1 Kings 22:4
in 1 Kings 22So he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth-gilead?” Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel, “I am like you, my people are your people, and my horses are your horses.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth-gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.
KJV
And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramoth–gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.
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This verse in 1 Kings 22
Commentary
8 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Ramoth-gilead is ours
on 1 Kings 22:3-4
Ahab presses a claim on Ramoth-gilead, a city Ben-hadad's terms should have restored and never did. Jehoshaphat answers with the formula of full alliance, “I am like you, my people are your people, and my horses are your horses”. The same sentence returns word for word at 2 Kings 3:7.
This site's exposition
Will you go with me to fight
Ramoth-gilead lay east of the Jordan in the land of Gad. Moses set it apart as a city of refuge at Deuteronomy 4:43. Under Solomon it was the seat of a district governor at 1 Kings 4:13.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
), I am as thou art; and now he was indeed taken for him. Those that associate with evil doers are in danger of sharing in their plagues. By his deliverance God let him know that, though he was displeased with him, yet he had not deserted him.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
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 that to have such an auxiliary might be of great advantage to him: and Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses; meaning, that he and his soldiers, foot and horse, were at his service.
It is desirable to have an interest in those that have an interest in heaven, and to have those with us that have God with them. But it is strange that Jehoshaphat will go so entirely into Ahab's interests as to say, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people. Jehoshaphat and his people are not so wicked and corrupt as Ahab and his people.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Jos 21:38), on the site of the present Salt Lake, in the province of Belka. It lay within the territories of the Israelitish monarch, and was unjustly alienated; but whether it was one of the cities usurped by the first Ben-hadad, which his son had promised to restore, or was retained for some other reasons, the sacred historian has not mentioned.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Wilt thou go with me - We find that there was a good understanding between Jehoshaphat and Ahab, which no doubt was the consequence of a matrimonial alliance between the son of the former, Jehoram, and the daughter of the latter, Athaliah; see 2Ch 18:1; 2Ki 8:18. This coalition did not please God, and Jehoshaphat is severely reproved for it by Jehu the seer, 2Ch 19:1-3.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Ahab, well aware of the military strength of Syria, and feeling that he cannot now expect divine aid 1Ki 20:42; 1Ki 21:21, asks the aid of Jehoshaphat, whose military resources were very great 2Ch 17:12-19. Jehoshaphat’s answer is one of complete acquiescence, without reserve of any kind (compare 2Ch 18:3). Jehoshaphat was afterward rebuked for thus consenting to “help the ungodly” 2Ch 19:2. He probably acted not merely from complaisance, but from a belief that the interests of his own kingdom would be advanced by the step which he agreed to take. The power of Syria was at this time very menacing.
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יְה֣וֹשָׁפָ֔ט | yehooshafat | Jehoshaphat | H3092 → | 84 times |
| הֲתֵלֵ֥ךְ | hatelekh | ¿ will you go | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| אִתִּ֛י | ʾiti | with me | H854 → | 929 times |
| לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה | lamilchamah | for <the> battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
| רָמֹ֣ת | ramot | Ramoth | H7418 → | 22 times |
| גִּלְעָ֑ד | gilad | Gilead | H1568 → | 134 times |
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהֽוֹשָׁפָט֙ | yehoshafat | Jehoshaphat | H3092 → | 84 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| כָּמ֧וֹנִי | kamoni | as me | H3644 → | 143 times |
| כָמ֛וֹךָ | khamokha | as you | H3644 → | 143 times |
| כְּעַמִּ֥י | keami | as people my | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| כְעַמֶּ֖ךָ | kheamekha | as people your | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| כְּסוּסַ֥י | kesusai | as horses my | H5483 → | 140 times |
| כְּסוּסֶֽיךָ׃ | kesuseikha | as horses your | H5483 → | 140 times |
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙and he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יְה֣וֹשָׁפָ֔טJehoshaphat
yehooshafatH3092 →84 times
הֲתֵלֵ֥ךְ¿ will you go
hatelekhH1980 →1546 times
אִתִּ֛יwith me
ʾitiH854 →929 times
לַמִּלְחָמָ֖הfor <the> battle
lamilchamahH4421 →320 times
רָמֹ֣תRamoth
ramotH7418 →22 times
גִּלְעָ֑דGilead
giladH1568 →134 times
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהֽוֹשָׁפָט֙Jehoshaphat
yehoshafatH3092 →84 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
כָּמ֧וֹנִיas me
kamoniH3644 →143 times
כָמ֛וֹךָas you
khamokhaH3644 →143 times
כְּעַמִּ֥יas people my
keamiH5971 →1873 times
כְעַמֶּ֖ךָas people your
kheamekhaH5971 →1873 times
כְּסוּסַ֥יas horses my
kesusaiH5483 →140 times
כְּסוּסֶֽיךָ׃as horses your
kesuseikhaH5483 →140 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 13:20He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 15:33–34
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
- Proverbs 15:31
He who listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.
- Proverbs 9:6
Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.”
- 2 Corinthians 6:14–18
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership can righteousness have with wickedness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
- Psalms 119:63
I am a friend to all who fear You, and to those who keep Your precepts.
- 1 Corinthians 15:33–34
Through
Ephesians 5:11Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
it leads to
- Romans 13:12
The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
- 1 Timothy 5:20
But those who persist in sin should be rebuked in front of everyone, so that the others will stand in fear of sin.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:6
Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received…
- Romans 13:12
Where this verse is studied
About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.