Josaphat accompanies Achab in his expedition against Ramoth; where Achab is slain, as Micheas had foretold.

¹ Therefore, Jehoshaphat was wealthy and very famous, and he was joined by affinity to Ahab.¹

1. 18:1The term ‘joined by affinity’ refers to a relation by marriage, rather than by blood, so Jehoshaphat marriage a woman who was a blood relative of Ahab.(Conte)

² And after some years, he descended to him in Samaria. And upon his arrival, Ahab slaughtered very many sheep and oxen, for him and for the people who had arrived with him. And he persuaded him that he should ascend against Ramoth Gilead.

³ And Ahab, the king of Israel, said to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, “Come with me to Ramoth Gilead.” And he answered him: “As I am, so also are you. As your people are, so also are my people. And we will be with you in war.”

⁴ And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Consult, I beg you, the word of the Lord for the present circumstances.”

⁵ And so the king of Israel gathered together four hundred men of the prophets, and he said to them: “Should we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or should we be quieted?” But they said, “Ascend, and God will deliver into the hand of the king.”¹

1. 18:5The truth is not found by observing the majority opinion. Often, a widespread belief is false, and a much less common belief is true.(Conte)

⁶ And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord here, so that we may inquire of him as well?”

⁷ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: “There is one man, from whom we would be able to ask the will of the Lord. But I hate him, for he never prophesies good to me, but at all times evil. And it is Micaiah, the son of Imlah.” And Jehoshaphat said, “You should not speak in this manner, O king.”

⁸ Therefore, the king of Israel called one of the eunuchs, and said to him: “Quickly, summon Micaiah, the son of Imlah.”

⁹ Now the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were both sitting upon their thrones, clothed in royal vestments. And they were sitting in an open area, beside the gate of Samaria. And all the prophets were prophesying before them.

¹⁰ Truly, Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, made for himself horns of iron, and he said: “Thus says the Lord: With these, you shall threaten Syria, until you crush it.”

¹¹ And all the prophets prophesied similarly, and they said: “Ascend against Ramoth Gilead, and you shall prosper, and the Lord will deliver them into the hand of the king.”

¹² Then the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him: “Lo, the words of all the prophets, with one mouth, announce good to the king. Therefore, I ask you that you not dissent from them in your word, and that you speak prosperity.”

¹³ And Micaiah responded to him, “As the Lord lives, whatever my God will say to me, the same shall I speak.”

¹⁴ Therefore, he went to the king. And the king said to him, “Micaiah, should we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or should we be quieted?” And he responded to him: “Ascend. For everything will come to prosperity, and the enemies will be delivered into your hands.”¹

1. 18:14Perhaps Micaiah was speaking in a sarcastic manner. For he states in a previous verse that he will only speak what the Lord says to him. And next the king immediately recognizes that the statement by Micaiah is lacking in some way. So I conclude that Micaiah was not lying, but was being sarcastic, in a way that was obvious to the king. This sarcasm was justified because the king was listening to hundreds of lying prophets.(Conte)

¹⁵ And the king said, “Again and again, I bind you by an oath, so that you will not speak to me except what is true in the name of the Lord!”

¹⁶ Then he said: “I saw all of Israel scattered amid the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd. And the Lord said: ‘These have no masters. Let each one return in peace to his own house.’ ”

¹⁷ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: “Did I not tell you that this one would not prophesy to me anything good, but only what is evil?”

¹⁸ Then he said: “Therefore, listen to the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and the entire army of heaven was standing beside him, on the right and on the left.

¹⁹ And the Lord said: ‘Who will deceive Ahab, the king of Israel, so that he may ascend and fall at Ramoth Gilead?’ And when one spoke in one way, and another in another way,¹

1. 18:19Who shall deceive, etc: See the annotations, 3 Kings 22.(Challoner)

²⁰ there came forward a spirit, and he stood before the Lord and said, ‘I will deceive him.’ And the Lord said to him, ‘In what way will you deceive him?’

²¹ And he responded, ‘I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And the Lord said: ‘You will deceive and prevail. Go forth and do so.’¹

1. 18:21The deceiving spirit was a fallen angel. God did not order him to lie and to deceive, but merely permitted him to do so because of the sins of Israel and of Judah and of their leaders.(Conte)

²² Therefore now, behold: the Lord gave a lying spirit to the mouth of all your prophets, and the Lord has spoken evil about you.”

²³ Then Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, approached, and he struck Micaiah on the jaw, and he said: “In what way did the Spirit of the Lord depart from me, so that he would speak to you?”

²⁴ And Micaiah said: “You yourself shall see it, in that day, when you will enter a room within a room, so that you may be hidden.”

²⁵ Then the king of Israel instructed, saying: “Take Micaiah, and lead him to Amon, the leader of the city, and to Joash, the son of Amalech.

²⁶ And you shall say: ‘Thus says the king: Send this man to prison, and give to him a little bread and a little water, until I return in peace.’ ”

²⁷ And Micaiah said, “If you will have returned in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “May all the people listen.”

²⁸ And so, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, ascended against Ramoth Gilead.

²⁹ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat: “I will change my clothing, and in this way I will go into battle. But you should be clothed in your own garments.” And the king of Israel, having changed his clothing, went to war.¹

1. 18:29The king of Israel was afraid that the prophet’s prophecy might be true. So while the king of Judah was dressed in royal garments, the king of Israel deceitfully changed his garments, intending that the other king be targeted by the enemy.(Conte)

³⁰ Now the king of Syria had instructed the commanders of his horsemen, saying, “You shall not fight against the least or the greatest, but only against the king of Israel.”

³¹ And so, when the leaders of the horsemen had seen Jehoshaphat, they said, “This one is the king of Israel.” And while fighting, they surrounded him. But he cried out to the Lord, and he assisted him, and he turned them away from him.

³² For when the commanders of the horsemen had seen that he was not the king of Israel, they left him.

³³ Then it happened that one of the people shot an arrow indiscriminately, and it struck the king of Israel between the neck and the shoulder. And so he said to his chariot driver: “Turn your hand, and lead me away from the battle line. For I have been wounded.”

³⁴ And the fight ended on that day. But the king of Israel was standing in his chariot facing the Syrians, even until evening. And he died when the sun set.