1 Kings 22:22

22 “ ‘By what means?’ the LORD asked. “ ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “ ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’

1 Kings 22:22 in Other Translations

22 And 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.

22 And the LORD said to him, 'By what means?' And he said, 'I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And he said, 'You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.'

22 “‘How will you do this?’ the LORD asked. “And the spirit replied, ‘I will go out and inspire all of Ahab’s prophets to speak lies.’ “‘You will succeed,’ said the LORD . ‘Go ahead and do it.’

22 'Easy,' said the angel, 'I'll get all the prophets to lie.' 'That should do it,' said God. 'On your way - seduce him!'

22 "The Lord asked him, 'How?' "He said, 'I will go and become a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' "Then He said, 'You will certainly entice him and prevail. Go and do that.'

1 Kings 22:22 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 22:22

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 following account:

and he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth
of all his prophets;
put them on encouraging Ahab to go up, and promising him success, as he had in former battles with the king of Syria, and which might both encourage them to give forth such a prediction, and him to believe it to be true; this proposal was quite agreeable to the character of the devil, as the father of lies:

and he said, thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also;
not only make use of this artifice to persuade, but succeed also; the Lord knew that what he should suggest to the prophets, and they should deliver to Ahab, would be agreeable to his inclination, nor would he do anything in the course of his providence to hinder its taking effect:

go forth, and do so;
which was giving leave to try his skill in the art of persuasion, in which he knew he would succeed, and bring on the righteous judgment of God upon Ahab; with this compare ( John 13:27 ) .

1 Kings 22:22 In-Context

20 And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?’ “One suggested this, and another that.

21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, ‘I will entice him.’

22 “ ‘By what means?’ the LORD asked. “ ‘I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,’ he said. “ ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’

23 “So now the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you.”

24 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. “Which way did the spirit from the LORD go when he went from me to speak to you?” he asked.

Cross References

• 1. S Judges 9:23; 1 Samuel 16:14; 1 Samuel 18:10; 1 Samuel 19:9; Ezekiel 14:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:11