1 Kings22chapter 22

1 Kings 22:13

“And the messenger spake unto him ... - There seems to have been a widespread notion among the irreligious and the half-religious of the ancient world, that their prophets were not the mere mouth-pieces of the god, but that they were persons who had power with the god, and could compel, or at least induce, Him to work their will (compare Num 24:10; Isa 30:10). They saw that the prophet’s word was accomplished; they did not understand that if he falsified his message the accomplishment would no longer follow.”

1 Kings 22:14

“Micaiah, as a true prophet of Yahweh, of course rejected the counsel offered him, which he felt to be at once wicked and foolish. Compare also the resolution of Balaam, marginal reference.”

1 Kings 22:15

“And he answered him ... - Micaiah speaks the exact words of the 400 in so mocking and ironical a tone, that the king cannot mistake his meaning, or regard his answer as serious. The king’s rejoinder implies that this mocking manner was familiar to Micaiah, who had used it in some former dealings with the Israelite monarch. Hence, in part, the king’s strong feeling of dislike (compare 1Ki 22:8).”

1 Kings 22:17

“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.”

1 Kings 22:18

“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.”

1 Kings 22:19

“I saw - By the eyes of my mind: for he could not see the Lord with bodily eyes. The Host - The angels, both good and bad, the one possibly on his right, the other on his left hand. Nor is it strange that the devils are called the host of heaven; if you consider, first, that their original seat was in heaven.”

1 Kings 22:20

“Who shall - This is not to be grossly understood, as if God were at a loss to find out an expedient to accomplish his own will; but only to bring down divine things to our shallow capacities, and to express the various means which God hath to execute his own designs.”

1 Kings 22:21

A spirit - “The spirit “ - which some explain as “the evil spirit” - i. e. Satan; others as simply “the spirit” who should “persuade.”

1 Kings 22:22

“Go forth, and do so - This is no more than, “God has permitted the spirit of lying to influence the whole of thy prophets; and he now, by my mouth, apprises thee of this, that thou mayest not go and fall at Ramoth-gilead.” Never was a man more circumstantially and fairly warned; he had counsels from the God of truth, and counsels from the spirit of falsity; he obstinately forsook the former and followed the latter.”

1 Kings 22:23

“The Lord hath put a lying spirit - He hath permitted or suffered a lying spirit to influence thy prophets. Is it requisite again to remind the reader that the Scriptures repeatedly represent God as doing what, in the course of his providence, he only permits or suffers to be done? Nothing can be done in heaven, in earth, or hell, but either by his immediate energy or permission. This is the reason why the Scripture speaks as above.”

1 Kings 22:24

“Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me - This is an expression of as great insolence as the act was of brutal aggression. “Did the Spirit of the Lord, who rests solely upon me, condescend to inspire thee? Was it at this ear [where he smote him] that it entered, in order to hold communion with thee?” Josephus tells an idle rabbinical tale about this business, which is as unworthy of repetition as it is of credit. See his Antiq. of the Jews, book viii., c. 10.”

1 Kings 22:25

“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 himself to a private chamber for security, fearing the enemy would pursue to the very place; or else through fear of the populace, who would attribute the death of the king to the advice of him and the other prophets.”

1 Kings 22:27

“Feed him with bread of affliction ... - Micaiah is to be once more put in prison, but, in order to punish him for his uncomplying spirit, upon a poorer and scantier diet than he had been previously allowed. This is to continue until Ahab returns in peace. Ahab introduces this expression purposely, in order to show his entire disbelief of Micaiah’s prophecy.”

1 Kings 22:28

“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 bear testimony for him, or against him, as things should be.”

1 Kings 22:29

“So the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, went up to Ramothgilead. Which, according to Bunting (r), was twenty four miles from Samaria.”

1 Kings 22:30

“I will disguise myself - Probably he had heard of the orders given by Ben-hadad to his thirty-two captains, to fight with the king of Israel only; that is, to make their most powerful attack where he commanded, in order to take him prisoner, that he might lead him captive whose captive he formerly was; and therefore he disguised himself that he might not be known. But put thou on thy robes - What is meant by this?”

1 Kings 22:31

“Commanded - “Had commanded.” Ben-hadad delivers his order in the hyperbolical style common in the East. His meaning is, “Make it your chief object to kill or take the king of Israel.” Apparently, his own defeat and captivity were still rankling in his mind, and he wished to retaliate on Ahab, the humiliation which he considered himself to have suffered. He shows small appreciation of the generosity which had spared his life and restored him to his kingdom.”

1 Kings 22:32

“Surely it is the king of Israel - This was a natural supposition, as Jehoshaphat alone wore royal robes. And Jehoshaphat cried out - Jehoshaphat called to his men for help, using perhaps his own special battle-cry, which would be distinct from that of Ahab, and would probably be known to the Syrians.”

