1 Kings 22

For three years there was no war between Syria and Israel.

1And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.

Note"Syria" is the King James translation of Aram, a kingdom to the north-east whose capital was Damascus; modern versions usually call it Aram and its people Arameans. Israel and Aram had fought two wars in the preceding chapters, ending in a treaty.

2But in the third year, Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went down to visit the king of Israel.

2And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.

NoteSince the death of Solomon the old kingdom had been split in two: "Israel" is the northern kingdom, with its capital at Samaria, and "Judah" is the southern kingdom, with its capital at Jerusalem. The unnamed "king of Israel" here is Ahab, first named in verse 20. "Came down" is geography, not status: Jerusalem sits high in the hills, so travelers from it always go down.

3The king of Israel said to his officials, "Don't you know that Ramoth in Gilead belongs to us? Yet we sit still and do not take it back from the king of Syria."

3And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?

NoteRamoth in Gilead was a fortified town east of the Jordan, on the caravan road and on the disputed frontier between Israelite and Aramean territory. Control of it changed hands repeatedly, which is why Ahab can call it "ours" while Aram holds it.

4So he asked Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to fight for Ramoth-gilead?" Jehoshaphat answered the king of Israel, "I am with you. My people are your people, and my horses are your horses."

4And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramothgilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.

Note"I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses" is a formal pledge of full military alliance, not a compliment. Judah's king is committing his army to Israel's campaign. The two royal houses were also linked by marriage.

5But Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Please ask the LORD first what he says about this."

5And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day.

NoteKings routinely consulted a god through prophets or other means before committing to a campaign; the expected answer was a plain yes or no. Jehoshaphat is asking for this standard pre-battle consultation.

6So the king of Israel called the prophets together, about four hundred men, and asked them, "Should I go to war for Ramoth-gilead, or should I hold back?" They said, "Go up, because the Lord will hand it over to the king."

6Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

NoteThese four hundred were prophets attached to the royal court and supported by the king. They are not presented as prophets of another god: they speak in the LORD's name, but they are on the payroll of the man asking the question.

7But Jehoshaphat asked, "Isn't there another prophet of the LORD here, one we could also ask?"

7And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him?

8The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man we could ask the LORD through: Micaiah son of Imlah. But I hate him, because he never prophesies anything good about me, only bad." Jehoshaphat said, "The king should not talk that way."

8And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

9So the king of Israel called one of his officers and said, "Bring Micaiah son of Imlah here quickly."

9Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah.

10The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, were sitting on their thrones, dressed in their royal robes, on an open threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying in front of them.

10And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.

NoteThe King James "void place" means an open, empty area, the threshing floor, a flat cleared space where grain was beaten out. Such floors were often just outside the city gate, and the gate area was where kings held court and public business was transacted, so this is a formal public hearing, not a private consultation.

11Zedekiah son of Chenaanah had made iron horns for himself, and he said, "This is what the LORD says: with these you will gore the Syrians until they are wiped out."

11And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.

NoteProphets often delivered a message by acting it out rather than only speaking it. Iron horns evoke a charging bull; the same image was used of the tribes of Joseph goring their enemies (Deuteronomy 33:17). The performance is a claim that the message is guaranteed.

12All the other prophets said the same thing: "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and win, for the LORD will hand it over to the king."

12And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the king’s hand.

13The messenger who went to get Micaiah said to him, "Look, the prophets are all saying the same good thing to the king. Please let your word agree with theirs. Say something good."

13And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.

14But Micaiah said, "As surely as the LORD lives, I will say only what the LORD tells me."

14And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.

Note"As the LORD liveth" is the standard Hebrew oath formula, swearing by the life of God, the strongest binding oath available.

15So he came to the king, and the king asked him, "Micaiah, should we go to war for Ramoth-gilead, or should we hold back?" He answered, "Go up and win, for the LORD will hand it over to the king."

15So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

NoteMicaiah gives word-for-word the answer the four hundred gave in verse 12. The king's reaction in the next verse shows he heard it as mockery rather than agreement.

16The king said to him, "How many times do I have to make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?"

16And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD?

17So Micaiah said, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills, like sheep with no shepherd. And the LORD said, 'These people have no master. Let each of them go home in peace.'"

17And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.

NoteA shepherdless flock is a standard image for an army or a nation that has lost its king; the point is not that the people are helpless in general but that their leader is gone. "Let them return every man to his house in peace" is a dismissal of a defeated army, and the same words are used in verse 36 after Ahab dies.

