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2 chronicles 18 commentary

51
2 CHROICLES 18 COMMETARY EDITED BY GLE PEASE Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab 1 ow Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor, and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage. BARES, "The present chapter runs parallel with Kings, which it closely follows, only adding a few touches. CLARKE, "Jehoshaphat had riches and honor - The preceding chapter gives ample proof of this. Joined affinity with Ahab - Took his daughter Athalia to be wife to his son Joram. GILL, "Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance,.... Still more and more, see 2Ch_17:5 , and which moved Ahab to desire friendship and affinity with him, to which Jehoshaphat agreed: and joined affinity with Ahab; king of Israel, married his son Joram to Athaliah, a daughter of Ahab by Jezebel of Zidon; which marriage proved of bad consequence to Jehoshaphat and his family. HERY 1-3, "Here is, I. Jehoshaphat growing greater. It was said before (2Ch_17:5 ) that he had riches and honour in abundance; and here it is said again that his wealth and honour increased upon him by piety and good management. II. Not growing wiser, else he would not have joined with Ahab, that degenerate Israelite, who had sold himself to work wickedness. What good could he get by a man that was so bad? What good could he do to a man that was so obstinately wicked - an idolater, a persecutor? With him he joined in affinity, that is, married his son Jehoram to Ahab's daughter Athaliah. 1. This was the worst match that ever was made by any of the house of David. I wonder what Jehoshaphat could promise himself by it. (1.) Perhaps pride made the match, as it does many a one, which speeds accordingly. His religion forbade him to marry his son to a daughter of any of the heathen princes that were about him - Thou shalt not take their daughters to thy sons; and, having riches and honour in abundance, he thought it a disparagement to marry him to a subject. A king's daughter it must be, and therefore

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Page 1: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

2 CHROICLES 18 COMMETARYEDITED BY GLE PEASE

Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab

1 ow Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor and he allied himself with Ahab by marriage

BARES The present chapter runs parallel with Kings which it closely follows only adding a few touches

CLARKE Jehoshaphat had riches and honor - The preceding chapter gives ample proof of this

Joined affinity with Ahab - Took his daughter Athalia to be wife to his son Joram

GILL Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance Still more and more see 2Ch_175 and which moved Ahab to desire friendship and affinity with him to which Jehoshaphat agreed

and joined affinity with Ahab king of Israel married his son Joram to Athaliah a daughter of Ahab by Jezebel of Zidon which marriage proved of bad consequence to Jehoshaphat and his family

HERY 1-3 Here is I Jehoshaphat growing greater It was said before (2Ch_175) that he had riches and honour in abundance and here it is said again that his wealth and honour increased upon him by piety and good management

II Not growing wiser else he would not have joined with Ahab that degenerate Israelite who had sold himself to work wickedness What good could he get by a man that was so bad What good could he do to a man that was so obstinately wicked - an idolater a persecutor With him he joined in affinity that is married his son Jehoram to Ahabs daughter Athaliah

1 This was the worst match that ever was made by any of the house of David I wonder what Jehoshaphat could promise himself by it (1) Perhaps pride made the match as it does many a one which speeds accordingly His religion forbade him to marry his son to a daughter of any of the heathen princes that were about him - Thou shalt not take their daughters to thy sons and having riches and honour in abundance he thought it a disparagement to marry him to a subject A kings daughter it must be and therefore

Ahabs little considering that Jezebel was her mother (2) Some think he did it in policy hoping by this expedient to unite the kingdoms in his son Ahab perhaps flattering him with hopes that he would make him his heir when he intended no such thing

2 This match drew Jehoshaphat (1) Into an intimate familiarity with Ahab He paid him a visit at Samaria and Ahab proud of the honour which Jehoshaphat did him gave him a very splendid entertainment according to the splendour of those times He killed sheep and oxen for him plain meat in abundance 2Ch_182 In this Jehoshaphat did not walk so closely as he should have done in the ways of his father David who hated the congregation of evil-doers and would not sit with the wicked (Psa_265) nor desired to eat of their dainties Psa_1414 (2) Into a league with Ahab against the Syrians Ahab persuaded him to join forces with him in an expedition for the recovery of Ramoth-Gilead a city in the tribe of Gad on the other side Jordan Did not Ahab know that that and all the other cities of Israel did of right belong to Jehoshaphat as heir of the house of David With what face then could he ask Jehoshaphat to assist him in recovering it for himself whose title to the crown was usurped and precarious Yet Jehoshaphat an easy man yields to go with him I am as thou art 2Ch_183 Some mens kindnesses are dangerous as well as their society infectious The feast Ahab made for Jehoshaphat was designed only to wheedle him into the expedition The kisses of an enemy are deceitful

JAMISO 2Ch_181-34 Jehoshaphat and Ahab go against Ramoth-gilead

KampD Jehoshaphats marriage alliance with Ahab and his campaign with Ahab against the Syrians at Ramoth in Gilead - 2Ch_181 Jehoshaphat came into connection by marriage with Ahab through his son Joram taking Athaliah a daughter of Ahab to wife (2Ch_216) an event which did not take place on the visit made by Jehoshaphat to Ahab in his palace at Samaria and recorded in 2Ch_182 but which had preceded that by about nine years That visit falls in the beginning of the year in which Ahab was mortally wounded at Ramoth and died ie the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphats reign But at that time Ahaziah the son of Joram and Athaliah was already from eight to nine years old since thirteen years later he became king at the age of twenty-two 2Ki_826 cf with the chronol table to 1 Kings 12 The marriage connection is mentioned in order to account for Jehoshaphats visit to Samaria (2Ch_182) and his alliance with Ahab in the war against the Syrians but it is also introduced by a reference to Jehoshaphats riches and his royal splendour repeated from 2Ch_175 In the opinion of many commentators this is stated to account for Ahabs willingness to connect his family by marriage with that of Jehoshaphat This opinion might be tenable were it Ahabs entering upon a marriage connection with Jehoshaphat which is spoken of but for Jehoshaphat of whom it is related that he entered into a marriage connection with Ahab his own great wealth could not be a motive for his action in that matter If we consider first that this marriage connection was very hurtful to the kingdom of Judah and the royal house of David since Athaliah not only introduced the Phoenician idolatry into the kingdom but also at the death of Ahaziah extirpated all the royal seed of the house of David only the infant Joash of all the royal children being saved by the princess a sister of Ahaziah who was married to the high priest Jehoiada (2Ch_2210-12) and second that Jehoshaphat was sharply censured by the prophet for his alliance with the criminal Ahab (2Ch_192) and had moreover all but forfeited his life in the war (2Ch_1834) - we see that the author of the Chronicle can only have regarded the marriage connection between Jehoshaphat and Ahab as a mistake By introducing this account of it by a second reference to Jehoshaphats riches and power he must therefore

have intended to hint that Jehoshaphat had no need to enter into this relationship with the idolatrous house of Ahab but had acted very inconsiderately in doing so Schmidt has correctly stated the contents of the verse thus Josaphatus cetera dives et gloriosus infelicem adfinitatem cum Achabo rege Israelis contrahit With which side the proposals for thus connecting the two royal houses originated we are not anywhere informed Even if the conjecture of Ramb that Ahab proposed it to Jehoshaphat be not well founded yet so much is beyond doubt namely that Ahab not only desired the alliance but also promoted it by every means in his power since it must have been of great importance to him to gain in Jehoshaphat a strong ally against the hostile pressure of the Syrians Jehoshaphat probably entered upon the alliance bono animo et spe firmandae inter duo regna pacis (Ramb) without much thought of the dangers which a connection of this sort with the idolatrous Ahab and with Jezebel might bring upon his kingdom

BESO AM 3107 mdash BC 897Jehoshaphat joins affinity with Ahab and consents to go with him to Ramoth-gilead 2 Chronicles 181-3 The false prophets promise them success 2 Chronicles 184-11 Micaiah foretels the death of Ahab 2 Chronicles 186-27 Jehoshaphat hardly escapes 2 Chronicles 1828-32 Ahab slain 2 Chronicles 1833 2 Chronicles 1834

2 Chronicles 181 And joined affinity with Ahab mdash For Joram his eldest son married Athaliah Ahabrsquos daughter This chapter is for substance the same with 1 Kings 22 where it is explained

ELLICOTT JEHOSHAPHAT MAKES AFFIITY WITH AHAB AD TAKES PART I THE SYRIA WAR AT RAMOTH-GLLEAD

Comp 1 Kings 222-35 Only the introduction of the narrative (2 Chronicles 181-2) differs from that of Kingsmdasha change necessitated by the fact that the chronicler is writing the history not of Ahab but of Jehoshaphat

Verse 1 (1) ow Jehoshaphat hadmdashAnd Jehoshaphat got

Riches and honour in abundancemdashRepeated from 2 Chronicles 175

And joined affinity with AhabmdashHe married his son Jehoram to Athaliah daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Chronicles 216 1 Kings 188) The high degree of prosperity to which the king of Judah had attained is indicated by the fact that so powerful a monarch as Ahab entered into such an intimate connection with him (The vav of the second clause is not adversative as Zoumlckler asserts but rather consecutive)

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 181 ow Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance and joined affinity with Ahab

Ver 1 ow Jehoshaphat had riches in abundance] Stultitiam patiuntur opes He was the worse for his wealth - as most men also are - else he had not been so fond of this new affinity with Ahab [2 Kings 818]

GUZIK A Jehoshaphat goes to Samaria the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 181) Jehoshaphatrsquos unwise alliance with Ahab

Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance and by marriage he allied himself with Ahab

a Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance Because of his personal godliness (2 Chronicles 171-4) and public godliness (2 Chronicles 177-10) God blessed Jehoshaphat and exalted him among neighboring nations

b By marriage he allied himself with Ahab This manner of linking kingdoms by the bond of marriage was common in the ancient world yet it was unwise policy for Jehoshaphat The wisest strategy for the protection of his kingdom was obedience instead of compromise with the ungodly King Ahab of Israel and his wife Queen Jezebel

i 1 Kings 1629-33 tells us just how bad Ahab was He introduced the worship of completely new pagan gods In his disobedience Jeroboam (the first king of the kingdom of the northern tribes) said ldquoI will worship the LORD but do it my wayrdquo Ahab said ldquoI want to forget about the LORD completely and worship Baalrdquo

ii Ahab was greatly influenced towards wickedness by his Phoenician wife Jezebel ldquoHe was a weak man the tool of a crafty unscrupulous and cruel woman and some of the worst crimes that have ever been committed have been wrought by weak men at the instigation of worse - but stronger - spirits than themselvesrdquo (Meyer)

PULPIT This chapter from its second verse finds its parallel in 1 Kings 222-35 It opens with dangerous symptoms recording in one sentence the event that was to bear ill fruit if not till years afterward (1 Kings 222) of Jehoshaphat joining affinity with Ahab His son Jehoram married Athaliah daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Chronicles 216) The further steps by which Jehoshaphat became entangled with Ahab are graphically described He forms an alliance with him in the war with Ramoth-Gilead (1 Kings 221-3) be urges Ahab to consult a prophet of the Lord (1 Kings 224-12) Ahab unwillingly consents and receives Micaiahs answer (1 Kings 2213-27) and finally the chapter tells us how Ahah went up to battle and in battle received his mortal wound (1 Kings 2228-34)

2 Chronicles 181

The purport of the verse is to let us into the secret that the riches and honour in abundance of Jehoshaphat were in fact the snare by which he was led to entangle himself with one who probably only on that account was willing to be entangled by affinity with him (2 Chronicles 216 2 Chronicles 222-4 2 Kings 825-29) It is not hard to see how they would both lead him if not always out of big and patronizing thoughts to seek and also lay him open to be sought When this verse says Jehoshaphat joined affinity etc it means that he had done so to wit not fewer than nine years before in promoting or allowing whichever it was the marriage of his son Jehoram with Ahabs and Jezebels daughter Athaliah For the issue of this marriage Ahaziah took the throne at the age of twenty-two years thirteen years hence from this seventeenth year of his grandfather Jehoshaphats reign the year of Ahabs death But as we are told that Ahaziah was the youngest son of Jehoram and Athaliah (for explanation of which see 2 Chronicles 2117) the joining affinity must have been something earlier than nine years and very probably came yet nearer the prosperity of the earlier years of Jehoshaphats reign with which would agree well the keynote touched again significantly here from our 2 Chronicles 175 Comp 2 Kings 817 2 Kings 826 2 Chronicles 2120 2 Chronicles 222 (which needs the correction of twenty-two to forty-two) Although it is certain that the act of Jehoshaphat was wrong in principle disastrous in practice (2 Chronicles 192 2 Chronicles 193) and threatened fatal consequences to himself (2 Chronicles 1831 2 Chronicles 1832) yet it is not impossible to suppose his motives were for the most part good and he may naturally have thought that the sunshine of his own peace and abundance might be the set time to win influence in and over Israel rather than strengthen Israel in its ungodly independence On the other hand nothing could justify Jehoshaphat risking such intimacy of relationship with such a family heedless of consequences looking towards idolatry which he should have known were overwhelmingly probable

2 Some years later he went down to see Ahab in Samaria Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead

BARES After certain years - In Jehoshaphatrsquos 17th year 1Ki_2251 not less than 8 years after the marriage (marginal reference note)

GILL 2-34 And after certain years Two years according to the Syriac and Arabic versions or in the third year after the affinity was contracted see 1Ki_222

he went down to Ahab to Samaria to pay him a visit upon the alliance civil and matrimonial contracted between them

and Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that he had with him entertained him and his retinue in a very grand and liberal manner

and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramothgilead from hence to the end of the chapter it is the same with 1Ki_224

JAMISO after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samariamdash This is word for word the same as 1Ki_221-53 (See on commentary on that chapter)

KampD 2-34 The campaign undertaken along with Ahab against the Syrians at Ramoth in Gilead with its origin course and results for Ahab is narrated in 1 Kings (in the history of Ahab) in agreement with our narrative only the introduction to the war being different here In 1Ki_221-3 it is remarked in connection with the preceding wars of Ahab with the Syrians that after there had been no war for three years between Aram and Israel in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah came up to the king of Israel and the latter when he and his servants had determined to snatch away from the Syrians the city Ramoth in Gilead which belonged to Israel called upon Jehoshaphat to march with him to the war against Ramoth In the Chronicle the more exact statement ldquoin the third yearrdquo which is intelligible only in connection with the earlier history of Ahab is

exchanged for the indefinite שנים at the end of yearsrdquo and mention is made of theldquo לקץ

festal entertainment which Ahab bestowed upon his guest and his train (עו אשר to (העםshow the pains which Ahab took to induce King Jehoshaphat to take part in the

proposed campaign He killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance ויסיתהוecnadn and

enticed seduced him to go up with him to Ramoth הסית to incite entice to anything

(Jdg_114) frequently to evil cf Deu_137 etc עלה to advance upon a land or a city in a warlike sense The account which follows of the preparations for the campaign by inquiring of prophets and of the war itself vv 4-34 is in almost verbal agreement with 1 Kings 225-35 Referring to 1 Kings for the commentary on the substance of the narrative we will here only group together briefly the divergences Instead of 400 men who were prophets 2Ch_185 in 1Ki_225 we have about 400 men It is a statement in round numbers founded not upon exact enumeration but upon an approximate

estimate Instead of אה ל אה ל 2Ch_185 in Kings 1Ki_226 we have הנלךאם האלךאםboth verbs being in the same number and so too in 2Ch_1814 where in Kings 1Ki_2215 both verbs stand in the plural notwithstanding that the answer which follows

