1 Kings 22:1-40

Ahab's Third Campaign against Aram

1 Three years passed without war between Aram and Israel.

2 ¹In the third year ²Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.

3 Now the king of Israel said to his servants, "Do you know that ³Ramoth-gilead belongs to us, and we are still doing nothing to take it out of the hand of the king of Aram?"

4 And he said to Jehoshaphat, "Will you go with me to battle at Ramoth-gilead?" And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "⁴I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses."

5 Moreover, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, "Please inquire first for the word of the LORD."

6 Then ⁵the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, "Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall I refrain?" And they said, "Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king."

7 But ⁶Jehoshaphat said, "Is there not yet a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of him?"

8 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah." But Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say so."

9 Then the king of Israel called an officer and said, "Bring quickly Micaiah son of Imlah."

10 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and ⁷all the prophets were prophesying before them.

11 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made ⁸horns of iron for himself and said, "Thus says the LORD, '⁹With these you will gore the Arameans until they are consumed.' "

12 All the prophets were prophesying thus, saying, "Go up to Ramoth-gilead and prosper, for the LORD will give it into the hand of the king."

Micaiah Predicts Defeat

13 Then the messenger who went to summon Micaiah spoke to him saying, "Behold now, the words of the prophets are uniformly * favorable to the king. Please let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably."

14 But Micaiah said, "¹⁰As the LORD lives, what * ¹¹the LORD says to me, that I shall speak."

15 When he came to the king, the king said to him, "Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?" And he answered him, "¹²Go up and succeed, and the LORD will give it into the hand of the king."

16 Then the king said to him, "How * many * times must I adjure you to speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?"

17 So he said, "I saw all Israel Scattered on the mountains, ¹³Like sheep which have no shepherd. And the LORD said, 'These have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace.' "

18 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "¹⁴Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?"

19 Micaiah said, "Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. ¹⁵I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and ¹⁶all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.

20 "The LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said this while another said that.

21 "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.'

22 "The LORD said to him, 'How?' And he said, 'I will go out and ¹⁷be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.'

23 "Now therefore, behold, ¹⁸the LORD has put a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; and the LORD has proclaimed disaster against you."

24 Then ¹⁹Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, "²⁰How * did the Spirit of the LORD pass from me to speak to you?"

25 Micaiah said, "Behold, you shall see on that day when you ²¹enter an inner room to hide yourself."

26 Then the king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son;

27 and say, 'Thus says the king, "²²Put this man in prison * and feed him sparingly with bread and water until I return safely.""'

28 Micaiah said, "²³If you indeed return safely the LORD has not spoken by me." And he said, "²⁴Listen, all you people."

Defeat and Death of Ahab

29 So ²⁵the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up against Ramoth-gilead.

30 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "²⁶I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you put on your robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle.

31 Now ²⁷the king of Aram had commanded the thirty-two * captains of his chariots, saying, "Do not fight with small or great, but with the king of Israel alone."

32 So when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, "Surely it is the king of Israel," and they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out.

33 When the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

34 Now a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel in a joint of the armor. So he said to the driver of his chariot, "Turn around and take me out of the fight; ²⁸for I am severely wounded."

35 The battle raged that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot in front of the Arameans, and died at evening, and the blood from the wound ran into the bottom of the chariot.

36 ²⁹Then a cry passed throughout the army close to sunset *, saying, "Every man to his city and every man to his country."

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

38 They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood (now the harlots bathed themselves there), ³⁰according to the word of the LORD which He spoke.

39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did and ³¹the ivory house which he built and all the cities which he built, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles * of the Kings of Israel?

40 So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son became king in his place.

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1 Kings 22:1-40 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 22

This chapter relates, that after three years' peace with the king of Syria, Ahab was inclined to go to war with him, to take Ramothgilead out of his hands; and he drew in Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to join him in it, 1Ki 22:1-4, but before they went into it, they took advice, Ahab of his four hundred prophets, which Jehoshaphat not being satisfied with, a true prophet of the Lord, Micahah, was sent for, 1Ki 22:5-14 who, when he came, jeered Ahab with what his prophets had said to him; intimated that he should be killed, and explained it to him how he came to be deceived by his prophets, 1Ki 22:15-23 upon which he was smitten on the cheek by Zedekiah, one of the false prophets, and imprisoned by the order of Ahab, 1Ki 22:24-28, after which the two kings went to the battle, and Jehoshaphat was in great danger of his life; but Ahab was wounded, and died, 1Ki 22:29-40, and the chapter is concluded with an account of the reign of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, 1Ki 22:41-50, and of Ahaziah king of Israel, 1Ki 22:51-53.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 31

1. 2 Chronicles 18:2
2. 1 Kings 15:24
3. Deuteronomy 4:43; Joshua 21:38; 1 Kings 4:13
4. 2 Kings 3:7
5. 1 Kings 18:19
6. 2 Kings 3:11
7. 1 Kings 22:6
8. Zechariah 1:18-21
9. Deuteronomy 33:17
10. 1 Kings 18:10, 15
11. Numbers 22:18; Numbers 24:13
12. 1 Kings 22:12
13. Numbers 27:17; 1 Kings 22:34-36; 2 Chronicles 18:16; Matthew 9:36; Mark 6:34
14. 1 Kings 22:8
15. Isaiah 6:1; Ezekiel 1:26-28; Daniel 7:9, 10
16. Job 1:6; Job 2:1; Psalms 103:20, 21; Daniel 7:10; Matthew 18:10; Hebrews 1:7, 14
17. Judges 9:23; 1 Samuel 16:14; 1 Samuel 18:10; 1 Samuel 19:9; Ezekiel 14:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:11
18. Ezekiel 14:9
19. 1 Kings 22:11; Matthew 5:39; Acts 23:2, 3
20. 2 Chronicles 18:23
21. 1 Kings 20:30
22. 2 Chronicles 16:10; 2 Chronicles 18:25-27
23. Deuteronomy 18:22
24. Micah 1:2
25. 1 Kings 22:3, 4
26. 2 Chronicles 35:22
27. 1 Kin 20:1, 16, 24; 2 Chronicles 18:30
28. 2 Chronicles 35:23
29. 2 Kings 14:12
30. 1 Kings 21:19
31. Amos 3:15

Footnotes 12

[a]. Lit "they sat for three years"
[b]. Lit "are silent so as not"
[c]. Lit "as the day"
[d]. Lit "Hasten Micaiah"
[e]. Lit "said to"
[f]. Lit "he"
[g]. Lit "with bread of affliction and water of affliction"
[h]. Lit "between the scale-armor and the breastplate"
[i]. Lit "your hand"
[j]. Lit "camp"
[k]. Lit "went up"
[l]. Lit "land"