρέδωκεν , Romans 1:24, Romans 1:26, Romans 1:28) in his unbelief to the working of the spirits of lying. But that this did not destroy the freedom of the human will is evident from the expression תּפתּה , “thou canst persuade him,” and still more clearly from תּוּכל גּם , “thou wilt also be able,” since they both presuppose the possibility of resistance to temptation on the part of man.

Zedekiah was so enraged at this unveiling of the spirit of lying by which the pseudo-prophets were impelled, that he smote Micah upon the cheek, and said (1 Kings 22:24): “Where did the Spirit of Jehovah depart from me, to speak to thee?” To אי־זה the Chronicles add as an explanation, הדּרך : “by what way had he gone from me?” (cf. 2 Kings 3:8, and Ewald, §326, a .) Zedekiah was conscious that he had not invented his prophecy himself, and therefore it was that he rose up with such audacity against Micah; but he only proved that it was not the Spirit of God which inspired him. If he had been inspired by the Spirit of the Lord, he would not have thought it necessary to try and give effect to his words by rude force, but he would have left the defence of his cause quietly to the Lord, as Micah did, who calmly replied to the zealot thus (1 Kings 22:25): “Thou wilt see it (that the Spirit of Jehovah had departed from thee) on the day when thou shalt go from chamber to chamber to hide thyself” ( החבה for החבא , see Ges. § 75, Anm. 21). This was probably fulfilled at the close of the war, when Jezebel or the friends of Ahab made the pseudo-prophets suffer for the calamitous result; although there is nothing said about this in our history, which confines itself to the main facts.

1 Kings 22:26-27

But Ahab had Micah taken back to Amon the commander of the city, and to Joash the king's son, with the command to put him in prison and to feed him with bread and water of affliction, till he came safe back ( בּשׁלום ) from the war. From the expression השׁיבהוּ , “lead him back,” it evidently follows that Micah had been fetched from the commander of the city, who had no doubt kept him in custody, as the city-prison was probably in his house. The opposite cannot be inferred from the words “put him into the prison;” for this command, when taken in connection with what follows, simply enjoins a more severe imprisonment.

1 Kings 22:28

In his consciousness of the divine truth of his announcement, Micah left the king with these words: “If thou come back safe, Jehovah has not spoken by me. Hear it, all ye nations.” עמּים does not mean people, for it is only in the antique language of the Pentateuch that the word has this meaning, but nations; and Micah thereby invokes not only the persons present as witnesses of the truth of his words, but the nations generally, Israel and the surrounding nations, who were to discern the truth of his word from the events which would follow (see at Micah 1:2).

1 Kings 22:29-40

The issue of the war, and death of Ahab . - 1 Kings 22:29. Ahab, disregarding Micah's prophecy, went on with the expedition, and was even joined by Jehoshaphat, of whom we should have thought that, after what had occurred, he at any rate would have drawn back. He was probably deterred by false shame, however, from retracting the unconditional promise of help which he had given to Ahab, merely in consequence of a prophetic utterance, which Ahab had brought against his own person from Micah's subjective dislike. But Jehoshaphat narrowly escaped paying the penalty for it with his life (v. 32), and on his fortunate return to Jerusalem had to listen to a severe reproof from the prophet Jehu in consequence (2 Chronicles 19:2).

1 Kings 22:30-31

And even Ahab could not throw off a certain fear of the fulfilment of Micah's prophecy. He therefore resolved to go to the battle in disguise, that he might not be recognised by the enemy. ובא התהפּשׂ (“disguise myself and go into the battle,” i.e., I will go into the battle in disguise): an infin. absol ., - a broken but strong form of expression, which is frequently used for the imperative, but very rarely for the first person of the voluntative (cf. Ewald, § 328, c .), and which is probably employed here to express the anxiety that impelled Ahab to take so much trouble to ensure his own safety. (Luther has missed the meaning in his version; in the Chronicles, on the contrary, it is correctly given.) לבשׁ ואתּה , “but do thou put on thy clo thes. ” These words are not to be taken as a command, but simply in this sense: “thou mayest (canst) put on thy (royal) dress, since there is no necessity for thee to take any such precautions as I have to take.” There is no ground for detecting any cunning, vafrities , on the part of Ahab in these words, as some of the older commentators have done, as though he wished thereby to divert the predicted evil from himself to Jehoshaphat. but we may see very clearly that Ahab had good reason to be anxious about his life, from the command of the Syrian king to the captains of his war-chariots (1 Kings 22:31) to fight chiefly against the king of Israel. We cannot infer from this, however, that Ahab was aware of the command. The measure adopted by him may be sufficiently accounted for from his fear of the fulfilment of Micah's evil prophecy, to which there may possibly have been added some personal offence that had been given on his part to the Syrian king in connection with the negotiations concerning the surrender of Ramoth, which had no doubt preceded the war. The thirty-two commanders of the war-chariots and cavalry are, no doubt, the commanders who had taken the place of the thirty-two kings (1 Kings 21:24). “Fight not against small and great, but against the king of Israel only,” i.e., endeavour above all others to fight against the king of Israel and to slay him.