והצלח is addressed to Ahab alone not to both the kings while in the Chronicle the עלה

answer is given in the plural to both the kings והצליחו in 2Ch_187 ldquohe prophesies עלו

me nothing good but all his days (ie so long as he has been a prophet) evilrdquo the

meaning is intensified by the ל־ימיוamp which is not found in 1Ki_228 In 2Ch_189 the

and sitting upon the threshing-floorrdquo is dueldquo גרן which is introduced before the ויושביםto difference of style for it is quite superfluous for the signification In 2Ch_1815 the ambiguous words of Micah and Jahve will give into the hand of the kingrdquo (1Ki_2215) are given in a more definite form ldquoand they (the enemy) shall be given into your handrdquo

In 2Ch_1819 in the first כהamp אמר is not only ו-אמר after the preceding אמר the זהsuperfluous but improper and has probably come into the text by a copyists error We

should therefore read only כה ampכה corresponding to the זה of 1Ki_2220 זה ldquoThen spake

one after this manner and the other spake after another mannerrdquo In 2Ch_1823 the

indefinite אי־זה of 1Ki_2224 is elucidated by ה רך זה _is that the mannerrdquo (cf 1Kildquo אי

1312 2Ki_38) and the verb עבר follows without the relative pronoun as in the

passages cited In 2Ch_1830 only הרכב of the king are mentioned without any שרי

statement of the number which is given in 1Ki_2231 with a backward reference to the former war (1Ki_2024) In 2Ch_1831 after the words ldquoand Jehoshaphat cried outrdquo the higher cause of Jehoshaphats rescue is pointed out in the words ldquoand Jahve helped him and God drove them from himrdquo which are not found in 1Ki_2232 but by this religious reflection the actual course of the event is in no way altered Bertheaus remark therefore that ldquothe words disturb the clear connection of the eventsrdquo is quite

unwarrantable Finally in 2Ch_1834 מעמיד he was holding his position ie he held היה

himself standing upright the Hiph is more expressive than the Hoph מעמד (1Ki_2235) since it expresses more definitely the fact that he held himself upright by his own strength With Ahabs death which took place in the evening at the time of the going down of the sun the author of the Chronicle concludes his account of this war and proceeds in 2Ch_191-11 to narrate the further course of Jehoshaphats reign In 1Ki_2236-39 the return of the defeated army and the details as to Ahabs death and burial are recorded but these did not fit into the plan of the Chronicle

ELLICOTT (2) And after certain yearsmdashSee margin 1 Kings 222 has ldquoAnd it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat went downrdquo ampcmdasha date which is relative to the three yearsrsquo truce between Syria and Israel mentioned in the preceding verse From 1 Kings 2251 of the same chapter we learn that this visit took place in the sixteenth or seventeenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat The marriage of Jehoram and Athaliah preceded the visit by eight or nine years (Syriac and Arabic ldquoand after two yearsrdquo)

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundancemdashThis royal hospitality is here represented as part of a deliberate plan for obtaining the co-operation of Jehoshaphat in the projected campaign

Persuaded himmdashIncited pricked him on (Judges 112) especially to evil 1 Chronicles 211 Deuteronomy 137 In 1 Kings 223 Ahab broaches the subject of the expedition to his court

To go up tomdashTo make an expedition against a town or country (Isaiah 71 Isaiah 76 1 Kings 1517) Comp Isaiah 87-8

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 182 And after [certain] years he went down to Ahab to Samaria And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that [he had] with him and persuaded him to go up [with him] to Ramothgilead

Ver 2 He went down to Ahab to Samaria] See 1 Kings 222 in which chapter we have the same history related as here not abridged - as is usual with this author -but at large this much commendeth it unto us as necessary and profitable since the Holy Ghost doth nothing in vain

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen] As to feast him and his retinue so haply to sacrifice to the gods as idolaters used to do when great strangers came unto them Dido did so when AEligneas came to her court

ldquo Simul Aeneam in regia ducit

Tecta simul divum templis indicit honorem rdquo - Aeneid lib i

ow Jezebel was Didorsquos countrywoman and had a great influence upon her husband Ahab

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 182-3) Ahab sets his eyes upon Ramoth-Gilead

After some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo And he answered him ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will be with you in the warrdquo

a And persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth in Gilead Previously the King of Syria promised to return certain cities to Israel (1 Kings 2034) in exchange for leniency after defeat in battle Apparently this was a city that Ben-Hadad never returned to Israel and it was in a strategically important location

b Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah to help him in this dispute against Syria This made some sense because Ramoth-Gilead was only 40 miles from Jerusalem

PULPIT After certain years he went down In lieu of the italic type certain here the English idiom years after would aptly reproduce the facts of the case This journey to Samaria to see Ahab was made in the seventeenth year of

Jehoshaphats reign What were the precise antecedent circumstances of this visit of Jehoshaphat to Ahab it is interesting to surmisemdashwhether it were the fruit of an invitation direct from Ahab who had his own designs or whether it were for diplomatic reasons that worked in the mind of Jehoshaphat as well as of Ahab in view of Syria It is evident that Ahab promptly determined to improve this conference of kings Persuaded him ie he took steps to induce him This is the uniform signification of the word here used in the eighteen times of its occurrence and mostly in doubtful or worse than doubtful matter The form is the hiph of סות in which conjugation only the verb occurs The Revised Version renders moved The visiting and cooperating of Jehoshaphat and Ahab made a novel departure in the history of the rended kingdoms of Judah and Israel and continued till the time of Jehu Ramoth-Gilead This important city of Gad (Joshua 208 Joshua 2138) in Palestine beyond Jordan comes into question as one not surrendered to the king-dora of Israel in good faith according to the promise of Benhadad Benhadads father having taken it from Omri father of Ahab For all the might that he showed and presumably in conflicts with Syria Omri was evidently a heavy loser Ramoth-Gilead means the heights of Gilead

3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo

Jehoshaphat replied ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will join you in the warrdquo

CLARKE To Ramoth-gilead - This place belonged to the Israelites and was now held by the king of Syria

The whole of this chapter is circumstantially explained in the notes on 1 Kings 221-53

ELLICOTT (3) And Ahab king of IsraelmdashThis verse is essentially the same as 1 Kings 224 From this point the two narratives practically coincide (See the otes on 1 Kings 22)

To Ramoth-gileadmdashie Ramoth of or in Gilead Ramoth (ldquoheightsrdquo) or Ramath or Ramah (ldquoheightrdquo) was a common name in such a hilly country as Palestine Kings adds to the war

And my people in the warmdashThe symmetry of this part of the verse has been disregarded by the chronicler in order to make Jehoshaphat express an apparently more definite assent to Ahabrsquos request (Comp Kings ldquoMy people as thy people my horses as thy horsesrdquo (kamocircnicirc kamocircka kĕlsquoammicirc kĕlsquoammbka kĕsucircsai kĕsucircseika) The Syriac reads ldquoAnd my horses as thy horses and I will go with thee to the warrdquo Similarly the Arabic ldquoMy horsemen as thy horsemenrdquo

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 183 And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead And he answered him I [am] as thou [art] and my people as thy people and [we will be] with thee in the war

Ver 3 I am as thou art] See 1 Kings 224 Jehoshaphat was too facile It was noted as a fault in Henry IV of France that he was aeque male ac bono reconciliabilis of too good a nature as we say of some

PULPIT I am as thou etc The same unqualified kind of language was used By Jehoshaphat on another occasion (2 Kings 37) two years later when Jehoram son of the deceased Ahab also asked his help against Moab Whether on the one occasion or the other it is quite possible that Jehoshaphat thought he was serving common interests and the cause of his own kingdom as well as of Israel nevertheless Jehu the son of Hanani the seer ignores the supposed justification (2 Chronicles 192)

4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel ldquoFirst seek the counsel of the Lordrdquo

HERY 4-27 This is almost word for word the same with what we had 1 Kings 22 We will not repeat what was there said nor have we much to add but may take occasion to think 1 Of the great duty of acknowledging God in all our ways and enquiring at his word whatever we undertake Jehoshaphat was not willing to proceed till he had done this 2Ch_184 By particular believing prayer by an unbiased consultation of the

scripture and our own consciences and by an observant regard to the hints of providence we may make such enquiries and very much to our satisfaction 2 Of the great danger of bad company even to good men Those that have more wisdom grace and resolution cannot be sure that they can converse familiarly with wicked people and get no hurt by them Jehoshaphat here in complaisance to Ahab sits in his robes patiently hearing the false prophets speaking lies in the name of the Lord (2Ch_189) can scarcely find in his heart to give him a too mild and gentle reproof for hating a prophet of the Lord (2Ch_187) and dares not rebuke that false prophet who basely abused the faithful seer nor oppose Ahab who committed him to prison Those who venture among the seats of the scornful cannot come off without a great deal of the guilt attaching to at least the omission of their duty unless they have such measures of wisdom and courage as few can pretend to 3 Of the unhappiness of those who are surrounded with flatterers especially flattering prophets who cry peace to them and prophesy nothing but smooth things Thus was Ahab cheated into his ruin and justly for he hearkened to such and preferred those that humoured him before a good prophet that gave him fair warning of his danger Those do best for themselves that give their friends leave and particularly their ministers to deal plainly and faithfully with them and take their reproofs not only patiently but kindly That counsel is not always best for us that is most pleasing to us 4 Of the power of Satan by the divine permission in the children of disobedience One lying spirit can make 400 lying prophets and make use of them to deceive Ahab 2Ch_1821 The devil becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them 5 Of the justice of God in giving those up to strong delusions to believe a lie who will not receive the love of the truth but rebel against it 2Ch_1821 Let the lying spirit prevail to entice those to their ruin that will not be persuaded to their duty and happiness 6 Of the hard case of faithful ministers whose lot it has often been to be hated and persecuted and ill-treated for being true to their God and just and kind to the souls of men Micaiah for discharging a good conscience was buffeted imprisoned and condemned to the bread and water of affliction But he could with assurance appeal to the issue as all those may do who are persecuted for their faithfulness 2Ch_1827 The day will declare who is in the right and who in the wrong when Christ will appear to the unspeakable consolation of his persecuted people and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors who will be made to see in that day(2Ch_1824) what they will not now believe

BI 4-34 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord to-day

Divine truth and its typical reception

Here are four types of human conduct in relation to Divine truth

I Those who seek the truth Micaiah believed in its existence prayed for its teaching and determined to follow its leading

II Those who are opposed to the truth The priests assumed to be its only depositaries denied the claims of others ridiculed and opposed its representative None so slow to believe in a Divine Spirit as those accustomed to speak Divine words but in whose hearts is no Divine life

III Those who believe yet disobey the truth Jehoshaphat believed the prophet Micaiah mildly defended his character yet would not withdraw from Ahab

IV Those who are alarmed at truth Ahab roused in conscience afraid of results and tried to escape by stratagem (J Wolfendale)

BESO 2 Chronicles 184 Inquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord mdash This we should do whatever we undertake by particular believing prayer by an unbiased consulting of the Scriptures and our own consciences and by a close regard to the hints of Providence

COFFMA Jehoshaphats asking here for a prophet of Jehovah dramatically states that the four hundred prophets of Ahab were not prophets of Jehovah Ahabs god was Baal and his prophets were automatically prophets of Baal not of Jehovah (1 Kings 2253)

COKE 2 Chronicles 1814 Go ye up and prospermdash The kings answer plainly shews that he understood these words of Michaiah to be ironical

REFLECTIOSmdash1st Jehoshaphats growing greatness probably made the king of Israel desirous of his alliance and Jehoshaphat too readily consented An Israelitish princess seemed an eligible match for his son and he might hope to make some advantage of it by recovering the house of Israel to the service of God or the kingdom to his posterity The connection however proved dangerous to himself and ruinous to his family The first bad effect produced by it was his involving himself in a war with the Syrians in complaisance to Ahab who having nobly entertained him at Samaria drew him in to be his auxiliary for the recovery of Ramoth-gilead ote (1) Marriages founded on pride and worldly-mindedness cannot fail of bringing misery along with them (2) The strongest expressions of friendship from a wicked man are to be suspected at bottom he means to serve only himself

2nd For the account of Michaiah ampc see 1 Kings 22 We may only farther remark (1) How needful it is to consult God in all our ways (2) When for worldly ends we maintain fellowship with those who are enemies to God for fear of offending we shall often hear what we dare not rebuke and countenance by our presence what we are bound to condemn (3) Faithful prophets are few false prophets numerous It becomes us to beware of following the multitude and to attach ourselves to the faithful few (4) They who love prophets that prophesy smooth things and hate plain dealing are justly given up to their own delusions (5) Suffering for the truths sake is the hereditary portion of Gods ministers (6) The day is coming when the despised word of Gods prophets shall be fulfilled and their enemies too late will wonder and perish

3rdly Ahab pretends to honour Jehoshaphat but in fact intends to expose him so deceitful are the kisses of an enemy but God turns his wicked devices on his own head Jehoshaphat by divine interposition escapes while Ahab falls in his disguise and his armour is no protection from the arrow that God shoots against the

persecutors Man in vain contrives to escape when God hath determined his fall There is neither counsel nor might against the Lord

ELLICOTT (4) And JehoshaphatmdashSo exactly 1 Kings 225

Enquire at the wordmdashSeek the word

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 184 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the LORD to day

Ver 4 Inquire I pray thee of the Lord today] Yea but this should have been done before he had engaged to go Good Jehoshaphat is oft taxed for being smart too late Few consider that it is better to stop or step back than to run on out of the way

GUZIK 3 (2 Chronicles 184-8) Jehoshaphat proposes that they seek God in the matter

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel ldquoPlease inquire for the word of the LORD todayrdquo Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together four hundred men and said to them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And they said ldquoGo up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo But Jehoshaphat said ldquoIs there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Himrdquo So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD but I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil He is Micaiah the son of Imlardquo And Jehoshaphat said ldquoLet not the king say such thingsrdquo Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said ldquoBring Micaiah the son of Imla quicklyrdquo

a Please inquire for the word of the LORD today Considering the generally adversarial relationship between Ahab and the prophets of Yahweh this was a bold request of Jehoshaphat to ask of Ahab It wasnrsquot surprising that Ahab picked prophets who would tell them that they wanted to hear

i ldquoThough Jehoshaphat had already committed himself to the enterprise (2 Chronicles 183) and though he went on to disregard the guidance that was given him (2 Chronicles 1828) he still retained the religion of Yahweh to the extent that he insisted on seeking lsquothe counsel of the Lordrsquordquo (Payne)

b Go up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos hand When Ahab gathered the prophets they were not faithful prophets of the LORD These were prophets happy to please their kings and to tell them what they wanted to hear Jehoshaphat still wanted to hear from a prophet of Yahweh the LORD (Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Him)

i Trapp described this gather of prophets as ldquoAn ecumenical councilrdquo

c I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil Ahab hated the messenger because of the message His real conflict was with God but he focused his hatred against the prophet Micaiah Yet he was willing to listen to the King of Judah when he advised that Ahab should listen to the Prophet Micaiah

PULPIT The wording of this verse is identical with that of the parallel (1 Kings 225) Jehoshaphat if even not quite conscious of it is throwing some sop to his conscience in essaying to become and posing as the godly counsellor of the ungodly (2 Chronicles 192) At any rate his counsel is right even to the point of urging to-day and significantly deprecating procrastination It is not however so clear that he was in the first instance as decided in respect of the necessity of inquiring the will of the Lord at the mouth of a true prophet in distinction from a prophet merely of Israel though they should be four hundred in number Compare the following two verses however which show as though he was holding himself quite prepared and on the look-out for the expected occasion of having to rein Ahab up

