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2 Chronicles 18:13

in 2 Chronicles 18

But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever my God tells me.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And Micaiah said, As Jehovah liveth, what my God saith, that will I speak.

KJV

And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak.

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This verse in 2 Chronicles 18

Commentary

2 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

let your words be like theirs

on 2 Chronicles 18:12-13

The messenger presses Micaiah: “please let your words be like theirs, and speak favorably”. Micaiah answers with an oath that states his whole office, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever my God tells me”. Balaam made a like pledge under a king's pressure at Numbers 22:18.

This site's exposition

As surely as the LORD lives

Micaiah answers the messenger with an oath to speak whatever his God tells him. Wesley calls it the frequent lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God. Micaiah accepts that lot here.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Go up and triumph, and may they be delivered into your hand i.e., May you only prosper, and may they be delivered into your hands.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Chronicles 18:14:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

11 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֖אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • מִיכָ֑יְהוּMicaiah

    mikhayehuH4321 →21 times

  • חַי־[by] [the] life

    chai-H2416 →498 times

  • יְהוָ֕הof Yahweh

    yahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • כִּ֛יthat

    kiH3588 →4482 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֲשֶׁר־[that] which

    ʾasher-H834 →5497 times

  • יֹאמַ֥רhe will say

    yomarH559 →5305 times

  • אֱלֹהַ֖יGod my

    ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times

  • אֹת֥וֹ<obj.> it

    ʾotoH853 →10935 times

  • אֲדַבֵּֽר׃I will speak

    ʾadaberH1696 →1141 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Philippians 4:19And my God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus.23 worksNumbers 22:35But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you are to speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.5 worksJeremiah 1:7But the LORD told me: “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ For to everyone I send you, you must go, and all that I command you, you must speak.5 worksNumbers 22:18But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything small or great to go beyond the command of the LORD my God.5 worksNumbers 24:13that even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the LORD? I will speak whatever the LORD says.3 worksNumbers 23:26But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”3 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Acts 20:27For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God.2 worksMicah 2:6–7“Do not preach,” they preach. “Do not preach these things; disgrace will not overtake us.”2 worksJeremiah 23:28Let the prophet who has a dream retell it, but let him who has My word speak it truthfully. For what is straw compared to grain?” declares the LORD.2 works1 Kings 22:14But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I will speak whatever the LORD tells me.”2 worksJeremiah 42:4“I have heard you,” replied Jeremiah the prophet. “I will surely pray to the LORD your God as you request, and I will tell you everything that the LORD answers; I will not withhold a word from you.”2 worksNumbers 23:12But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”2 worksGalatians 1:10Am I now seeking the approval of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.2 works1 Corinthians 11:23For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread,2 worksEzekiel 2:7But speak My words to them, whether they listen or refuse to listen, for they are rebellious.2 works1 Thessalonians 2:4Instead, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, not in order to please men but God, who examines our hearts.2 works2 Corinthians 2:17For we are not like so many others, who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God.2 worksMark 12:14“Teacher,” they said, “we know that You are honest and seek favor from no one. Indeed, You are impartial and teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Should we pay them or not?”2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Acts 20:27

    For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God.

    it leads to

    • Acts 20:20

      I did not shrink back from declaring anything that was helpful to you as I taught you publicly and from house to house,

    • 1 Thessalonians 2:4

      Instead, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, not in order to please men but God, who examines our hearts.

    • 2 Corinthians 4:2

      Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to…

    • Galatians 4:16

      Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

    • Galatians 1:7–10

      which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ.

  • Through

    Numbers 23:26

    But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”

    it leads to

    • Numbers 22:18

      But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything small or great to go beyond the command…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Acts 5:29

      But Peter and the other apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than men.

    • Numbers 22:38

      “See, I have come to you,” Balaam replied, “but can I say just anything? I must speak only the word that God puts in my mouth.”

About 2 Chronicles

Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.
Saphan Reading the Book of the Law to Josiah, Philip Galle, engraving after Maarten van Heemskerck, 1569, Royal Library of Belgium. Public domain.
2 Chronicles: the study guide →Read 2 Chronicles 18 →

This page draws on John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Chronicles and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Chronicles 18 →