This chapter relates, that after three years’ peace with the king of Syria, Ahab was inclined to go to war with him, to take Ramothgilead out of his hands; and he drew in Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to join him in it, 1 Kings 22:1–4, but before they went into it, they took advice, Ahab of his four…

And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. ] From the time that Benhadad made a covenant with Ahab; not three full years, but part of them: it was threatened by Elijah from the Lord, that Ahab’s life should go for Benhadad’s, because he had let him, go, , but because of…

And it came to pass in the third year Of the peace, before it was expired: that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel; to Ahab, from Jerusalem to Samaria, reckoned thirty two miles [[11]]; either to make peace with him, and put an end to the wars which subsisted between…

(And the king of Israel said unto his servants His nobles, those of his privy council, his ministers of state; or “had said” [[12]], some little time before Jehoshaphat came: know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours a city of refuge beyond Jordan, in the tribe of Gad, and so of course must belong to…

And he said unto Jehoshaphat, wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramothgilead? &c.] This affair being lately canvassed at the council board, and very much on Ahab’s mind, he puts this question to Jehoshaphat, his visitor, relation, and ally; wisely considering that his own forces were small, and…

And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, inquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord today. ] Being a pious and religious prince, he did not choose to go into a war at once, without consulting the Lord by his prophets, whether it was his will and pleasure they should engage in it, and should…

Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men False prophets, as the Targum and Arabic version; and they are called Ahab’s prophets, and not the Lord’s, perhaps these were the prophets of the groves, that ate at Jezebel’s table, and were preserved when the prophets…

And Jehoshaphat said, is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might inquire of him? ] He suspected these to be false prophets, though he would not call them so; nor suggest that they were not the prophets of the Lord, because he would not affront Ahab, who had an opinion of them;…

And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, there is yet one man (Micaiah the son of Imlah), by whom we may inquire of the Lord, &c.] And but one in Samaria; Elijah and Elisha were elsewhere: but I hate him, for he doth not prophesy of good concerning me, but evil; who is thought to be the same…

Then the king of Israel called an officer An eunuch, as the word is sometimes used, one of pages: and said, hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah; who, as it seems from was in prison, where perhaps Ahab had cast him for his last prophecy to him, and where he had lain ever since; and this gives a…

And the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, sat each on his throne In great state and majesty: having put on their robes; their royal robes, which they wore when they appeared in pomp and grandeur: in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; where courts of judicature…

And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron Horns are emblems of power and might, and iron ones of greater strength still; the prophets sometimes made use of visible signs, to represent the things they prophesied of should come to pass, see (Isa. 20:2, Isa.

And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper All encouraged the king to go up against this place, and prophesied of victory, as Zedekiah did: for the Lord shall deliver it into the king’s hand, (See Gill on 1 Kings 22:6).

And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him By the way, as they came along together, as Josephus [[14]] observes: behold, now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth; they are unanimous that he shall prosper in his undertaking against the Syrians: let…

And Micaiah said, as the Lord liveth He swore by the living God, for the confirmation of what he was about to say: what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak; truly and faithfully, keeping nothing back, nor adding anything, whether it be good or evil, pleasing or displeasing; it looks as if as…

So he came to the king Being introduced by the officer: and the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go up against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? the same question in the same words that was put to the other prophets, , only there he uses the singular number, here the plural,…

And the king said unto him, how many times shall I adjure thee Not that he had as yet adjured him at all, or not till now; but he asks him how often he must be obliged to do it; and now he adjures him once for all, that he might not be forced to repeat it: that thou tell me nothing but that which…

And he said The prophet, in a serious and solemn manner, being adjured by the king: I saw all Israel scattered on the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd; the armies of Israel routed, dispersed, and fleeing, some one way and some another, on the mountains of Gilead near Ramoth, weak and…

And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat Plainly perceiving that the prophet foretold that he should fall in battle: did not I tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil? intimating that this proceeded from spite and malice, from ill will to him and hatred of him, and was…

And he saith, hear thou therefore the word of the Lord Since he had represented what he had said as proceeding from hatred to him, he would make it clear and plain that what he had said was the word of the Lord, and according to his mind; and that what the other prophets had said was owing to a…

And the Lord said, who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? &c.] Not that it can be supposed that the Lord entered into a consultation with the angels upon this subject; only that it was the decree of God that he should go thither, and fall by the hand of the man whom he…

And there came forth a spirit Not from the heavenly host on the right hand or the left, for they are pure and holy spirits, and impeccable, and cannot lie or deceive; but the evil spirit, Satan, the father of lies, the old deceiver, who came forth from his own place and his own company: and stood…

And the Lord said unto him, wherewith? &c.] What way and method did he propose, to persuade Ahab to go up to Ramoth? the Lord is introduced in this visionary narrative as asking this question, not as ignorant of the scheme of the evil spirit, but in order to bring it out, and lead on to the…

Now therefore behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these thy prophets That is, suffered the lying spirit to suggest a lie to them, and sent them strong delusions to believe that lie, whose minds were disposed at any rate to flatter Ahab, to whom they told it; which was the…

But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near Stepped in haste and passion from the place where he was: and smote Micaiah on the cheek; in contempt of him, and to show his indignation at what he said; this he did in open court, before two kings; one he believed would favour and screen him in this…