5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsmdashfour hundred menmdashand asked them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoGordquo they answered ldquofor God will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (5) ThereforemdashAnd

Of prophetsmdashRather the prophets

Four hundredmdashKings ldquoAbout four hundredrdquo Alsorsquo Adonai (ldquothe Lordrdquo) instead of harsquoelocirchicircm (ldquothe [true] Godrdquo) and ldquoI go againstrdquo for ldquowe go tordquo where the former is obviously more appropriate

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 2: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

Ahabs little considering that Jezebel was her mother (2) Some think he did it in policy hoping by this expedient to unite the kingdoms in his son Ahab perhaps flattering him with hopes that he would make him his heir when he intended no such thing

2 This match drew Jehoshaphat (1) Into an intimate familiarity with Ahab He paid him a visit at Samaria and Ahab proud of the honour which Jehoshaphat did him gave him a very splendid entertainment according to the splendour of those times He killed sheep and oxen for him plain meat in abundance 2Ch_182 In this Jehoshaphat did not walk so closely as he should have done in the ways of his father David who hated the congregation of evil-doers and would not sit with the wicked (Psa_265) nor desired to eat of their dainties Psa_1414 (2) Into a league with Ahab against the Syrians Ahab persuaded him to join forces with him in an expedition for the recovery of Ramoth-Gilead a city in the tribe of Gad on the other side Jordan Did not Ahab know that that and all the other cities of Israel did of right belong to Jehoshaphat as heir of the house of David With what face then could he ask Jehoshaphat to assist him in recovering it for himself whose title to the crown was usurped and precarious Yet Jehoshaphat an easy man yields to go with him I am as thou art 2Ch_183 Some mens kindnesses are dangerous as well as their society infectious The feast Ahab made for Jehoshaphat was designed only to wheedle him into the expedition The kisses of an enemy are deceitful

JAMISO 2Ch_181-34 Jehoshaphat and Ahab go against Ramoth-gilead

KampD Jehoshaphats marriage alliance with Ahab and his campaign with Ahab against the Syrians at Ramoth in Gilead - 2Ch_181 Jehoshaphat came into connection by marriage with Ahab through his son Joram taking Athaliah a daughter of Ahab to wife (2Ch_216) an event which did not take place on the visit made by Jehoshaphat to Ahab in his palace at Samaria and recorded in 2Ch_182 but which had preceded that by about nine years That visit falls in the beginning of the year in which Ahab was mortally wounded at Ramoth and died ie the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphats reign But at that time Ahaziah the son of Joram and Athaliah was already from eight to nine years old since thirteen years later he became king at the age of twenty-two 2Ki_826 cf with the chronol table to 1 Kings 12 The marriage connection is mentioned in order to account for Jehoshaphats visit to Samaria (2Ch_182) and his alliance with Ahab in the war against the Syrians but it is also introduced by a reference to Jehoshaphats riches and his royal splendour repeated from 2Ch_175 In the opinion of many commentators this is stated to account for Ahabs willingness to connect his family by marriage with that of Jehoshaphat This opinion might be tenable were it Ahabs entering upon a marriage connection with Jehoshaphat which is spoken of but for Jehoshaphat of whom it is related that he entered into a marriage connection with Ahab his own great wealth could not be a motive for his action in that matter If we consider first that this marriage connection was very hurtful to the kingdom of Judah and the royal house of David since Athaliah not only introduced the Phoenician idolatry into the kingdom but also at the death of Ahaziah extirpated all the royal seed of the house of David only the infant Joash of all the royal children being saved by the princess a sister of Ahaziah who was married to the high priest Jehoiada (2Ch_2210-12) and second that Jehoshaphat was sharply censured by the prophet for his alliance with the criminal Ahab (2Ch_192) and had moreover all but forfeited his life in the war (2Ch_1834) - we see that the author of the Chronicle can only have regarded the marriage connection between Jehoshaphat and Ahab as a mistake By introducing this account of it by a second reference to Jehoshaphats riches and power he must therefore

have intended to hint that Jehoshaphat had no need to enter into this relationship with the idolatrous house of Ahab but had acted very inconsiderately in doing so Schmidt has correctly stated the contents of the verse thus Josaphatus cetera dives et gloriosus infelicem adfinitatem cum Achabo rege Israelis contrahit With which side the proposals for thus connecting the two royal houses originated we are not anywhere informed Even if the conjecture of Ramb that Ahab proposed it to Jehoshaphat be not well founded yet so much is beyond doubt namely that Ahab not only desired the alliance but also promoted it by every means in his power since it must have been of great importance to him to gain in Jehoshaphat a strong ally against the hostile pressure of the Syrians Jehoshaphat probably entered upon the alliance bono animo et spe firmandae inter duo regna pacis (Ramb) without much thought of the dangers which a connection of this sort with the idolatrous Ahab and with Jezebel might bring upon his kingdom

BESO AM 3107 mdash BC 897Jehoshaphat joins affinity with Ahab and consents to go with him to Ramoth-gilead 2 Chronicles 181-3 The false prophets promise them success 2 Chronicles 184-11 Micaiah foretels the death of Ahab 2 Chronicles 186-27 Jehoshaphat hardly escapes 2 Chronicles 1828-32 Ahab slain 2 Chronicles 1833 2 Chronicles 1834

2 Chronicles 181 And joined affinity with Ahab mdash For Joram his eldest son married Athaliah Ahabrsquos daughter This chapter is for substance the same with 1 Kings 22 where it is explained

ELLICOTT JEHOSHAPHAT MAKES AFFIITY WITH AHAB AD TAKES PART I THE SYRIA WAR AT RAMOTH-GLLEAD

Comp 1 Kings 222-35 Only the introduction of the narrative (2 Chronicles 181-2) differs from that of Kingsmdasha change necessitated by the fact that the chronicler is writing the history not of Ahab but of Jehoshaphat

Verse 1 (1) ow Jehoshaphat hadmdashAnd Jehoshaphat got

Riches and honour in abundancemdashRepeated from 2 Chronicles 175

And joined affinity with AhabmdashHe married his son Jehoram to Athaliah daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Chronicles 216 1 Kings 188) The high degree of prosperity to which the king of Judah had attained is indicated by the fact that so powerful a monarch as Ahab entered into such an intimate connection with him (The vav of the second clause is not adversative as Zoumlckler asserts but rather consecutive)

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 181 ow Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance and joined affinity with Ahab

Ver 1 ow Jehoshaphat had riches in abundance] Stultitiam patiuntur opes He was the worse for his wealth - as most men also are - else he had not been so fond of this new affinity with Ahab [2 Kings 818]

GUZIK A Jehoshaphat goes to Samaria the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 181) Jehoshaphatrsquos unwise alliance with Ahab

Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance and by marriage he allied himself with Ahab

a Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance Because of his personal godliness (2 Chronicles 171-4) and public godliness (2 Chronicles 177-10) God blessed Jehoshaphat and exalted him among neighboring nations

b By marriage he allied himself with Ahab This manner of linking kingdoms by the bond of marriage was common in the ancient world yet it was unwise policy for Jehoshaphat The wisest strategy for the protection of his kingdom was obedience instead of compromise with the ungodly King Ahab of Israel and his wife Queen Jezebel

i 1 Kings 1629-33 tells us just how bad Ahab was He introduced the worship of completely new pagan gods In his disobedience Jeroboam (the first king of the kingdom of the northern tribes) said ldquoI will worship the LORD but do it my wayrdquo Ahab said ldquoI want to forget about the LORD completely and worship Baalrdquo

ii Ahab was greatly influenced towards wickedness by his Phoenician wife Jezebel ldquoHe was a weak man the tool of a crafty unscrupulous and cruel woman and some of the worst crimes that have ever been committed have been wrought by weak men at the instigation of worse - but stronger - spirits than themselvesrdquo (Meyer)

PULPIT This chapter from its second verse finds its parallel in 1 Kings 222-35 It opens with dangerous symptoms recording in one sentence the event that was to bear ill fruit if not till years afterward (1 Kings 222) of Jehoshaphat joining affinity with Ahab His son Jehoram married Athaliah daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Chronicles 216) The further steps by which Jehoshaphat became entangled with Ahab are graphically described He forms an alliance with him in the war with Ramoth-Gilead (1 Kings 221-3) be urges Ahab to consult a prophet of the Lord (1 Kings 224-12) Ahab unwillingly consents and receives Micaiahs answer (1 Kings 2213-27) and finally the chapter tells us how Ahah went up to battle and in battle received his mortal wound (1 Kings 2228-34)

2 Chronicles 181

The purport of the verse is to let us into the secret that the riches and honour in abundance of Jehoshaphat were in fact the snare by which he was led to entangle himself with one who probably only on that account was willing to be entangled by affinity with him (2 Chronicles 216 2 Chronicles 222-4 2 Kings 825-29) It is not hard to see how they would both lead him if not always out of big and patronizing thoughts to seek and also lay him open to be sought When this verse says Jehoshaphat joined affinity etc it means that he had done so to wit not fewer than nine years before in promoting or allowing whichever it was the marriage of his son Jehoram with Ahabs and Jezebels daughter Athaliah For the issue of this marriage Ahaziah took the throne at the age of twenty-two years thirteen years hence from this seventeenth year of his grandfather Jehoshaphats reign the year of Ahabs death But as we are told that Ahaziah was the youngest son of Jehoram and Athaliah (for explanation of which see 2 Chronicles 2117) the joining affinity must have been something earlier than nine years and very probably came yet nearer the prosperity of the earlier years of Jehoshaphats reign with which would agree well the keynote touched again significantly here from our 2 Chronicles 175 Comp 2 Kings 817 2 Kings 826 2 Chronicles 2120 2 Chronicles 222 (which needs the correction of twenty-two to forty-two) Although it is certain that the act of Jehoshaphat was wrong in principle disastrous in practice (2 Chronicles 192 2 Chronicles 193) and threatened fatal consequences to himself (2 Chronicles 1831 2 Chronicles 1832) yet it is not impossible to suppose his motives were for the most part good and he may naturally have thought that the sunshine of his own peace and abundance might be the set time to win influence in and over Israel rather than strengthen Israel in its ungodly independence On the other hand nothing could justify Jehoshaphat risking such intimacy of relationship with such a family heedless of consequences looking towards idolatry which he should have known were overwhelmingly probable

2 Some years later he went down to see Ahab in Samaria Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead

BARES After certain years - In Jehoshaphatrsquos 17th year 1Ki_2251 not less than 8 years after the marriage (marginal reference note)

GILL 2-34 And after certain years Two years according to the Syriac and Arabic versions or in the third year after the affinity was contracted see 1Ki_222

he went down to Ahab to Samaria to pay him a visit upon the alliance civil and matrimonial contracted between them

and Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that he had with him entertained him and his retinue in a very grand and liberal manner

and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramothgilead from hence to the end of the chapter it is the same with 1Ki_224

JAMISO after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samariamdash This is word for word the same as 1Ki_221-53 (See on commentary on that chapter)

KampD 2-34 The campaign undertaken along with Ahab against the Syrians at Ramoth in Gilead with its origin course and results for Ahab is narrated in 1 Kings (in the history of Ahab) in agreement with our narrative only the introduction to the war being different here In 1Ki_221-3 it is remarked in connection with the preceding wars of Ahab with the Syrians that after there had been no war for three years between Aram and Israel in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah came up to the king of Israel and the latter when he and his servants had determined to snatch away from the Syrians the city Ramoth in Gilead which belonged to Israel called upon Jehoshaphat to march with him to the war against Ramoth In the Chronicle the more exact statement ldquoin the third yearrdquo which is intelligible only in connection with the earlier history of Ahab is

exchanged for the indefinite שנים at the end of yearsrdquo and mention is made of theldquo לקץ

festal entertainment which Ahab bestowed upon his guest and his train (עו אשר to (העםshow the pains which Ahab took to induce King Jehoshaphat to take part in the

proposed campaign He killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance ויסיתהוecnadn and

enticed seduced him to go up with him to Ramoth הסית to incite entice to anything

(Jdg_114) frequently to evil cf Deu_137 etc עלה to advance upon a land or a city in a warlike sense The account which follows of the preparations for the campaign by inquiring of prophets and of the war itself vv 4-34 is in almost verbal agreement with 1 Kings 225-35 Referring to 1 Kings for the commentary on the substance of the narrative we will here only group together briefly the divergences Instead of 400 men who were prophets 2Ch_185 in 1Ki_225 we have about 400 men It is a statement in round numbers founded not upon exact enumeration but upon an approximate

estimate Instead of אה ל אה ל 2Ch_185 in Kings 1Ki_226 we have הנלךאם האלךאםboth verbs being in the same number and so too in 2Ch_1814 where in Kings 1Ki_2215 both verbs stand in the plural notwithstanding that the answer which follows

והצלח is addressed to Ahab alone not to both the kings while in the Chronicle the עלה

answer is given in the plural to both the kings והצליחו in 2Ch_187 ldquohe prophesies עלו

me nothing good but all his days (ie so long as he has been a prophet) evilrdquo the

meaning is intensified by the ל־ימיוamp which is not found in 1Ki_228 In 2Ch_189 the

and sitting upon the threshing-floorrdquo is dueldquo גרן which is introduced before the ויושביםto difference of style for it is quite superfluous for the signification In 2Ch_1815 the ambiguous words of Micah and Jahve will give into the hand of the kingrdquo (1Ki_2215) are given in a more definite form ldquoand they (the enemy) shall be given into your handrdquo

In 2Ch_1819 in the first כהamp אמר is not only ו-אמר after the preceding אמר the זהsuperfluous but improper and has probably come into the text by a copyists error We

should therefore read only כה ampכה corresponding to the זה of 1Ki_2220 זה ldquoThen spake

one after this manner and the other spake after another mannerrdquo In 2Ch_1823 the

indefinite אי־זה of 1Ki_2224 is elucidated by ה רך זה _is that the mannerrdquo (cf 1Kildquo אי

1312 2Ki_38) and the verb עבר follows without the relative pronoun as in the

passages cited In 2Ch_1830 only הרכב of the king are mentioned without any שרי

statement of the number which is given in 1Ki_2231 with a backward reference to the former war (1Ki_2024) In 2Ch_1831 after the words ldquoand Jehoshaphat cried outrdquo the higher cause of Jehoshaphats rescue is pointed out in the words ldquoand Jahve helped him and God drove them from himrdquo which are not found in 1Ki_2232 but by this religious reflection the actual course of the event is in no way altered Bertheaus remark therefore that ldquothe words disturb the clear connection of the eventsrdquo is quite

unwarrantable Finally in 2Ch_1834 מעמיד he was holding his position ie he held היה

himself standing upright the Hiph is more expressive than the Hoph מעמד (1Ki_2235) since it expresses more definitely the fact that he held himself upright by his own strength With Ahabs death which took place in the evening at the time of the going down of the sun the author of the Chronicle concludes his account of this war and proceeds in 2Ch_191-11 to narrate the further course of Jehoshaphats reign In 1Ki_2236-39 the return of the defeated army and the details as to Ahabs death and burial are recorded but these did not fit into the plan of the Chronicle

ELLICOTT (2) And after certain yearsmdashSee margin 1 Kings 222 has ldquoAnd it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat went downrdquo ampcmdasha date which is relative to the three yearsrsquo truce between Syria and Israel mentioned in the preceding verse From 1 Kings 2251 of the same chapter we learn that this visit took place in the sixteenth or seventeenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat The marriage of Jehoram and Athaliah preceded the visit by eight or nine years (Syriac and Arabic ldquoand after two yearsrdquo)

