1 Kings 22:6

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1 Kings

1 Kings 22

6 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” “Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”

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1 Kings 22:6 in Other Translations

KJV

6 Then 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.

ESV

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

NLT

6 So the king of Israel summoned the prophets, about 400 of them, and asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should I hold back?” They all replied, “Yes, go right ahead! The Lord will give the king victory.”

MSG

6 The king of Israel got the prophets together - all four hundred of them - and put the question to them: "Should I attack Ramoth Gilead? Or should I hold back?" "Go for it," they said. "God will hand it over to the king."

CSB

6 So the king of Israel gathered the prophets, about 400 men, and asked them, "Should I go against Ramoth-gilead for war or should I refrain?" They replied, "March up, and the Lord will hand it over to the king."

1 Kings 22:6 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 22:6

Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about
four hundred men
False prophets, as the Targum and Arabic version; and they are called Ahab's prophets, and not the Lord's, ( 1 Kings 22:23 ) perhaps these were the prophets of the groves, that ate at Jezebel's table, and were preserved when the prophets of Baal were destroyed, since the number agrees with them, see ( 1 Kings 18:19 )

and said unto them, shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or
shall I forbear?
which would you advise to? signifying he should take their advice:

and they said, go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of
the king:
which words are very ambiguous, like the oracles of the Heathens; for they do not express who or what should be delivered up, for the word it is a supplement, nor to what king the delivery should be made; whether the Syrians, and the place they held should be given up to king Ahab, which they would have understood; or whether the Israelites should be delivered up to king Benhadad; so that, whichever had been the case, the credit of their prophecy would be secured. They used the word "Lord", and not Baal, in complaisance to Jehoshaphat, and perhaps as directed by Ahab.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

1 Kings 22:6 In-Context

4 So he asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

5 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “First seek the counsel of the LORD.”

7 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?”

8 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say such a thing,” Jehoshaphat replied.