18The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you he never prophesies anything good about me, only bad?"

18And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?

19Micaiah went on, "So hear what the LORD says. I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, with all the armies of heaven standing beside him, on his right and on his left.

19And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.

Note"The host of heaven" here means the heavenly beings who attend God as a royal court, courtiers standing at the right and left of an enthroned king. (The same phrase elsewhere in the Bible means the stars.) Micaiah answers the four hundred by claiming to have stood in the meeting whose decisions they are unknowingly reporting.

20And the LORD said, 'Who will talk Ahab into going up to Ramoth-gilead, so that he falls there?' One said one thing, and another said something else.

20And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.

21Then a spirit came forward, stood in front of the LORD, and said, 'I will talk him into it.'

21And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.

22The LORD asked him, 'How?' He said, 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.' The LORD said, 'You will talk him into it, and you will succeed. Go and do it.'

22And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.

23So now, look: the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours, and the LORD has announced disaster for you."

23Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

24Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah walked up, hit Micaiah on the cheek, and said, "Which way did the Spirit of the LORD go when he left me to speak to you?"

24But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee?

NoteA blow to the face was a public insult and a challenge, not a casual act of violence. Zedekiah's question means: if the spirit of prophecy passed from me to you, tell me by what route it traveled, a demand that Micaiah prove his claim.

25Micaiah said, "You will find out on the day you go into an inner room to hide yourself."

25And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.

NoteHiding in an "inner chamber", the innermost room of a house, is what people did when a city fell or an enemy searched for them. Micaiah is predicting that Zedekiah will one day be a fugitive.

26The king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah and hand him back to Amon, the governor of the city, and to Joash, the king's son.

26And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son;

Note"The king's son" appears to be an official title held by a member of the royal household rather than simply a description of Joash's parentage; such men are named elsewhere as royal officers. Micaiah is being handed to the city administration for custody.

27Tell them, 'This is what the king says: put this man in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I come back safely.'"

27And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.

Note"Bread of affliction and water of affliction" is a Hebrew way of saying short rations, the minimum kept for a prisoner, not ordinary meals.

28Micaiah said, "If you ever come back safely, the LORD has not spoken through me." And he added, "Listen, all you people, every one of you."

28And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.

NoteMicaiah stakes his standing as a prophet on a testable outcome: the accepted test of a true prophet was whether the thing predicted happened (Deuteronomy 18:22). The closing line, "Hearken, O people, every one of you," is word for word the opening of the book of Micah (Micah 1:2), and many scholars think a later copyist added it here after confusing the two prophets; it is missing from some ancient copies.

29So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went up to Ramoth-gilead.

29So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead.

30The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you wear your royal robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.

30And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.

NoteKings normally fought in recognisable royal armor so their own troops could see them. Ahab strips off that identification while leaving Jehoshaphat wearing his, which is why the Aramean chariots go after the wrong man in the next verses.

31Now the king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, "Do not fight anyone, important or not, except the king of Israel."

31But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

NoteChariots were the elite arm of an ancient Near Eastern army, expensive and fast, used to break enemy lines. "Neither with small nor great" means with no one of any rank whatever: the order is to ignore the battle and hunt one man. Thirty-two commanders had replaced the thirty-two allied kings mentioned in 1 Kings 20:24.

32When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "That must be the king of Israel." So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out.

32And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out.

33When the chariot commanders realized he was not the king of Israel, they stopped chasing him and turned back.

33And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.

34But a man shot an arrow without aiming at anyone in particular, and it hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. So the king told his chariot driver, "Turn around and get me out of the fighting. I am wounded."

34And a certain man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.

Note"At a venture" means at random, without picking a target. "Harness" in 1611 English meant body armor; the arrow found the gap where the scales or plates of the armor met, the one place a shot could penetrate.

35The fighting grew fiercer that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians. He died that evening, and the blood from his wound ran out onto the floor of the chariot.

35And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.

Note"At even" means at evening. The king is held upright in his chariot so his troops will not see that their commander has fallen, an army that saw its king down would break.

36As the sun was going down, a call went through the army: "Every man to his own city, every man to his own land."

36And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.

37So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him there.

37So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.

38Someone washed the chariot at the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and they washed his armor there. It happened just as the LORD had said.