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundancemdashThis royal hospitality is here represented as part of a deliberate plan for obtaining the co-operation of Jehoshaphat in the projected campaign

Persuaded himmdashIncited pricked him on (Judges 112) especially to evil 1 Chronicles 211 Deuteronomy 137 In 1 Kings 223 Ahab broaches the subject of the expedition to his court

To go up tomdashTo make an expedition against a town or country (Isaiah 71 Isaiah 76 1 Kings 1517) Comp Isaiah 87-8

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 182 And after [certain] years he went down to Ahab to Samaria And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that [he had] with him and persuaded him to go up [with him] to Ramothgilead

Ver 2 He went down to Ahab to Samaria] See 1 Kings 222 in which chapter we have the same history related as here not abridged - as is usual with this author -but at large this much commendeth it unto us as necessary and profitable since the Holy Ghost doth nothing in vain

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen] As to feast him and his retinue so haply to sacrifice to the gods as idolaters used to do when great strangers came unto them Dido did so when AEligneas came to her court

ldquo Simul Aeneam in regia ducit

Tecta simul divum templis indicit honorem rdquo - Aeneid lib i

ow Jezebel was Didorsquos countrywoman and had a great influence upon her husband Ahab

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 182-3) Ahab sets his eyes upon Ramoth-Gilead

After some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo And he answered him ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will be with you in the warrdquo

a And persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth in Gilead Previously the King of Syria promised to return certain cities to Israel (1 Kings 2034) in exchange for leniency after defeat in battle Apparently this was a city that Ben-Hadad never returned to Israel and it was in a strategically important location

b Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah to help him in this dispute against Syria This made some sense because Ramoth-Gilead was only 40 miles from Jerusalem

PULPIT After certain years he went down In lieu of the italic type certain here the English idiom years after would aptly reproduce the facts of the case This journey to Samaria to see Ahab was made in the seventeenth year of

Jehoshaphats reign What were the precise antecedent circumstances of this visit of Jehoshaphat to Ahab it is interesting to surmisemdashwhether it were the fruit of an invitation direct from Ahab who had his own designs or whether it were for diplomatic reasons that worked in the mind of Jehoshaphat as well as of Ahab in view of Syria It is evident that Ahab promptly determined to improve this conference of kings Persuaded him ie he took steps to induce him This is the uniform signification of the word here used in the eighteen times of its occurrence and mostly in doubtful or worse than doubtful matter The form is the hiph of סות in which conjugation only the verb occurs The Revised Version renders moved The visiting and cooperating of Jehoshaphat and Ahab made a novel departure in the history of the rended kingdoms of Judah and Israel and continued till the time of Jehu Ramoth-Gilead This important city of Gad (Joshua 208 Joshua 2138) in Palestine beyond Jordan comes into question as one not surrendered to the king-dora of Israel in good faith according to the promise of Benhadad Benhadads father having taken it from Omri father of Ahab For all the might that he showed and presumably in conflicts with Syria Omri was evidently a heavy loser Ramoth-Gilead means the heights of Gilead

3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo

Jehoshaphat replied ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will join you in the warrdquo

CLARKE To Ramoth-gilead - This place belonged to the Israelites and was now held by the king of Syria

The whole of this chapter is circumstantially explained in the notes on 1 Kings 221-53

ELLICOTT (3) And Ahab king of IsraelmdashThis verse is essentially the same as 1 Kings 224 From this point the two narratives practically coincide (See the otes on 1 Kings 22)

To Ramoth-gileadmdashie Ramoth of or in Gilead Ramoth (ldquoheightsrdquo) or Ramath or Ramah (ldquoheightrdquo) was a common name in such a hilly country as Palestine Kings adds to the war

And my people in the warmdashThe symmetry of this part of the verse has been disregarded by the chronicler in order to make Jehoshaphat express an apparently more definite assent to Ahabrsquos request (Comp Kings ldquoMy people as thy people my horses as thy horsesrdquo (kamocircnicirc kamocircka kĕlsquoammicirc kĕlsquoammbka kĕsucircsai kĕsucircseika) The Syriac reads ldquoAnd my horses as thy horses and I will go with thee to the warrdquo Similarly the Arabic ldquoMy horsemen as thy horsemenrdquo

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 183 And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead And he answered him I [am] as thou [art] and my people as thy people and [we will be] with thee in the war

Ver 3 I am as thou art] See 1 Kings 224 Jehoshaphat was too facile It was noted as a fault in Henry IV of France that he was aeque male ac bono reconciliabilis of too good a nature as we say of some

PULPIT I am as thou etc The same unqualified kind of language was used By Jehoshaphat on another occasion (2 Kings 37) two years later when Jehoram son of the deceased Ahab also asked his help against Moab Whether on the one occasion or the other it is quite possible that Jehoshaphat thought he was serving common interests and the cause of his own kingdom as well as of Israel nevertheless Jehu the son of Hanani the seer ignores the supposed justification (2 Chronicles 192)

4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel ldquoFirst seek the counsel of the Lordrdquo

HERY 4-27 This is almost word for word the same with what we had 1 Kings 22 We will not repeat what was there said nor have we much to add but may take occasion to think 1 Of the great duty of acknowledging God in all our ways and enquiring at his word whatever we undertake Jehoshaphat was not willing to proceed till he had done this 2Ch_184 By particular believing prayer by an unbiased consultation of the

scripture and our own consciences and by an observant regard to the hints of providence we may make such enquiries and very much to our satisfaction 2 Of the great danger of bad company even to good men Those that have more wisdom grace and resolution cannot be sure that they can converse familiarly with wicked people and get no hurt by them Jehoshaphat here in complaisance to Ahab sits in his robes patiently hearing the false prophets speaking lies in the name of the Lord (2Ch_189) can scarcely find in his heart to give him a too mild and gentle reproof for hating a prophet of the Lord (2Ch_187) and dares not rebuke that false prophet who basely abused the faithful seer nor oppose Ahab who committed him to prison Those who venture among the seats of the scornful cannot come off without a great deal of the guilt attaching to at least the omission of their duty unless they have such measures of wisdom and courage as few can pretend to 3 Of the unhappiness of those who are surrounded with flatterers especially flattering prophets who cry peace to them and prophesy nothing but smooth things Thus was Ahab cheated into his ruin and justly for he hearkened to such and preferred those that humoured him before a good prophet that gave him fair warning of his danger Those do best for themselves that give their friends leave and particularly their ministers to deal plainly and faithfully with them and take their reproofs not only patiently but kindly That counsel is not always best for us that is most pleasing to us 4 Of the power of Satan by the divine permission in the children of disobedience One lying spirit can make 400 lying prophets and make use of them to deceive Ahab 2Ch_1821 The devil becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them 5 Of the justice of God in giving those up to strong delusions to believe a lie who will not receive the love of the truth but rebel against it 2Ch_1821 Let the lying spirit prevail to entice those to their ruin that will not be persuaded to their duty and happiness 6 Of the hard case of faithful ministers whose lot it has often been to be hated and persecuted and ill-treated for being true to their God and just and kind to the souls of men Micaiah for discharging a good conscience was buffeted imprisoned and condemned to the bread and water of affliction But he could with assurance appeal to the issue as all those may do who are persecuted for their faithfulness 2Ch_1827 The day will declare who is in the right and who in the wrong when Christ will appear to the unspeakable consolation of his persecuted people and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors who will be made to see in that day(2Ch_1824) what they will not now believe

BI 4-34 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord to-day

Divine truth and its typical reception

Here are four types of human conduct in relation to Divine truth

I Those who seek the truth Micaiah believed in its existence prayed for its teaching and determined to follow its leading

II Those who are opposed to the truth The priests assumed to be its only depositaries denied the claims of others ridiculed and opposed its representative None so slow to believe in a Divine Spirit as those accustomed to speak Divine words but in whose hearts is no Divine life

III Those who believe yet disobey the truth Jehoshaphat believed the prophet Micaiah mildly defended his character yet would not withdraw from Ahab

IV Those who are alarmed at truth Ahab roused in conscience afraid of results and tried to escape by stratagem (J Wolfendale)

BESO 2 Chronicles 184 Inquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord mdash This we should do whatever we undertake by particular believing prayer by an unbiased consulting of the Scriptures and our own consciences and by a close regard to the hints of Providence

COFFMA Jehoshaphats asking here for a prophet of Jehovah dramatically states that the four hundred prophets of Ahab were not prophets of Jehovah Ahabs god was Baal and his prophets were automatically prophets of Baal not of Jehovah (1 Kings 2253)

COKE 2 Chronicles 1814 Go ye up and prospermdash The kings answer plainly shews that he understood these words of Michaiah to be ironical

REFLECTIOSmdash1st Jehoshaphats growing greatness probably made the king of Israel desirous of his alliance and Jehoshaphat too readily consented An Israelitish princess seemed an eligible match for his son and he might hope to make some advantage of it by recovering the house of Israel to the service of God or the kingdom to his posterity The connection however proved dangerous to himself and ruinous to his family The first bad effect produced by it was his involving himself in a war with the Syrians in complaisance to Ahab who having nobly entertained him at Samaria drew him in to be his auxiliary for the recovery of Ramoth-gilead ote (1) Marriages founded on pride and worldly-mindedness cannot fail of bringing misery along with them (2) The strongest expressions of friendship from a wicked man are to be suspected at bottom he means to serve only himself

2nd For the account of Michaiah ampc see 1 Kings 22 We may only farther remark (1) How needful it is to consult God in all our ways (2) When for worldly ends we maintain fellowship with those who are enemies to God for fear of offending we shall often hear what we dare not rebuke and countenance by our presence what we are bound to condemn (3) Faithful prophets are few false prophets numerous It becomes us to beware of following the multitude and to attach ourselves to the faithful few (4) They who love prophets that prophesy smooth things and hate plain dealing are justly given up to their own delusions (5) Suffering for the truths sake is the hereditary portion of Gods ministers (6) The day is coming when the despised word of Gods prophets shall be fulfilled and their enemies too late will wonder and perish

3rdly Ahab pretends to honour Jehoshaphat but in fact intends to expose him so deceitful are the kisses of an enemy but God turns his wicked devices on his own head Jehoshaphat by divine interposition escapes while Ahab falls in his disguise and his armour is no protection from the arrow that God shoots against the

persecutors Man in vain contrives to escape when God hath determined his fall There is neither counsel nor might against the Lord

ELLICOTT (4) And JehoshaphatmdashSo exactly 1 Kings 225

Enquire at the wordmdashSeek the word

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 184 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the LORD to day

Ver 4 Inquire I pray thee of the Lord today] Yea but this should have been done before he had engaged to go Good Jehoshaphat is oft taxed for being smart too late Few consider that it is better to stop or step back than to run on out of the way

GUZIK 3 (2 Chronicles 184-8) Jehoshaphat proposes that they seek God in the matter

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel ldquoPlease inquire for the word of the LORD todayrdquo Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together four hundred men and said to them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And they said ldquoGo up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo But Jehoshaphat said ldquoIs there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Himrdquo So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD but I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil He is Micaiah the son of Imlardquo And Jehoshaphat said ldquoLet not the king say such thingsrdquo Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said ldquoBring Micaiah the son of Imla quicklyrdquo

a Please inquire for the word of the LORD today Considering the generally adversarial relationship between Ahab and the prophets of Yahweh this was a bold request of Jehoshaphat to ask of Ahab It wasnrsquot surprising that Ahab picked prophets who would tell them that they wanted to hear

i ldquoThough Jehoshaphat had already committed himself to the enterprise (2 Chronicles 183) and though he went on to disregard the guidance that was given him (2 Chronicles 1828) he still retained the religion of Yahweh to the extent that he insisted on seeking lsquothe counsel of the Lordrsquordquo (Payne)

b Go up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos hand When Ahab gathered the prophets they were not faithful prophets of the LORD These were prophets happy to please their kings and to tell them what they wanted to hear Jehoshaphat still wanted to hear from a prophet of Yahweh the LORD (Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Him)

i Trapp described this gather of prophets as ldquoAn ecumenical councilrdquo

c I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil Ahab hated the messenger because of the message His real conflict was with God but he focused his hatred against the prophet Micaiah Yet he was willing to listen to the King of Judah when he advised that Ahab should listen to the Prophet Micaiah

PULPIT The wording of this verse is identical with that of the parallel (1 Kings 225) Jehoshaphat if even not quite conscious of it is throwing some sop to his conscience in essaying to become and posing as the godly counsellor of the ungodly (2 Chronicles 192) At any rate his counsel is right even to the point of urging to-day and significantly deprecating procrastination It is not however so clear that he was in the first instance as decided in respect of the necessity of inquiring the will of the Lord at the mouth of a true prophet in distinction from a prophet merely of Israel though they should be four hundred in number Compare the following two verses however which show as though he was holding himself quite prepared and on the look-out for the expected occasion of having to rein Ahab up

5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsmdashfour hundred menmdashand asked them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoGordquo they answered ldquofor God will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (5) ThereforemdashAnd

Of prophetsmdashRather the prophets

Four hundredmdashKings ldquoAbout four hundredrdquo Alsorsquo Adonai (ldquothe Lordrdquo) instead of harsquoelocirchicircm (ldquothe [true] Godrdquo) and ldquoI go againstrdquo for ldquowe go tordquo where the former is obviously more appropriate

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 3: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

have intended to hint that Jehoshaphat had no need to enter into this relationship with the idolatrous house of Ahab but had acted very inconsiderately in doing so Schmidt has correctly stated the contents of the verse thus Josaphatus cetera dives et gloriosus infelicem adfinitatem cum Achabo rege Israelis contrahit With which side the proposals for thus connecting the two royal houses originated we are not anywhere informed Even if the conjecture of Ramb that Ahab proposed it to Jehoshaphat be not well founded yet so much is beyond doubt namely that Ahab not only desired the alliance but also promoted it by every means in his power since it must have been of great importance to him to gain in Jehoshaphat a strong ally against the hostile pressure of the Syrians Jehoshaphat probably entered upon the alliance bono animo et spe firmandae inter duo regna pacis (Ramb) without much thought of the dangers which a connection of this sort with the idolatrous Ahab and with Jezebel might bring upon his kingdom

BESO AM 3107 mdash BC 897Jehoshaphat joins affinity with Ahab and consents to go with him to Ramoth-gilead 2 Chronicles 181-3 The false prophets promise them success 2 Chronicles 184-11 Micaiah foretels the death of Ahab 2 Chronicles 186-27 Jehoshaphat hardly escapes 2 Chronicles 1828-32 Ahab slain 2 Chronicles 1833 2 Chronicles 1834

2 Chronicles 181 And joined affinity with Ahab mdash For Joram his eldest son married Athaliah Ahabrsquos daughter This chapter is for substance the same with 1 Kings 22 where it is explained

ELLICOTT JEHOSHAPHAT MAKES AFFIITY WITH AHAB AD TAKES PART I THE SYRIA WAR AT RAMOTH-GLLEAD

Comp 1 Kings 222-35 Only the introduction of the narrative (2 Chronicles 181-2) differs from that of Kingsmdasha change necessitated by the fact that the chronicler is writing the history not of Ahab but of Jehoshaphat

Verse 1 (1) ow Jehoshaphat hadmdashAnd Jehoshaphat got

Riches and honour in abundancemdashRepeated from 2 Chronicles 175

And joined affinity with AhabmdashHe married his son Jehoram to Athaliah daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Chronicles 216 1 Kings 188) The high degree of prosperity to which the king of Judah had attained is indicated by the fact that so powerful a monarch as Ahab entered into such an intimate connection with him (The vav of the second clause is not adversative as Zoumlckler asserts but rather consecutive)

