22:10 Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were sitting on their respective thrones, 9 dressed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. 10 All the prophets were prophesying before them. 22:11 Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made iron horns and said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘With these you will gore Syria until they are destroyed.’” 22:12 All the prophets were prophesying the same, saying, “Attack Ramoth Gilead! You will succeed; the Lord will hand it over to the king.” 22:13 Now the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the prophets are in complete agreement that the king will succeed. 11 Your words must agree with theirs; you must predict success.” 12 22:14 But Micaiah said, “As certainly as the Lord lives, I will say what the Lord tells me to say.”
22:15 When he came before the king, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?” He answered him, “Attack! You will succeed; the Lord will hand it over to the king.” 13 22:16 The king said to him, “How many times must I make you solemnly promise in 14 the name of the Lord to tell me only the truth?” 22:17 Micaiah 15 said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd. Then the Lord said, ‘They have no master. They should go home in peace.’” 22:18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but disaster?” 22:19 Micaiah 16 said, “That being the case, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, with all the heavenly assembly standing on his right and on his left. 22:20 The Lord said, ‘Who will deceive Ahab, so he will attack Ramoth Gilead and die 17 there?’ One said this and another that. 22:21 Then a spirit 18 stepped forward and stood before the Lord. He said, ‘I will deceive him.’ The Lord asked him, ‘How?’ 22:22 He replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ The Lord 19 said, ‘Deceive and overpower him. 20 Go out and do as you have proposed.’ 22:23 So now, look, the Lord has placed a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours; but the Lord has decreed disaster for you.” 22:24 Zedekiah son of Kenaanah approached, hit Micaiah on the jaw, and said, “Which way did the Lord’s spirit go when he went from me to speak to you?” 22:25 Micaiah replied, “Look, you will see in the day when you go into an inner room to hide.” 22:26 Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the city official and Joash the king’s son. 22:27 Say, ‘This is what the king says, “Put this man in prison. Give him only a little bread and water 21 until I safely return.”’” 22 22:28 Micaiah said, “If you really do safely return, then the Lord has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Take note, 23 all you people.”
22:29 The king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah attacked Ramoth Gilead. 22:30 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and then enter 24 into the battle; but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and then entered into the battle. 22:31 Now the king of Syria had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Do not fight common soldiers or high-ranking officers; 25 fight only the king of Israel.” 22:32 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “He must be the king of Israel.” So they turned and attacked him, but Jehoshaphat cried out. 22:33 When the chariot commanders realized he was not the king of Israel, they turned away from him. 22:34 Now an archer shot an arrow at random, 26 and it struck the king of Israel between the plates of his armor. The king 27 ordered his charioteer, “Turn around and take me from the battle line, 28 because I’m wounded.” 22:35 While the battle raged throughout the day, the king stood propped up in his chariot opposite the Syrians. He died in the evening; the blood from the wound ran down into the bottom of the chariot. 22:36 As the sun was setting, a cry went through the camp, “Each one should return to his city and to his homeland.” 22:37 So the king died and was taken to Samaria, where they buried him. 29 22:38 They washed off the chariot at the pool of Samaria (this was where the prostitutes bathed); 30 dogs licked his blood, just as the Lord had said would happen. 31
22:39 The rest of the events of Ahab’s reign, including a record of his accomplishments and how he built a luxurious palace and various cities, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 32 22:40 Ahab passed away. 33 His son Ahaziah replaced him as king.
22:41 In the fourth year of King Ahab’s reign over Israel, Asa’s son Jehoshaphat became king over Judah. 22:42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king and he reigned for twenty-five years in Jerusalem. 34 His mother was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi. 22:43 He followed in his father Asa’s footsteps and was careful to do what the Lord approved. 35 (22:44) 36 However, the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. 22:44 (22:45) Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel.
22:45 The rest of the events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, including his successes and military exploits, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Judah. 37 22:46 He removed from the land any male cultic prostitutes who had managed to survive the reign of his father Asa. 38 22:47 There was no king in Edom at this time; a governor ruled. 22:48 Jehoshaphat built a fleet of large merchant ships 39 to travel to Ophir for gold, but they never made the voyage because they were shipwrecked in Ezion Geber. 22:49 Then Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “Let my sailors join yours in the fleet,” 40 but Jehoshaphat refused.
