1 Kings 22:11

11 Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, "Thus says Yahweh: 'With these you shall gore the Arameans until finishing them.'"

1 Kings 22:11 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 22:11

And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron
Horns are emblems of power and might, and iron ones of greater strength still; the prophets sometimes made use of visible signs, to represent the things they prophesied of should come to pass, see ( Isaiah 20:2 Isaiah 20:3 ) ( Jeremiah 27:2 ) , and the same method this prophet took:

and he saith, thus saith the Lord; imitating the true prophets: with
these shall thou push the Syrians until thou hast consumed them:
Abarbinel thinks he had in view the blessing of Joseph by Moses, ( Deuteronomy 33:17 ) where he is compared to a bullock with horns; and these said to be the ten thousands of Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh; and Ahab being of the tribe of Joseph, and ruling in Ephraim and Manasseh, the prophet chose to make use of this emblem for his encouragement.

1 Kings 22:11 In-Context

9 The king of Israel summoned a certain court official, and he said, "Quickly fetch Micaiah son of Imlah."

10 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah [were] each sitting on his throne, dressed [in their] robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, [with] all the prophets prophesying before them.

11 Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, "Thus says Yahweh: 'With these you shall gore the Arameans until finishing them.'"

12 All of the prophets [were] likewise prophesying, saying, "Go up [to] Ramoth-Gilead and triumph, and Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king."

13 Then the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Please now, the words of the prophet are {unanimously} favorable to the king. Please let your words be as one word with them, and speak favorably."