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 181 ow Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance and joined affinity with Ahab

Ver 1 ow Jehoshaphat had riches in abundance] Stultitiam patiuntur opes He was the worse for his wealth - as most men also are - else he had not been so fond of this new affinity with Ahab [2 Kings 818]

GUZIK A Jehoshaphat goes to Samaria the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 181) Jehoshaphatrsquos unwise alliance with Ahab

Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance and by marriage he allied himself with Ahab

a Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance Because of his personal godliness (2 Chronicles 171-4) and public godliness (2 Chronicles 177-10) God blessed Jehoshaphat and exalted him among neighboring nations

b By marriage he allied himself with Ahab This manner of linking kingdoms by the bond of marriage was common in the ancient world yet it was unwise policy for Jehoshaphat The wisest strategy for the protection of his kingdom was obedience instead of compromise with the ungodly King Ahab of Israel and his wife Queen Jezebel

i 1 Kings 1629-33 tells us just how bad Ahab was He introduced the worship of completely new pagan gods In his disobedience Jeroboam (the first king of the kingdom of the northern tribes) said ldquoI will worship the LORD but do it my wayrdquo Ahab said ldquoI want to forget about the LORD completely and worship Baalrdquo

ii Ahab was greatly influenced towards wickedness by his Phoenician wife Jezebel ldquoHe was a weak man the tool of a crafty unscrupulous and cruel woman and some of the worst crimes that have ever been committed have been wrought by weak men at the instigation of worse - but stronger - spirits than themselvesrdquo (Meyer)

PULPIT This chapter from its second verse finds its parallel in 1 Kings 222-35 It opens with dangerous symptoms recording in one sentence the event that was to bear ill fruit if not till years afterward (1 Kings 222) of Jehoshaphat joining affinity with Ahab His son Jehoram married Athaliah daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Chronicles 216) The further steps by which Jehoshaphat became entangled with Ahab are graphically described He forms an alliance with him in the war with Ramoth-Gilead (1 Kings 221-3) be urges Ahab to consult a prophet of the Lord (1 Kings 224-12) Ahab unwillingly consents and receives Micaiahs answer (1 Kings 2213-27) and finally the chapter tells us how Ahah went up to battle and in battle received his mortal wound (1 Kings 2228-34)

2 Chronicles 181

The purport of the verse is to let us into the secret that the riches and honour in abundance of Jehoshaphat were in fact the snare by which he was led to entangle himself with one who probably only on that account was willing to be entangled by affinity with him (2 Chronicles 216 2 Chronicles 222-4 2 Kings 825-29) It is not hard to see how they would both lead him if not always out of big and patronizing thoughts to seek and also lay him open to be sought When this verse says Jehoshaphat joined affinity etc it means that he had done so to wit not fewer than nine years before in promoting or allowing whichever it was the marriage of his son Jehoram with Ahabs and Jezebels daughter Athaliah For the issue of this marriage Ahaziah took the throne at the age of twenty-two years thirteen years hence from this seventeenth year of his grandfather Jehoshaphats reign the year of Ahabs death But as we are told that Ahaziah was the youngest son of Jehoram and Athaliah (for explanation of which see 2 Chronicles 2117) the joining affinity must have been something earlier than nine years and very probably came yet nearer the prosperity of the earlier years of Jehoshaphats reign with which would agree well the keynote touched again significantly here from our 2 Chronicles 175 Comp 2 Kings 817 2 Kings 826 2 Chronicles 2120 2 Chronicles 222 (which needs the correction of twenty-two to forty-two) Although it is certain that the act of Jehoshaphat was wrong in principle disastrous in practice (2 Chronicles 192 2 Chronicles 193) and threatened fatal consequences to himself (2 Chronicles 1831 2 Chronicles 1832) yet it is not impossible to suppose his motives were for the most part good and he may naturally have thought that the sunshine of his own peace and abundance might be the set time to win influence in and over Israel rather than strengthen Israel in its ungodly independence On the other hand nothing could justify Jehoshaphat risking such intimacy of relationship with such a family heedless of consequences looking towards idolatry which he should have known were overwhelmingly probable

2 Some years later he went down to see Ahab in Samaria Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead

BARES After certain years - In Jehoshaphatrsquos 17th year 1Ki_2251 not less than 8 years after the marriage (marginal reference note)

GILL 2-34 And after certain years Two years according to the Syriac and Arabic versions or in the third year after the affinity was contracted see 1Ki_222

he went down to Ahab to Samaria to pay him a visit upon the alliance civil and matrimonial contracted between them

and Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that he had with him entertained him and his retinue in a very grand and liberal manner

and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramothgilead from hence to the end of the chapter it is the same with 1Ki_224

JAMISO after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samariamdash This is word for word the same as 1Ki_221-53 (See on commentary on that chapter)

KampD 2-34 The campaign undertaken along with Ahab against the Syrians at Ramoth in Gilead with its origin course and results for Ahab is narrated in 1 Kings (in the history of Ahab) in agreement with our narrative only the introduction to the war being different here In 1Ki_221-3 it is remarked in connection with the preceding wars of Ahab with the Syrians that after there had been no war for three years between Aram and Israel in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah came up to the king of Israel and the latter when he and his servants had determined to snatch away from the Syrians the city Ramoth in Gilead which belonged to Israel called upon Jehoshaphat to march with him to the war against Ramoth In the Chronicle the more exact statement ldquoin the third yearrdquo which is intelligible only in connection with the earlier history of Ahab is

exchanged for the indefinite שנים at the end of yearsrdquo and mention is made of theldquo לקץ

festal entertainment which Ahab bestowed upon his guest and his train (עו אשר to (העםshow the pains which Ahab took to induce King Jehoshaphat to take part in the

proposed campaign He killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance ויסיתהוecnadn and

enticed seduced him to go up with him to Ramoth הסית to incite entice to anything

(Jdg_114) frequently to evil cf Deu_137 etc עלה to advance upon a land or a city in a warlike sense The account which follows of the preparations for the campaign by inquiring of prophets and of the war itself vv 4-34 is in almost verbal agreement with 1 Kings 225-35 Referring to 1 Kings for the commentary on the substance of the narrative we will here only group together briefly the divergences Instead of 400 men who were prophets 2Ch_185 in 1Ki_225 we have about 400 men It is a statement in round numbers founded not upon exact enumeration but upon an approximate

estimate Instead of אה ל אה ל 2Ch_185 in Kings 1Ki_226 we have הנלךאם האלךאםboth verbs being in the same number and so too in 2Ch_1814 where in Kings 1Ki_2215 both verbs stand in the plural notwithstanding that the answer which follows

והצלח is addressed to Ahab alone not to both the kings while in the Chronicle the עלה

answer is given in the plural to both the kings והצליחו in 2Ch_187 ldquohe prophesies עלו

me nothing good but all his days (ie so long as he has been a prophet) evilrdquo the

meaning is intensified by the ל־ימיוamp which is not found in 1Ki_228 In 2Ch_189 the

and sitting upon the threshing-floorrdquo is dueldquo גרן which is introduced before the ויושביםto difference of style for it is quite superfluous for the signification In 2Ch_1815 the ambiguous words of Micah and Jahve will give into the hand of the kingrdquo (1Ki_2215) are given in a more definite form ldquoand they (the enemy) shall be given into your handrdquo

In 2Ch_1819 in the first כהamp אמר is not only ו-אמר after the preceding אמר the זהsuperfluous but improper and has probably come into the text by a copyists error We

should therefore read only כה ampכה corresponding to the זה of 1Ki_2220 זה ldquoThen spake

one after this manner and the other spake after another mannerrdquo In 2Ch_1823 the

indefinite אי־זה of 1Ki_2224 is elucidated by ה רך זה _is that the mannerrdquo (cf 1Kildquo אי

1312 2Ki_38) and the verb עבר follows without the relative pronoun as in the

passages cited In 2Ch_1830 only הרכב of the king are mentioned without any שרי

statement of the number which is given in 1Ki_2231 with a backward reference to the former war (1Ki_2024) In 2Ch_1831 after the words ldquoand Jehoshaphat cried outrdquo the higher cause of Jehoshaphats rescue is pointed out in the words ldquoand Jahve helped him and God drove them from himrdquo which are not found in 1Ki_2232 but by this religious reflection the actual course of the event is in no way altered Bertheaus remark therefore that ldquothe words disturb the clear connection of the eventsrdquo is quite

unwarrantable Finally in 2Ch_1834 מעמיד he was holding his position ie he held היה

himself standing upright the Hiph is more expressive than the Hoph מעמד (1Ki_2235) since it expresses more definitely the fact that he held himself upright by his own strength With Ahabs death which took place in the evening at the time of the going down of the sun the author of the Chronicle concludes his account of this war and proceeds in 2Ch_191-11 to narrate the further course of Jehoshaphats reign In 1Ki_2236-39 the return of the defeated army and the details as to Ahabs death and burial are recorded but these did not fit into the plan of the Chronicle

ELLICOTT (2) And after certain yearsmdashSee margin 1 Kings 222 has ldquoAnd it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat went downrdquo ampcmdasha date which is relative to the three yearsrsquo truce between Syria and Israel mentioned in the preceding verse From 1 Kings 2251 of the same chapter we learn that this visit took place in the sixteenth or seventeenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat The marriage of Jehoram and Athaliah preceded the visit by eight or nine years (Syriac and Arabic ldquoand after two yearsrdquo)

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundancemdashThis royal hospitality is here represented as part of a deliberate plan for obtaining the co-operation of Jehoshaphat in the projected campaign

Persuaded himmdashIncited pricked him on (Judges 112) especially to evil 1 Chronicles 211 Deuteronomy 137 In 1 Kings 223 Ahab broaches the subject of the expedition to his court

To go up tomdashTo make an expedition against a town or country (Isaiah 71 Isaiah 76 1 Kings 1517) Comp Isaiah 87-8

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 182 And after [certain] years he went down to Ahab to Samaria And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that [he had] with him and persuaded him to go up [with him] to Ramothgilead

Ver 2 He went down to Ahab to Samaria] See 1 Kings 222 in which chapter we have the same history related as here not abridged - as is usual with this author -but at large this much commendeth it unto us as necessary and profitable since the Holy Ghost doth nothing in vain

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen] As to feast him and his retinue so haply to sacrifice to the gods as idolaters used to do when great strangers came unto them Dido did so when AEligneas came to her court

ldquo Simul Aeneam in regia ducit

Tecta simul divum templis indicit honorem rdquo - Aeneid lib i

ow Jezebel was Didorsquos countrywoman and had a great influence upon her husband Ahab

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 182-3) Ahab sets his eyes upon Ramoth-Gilead

After some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo And he answered him ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will be with you in the warrdquo

a And persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth in Gilead Previously the King of Syria promised to return certain cities to Israel (1 Kings 2034) in exchange for leniency after defeat in battle Apparently this was a city that Ben-Hadad never returned to Israel and it was in a strategically important location

b Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah to help him in this dispute against Syria This made some sense because Ramoth-Gilead was only 40 miles from Jerusalem

PULPIT After certain years he went down In lieu of the italic type certain here the English idiom years after would aptly reproduce the facts of the case This journey to Samaria to see Ahab was made in the seventeenth year of

Jehoshaphats reign What were the precise antecedent circumstances of this visit of Jehoshaphat to Ahab it is interesting to surmisemdashwhether it were the fruit of an invitation direct from Ahab who had his own designs or whether it were for diplomatic reasons that worked in the mind of Jehoshaphat as well as of Ahab in view of Syria It is evident that Ahab promptly determined to improve this conference of kings Persuaded him ie he took steps to induce him This is the uniform signification of the word here used in the eighteen times of its occurrence and mostly in doubtful or worse than doubtful matter The form is the hiph of סות in which conjugation only the verb occurs The Revised Version renders moved The visiting and cooperating of Jehoshaphat and Ahab made a novel departure in the history of the rended kingdoms of Judah and Israel and continued till the time of Jehu Ramoth-Gilead This important city of Gad (Joshua 208 Joshua 2138) in Palestine beyond Jordan comes into question as one not surrendered to the king-dora of Israel in good faith according to the promise of Benhadad Benhadads father having taken it from Omri father of Ahab For all the might that he showed and presumably in conflicts with Syria Omri was evidently a heavy loser Ramoth-Gilead means the heights of Gilead

3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo

Jehoshaphat replied ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will join you in the warrdquo

CLARKE To Ramoth-gilead - This place belonged to the Israelites and was now held by the king of Syria

The whole of this chapter is circumstantially explained in the notes on 1 Kings 221-53

ELLICOTT (3) And Ahab king of IsraelmdashThis verse is essentially the same as 1 Kings 224 From this point the two narratives practically coincide (See the otes on 1 Kings 22)

To Ramoth-gileadmdashie Ramoth of or in Gilead Ramoth (ldquoheightsrdquo) or Ramath or Ramah (ldquoheightrdquo) was a common name in such a hilly country as Palestine Kings adds to the war

And my people in the warmdashThe symmetry of this part of the verse has been disregarded by the chronicler in order to make Jehoshaphat express an apparently more definite assent to Ahabrsquos request (Comp Kings ldquoMy people as thy people my horses as thy horsesrdquo (kamocircnicirc kamocircka kĕlsquoammicirc kĕlsquoammbka kĕsucircsai kĕsucircseika) The Syriac reads ldquoAnd my horses as thy horses and I will go with thee to the warrdquo Similarly the Arabic ldquoMy horsemen as thy horsemenrdquo

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 183 And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead And he answered him I [am] as thou [art] and my people as thy people and [we will be] with thee in the war

Ver 3 I am as thou art] See 1 Kings 224 Jehoshaphat was too facile It was noted as a fault in Henry IV of France that he was aeque male ac bono reconciliabilis of too good a nature as we say of some

PULPIT I am as thou etc The same unqualified kind of language was used By Jehoshaphat on another occasion (2 Kings 37) two years later when Jehoram son of the deceased Ahab also asked his help against Moab Whether on the one occasion or the other it is quite possible that Jehoshaphat thought he was serving common interests and the cause of his own kingdom as well as of Israel nevertheless Jehu the son of Hanani the seer ignores the supposed justification (2 Chronicles 192)

4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel ldquoFirst seek the counsel of the Lordrdquo

HERY 4-27 This is almost word for word the same with what we had 1 Kings 22 We will not repeat what was there said nor have we much to add but may take occasion to think 1 Of the great duty of acknowledging God in all our ways and enquiring at his word whatever we undertake Jehoshaphat was not willing to proceed till he had done this 2Ch_184 By particular believing prayer by an unbiased consultation of the

scripture and our own consciences and by an observant regard to the hints of providence we may make such enquiries and very much to our satisfaction 2 Of the great danger of bad company even to good men Those that have more wisdom grace and resolution cannot be sure that they can converse familiarly with wicked people and get no hurt by them Jehoshaphat here in complaisance to Ahab sits in his robes patiently hearing the false prophets speaking lies in the name of the Lord (2Ch_189) can scarcely find in his heart to give him a too mild and gentle reproof for hating a prophet of the Lord (2Ch_187) and dares not rebuke that false prophet who basely abused the faithful seer nor oppose Ahab who committed him to prison Those who venture among the seats of the scornful cannot come off without a great deal of the guilt attaching to at least the omission of their duty unless they have such measures of wisdom and courage as few can pretend to 3 Of the unhappiness of those who are surrounded with flatterers especially flattering prophets who cry peace to them and prophesy nothing but smooth things Thus was Ahab cheated into his ruin and justly for he hearkened to such and preferred those that humoured him before a good prophet that gave him fair warning of his danger Those do best for themselves that give their friends leave and particularly their ministers to deal plainly and faithfully with them and take their reproofs not only patiently but kindly That counsel is not always best for us that is most pleasing to us 4 Of the power of Satan by the divine permission in the children of disobedience One lying spirit can make 400 lying prophets and make use of them to deceive Ahab 2Ch_1821 The devil becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them 5 Of the justice of God in giving those up to strong delusions to believe a lie who will not receive the love of the truth but rebel against it 2Ch_1821 Let the lying spirit prevail to entice those to their ruin that will not be persuaded to their duty and happiness 6 Of the hard case of faithful ministers whose lot it has often been to be hated and persecuted and ill-treated for being true to their God and just and kind to the souls of men Micaiah for discharging a good conscience was buffeted imprisoned and condemned to the bread and water of affliction But he could with assurance appeal to the issue as all those may do who are persecuted for their faithfulness 2Ch_1827 The day will declare who is in the right and who in the wrong when Christ will appear to the unspeakable consolation of his persecuted people and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors who will be made to see in that day(2Ch_1824) what they will not now believe

