1 Kings 22:1-6

1 Therefore three years passed without battle betwixt Syria and Israel.
2 And in the third year Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went down to the king of Israel.
3 And the king of Israel said to his servants, Know ye not, that Ramoth of Gilead is ours, and (that) we be negligent to (not) take it (back) from the hand of the king of Syria?
4 And he said to Jehoshaphat, Whether thou shalt come with me to fight in Ramoth of Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, As I am, so and thou (I am ready when thou art/What is mine is yours); my people and thy people be one; and my knights and thy knights be one.
5 And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I pray thee, ask thou today the word of the Lord.
6 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together [the] prophets, about four hundred men, and he said to them, Ought I to go into Ramoth of Gilead to fight, either ought I to rest? Which answered, Go thou up, and the Lord shall give it in(to) the hand of the king.

1 Kings 22:1-6 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.