1 Kings 22:33

“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.”

1 Kings 22:34

“Drew a bow at a venture - It is supposed that he shot, as the archers in general did, not aiming at any person in particular. The word לתמו lethummo, which we translate in his simplicity, has been variously understood; in his integrity, his uprightness; in his perfection; i.e., to the utmost of his skill and strength. This is most probably the meaning; and may imply both aim and power, having his butt full in view.”

1 Kings 22:35

“The battle increased - See the margin; i. e. the tide of battle rose higher. Compare Isa 8:7-8. The king was stayed up in his chariot - The king’s wound made it impossible for him to remain standing without help; he therefore had himself supported in his chariot by attendants, in order that his soldiers might not lose heart, as they would be sure to do, if they knew of his peril. Ahab must not be denied the credit of right princely fortitude on this occasion. The midst of the chariot - literally, as in the margin.”

1 Kings 22:38

“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; the Septuagint adds, "the swine", which is not probable, such creatures not being bred in the land of Israel: and they washed his armour; his coat of mail, through the joints of which the blood issued, and ran upon it.”

1 Kings 22:39

“The ivory house - So called from the character of its ornamentation. Ivory was largely used in the ancient world as a covering of wood-work, and seems to have been applied, not only to furniture, but to the doors and walls of houses. Nothing is known of the cities built by Ahab; but the fact is important as indicating the general prosperity of the country in his time, and his own activity as a ruler.”

1 Kings 22:40

“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.”

1 Kings 22:41

“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, 1Ki 16:29, Jehoshaphat must reign about eighteen years with him, and seven years after him.”

1 Kings 22:42

“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.”

1 Kings 22:43

“On the general piety of Asa, see above, 1Ki 15:11-15 and references. Jehoshaphat seems to have been a still better king, for he did not, like Asa, fall away in his old age 2Ch 16:2-12. The high places were not taken away - This seems to contradict 2Ch 17:6. Probably the writer of Chronicles refers to the desire and intention of the monarch, while the author of Kings records the practical failure of his efforts.”

1 Kings 22:44

“This refers probably to an early period in Jehoshaphat’s reign - about his eighth or his ninth year - when he closed the long series of wars between the two kingdoms by a formal peace, perhaps at once cemented by a marriage between Jehoram and Athaliah (1Ki 22:2 note).”

1 Kings 22:45

“The book of the chronicles ... - Compare 1Ki 22:39 note. The biographer of Jehoshaphat appears to have been Jehu, the son of Hanani 2Ch 20:34.”

1 Kings 22:46

“The remnant of the sodomites - הקדש of the consecrated persons; or it may rather apply here to the system of pollution, effeminacy, and debauch. He destroyed the thing itself; the abominations of Priapus, and the rites of Venus, Baal, and Ashtaroth. No more of that impure worship was to be found in Judea.”

1 Kings 22:47

“In the time of Solomon, Hadad 1Ki 11:14, according to the Septuagint, “reigned over Edom.” It appears by the present passage that the country had been again reduced either by Jehoshaphat, or by an earlier king, and was dependent on the kingdom of Judah, being governed by a “deputy” or viceroy, who, however, was allowed the royal title (compare 2Ki 3:9, 2Ki 3:12, 2Ki 3:26). This government of dependencies by means of subject-kings was the all but universal practice in the East down to the time of Cyrus (the 1Ki 4:21 note).”

1 Kings 22:48

“Ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold - In the parallel place (2Ch 20:36) it is said that Jehoshaphat joined himself to Ahaziah, to make ships to go to Tharshish; and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. Concerning these places, and the voyage thither, see the notes on 1Ki 9:26-28 (note); 1Ki 10:11 (note), 1Ki 10:22 (note). Some translate, instead of ships of Tharshish, ships of burden. See Houbigant, who expresses himself doubtful as to the meaning of the word.”

1 Kings 22:49

“Would not - He did join with Ahaziah before this time, and before the ships were broken: for the breaking of the ships mentioned here, is noted to be the effect of his sin, in joining with Ahaziah, 2 Chron. xx, 37. And Jehoshaphat being warned and chastised by God for this sin, would not be persuaded to repeat it.”

1 Kings 22:50

“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.”

1 Kings 22:51

“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 1Ki 22:41, and therefore Ahab's son must begin to reign in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat; but perhaps he was made king in his father's lifetime, before he went on his expedition to Ramothgilead, or Ahab's reign was not twenty two years complete: and reigned two years over Israel; not complete, as appears from 2Ki 3:1.”

1 Kings 22:52

“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 the son of Nebat; who set up and worshipped the golden calves: who made Israel to sin; by the worship of the same, into which he drew them by his example and authority.”

1 Kings 22:53

“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 through a lattice, and becoming sick upon it, he quickly died, having sent messengers to inquire of the god of Ekron whether he should die or not.”