BI 4-34 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord to-day

Divine truth and its typical reception

Here are four types of human conduct in relation to Divine truth

I Those who seek the truth Micaiah believed in its existence prayed for its teaching and determined to follow its leading

II Those who are opposed to the truth The priests assumed to be its only depositaries denied the claims of others ridiculed and opposed its representative None so slow to believe in a Divine Spirit as those accustomed to speak Divine words but in whose hearts is no Divine life

III Those who believe yet disobey the truth Jehoshaphat believed the prophet Micaiah mildly defended his character yet would not withdraw from Ahab

IV Those who are alarmed at truth Ahab roused in conscience afraid of results and tried to escape by stratagem (J Wolfendale)

BESO 2 Chronicles 184 Inquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord mdash This we should do whatever we undertake by particular believing prayer by an unbiased consulting of the Scriptures and our own consciences and by a close regard to the hints of Providence

COFFMA Jehoshaphats asking here for a prophet of Jehovah dramatically states that the four hundred prophets of Ahab were not prophets of Jehovah Ahabs god was Baal and his prophets were automatically prophets of Baal not of Jehovah (1 Kings 2253)

COKE 2 Chronicles 1814 Go ye up and prospermdash The kings answer plainly shews that he understood these words of Michaiah to be ironical

REFLECTIOSmdash1st Jehoshaphats growing greatness probably made the king of Israel desirous of his alliance and Jehoshaphat too readily consented An Israelitish princess seemed an eligible match for his son and he might hope to make some advantage of it by recovering the house of Israel to the service of God or the kingdom to his posterity The connection however proved dangerous to himself and ruinous to his family The first bad effect produced by it was his involving himself in a war with the Syrians in complaisance to Ahab who having nobly entertained him at Samaria drew him in to be his auxiliary for the recovery of Ramoth-gilead ote (1) Marriages founded on pride and worldly-mindedness cannot fail of bringing misery along with them (2) The strongest expressions of friendship from a wicked man are to be suspected at bottom he means to serve only himself

2nd For the account of Michaiah ampc see 1 Kings 22 We may only farther remark (1) How needful it is to consult God in all our ways (2) When for worldly ends we maintain fellowship with those who are enemies to God for fear of offending we shall often hear what we dare not rebuke and countenance by our presence what we are bound to condemn (3) Faithful prophets are few false prophets numerous It becomes us to beware of following the multitude and to attach ourselves to the faithful few (4) They who love prophets that prophesy smooth things and hate plain dealing are justly given up to their own delusions (5) Suffering for the truths sake is the hereditary portion of Gods ministers (6) The day is coming when the despised word of Gods prophets shall be fulfilled and their enemies too late will wonder and perish

3rdly Ahab pretends to honour Jehoshaphat but in fact intends to expose him so deceitful are the kisses of an enemy but God turns his wicked devices on his own head Jehoshaphat by divine interposition escapes while Ahab falls in his disguise and his armour is no protection from the arrow that God shoots against the

persecutors Man in vain contrives to escape when God hath determined his fall There is neither counsel nor might against the Lord

ELLICOTT (4) And JehoshaphatmdashSo exactly 1 Kings 225

Enquire at the wordmdashSeek the word

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 184 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the LORD to day

Ver 4 Inquire I pray thee of the Lord today] Yea but this should have been done before he had engaged to go Good Jehoshaphat is oft taxed for being smart too late Few consider that it is better to stop or step back than to run on out of the way

GUZIK 3 (2 Chronicles 184-8) Jehoshaphat proposes that they seek God in the matter

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel ldquoPlease inquire for the word of the LORD todayrdquo Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together four hundred men and said to them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And they said ldquoGo up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo But Jehoshaphat said ldquoIs there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Himrdquo So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD but I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil He is Micaiah the son of Imlardquo And Jehoshaphat said ldquoLet not the king say such thingsrdquo Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said ldquoBring Micaiah the son of Imla quicklyrdquo

a Please inquire for the word of the LORD today Considering the generally adversarial relationship between Ahab and the prophets of Yahweh this was a bold request of Jehoshaphat to ask of Ahab It wasnrsquot surprising that Ahab picked prophets who would tell them that they wanted to hear

i ldquoThough Jehoshaphat had already committed himself to the enterprise (2 Chronicles 183) and though he went on to disregard the guidance that was given him (2 Chronicles 1828) he still retained the religion of Yahweh to the extent that he insisted on seeking lsquothe counsel of the Lordrsquordquo (Payne)

b Go up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos hand When Ahab gathered the prophets they were not faithful prophets of the LORD These were prophets happy to please their kings and to tell them what they wanted to hear Jehoshaphat still wanted to hear from a prophet of Yahweh the LORD (Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Him)

i Trapp described this gather of prophets as ldquoAn ecumenical councilrdquo

c I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil Ahab hated the messenger because of the message His real conflict was with God but he focused his hatred against the prophet Micaiah Yet he was willing to listen to the King of Judah when he advised that Ahab should listen to the Prophet Micaiah

PULPIT The wording of this verse is identical with that of the parallel (1 Kings 225) Jehoshaphat if even not quite conscious of it is throwing some sop to his conscience in essaying to become and posing as the godly counsellor of the ungodly (2 Chronicles 192) At any rate his counsel is right even to the point of urging to-day and significantly deprecating procrastination It is not however so clear that he was in the first instance as decided in respect of the necessity of inquiring the will of the Lord at the mouth of a true prophet in distinction from a prophet merely of Israel though they should be four hundred in number Compare the following two verses however which show as though he was holding himself quite prepared and on the look-out for the expected occasion of having to rein Ahab up

5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsmdashfour hundred menmdashand asked them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoGordquo they answered ldquofor God will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (5) ThereforemdashAnd

Of prophetsmdashRather the prophets

Four hundredmdashKings ldquoAbout four hundredrdquo Alsorsquo Adonai (ldquothe Lordrdquo) instead of harsquoelocirchicircm (ldquothe [true] Godrdquo) and ldquoI go againstrdquo for ldquowe go tordquo where the former is obviously more appropriate

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 4: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

Ver 1 ow Jehoshaphat had riches in abundance] Stultitiam patiuntur opes He was the worse for his wealth - as most men also are - else he had not been so fond of this new affinity with Ahab [2 Kings 818]

GUZIK A Jehoshaphat goes to Samaria the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 181) Jehoshaphatrsquos unwise alliance with Ahab

Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance and by marriage he allied himself with Ahab

a Jehoshaphat had riches and honor in abundance Because of his personal godliness (2 Chronicles 171-4) and public godliness (2 Chronicles 177-10) God blessed Jehoshaphat and exalted him among neighboring nations

b By marriage he allied himself with Ahab This manner of linking kingdoms by the bond of marriage was common in the ancient world yet it was unwise policy for Jehoshaphat The wisest strategy for the protection of his kingdom was obedience instead of compromise with the ungodly King Ahab of Israel and his wife Queen Jezebel

i 1 Kings 1629-33 tells us just how bad Ahab was He introduced the worship of completely new pagan gods In his disobedience Jeroboam (the first king of the kingdom of the northern tribes) said ldquoI will worship the LORD but do it my wayrdquo Ahab said ldquoI want to forget about the LORD completely and worship Baalrdquo

ii Ahab was greatly influenced towards wickedness by his Phoenician wife Jezebel ldquoHe was a weak man the tool of a crafty unscrupulous and cruel woman and some of the worst crimes that have ever been committed have been wrought by weak men at the instigation of worse - but stronger - spirits than themselvesrdquo (Meyer)

PULPIT This chapter from its second verse finds its parallel in 1 Kings 222-35 It opens with dangerous symptoms recording in one sentence the event that was to bear ill fruit if not till years afterward (1 Kings 222) of Jehoshaphat joining affinity with Ahab His son Jehoram married Athaliah daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Chronicles 216) The further steps by which Jehoshaphat became entangled with Ahab are graphically described He forms an alliance with him in the war with Ramoth-Gilead (1 Kings 221-3) be urges Ahab to consult a prophet of the Lord (1 Kings 224-12) Ahab unwillingly consents and receives Micaiahs answer (1 Kings 2213-27) and finally the chapter tells us how Ahah went up to battle and in battle received his mortal wound (1 Kings 2228-34)

2 Chronicles 181

The purport of the verse is to let us into the secret that the riches and honour in abundance of Jehoshaphat were in fact the snare by which he was led to entangle himself with one who probably only on that account was willing to be entangled by affinity with him (2 Chronicles 216 2 Chronicles 222-4 2 Kings 825-29) It is not hard to see how they would both lead him if not always out of big and patronizing thoughts to seek and also lay him open to be sought When this verse says Jehoshaphat joined affinity etc it means that he had done so to wit not fewer than nine years before in promoting or allowing whichever it was the marriage of his son Jehoram with Ahabs and Jezebels daughter Athaliah For the issue of this marriage Ahaziah took the throne at the age of twenty-two years thirteen years hence from this seventeenth year of his grandfather Jehoshaphats reign the year of Ahabs death But as we are told that Ahaziah was the youngest son of Jehoram and Athaliah (for explanation of which see 2 Chronicles 2117) the joining affinity must have been something earlier than nine years and very probably came yet nearer the prosperity of the earlier years of Jehoshaphats reign with which would agree well the keynote touched again significantly here from our 2 Chronicles 175 Comp 2 Kings 817 2 Kings 826 2 Chronicles 2120 2 Chronicles 222 (which needs the correction of twenty-two to forty-two) Although it is certain that the act of Jehoshaphat was wrong in principle disastrous in practice (2 Chronicles 192 2 Chronicles 193) and threatened fatal consequences to himself (2 Chronicles 1831 2 Chronicles 1832) yet it is not impossible to suppose his motives were for the most part good and he may naturally have thought that the sunshine of his own peace and abundance might be the set time to win influence in and over Israel rather than strengthen Israel in its ungodly independence On the other hand nothing could justify Jehoshaphat risking such intimacy of relationship with such a family heedless of consequences looking towards idolatry which he should have known were overwhelmingly probable

2 Some years later he went down to see Ahab in Samaria Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead

BARES After certain years - In Jehoshaphatrsquos 17th year 1Ki_2251 not less than 8 years after the marriage (marginal reference note)

GILL 2-34 And after certain years Two years according to the Syriac and Arabic versions or in the third year after the affinity was contracted see 1Ki_222

he went down to Ahab to Samaria to pay him a visit upon the alliance civil and matrimonial contracted between them

and Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that he had with him entertained him and his retinue in a very grand and liberal manner

and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramothgilead from hence to the end of the chapter it is the same with 1Ki_224

JAMISO after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samariamdash This is word for word the same as 1Ki_221-53 (See on commentary on that chapter)

KampD 2-34 The campaign undertaken along with Ahab against the Syrians at Ramoth in Gilead with its origin course and results for Ahab is narrated in 1 Kings (in the history of Ahab) in agreement with our narrative only the introduction to the war being different here In 1Ki_221-3 it is remarked in connection with the preceding wars of Ahab with the Syrians that after there had been no war for three years between Aram and Israel in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah came up to the king of Israel and the latter when he and his servants had determined to snatch away from the Syrians the city Ramoth in Gilead which belonged to Israel called upon Jehoshaphat to march with him to the war against Ramoth In the Chronicle the more exact statement ldquoin the third yearrdquo which is intelligible only in connection with the earlier history of Ahab is

exchanged for the indefinite שנים at the end of yearsrdquo and mention is made of theldquo לקץ

festal entertainment which Ahab bestowed upon his guest and his train (עו אשר to (העםshow the pains which Ahab took to induce King Jehoshaphat to take part in the

proposed campaign He killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance ויסיתהוecnadn and

enticed seduced him to go up with him to Ramoth הסית to incite entice to anything

(Jdg_114) frequently to evil cf Deu_137 etc עלה to advance upon a land or a city in a warlike sense The account which follows of the preparations for the campaign by inquiring of prophets and of the war itself vv 4-34 is in almost verbal agreement with 1 Kings 225-35 Referring to 1 Kings for the commentary on the substance of the narrative we will here only group together briefly the divergences Instead of 400 men who were prophets 2Ch_185 in 1Ki_225 we have about 400 men It is a statement in round numbers founded not upon exact enumeration but upon an approximate

estimate Instead of אה ל אה ל 2Ch_185 in Kings 1Ki_226 we have הנלךאם האלךאםboth verbs being in the same number and so too in 2Ch_1814 where in Kings 1Ki_2215 both verbs stand in the plural notwithstanding that the answer which follows

והצלח is addressed to Ahab alone not to both the kings while in the Chronicle the עלה

answer is given in the plural to both the kings והצליחו in 2Ch_187 ldquohe prophesies עלו

me nothing good but all his days (ie so long as he has been a prophet) evilrdquo the

meaning is intensified by the ל־ימיוamp which is not found in 1Ki_228 In 2Ch_189 the

and sitting upon the threshing-floorrdquo is dueldquo גרן which is introduced before the ויושביםto difference of style for it is quite superfluous for the signification In 2Ch_1815 the ambiguous words of Micah and Jahve will give into the hand of the kingrdquo (1Ki_2215) are given in a more definite form ldquoand they (the enemy) shall be given into your handrdquo

In 2Ch_1819 in the first כהamp אמר is not only ו-אמר after the preceding אמר the זהsuperfluous but improper and has probably come into the text by a copyists error We

should therefore read only כה ampכה corresponding to the זה of 1Ki_2220 זה ldquoThen spake

one after this manner and the other spake after another mannerrdquo In 2Ch_1823 the

indefinite אי־זה of 1Ki_2224 is elucidated by ה רך זה _is that the mannerrdquo (cf 1Kildquo אי

1312 2Ki_38) and the verb עבר follows without the relative pronoun as in the

passages cited In 2Ch_1830 only הרכב of the king are mentioned without any שרי

statement of the number which is given in 1Ki_2231 with a backward reference to the former war (1Ki_2024) In 2Ch_1831 after the words ldquoand Jehoshaphat cried outrdquo the higher cause of Jehoshaphats rescue is pointed out in the words ldquoand Jahve helped him and God drove them from himrdquo which are not found in 1Ki_2232 but by this religious reflection the actual course of the event is in no way altered Bertheaus remark therefore that ldquothe words disturb the clear connection of the eventsrdquo is quite

unwarrantable Finally in 2Ch_1834 מעמיד he was holding his position ie he held היה

himself standing upright the Hiph is more expressive than the Hoph מעמד (1Ki_2235) since it expresses more definitely the fact that he held himself upright by his own strength With Ahabs death which took place in the evening at the time of the going down of the sun the author of the Chronicle concludes his account of this war and proceeds in 2Ch_191-11 to narrate the further course of Jehoshaphats reign In 1Ki_2236-39 the return of the defeated army and the details as to Ahabs death and burial are recorded but these did not fit into the plan of the Chronicle