1 Kings 22:32-33

And when the leaders of the war-chariots saw Jehoshaphat in the battle in his royal clothes, they took him for the king of Israel (Ahab), and pressed upon him. Then Jehoshaphat cried out; and from this they perceived that he was not the king of Israel, and turned away from him. וגו אך אמרוּ והמּה , “and they thought, it is only (i.e., no other than) the king of Israel.” עליו יסרוּ , “they bent upon him.” Instead of this we have in the Chronicles עליו יסבּוּ , “they surrounded him,” and Thenius proposes to alter our text to this; but there is no necessity for doing so, as סוּר also occurs in a similar sense and connection in 1 Kings 20:39. How far Jehoshaphat was saved by his crying out, is not precisely stated. He probably cried out to his followers to come to his aid, from which the Syrians discovered that he was not the king of Israel, whom they were in search of. The chronicler adds (1 Kings 2:18, 1 Kings 2:31): “and the Lord helped him and turned them off from him;” thus believingly tracing the rescue of the king to its higher causality, though without our having any right to infer from this that Jehoshaphat cried aloud to God for help, which is not implied in the words of the Chronicles.

1 Kings 22:34

But notwithstanding the precaution he had taken, Ahab did not escape the judgment of God. “A man drew his bow in his simplicity” ( לתמּו as in 2 Samuel 15:11), i.e., without trying to hit any particular man, “and shot the king of Israel between the skirts and the coat of mail.” דּבקים are “joints by which the iron thorax was attached to the hanging skirt, which covered the abdomen” (Cler.). The true coat of mail covered only the breast, to somewhere about the last rib; and below this it had an appendage (skirts) consisting of moveable joints. Between this appendage and the true coat of mail there was a groove through which the arrow passed, and, entering the abdomen, inflicted upon the king a mortal would; so that he said to his charioteer: ידיך הפך , verte manus tuas , i.e., turn round (cf. 2 Kings 9:23). The Chethîb ידיך (plural) is the only correct reading, since the driver held the reins in both his hands. החליתי כּי : for I am wounded.

1 Kings 22:35

“And the conflict ascended,” i.e., became more violent. The use of the verb עלה in this sense may be accounted for on the supposition that it is founded upon the figure of a rising stream, which becomes more and more impetuous the higher it rises (vid., Isaiah 8:7). “And the king was stationed (i.e., remained or kept himself in an upright posture) upon the chariot before the Syrians,” that he might not dishearten his soldiers, “and died in the evening, and poured the blood of the wounds in the middle hollow ( חיק ) of the chariot.”

1 Kings 22:36-37

Towards sunset the cry went through the army ( המּחנה , the army drawn up in battle array), “Every one into his city and into his land!” - In 1 Kings 22:37 the historian shows how the word of the Lord was fulfilled in the case of Ahab. “Thus the king died and came to Samaria:” equivalent to, thus the king reached Samaria dead; and he was buried there.

1 Kings 22:38

When they washed the chariot at the pool of Samaria, the dogs licked his blood, while the harlots were bathing (in the pool). והזּנות רחצוּ is a circumstantial clause, and רחץ means to bathe, as in Exodus 2:5. This explanation, which is sustained by the grammar and is the only tenable one, disposes of the several arbitrary interpretations of these words, together with the emendations of the text of which Thenius is so fond. In this way was the word of the Lord through Elijah (1 Kings 21:19) and the unknown prophet (1 Kings 20:42) fulfilled; also the prediction of Micah (1 Kings 22:17). Ahab had paid the penalty with his own life for sparing the life of Benhadad (1 Kings 20:42), and his blood was licked up by the dogs (1 Kings 21:19). The fact that the dogs licked up the blood and the harlots were bathing in the pool, when the chariot that was stained with the blood of Ahab was being washed, is mentioned as a sign of the ignominious contempt which was heaped upon him at his death.

1 Kings 22:39-40

Close of Ahab's history. We have no further account of his buildings. “The ivory palace,” i.e., the palace inlaid with ivory, he had probably built in his capital Samaria (cf. Amos 3:15).


Verses 41-50

Reign of Jehoshaphat of Judah. - The account of this in the books before us is a very condensed one. Beside the two campaigns in which he joined with Ahab and Joram of Israel against the Syrians and Moabites, and which are described in the history of the kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 22:1-35 and 2 Kings 3), we have simply a short notice of his attempt to restore the trade with Ophir, and a general statement of the spirit of his reign; whereas we learn from the extract preserved in the Chronicles from the annals of the kings, that he also carried on a victorious war against the Edomites and Ammonites (2 Chron 20), and did a great deal to promote the spread of the knowledge of the law among his people, and to carry out the restoration of a better administration of justice, and to improve the condition of the army (2 Chronicles 16:1-14 and 2 Chronicles 19:1-11).

