1 Kings 22:17

17 So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”

1 Kings 22:17 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 22:17

And he said
The prophet, in a serious and solemn manner, being adjured by the king:

I saw all Israel scattered on the hills, as sheep that have not a
shepherd;
the armies of Israel routed, dispersed, and fleeing, some one way and some another, on the mountains of Gilead near Ramoth, weak and helpless, not knowing where to go for safety, having none to direct them; and this was either now instantly represented to his mind, or what had been before in a dream or vision:

and the Lord said, these have no master;
these sheep have no shepherd this army hath no general,

[Israel] has [lost its king]: let them return every man to his house
in peace,
very few slain, Jarchi thinks Ahab only, see ( 1 Kings 22:31 ) that part of the threatening, ( 1 Kings 20:42 ) was now to he accomplished, "thy life shall go for his life", but the other part, "and thy people for his people", was to be deferred to another time.

1 Kings 22:17 In-Context

15 When Micaiah arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth-gilead, or should we refrain?” “Go up and triumph,” Micaiah replied, “for the LORD will deliver it into the hand of the king.”

16 But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear not to tell me anything but the truth in the name of the LORD?”

17 So Micaiah declared: “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These people have no master; let each one return home in peace.’”

18 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he never prophesies good for me, but only bad?”

19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.