ELLICOTT (2) And after certain yearsmdashSee margin 1 Kings 222 has ldquoAnd it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat went downrdquo ampcmdasha date which is relative to the three yearsrsquo truce between Syria and Israel mentioned in the preceding verse From 1 Kings 2251 of the same chapter we learn that this visit took place in the sixteenth or seventeenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat The marriage of Jehoram and Athaliah preceded the visit by eight or nine years (Syriac and Arabic ldquoand after two yearsrdquo)

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundancemdashThis royal hospitality is here represented as part of a deliberate plan for obtaining the co-operation of Jehoshaphat in the projected campaign

Persuaded himmdashIncited pricked him on (Judges 112) especially to evil 1 Chronicles 211 Deuteronomy 137 In 1 Kings 223 Ahab broaches the subject of the expedition to his court

To go up tomdashTo make an expedition against a town or country (Isaiah 71 Isaiah 76 1 Kings 1517) Comp Isaiah 87-8

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 182 And after [certain] years he went down to Ahab to Samaria And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that [he had] with him and persuaded him to go up [with him] to Ramothgilead

Ver 2 He went down to Ahab to Samaria] See 1 Kings 222 in which chapter we have the same history related as here not abridged - as is usual with this author -but at large this much commendeth it unto us as necessary and profitable since the Holy Ghost doth nothing in vain

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen] As to feast him and his retinue so haply to sacrifice to the gods as idolaters used to do when great strangers came unto them Dido did so when AEligneas came to her court

ldquo Simul Aeneam in regia ducit

Tecta simul divum templis indicit honorem rdquo - Aeneid lib i

ow Jezebel was Didorsquos countrywoman and had a great influence upon her husband Ahab

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 182-3) Ahab sets his eyes upon Ramoth-Gilead

After some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo And he answered him ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will be with you in the warrdquo

a And persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth in Gilead Previously the King of Syria promised to return certain cities to Israel (1 Kings 2034) in exchange for leniency after defeat in battle Apparently this was a city that Ben-Hadad never returned to Israel and it was in a strategically important location

b Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah to help him in this dispute against Syria This made some sense because Ramoth-Gilead was only 40 miles from Jerusalem

PULPIT After certain years he went down In lieu of the italic type certain here the English idiom years after would aptly reproduce the facts of the case This journey to Samaria to see Ahab was made in the seventeenth year of

Jehoshaphats reign What were the precise antecedent circumstances of this visit of Jehoshaphat to Ahab it is interesting to surmisemdashwhether it were the fruit of an invitation direct from Ahab who had his own designs or whether it were for diplomatic reasons that worked in the mind of Jehoshaphat as well as of Ahab in view of Syria It is evident that Ahab promptly determined to improve this conference of kings Persuaded him ie he took steps to induce him This is the uniform signification of the word here used in the eighteen times of its occurrence and mostly in doubtful or worse than doubtful matter The form is the hiph of סות in which conjugation only the verb occurs The Revised Version renders moved The visiting and cooperating of Jehoshaphat and Ahab made a novel departure in the history of the rended kingdoms of Judah and Israel and continued till the time of Jehu Ramoth-Gilead This important city of Gad (Joshua 208 Joshua 2138) in Palestine beyond Jordan comes into question as one not surrendered to the king-dora of Israel in good faith according to the promise of Benhadad Benhadads father having taken it from Omri father of Ahab For all the might that he showed and presumably in conflicts with Syria Omri was evidently a heavy loser Ramoth-Gilead means the heights of Gilead

3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo

Jehoshaphat replied ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will join you in the warrdquo

CLARKE To Ramoth-gilead - This place belonged to the Israelites and was now held by the king of Syria

The whole of this chapter is circumstantially explained in the notes on 1 Kings 221-53

ELLICOTT (3) And Ahab king of IsraelmdashThis verse is essentially the same as 1 Kings 224 From this point the two narratives practically coincide (See the otes on 1 Kings 22)

To Ramoth-gileadmdashie Ramoth of or in Gilead Ramoth (ldquoheightsrdquo) or Ramath or Ramah (ldquoheightrdquo) was a common name in such a hilly country as Palestine Kings adds to the war

And my people in the warmdashThe symmetry of this part of the verse has been disregarded by the chronicler in order to make Jehoshaphat express an apparently more definite assent to Ahabrsquos request (Comp Kings ldquoMy people as thy people my horses as thy horsesrdquo (kamocircnicirc kamocircka kĕlsquoammicirc kĕlsquoammbka kĕsucircsai kĕsucircseika) The Syriac reads ldquoAnd my horses as thy horses and I will go with thee to the warrdquo Similarly the Arabic ldquoMy horsemen as thy horsemenrdquo

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 183 And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead And he answered him I [am] as thou [art] and my people as thy people and [we will be] with thee in the war

Ver 3 I am as thou art] See 1 Kings 224 Jehoshaphat was too facile It was noted as a fault in Henry IV of France that he was aeque male ac bono reconciliabilis of too good a nature as we say of some

PULPIT I am as thou etc The same unqualified kind of language was used By Jehoshaphat on another occasion (2 Kings 37) two years later when Jehoram son of the deceased Ahab also asked his help against Moab Whether on the one occasion or the other it is quite possible that Jehoshaphat thought he was serving common interests and the cause of his own kingdom as well as of Israel nevertheless Jehu the son of Hanani the seer ignores the supposed justification (2 Chronicles 192)

4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel ldquoFirst seek the counsel of the Lordrdquo

HERY 4-27 This is almost word for word the same with what we had 1 Kings 22 We will not repeat what was there said nor have we much to add but may take occasion to think 1 Of the great duty of acknowledging God in all our ways and enquiring at his word whatever we undertake Jehoshaphat was not willing to proceed till he had done this 2Ch_184 By particular believing prayer by an unbiased consultation of the

scripture and our own consciences and by an observant regard to the hints of providence we may make such enquiries and very much to our satisfaction 2 Of the great danger of bad company even to good men Those that have more wisdom grace and resolution cannot be sure that they can converse familiarly with wicked people and get no hurt by them Jehoshaphat here in complaisance to Ahab sits in his robes patiently hearing the false prophets speaking lies in the name of the Lord (2Ch_189) can scarcely find in his heart to give him a too mild and gentle reproof for hating a prophet of the Lord (2Ch_187) and dares not rebuke that false prophet who basely abused the faithful seer nor oppose Ahab who committed him to prison Those who venture among the seats of the scornful cannot come off without a great deal of the guilt attaching to at least the omission of their duty unless they have such measures of wisdom and courage as few can pretend to 3 Of the unhappiness of those who are surrounded with flatterers especially flattering prophets who cry peace to them and prophesy nothing but smooth things Thus was Ahab cheated into his ruin and justly for he hearkened to such and preferred those that humoured him before a good prophet that gave him fair warning of his danger Those do best for themselves that give their friends leave and particularly their ministers to deal plainly and faithfully with them and take their reproofs not only patiently but kindly That counsel is not always best for us that is most pleasing to us 4 Of the power of Satan by the divine permission in the children of disobedience One lying spirit can make 400 lying prophets and make use of them to deceive Ahab 2Ch_1821 The devil becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them 5 Of the justice of God in giving those up to strong delusions to believe a lie who will not receive the love of the truth but rebel against it 2Ch_1821 Let the lying spirit prevail to entice those to their ruin that will not be persuaded to their duty and happiness 6 Of the hard case of faithful ministers whose lot it has often been to be hated and persecuted and ill-treated for being true to their God and just and kind to the souls of men Micaiah for discharging a good conscience was buffeted imprisoned and condemned to the bread and water of affliction But he could with assurance appeal to the issue as all those may do who are persecuted for their faithfulness 2Ch_1827 The day will declare who is in the right and who in the wrong when Christ will appear to the unspeakable consolation of his persecuted people and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors who will be made to see in that day(2Ch_1824) what they will not now believe

BI 4-34 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord to-day

Divine truth and its typical reception

Here are four types of human conduct in relation to Divine truth

I Those who seek the truth Micaiah believed in its existence prayed for its teaching and determined to follow its leading

II Those who are opposed to the truth The priests assumed to be its only depositaries denied the claims of others ridiculed and opposed its representative None so slow to believe in a Divine Spirit as those accustomed to speak Divine words but in whose hearts is no Divine life

III Those who believe yet disobey the truth Jehoshaphat believed the prophet Micaiah mildly defended his character yet would not withdraw from Ahab

IV Those who are alarmed at truth Ahab roused in conscience afraid of results and tried to escape by stratagem (J Wolfendale)

BESO 2 Chronicles 184 Inquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord mdash This we should do whatever we undertake by particular believing prayer by an unbiased consulting of the Scriptures and our own consciences and by a close regard to the hints of Providence

COFFMA Jehoshaphats asking here for a prophet of Jehovah dramatically states that the four hundred prophets of Ahab were not prophets of Jehovah Ahabs god was Baal and his prophets were automatically prophets of Baal not of Jehovah (1 Kings 2253)

COKE 2 Chronicles 1814 Go ye up and prospermdash The kings answer plainly shews that he understood these words of Michaiah to be ironical

REFLECTIOSmdash1st Jehoshaphats growing greatness probably made the king of Israel desirous of his alliance and Jehoshaphat too readily consented An Israelitish princess seemed an eligible match for his son and he might hope to make some advantage of it by recovering the house of Israel to the service of God or the kingdom to his posterity The connection however proved dangerous to himself and ruinous to his family The first bad effect produced by it was his involving himself in a war with the Syrians in complaisance to Ahab who having nobly entertained him at Samaria drew him in to be his auxiliary for the recovery of Ramoth-gilead ote (1) Marriages founded on pride and worldly-mindedness cannot fail of bringing misery along with them (2) The strongest expressions of friendship from a wicked man are to be suspected at bottom he means to serve only himself

2nd For the account of Michaiah ampc see 1 Kings 22 We may only farther remark (1) How needful it is to consult God in all our ways (2) When for worldly ends we maintain fellowship with those who are enemies to God for fear of offending we shall often hear what we dare not rebuke and countenance by our presence what we are bound to condemn (3) Faithful prophets are few false prophets numerous It becomes us to beware of following the multitude and to attach ourselves to the faithful few (4) They who love prophets that prophesy smooth things and hate plain dealing are justly given up to their own delusions (5) Suffering for the truths sake is the hereditary portion of Gods ministers (6) The day is coming when the despised word of Gods prophets shall be fulfilled and their enemies too late will wonder and perish

3rdly Ahab pretends to honour Jehoshaphat but in fact intends to expose him so deceitful are the kisses of an enemy but God turns his wicked devices on his own head Jehoshaphat by divine interposition escapes while Ahab falls in his disguise and his armour is no protection from the arrow that God shoots against the

persecutors Man in vain contrives to escape when God hath determined his fall There is neither counsel nor might against the Lord

ELLICOTT (4) And JehoshaphatmdashSo exactly 1 Kings 225

Enquire at the wordmdashSeek the word

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 184 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the LORD to day

Ver 4 Inquire I pray thee of the Lord today] Yea but this should have been done before he had engaged to go Good Jehoshaphat is oft taxed for being smart too late Few consider that it is better to stop or step back than to run on out of the way

GUZIK 3 (2 Chronicles 184-8) Jehoshaphat proposes that they seek God in the matter

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel ldquoPlease inquire for the word of the LORD todayrdquo Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together four hundred men and said to them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And they said ldquoGo up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo But Jehoshaphat said ldquoIs there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Himrdquo So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD but I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil He is Micaiah the son of Imlardquo And Jehoshaphat said ldquoLet not the king say such thingsrdquo Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said ldquoBring Micaiah the son of Imla quicklyrdquo

a Please inquire for the word of the LORD today Considering the generally adversarial relationship between Ahab and the prophets of Yahweh this was a bold request of Jehoshaphat to ask of Ahab It wasnrsquot surprising that Ahab picked prophets who would tell them that they wanted to hear

i ldquoThough Jehoshaphat had already committed himself to the enterprise (2 Chronicles 183) and though he went on to disregard the guidance that was given him (2 Chronicles 1828) he still retained the religion of Yahweh to the extent that he insisted on seeking lsquothe counsel of the Lordrsquordquo (Payne)

b Go up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos hand When Ahab gathered the prophets they were not faithful prophets of the LORD These were prophets happy to please their kings and to tell them what they wanted to hear Jehoshaphat still wanted to hear from a prophet of Yahweh the LORD (Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Him)

i Trapp described this gather of prophets as ldquoAn ecumenical councilrdquo

c I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil Ahab hated the messenger because of the message His real conflict was with God but he focused his hatred against the prophet Micaiah Yet he was willing to listen to the King of Judah when he advised that Ahab should listen to the Prophet Micaiah

PULPIT The wording of this verse is identical with that of the parallel (1 Kings 225) Jehoshaphat if even not quite conscious of it is throwing some sop to his conscience in essaying to become and posing as the godly counsellor of the ungodly (2 Chronicles 192) At any rate his counsel is right even to the point of urging to-day and significantly deprecating procrastination It is not however so clear that he was in the first instance as decided in respect of the necessity of inquiring the will of the Lord at the mouth of a true prophet in distinction from a prophet merely of Israel though they should be four hundred in number Compare the following two verses however which show as though he was holding himself quite prepared and on the look-out for the expected occasion of having to rein Ahab up

5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsmdashfour hundred menmdashand asked them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoGordquo they answered ldquofor God will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (5) ThereforemdashAnd

Of prophetsmdashRather the prophets

Four hundredmdashKings ldquoAbout four hundredrdquo Alsorsquo Adonai (ldquothe Lordrdquo) instead of harsquoelocirchicircm (ldquothe [true] Godrdquo) and ldquoI go againstrdquo for ldquowe go tordquo where the former is obviously more appropriate

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 5: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

The purport of the verse is to let us into the secret that the riches and honour in abundance of Jehoshaphat were in fact the snare by which he was led to entangle himself with one who probably only on that account was willing to be entangled by affinity with him (2 Chronicles 216 2 Chronicles 222-4 2 Kings 825-29) It is not hard to see how they would both lead him if not always out of big and patronizing thoughts to seek and also lay him open to be sought When this verse says Jehoshaphat joined affinity etc it means that he had done so to wit not fewer than nine years before in promoting or allowing whichever it was the marriage of his son Jehoram with Ahabs and Jezebels daughter Athaliah For the issue of this marriage Ahaziah took the throne at the age of twenty-two years thirteen years hence from this seventeenth year of his grandfather Jehoshaphats reign the year of Ahabs death But as we are told that Ahaziah was the youngest son of Jehoram and Athaliah (for explanation of which see 2 Chronicles 2117) the joining affinity must have been something earlier than nine years and very probably came yet nearer the prosperity of the earlier years of Jehoshaphats reign with which would agree well the keynote touched again significantly here from our 2 Chronicles 175 Comp 2 Kings 817 2 Kings 826 2 Chronicles 2120 2 Chronicles 222 (which needs the correction of twenty-two to forty-two) Although it is certain that the act of Jehoshaphat was wrong in principle disastrous in practice (2 Chronicles 192 2 Chronicles 193) and threatened fatal consequences to himself (2 Chronicles 1831 2 Chronicles 1832) yet it is not impossible to suppose his motives were for the most part good and he may naturally have thought that the sunshine of his own peace and abundance might be the set time to win influence in and over Israel rather than strengthen Israel in its ungodly independence On the other hand nothing could justify Jehoshaphat risking such intimacy of relationship with such a family heedless of consequences looking towards idolatry which he should have known were overwhelmingly probable