22:50 Jehoshaphat passed away 41 and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his ancestor 42 David. His son Jehoram replaced him as king.
22:51 In the seventeenth year of King Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah, Ahab’s son Ahaziah became king over Israel in Samaria. 43 He ruled for two years over Israel. 22:52 He did evil in the sight of 44 the Lord and followed in the footsteps 45 of his father and mother; like Jeroboam son of Nebat, he encouraged Israel to sin. 46 22:53 He worshiped and bowed down to Baal, 47 angering the Lord God of Israel just as his father had done. 48
1 tn Heb “Like me, like you; like my people, like your people; like my horses; like your horses.”
2 tn Heb “and Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel.”
3 tn Heb “the word of the
4 tn Heb “Should I go against Ramoth Gilead for war or should I refrain?”
5 tn Though Jehoshaphat requested an oracle from “the
6 tn Heb “to seek the
7 tn Or “hate.”
8 tn The words “his name is” are supplied for stylistic reasons.
9 tn Heb “were sitting, a man on his throne.”
10 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
11 tn Heb “the words of the prophets are [with] one mouth good for the king.”
12 tn Heb “let your words be like the word of each of them and speak good.”
13 sn “Attack! You will succeed; the
14 tn Or “swear an oath by.”
15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Micaiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Micaiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 tn Heb “and fall.”
18 tn Heb “the spirit.” The significance of the article prefixed to רוּחַ (ruakh) is uncertain, but it could contain a clue as to this spirit’s identity, especially when interpreted in light of v. 24. It is certainly possible, and probably even likely, that the article is used in a generic or dramatic sense and should be translated, “a spirit.” In the latter case it would show that this spirit was vivid and definite in the mind of Micaiah the storyteller. However, if one insists that the article indicates a well-known or universally known spirit, the following context provides a likely referent. Verse 24 tells how Zedekiah slapped Micaiah in the face and then asked sarcastically, “Which way did the spirit from the
19 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
20 tn The Hebrew text has two imperfects connected by וְגַם (vÿgam). These verbs could be translated as specific futures, “you will deceive and also you will prevail,” in which case the
21 tn Heb “the bread of affliction and the water of affliction.”
22 tn Heb “come in peace.” So also in v. 28.
23 tn Heb “Listen.”
24 tn The Hebrew verbal forms could be imperatives (“Disguise yourself and enter”), but this would make no sense in light of the immediately following context. The forms are better interpreted as infinitives absolute functioning as cohortatives. See IBHS 594 §35.5.2a. Some prefer to emend the forms to imperfects.
25 tn Heb “small or great.”
26 tn Heb “now a man drew a bow in his innocence” (i.e., with no specific target in mind, or at least without realizing his target was the king of Israel).
27 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
28 tn Heb “camp.”
29 tn Heb “and the king died and he came to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria.”
30 tn Heb “now the prostitutes bathed.”
31 tn Heb “according to the word of the
32 tn Heb “As for the rest of the acts of Ahab and all that he did, and the house of ivory which he built and all the cities which he built, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
33 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
34 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
35 tn Heb “he walked in all the way of Asa his father and did not turn from it, doing what is right in the eyes of the
36 sn Beginning with 22:43b, the verse numbers through 22:53 in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text (BHS), because 22:43b in the English Bible = 22:44 in the Hebrew text. The remaining verses in the chapter differ by one, with 22:44-53 ET = 22:45-54 HT.
37 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehoshaphat, and his strength that he demonstrated and how he fought, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Judah?”
38 tn Heb “and the rest of the male cultic prostitutes who were left in the days of Asa his father, he burned from the land.” Some understand the verb בִּעֵר (bi’er) to mean “sweep away” here rather than “burn.” See the note at 1 Kgs 14:10.
39 tn Heb “a fleet of Tarshish [ships].” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.
40 tn Heb “Let my servants go with your servants in the fleet.”
41 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
42 tn Heb “with his fathers in the city of his father.”
43 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
44 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
45 tn Or “way.”
46 tn Heb “and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat who made Israel sin.”
47 tn Heb “he served Baal and bowed down to him.”
48 tn Heb “according to all which his father had done.”