1 Kings 22:11

11 And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, The Lord says, Pushing back the Aramaeans with these, you will put an end to them completely.

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 Then the king of Israel sent for one of his unsexed servants and said, Go quickly and come back with Micaiah, the son of Imlah.

10 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were seated on their seats of authority, dressed in their robes, by the doorway into Samaria; and all the prophets were acting as prophets before them.

11 And Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made himself horns of iron and said, The Lord says, Pushing back the Aramaeans with these, you will put an end to them completely.

12 And all the prophets said the same thing, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and it will go well for you, for the Lord will give it into the hands of the king.

13 Now the servant who had gone to get Micaiah said to him, See now, all the prophets with one voice are saying good things to the king; so let your words be like theirs and say good things.