1 Kings 22:41-42

1 Kings 22:41-44, which give the age of Jehoshaphat when he ascended the throne, and the duration and character of his reign, are also found with slight deviations in 2 Chronicles 20:31-33, in the closing summary of the history of his reign.

1 Kings 22:43

“He walked entirely in the way of his father Asa and departed not from it, to do what was well-pleasing to the Lord,” whereas Asa's heart had become more estranged from the Lord in the last years of his reign (see 1 Kings 15:18.). - On the worship of the high places (1 Kings 22:43), see at 1 Kings 15:14.

1 Kings 22:44

He maintained peace with the king of Israel, i.e., with every one of the Israelitish kings who were contemporaneous with him, viz., Ahab, Ahaziah, and Joram, whereas hitherto the two kingdoms had assumed an attitude of hostility towards each other. Even if this friendly bearing towards Israel was laudable in itself, Jehoshaphat went beyond the bounds of what was allowable, since he formed a marriage alliance with the house of Ahab, by letting his son Joram marry a daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Chronicles 18:1).

1 Kings 22:45-46

The brave deeds ( הגּבוּרה ) which he performed include both his efforts to strengthen his kingdom, partly by raising fortifications and organizing the military force, and partly by instructing the people in the law and improving the administration of justice (2 Chronicles 17:7-19 and 2 Chronicles 19:4-11), and also the wars which he waged, viz., the expeditions already mentioned. - For 1 Kings 22:46 see 1 Kings 15:12.

1 Kings 22:47

“There was (then) no (real) king in Edom; a vicegerent was king,” i.e., governed the country. This remark is introduced here merely on account of what follows, namely, to show how it was that Jehoshaphat was able to attempt to restore the maritime trade with Ophir. If we observe this connection between the verse before us and what follows, we cannot infer from it, as Ewald does ( Gesch . iii. pp. 464 and 474ff.), that the Edomites with Egyptian help had forced from Rehoboam both their liberty and also their right to have a king of their own blood, and had remained in this situation till Jehoshaphat completely subjugated them again. (See the remarks on 1 Kings 11:21-22.) All that can be gathered from 2 Chron 20 is, that the Edomites, in league with the Ammonites and other desert tribes, made an incursion into Judah, and therefore tried to throw off the supremacy of Judah, but did not succeed in their attempt.

1 Kings 22:48-50

The brief notice concerning Jehoshaphat's attempt to build Tarshish ships (for the word, see pp. 105f) for the voyage to Ophir is expanded in 2 Chronicles 20:36-37, where we learn that Jehoshaphat had allied himself with Ahaziah of Israel for this purpose, and that the prophet Eliezer predicted the destruction of his ships on account of this alliance. When the ships had been broken in pieces in Eziongeber, no doubt by a storm, Ahaziah made this fresh proposal to him: “Let my people sail with thy people;” but Jehoshaphat would not. Ahaziah evidently wanted to persuade Jehoshaphat to make another attempt, after the destruction of the ships which were first built; but Jehoshaphat did not agree to it any more, because it was impossible for him, after the fulfilment of Eliezer's prediction, to expect a more favourable result. Thus the two accounts can be harmonized in a very simple manner, with the exception of the words “to go to Tarshish,” which we find in the Chronicles in the place of “to go to Ophir,” the reading in our text, and which sprang from an erroneous interpretation of the expression “ships of Tarshish” (see above, pp. 105f). The Chethîb עשׂר is an error of the pen for עשׂה ( Keri ); but נשׁבּרה ( Chethîb ) is not to be altered into נשׁבּרוּ , since the construction of a singular verb with the subject following in the plural is by no means rare (vid., Ewald, § 317, a .). On Eziongeber and Ophir, see at 1 Kings 9:26 and 1 Kings 9:28.


Verses 51-53

Reign of Ahaziah of Israel. - 1 Kings 22:51. For the datum “in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat,” see at 2 Kings 1:17.

1 Kings 22:52-53

Ahaziah walked in the way of his father and his mother, who had introduced the worship of Baal into the kingdom, and in the way of Jeroboam, who had set up the calves (cf. 1 Kings 16:30-33). - In 1 Kings 22:53 it is again expressly added, that he adored and worshipped Baal, as in 1 Kings 16:31. - With this general description of his character not only is the chapter brought to a close, but the first book of Kings also, - very unsuitably, however, since the further account of Ahaziah's reign and of his death is given in 2 Kings 1 of the following book. It would have been incomparably more suitable to commence a fresh chapter with 1 Kings 22:52, and indeed to commence the second book there also.