And Micaiah said, behold, thou shalt see in the day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself. ] Who would either accompany Ahab to the battle, and, upon his being wounded, flee to the first place of secrecy for safety; or, upon the news of his defeat brought to Samaria, would betake…

And the king of Israel said To some of his officers: take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city: the chief magistrate under the king; a sort of sheriff, who had the care of malefactors, and of all committed to prison, from whom he was received by the messenger, and now sent…

And say, thus saith the king, put this fellow in prison In the common prison of the city, where he had been before, as it seems; and might be now ordered into a more confined place in it, and what might be called “little ease”: and feed him with bread of affliction, and with water of affliction;…

And Micaiah said, if thou return at all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me I am content to be reckoned a false prophet, and to be punished as such: and, he said, hearken, O people, everyone of you; he called aloud unto them to observe what he had predicted, and mark the issue of it, and to…

So the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, went up to Ramothgilead. ] Which, according to Bunting [[16]], was twenty four miles from Samaria.

And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle Change his clothes, his royal robes, and put on others, perhaps the habit of a common soldier; having, it may be, been informed by some deserters or spies, of the design of Benhadad against him.

But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had the rule over his chariots This was the number of his kings in the first battle with Israel, and of his captains in the second, (1 Kings 20:1, 1 Kings 20:24, 1 Kings 20:25) , and the same number he had now, being very probably not…

And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat In his royal robes: that they said, surely it is the king of Israel; for they might not know the persons either of Ahab or him, but judged by his habit: and they turned aside to fight against him; pressed upon him with all their…

And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel Against whom only their orders were to fight: that they turned back from pursuing him; for upon so great a force coming upon him he could not withstand, he fled.

And a certain man drew a bow at a venture Not aiming at the king of Israel, or knowing whereabout he was. In the Targum on , this man is said to be Naaman, the general of the army of the king of Syria, and so Jarchi here; but though he did this in his simplicity, as the word signifies, without any…

And the battle increased that day It went on, and did not stop upon Ahab’s going out of the host, but was very hot, and both sides fought furiously: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians: the Targum is, “he strengthened himself, and stood;” he exerted himself to the…

And there went a proclamation throughout the host, about the going down of the sun Much about the time that Ahab died; and this proclamation by an herald might be made by his order, as he was dying, or by Jehoshaphat, when he understood he was dead: saying, every man to his city, and every man to…

So the king died, and they brought him to Samaria In the chariot he died in: and they buried the king in Samaria; where his father Omri was buried, .

And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria After the body was taken out, very likely the chariot driver, who drove it into the pool, and plunged it into it, as the word signifies, to cleanse it from the blood of his master: and the dogs licked up his blood; mixed with the water of the pool;…

Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made Which, being a very curious and extraordinary thing, is particularly mentioned; though perhaps it might not be made wholly of ivory, but inlaid with it; we read of ivory houses in , and all the cities that he…

So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead, ] Of whom more is said in the latter part of this chapter, and in the following book.

And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. ] And as Ahab reigned twenty two years, , Jehoshaphat must reign about eighteen years with him, and seven years after him.

Jehoshaphat was thirty five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem So that he must be sixty years of age when he died: and his mother’s name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi; but of what family they were is not said.

And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father Who was a good prince: he turned not aside from doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord; in his moral conversation, religious worship, and civil government: nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, for the people offered and burnt…

And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. ] First with Ahab, with whom he contracted an affinity, and joined with him in his expedition to Ramothgilead, and with Ahaziah his successor.

And all the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and all his might that he showed, and all his wars, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? ] Many of them are recorded in the canonical book of Scripture, which bears the name of Chronicles; and more might be in this…

And the remnant of the Sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land. ] His father Asa removed many of these filthy creatures, but not all; as many, no doubt, as came within his knowledge, but some remained, whom this his son removed, being of the same disposition…

There was then no king in Edom, a deputy was king. ] Which had been the case from the times of David, who subdued Edom, and placed garrisons in it, and governors over it, and continued through the reign of Jehoshaphat, unto the times of his son, under whom the Edomites revolted, and set up a king…

Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish Ships to go to sea, particularly the Indian sea, . Tarshish is used for the sea in general, , in the Cetib, or text, it is “ten”; in the Keri, or margin, it is “made”, which we follow, and may be put together, as in the Tigurine version, and read, “he made ten…

Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat Who very probably had built some more ships on his own, having broke off his partnership with Ahaziah: let my servants go with thy servants in the ships; since he was refused a part in the ships themselves, he desires leave to send men aboard them…

And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father In the city of Sion, where David, Rehoboam, Abijam, and Asa, were buried: and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead; who was now thirty two years of age, and he reigned ten years.

Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah It is observed, that Jehoshaphat began to reign in the fourth year of Ahab, and Ahab reigned twenty two years, see , and therefore Ahab’s son must begin to reign in the eighteenth year of…

And he did evil in the sight of the Lord Which evil was idolatry: and walked in the way of his father; his father Ahab, who worshipped Baal: and in the way of his mother; his mother Jezebel, who was still living, and served Baal and Astarte, the deities of her country: and in the way of Jeroboam…

For he served Baal, and worshipped him That is, Ahaziah served him, as his father had done, and his mother still did: and provoked to anger the Lord God of Israel, according to all that his father had done; of which there is an instance in the first chapter of the following book; for falling…