38And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the LORD which he spake.

NoteThe Hebrew of the last clause is uncertain. It can be read as "they washed his armour" (as the King James takes it) or as "the prostitutes washed themselves there," which is how many modern versions read it. "According unto the word of the LORD" points back to Elijah's sentence on Ahab in 1 Kings 21:19.

39The rest of what Ahab did, everything he accomplished, the ivory house he built, and all the cities he built, are written down in the book of the record of the kings of Israel.

39Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

NoteThe "ivory house" was a palace whose furniture and wall panels were decorated with carved ivory inlay, a display of extreme wealth; excavations at Samaria have turned up hundreds of such ivory fragments. The "book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel" was the royal annals of the northern kingdom, a record now lost; it is not the biblical books of Chronicles.

40So Ahab died, and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.

40So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.

Note"Slept with his fathers" is a stock Hebrew phrase meaning simply that he died and was buried among his ancestors. It carries no comment on how he died.

41Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year that Ahab was king of Israel.

41And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.

NoteThe books of Kings date each reign by the regnal year of the king in the other kingdom. Because the two kingdoms counted years by different conventions, and part-years were sometimes counted as whole ones, these cross-references do not always add up neatly.

42Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi.

42Jehoshaphat was thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

43He lived the way his father Asa had lived and did not turn away from it, doing what was right in the LORD's eyes. But the hilltop worship sites were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burned incense there.

43And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.

Note"High places" were local open-air shrines, often on hilltops, with an altar and standing stones. They had long been the ordinary way Israelites worshiped, but the writer of Kings judges every king by whether worship was confined to the temple in Jerusalem, so their survival is repeatedly noted as a failing even in kings he otherwise approves.

44Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.

44And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

45The rest of what Jehoshaphat did, the strength he showed, and the wars he fought, are written down in the book of the record of the kings of Judah.

45Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he shewed, and how he warred, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

46He cleared out of the land the male shrine prostitutes who were still left from the days of his father Asa.

46And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land.

NoteThe King James "sodomites" translates the Hebrew word qadesh, literally "consecrated one", a male attached to a sanctuary. Most translations render it "male shrine prostitute," though what these men actually did is disputed among scholars; some argue the term means a cultic functionary of another kind. The King James word imports a later English meaning that the Hebrew does not carry.

47At that time Edom had no king; a deputy ruled in the king's place.

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

NoteEdom lay south-east of Judah and had been subject to Judah; instead of a king of its own it was run by an appointed governor answering to Jerusalem. This matters for the next verse: it gave Judah access to the Red Sea port of Ezion-geber, which lay in Edomite territory.

48Jehoshaphat built trading ships to sail to Ophir for gold, but they never sailed, because they were wrecked at Ezion-geber.

48Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.

Note"Ships of Tharshish" was a class of vessel (large, ocean-going cargo ships), rather than ships bound for a place called Tarshish; the name attached to the type. Ophir was a source of fine gold whose location is unknown, variously placed in Arabia, East Africa or India. Ezion-geber was the port at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba, on the Red Sea.

49Then Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my men sail with your men." But Jehoshaphat refused.

49Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.

50Jehoshaphat died and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his ancestor David, and his son Jehoram became king in his place.

50And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

NoteThe "city of David" is Jerusalem, or specifically the oldest fortified part of it, where the kings of Judah were buried. David was Jehoshaphat's distant ancestor, not his father; the King James "his father David" uses "father" in the wider Hebrew sense of forefather.

51Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year that Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, and he ruled Israel for two years.

51Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.

52He did what was evil in the LORD's sight. He lived the way his father lived, and the way his mother lived, and the way Jeroboam son of Nebat lived, who led Israel into sin.

52And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin:

Note"The way of his mother" refers to Jezebel, the Phoenician princess Ahab married, who promoted the worship of Baal in Israel. Jeroboam son of Nebat was the first king of the northern kingdom, who set up rival golden-calf sanctuaries at Bethel and Dan so his people would not go to Jerusalem; "who made Israel to sin" is the fixed formula the book of Kings attaches to his name whenever a northern king is being condemned.

53He served Baal and worshiped him, and made the LORD, the God of Israel, angry, doing everything his father had done.

53For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.

NoteBaal, meaning "lord" or "master," was the Canaanite and Phoenician storm god, credited with rain and so with crops and fertility. His worship in Israel is the running conflict of the Elijah chapters.