2 Chronicles 18:21-34

18:21 He replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ The Lord ¹  said, ‘Deceive and overpower him. ²  Go out and do as you have proposed.’ 18:22 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.” 18:23 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?” 18:24 Micaiah replied, “Look, you will see in the day when you go into an inner room to hide.” 18:25 Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the city official and Joash the king’s son. 18:26 Say, ‘This is what the king says: “Put this man in prison. Give him only a little bread and water ³  until I return safely.”’” 18:27 Micaiah said, “If you really do return safely, then the Lord has not spoken through me!” Then he added, “Take note, ⁴  all you people.”

18:28 The king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah attacked Ramoth Gilead. 18:29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and then enter ⁵  the battle; but you wear your royal attire.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and they entered the battle. 18:30 Now the king of Syria had ordered his chariot commanders, “Do not fight common soldiers or high ranking officers; ⁶  fight only the king of Israel!” 18:31 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. The Lord helped him; God lured them away from him. 18:32 When the chariot commanders realized he was not the king of Israel, they turned away from him. 18:33 Now an archer shot an arrow at random ⁷  and it struck the king of Israel between the plates of his armor. The king ⁸  ordered his charioteer, “Turn around and take me from the battle line, ⁹  for I am wounded.” 18:34 While the battle raged throughout the day, the king stood propped up in his chariot opposite the Syrians. He died in the evening as the sun was setting.

[18:21]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:21]  ² 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 Lord is assuring the spirit of success on his mission. However, in a commissioning context (note the following imperatives) such as this, it is more likely that the imperfects are injunctive, in which case one could translate, “Deceive, and also overpower.”

[18:26]  ³ tn Heb “the bread of affliction and the water of affliction.”

[18:27]  ⁴ tn Heb “Listen.”

[18:29]  ⁵ 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.

[18:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “small or great.”

[18:33]  ⁷ 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).

[18:33]  ⁸ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:33]  ⁹ tn Heb “camp.”