2 Some years later he went down to see Ahab in Samaria Ahab slaughtered many sheep and cattle for him and the people with him and urged him to attack Ramoth Gilead

BARES After certain years - In Jehoshaphatrsquos 17th year 1Ki_2251 not less than 8 years after the marriage (marginal reference note)

GILL 2-34 And after certain years Two years according to the Syriac and Arabic versions or in the third year after the affinity was contracted see 1Ki_222

he went down to Ahab to Samaria to pay him a visit upon the alliance civil and matrimonial contracted between them

and Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that he had with him entertained him and his retinue in a very grand and liberal manner

and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramothgilead from hence to the end of the chapter it is the same with 1Ki_224

JAMISO after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samariamdash This is word for word the same as 1Ki_221-53 (See on commentary on that chapter)

KampD 2-34 The campaign undertaken along with Ahab against the Syrians at Ramoth in Gilead with its origin course and results for Ahab is narrated in 1 Kings (in the history of Ahab) in agreement with our narrative only the introduction to the war being different here In 1Ki_221-3 it is remarked in connection with the preceding wars of Ahab with the Syrians that after there had been no war for three years between Aram and Israel in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah came up to the king of Israel and the latter when he and his servants had determined to snatch away from the Syrians the city Ramoth in Gilead which belonged to Israel called upon Jehoshaphat to march with him to the war against Ramoth In the Chronicle the more exact statement ldquoin the third yearrdquo which is intelligible only in connection with the earlier history of Ahab is

exchanged for the indefinite שנים at the end of yearsrdquo and mention is made of theldquo לקץ

festal entertainment which Ahab bestowed upon his guest and his train (עו אשר to (העםshow the pains which Ahab took to induce King Jehoshaphat to take part in the

proposed campaign He killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance ויסיתהוecnadn and

enticed seduced him to go up with him to Ramoth הסית to incite entice to anything

(Jdg_114) frequently to evil cf Deu_137 etc עלה to advance upon a land or a city in a warlike sense The account which follows of the preparations for the campaign by inquiring of prophets and of the war itself vv 4-34 is in almost verbal agreement with 1 Kings 225-35 Referring to 1 Kings for the commentary on the substance of the narrative we will here only group together briefly the divergences Instead of 400 men who were prophets 2Ch_185 in 1Ki_225 we have about 400 men It is a statement in round numbers founded not upon exact enumeration but upon an approximate

estimate Instead of אה ל אה ל 2Ch_185 in Kings 1Ki_226 we have הנלךאם האלךאםboth verbs being in the same number and so too in 2Ch_1814 where in Kings 1Ki_2215 both verbs stand in the plural notwithstanding that the answer which follows

והצלח is addressed to Ahab alone not to both the kings while in the Chronicle the עלה

answer is given in the plural to both the kings והצליחו in 2Ch_187 ldquohe prophesies עלו

me nothing good but all his days (ie so long as he has been a prophet) evilrdquo the

meaning is intensified by the ל־ימיוamp which is not found in 1Ki_228 In 2Ch_189 the

and sitting upon the threshing-floorrdquo is dueldquo גרן which is introduced before the ויושביםto difference of style for it is quite superfluous for the signification In 2Ch_1815 the ambiguous words of Micah and Jahve will give into the hand of the kingrdquo (1Ki_2215) are given in a more definite form ldquoand they (the enemy) shall be given into your handrdquo

In 2Ch_1819 in the first כהamp אמר is not only ו-אמר after the preceding אמר the זהsuperfluous but improper and has probably come into the text by a copyists error We

should therefore read only כה ampכה corresponding to the זה of 1Ki_2220 זה ldquoThen spake

one after this manner and the other spake after another mannerrdquo In 2Ch_1823 the

indefinite אי־זה of 1Ki_2224 is elucidated by ה רך זה _is that the mannerrdquo (cf 1Kildquo אי

1312 2Ki_38) and the verb עבר follows without the relative pronoun as in the

passages cited In 2Ch_1830 only הרכב of the king are mentioned without any שרי

statement of the number which is given in 1Ki_2231 with a backward reference to the former war (1Ki_2024) In 2Ch_1831 after the words ldquoand Jehoshaphat cried outrdquo the higher cause of Jehoshaphats rescue is pointed out in the words ldquoand Jahve helped him and God drove them from himrdquo which are not found in 1Ki_2232 but by this religious reflection the actual course of the event is in no way altered Bertheaus remark therefore that ldquothe words disturb the clear connection of the eventsrdquo is quite

unwarrantable Finally in 2Ch_1834 מעמיד he was holding his position ie he held היה

himself standing upright the Hiph is more expressive than the Hoph מעמד (1Ki_2235) since it expresses more definitely the fact that he held himself upright by his own strength With Ahabs death which took place in the evening at the time of the going down of the sun the author of the Chronicle concludes his account of this war and proceeds in 2Ch_191-11 to narrate the further course of Jehoshaphats reign In 1Ki_2236-39 the return of the defeated army and the details as to Ahabs death and burial are recorded but these did not fit into the plan of the Chronicle

ELLICOTT (2) And after certain yearsmdashSee margin 1 Kings 222 has ldquoAnd it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat went downrdquo ampcmdasha date which is relative to the three yearsrsquo truce between Syria and Israel mentioned in the preceding verse From 1 Kings 2251 of the same chapter we learn that this visit took place in the sixteenth or seventeenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat The marriage of Jehoram and Athaliah preceded the visit by eight or nine years (Syriac and Arabic ldquoand after two yearsrdquo)

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundancemdashThis royal hospitality is here represented as part of a deliberate plan for obtaining the co-operation of Jehoshaphat in the projected campaign

Persuaded himmdashIncited pricked him on (Judges 112) especially to evil 1 Chronicles 211 Deuteronomy 137 In 1 Kings 223 Ahab broaches the subject of the expedition to his court

To go up tomdashTo make an expedition against a town or country (Isaiah 71 Isaiah 76 1 Kings 1517) Comp Isaiah 87-8

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 182 And after [certain] years he went down to Ahab to Samaria And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that [he had] with him and persuaded him to go up [with him] to Ramothgilead

Ver 2 He went down to Ahab to Samaria] See 1 Kings 222 in which chapter we have the same history related as here not abridged - as is usual with this author -but at large this much commendeth it unto us as necessary and profitable since the Holy Ghost doth nothing in vain

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen] As to feast him and his retinue so haply to sacrifice to the gods as idolaters used to do when great strangers came unto them Dido did so when AEligneas came to her court

ldquo Simul Aeneam in regia ducit

Tecta simul divum templis indicit honorem rdquo - Aeneid lib i

ow Jezebel was Didorsquos countrywoman and had a great influence upon her husband Ahab

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 182-3) Ahab sets his eyes upon Ramoth-Gilead

After some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo And he answered him ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will be with you in the warrdquo

a And persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth in Gilead Previously the King of Syria promised to return certain cities to Israel (1 Kings 2034) in exchange for leniency after defeat in battle Apparently this was a city that Ben-Hadad never returned to Israel and it was in a strategically important location

b Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah to help him in this dispute against Syria This made some sense because Ramoth-Gilead was only 40 miles from Jerusalem

PULPIT After certain years he went down In lieu of the italic type certain here the English idiom years after would aptly reproduce the facts of the case This journey to Samaria to see Ahab was made in the seventeenth year of

Jehoshaphats reign What were the precise antecedent circumstances of this visit of Jehoshaphat to Ahab it is interesting to surmisemdashwhether it were the fruit of an invitation direct from Ahab who had his own designs or whether it were for diplomatic reasons that worked in the mind of Jehoshaphat as well as of Ahab in view of Syria It is evident that Ahab promptly determined to improve this conference of kings Persuaded him ie he took steps to induce him This is the uniform signification of the word here used in the eighteen times of its occurrence and mostly in doubtful or worse than doubtful matter The form is the hiph of סות in which conjugation only the verb occurs The Revised Version renders moved The visiting and cooperating of Jehoshaphat and Ahab made a novel departure in the history of the rended kingdoms of Judah and Israel and continued till the time of Jehu Ramoth-Gilead This important city of Gad (Joshua 208 Joshua 2138) in Palestine beyond Jordan comes into question as one not surrendered to the king-dora of Israel in good faith according to the promise of Benhadad Benhadads father having taken it from Omri father of Ahab For all the might that he showed and presumably in conflicts with Syria Omri was evidently a heavy loser Ramoth-Gilead means the heights of Gilead

3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo

Jehoshaphat replied ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will join you in the warrdquo

CLARKE To Ramoth-gilead - This place belonged to the Israelites and was now held by the king of Syria

The whole of this chapter is circumstantially explained in the notes on 1 Kings 221-53

ELLICOTT (3) And Ahab king of IsraelmdashThis verse is essentially the same as 1 Kings 224 From this point the two narratives practically coincide (See the otes on 1 Kings 22)

To Ramoth-gileadmdashie Ramoth of or in Gilead Ramoth (ldquoheightsrdquo) or Ramath or Ramah (ldquoheightrdquo) was a common name in such a hilly country as Palestine Kings adds to the war

And my people in the warmdashThe symmetry of this part of the verse has been disregarded by the chronicler in order to make Jehoshaphat express an apparently more definite assent to Ahabrsquos request (Comp Kings ldquoMy people as thy people my horses as thy horsesrdquo (kamocircnicirc kamocircka kĕlsquoammicirc kĕlsquoammbka kĕsucircsai kĕsucircseika) The Syriac reads ldquoAnd my horses as thy horses and I will go with thee to the warrdquo Similarly the Arabic ldquoMy horsemen as thy horsemenrdquo

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 183 And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead And he answered him I [am] as thou [art] and my people as thy people and [we will be] with thee in the war

Ver 3 I am as thou art] See 1 Kings 224 Jehoshaphat was too facile It was noted as a fault in Henry IV of France that he was aeque male ac bono reconciliabilis of too good a nature as we say of some

PULPIT I am as thou etc The same unqualified kind of language was used By Jehoshaphat on another occasion (2 Kings 37) two years later when Jehoram son of the deceased Ahab also asked his help against Moab Whether on the one occasion or the other it is quite possible that Jehoshaphat thought he was serving common interests and the cause of his own kingdom as well as of Israel nevertheless Jehu the son of Hanani the seer ignores the supposed justification (2 Chronicles 192)

4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel ldquoFirst seek the counsel of the Lordrdquo

HERY 4-27 This is almost word for word the same with what we had 1 Kings 22 We will not repeat what was there said nor have we much to add but may take occasion to think 1 Of the great duty of acknowledging God in all our ways and enquiring at his word whatever we undertake Jehoshaphat was not willing to proceed till he had done this 2Ch_184 By particular believing prayer by an unbiased consultation of the

scripture and our own consciences and by an observant regard to the hints of providence we may make such enquiries and very much to our satisfaction 2 Of the great danger of bad company even to good men Those that have more wisdom grace and resolution cannot be sure that they can converse familiarly with wicked people and get no hurt by them Jehoshaphat here in complaisance to Ahab sits in his robes patiently hearing the false prophets speaking lies in the name of the Lord (2Ch_189) can scarcely find in his heart to give him a too mild and gentle reproof for hating a prophet of the Lord (2Ch_187) and dares not rebuke that false prophet who basely abused the faithful seer nor oppose Ahab who committed him to prison Those who venture among the seats of the scornful cannot come off without a great deal of the guilt attaching to at least the omission of their duty unless they have such measures of wisdom and courage as few can pretend to 3 Of the unhappiness of those who are surrounded with flatterers especially flattering prophets who cry peace to them and prophesy nothing but smooth things Thus was Ahab cheated into his ruin and justly for he hearkened to such and preferred those that humoured him before a good prophet that gave him fair warning of his danger Those do best for themselves that give their friends leave and particularly their ministers to deal plainly and faithfully with them and take their reproofs not only patiently but kindly That counsel is not always best for us that is most pleasing to us 4 Of the power of Satan by the divine permission in the children of disobedience One lying spirit can make 400 lying prophets and make use of them to deceive Ahab 2Ch_1821 The devil becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them 5 Of the justice of God in giving those up to strong delusions to believe a lie who will not receive the love of the truth but rebel against it 2Ch_1821 Let the lying spirit prevail to entice those to their ruin that will not be persuaded to their duty and happiness 6 Of the hard case of faithful ministers whose lot it has often been to be hated and persecuted and ill-treated for being true to their God and just and kind to the souls of men Micaiah for discharging a good conscience was buffeted imprisoned and condemned to the bread and water of affliction But he could with assurance appeal to the issue as all those may do who are persecuted for their faithfulness 2Ch_1827 The day will declare who is in the right and who in the wrong when Christ will appear to the unspeakable consolation of his persecuted people and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors who will be made to see in that day(2Ch_1824) what they will not now believe

BI 4-34 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord to-day

Divine truth and its typical reception

Here are four types of human conduct in relation to Divine truth

I Those who seek the truth Micaiah believed in its existence prayed for its teaching and determined to follow its leading

II Those who are opposed to the truth The priests assumed to be its only depositaries denied the claims of others ridiculed and opposed its representative None so slow to believe in a Divine Spirit as those accustomed to speak Divine words but in whose hearts is no Divine life

III Those who believe yet disobey the truth Jehoshaphat believed the prophet Micaiah mildly defended his character yet would not withdraw from Ahab

IV Those who are alarmed at truth Ahab roused in conscience afraid of results and tried to escape by stratagem (J Wolfendale)

BESO 2 Chronicles 184 Inquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord mdash This we should do whatever we undertake by particular believing prayer by an unbiased consulting of the Scriptures and our own consciences and by a close regard to the hints of Providence

COFFMA Jehoshaphats asking here for a prophet of Jehovah dramatically states that the four hundred prophets of Ahab were not prophets of Jehovah Ahabs god was Baal and his prophets were automatically prophets of Baal not of Jehovah (1 Kings 2253)

COKE 2 Chronicles 1814 Go ye up and prospermdash The kings answer plainly shews that he understood these words of Michaiah to be ironical

REFLECTIOSmdash1st Jehoshaphats growing greatness probably made the king of Israel desirous of his alliance and Jehoshaphat too readily consented An Israelitish princess seemed an eligible match for his son and he might hope to make some advantage of it by recovering the house of Israel to the service of God or the kingdom to his posterity The connection however proved dangerous to himself and ruinous to his family The first bad effect produced by it was his involving himself in a war with the Syrians in complaisance to Ahab who having nobly entertained him at Samaria drew him in to be his auxiliary for the recovery of Ramoth-gilead ote (1) Marriages founded on pride and worldly-mindedness cannot fail of bringing misery along with them (2) The strongest expressions of friendship from a wicked man are to be suspected at bottom he means to serve only himself

2nd For the account of Michaiah ampc see 1 Kings 22 We may only farther remark (1) How needful it is to consult God in all our ways (2) When for worldly ends we maintain fellowship with those who are enemies to God for fear of offending we shall often hear what we dare not rebuke and countenance by our presence what we are bound to condemn (3) Faithful prophets are few false prophets numerous It becomes us to beware of following the multitude and to attach ourselves to the faithful few (4) They who love prophets that prophesy smooth things and hate plain dealing are justly given up to their own delusions (5) Suffering for the truths sake is the hereditary portion of Gods ministers (6) The day is coming when the despised word of Gods prophets shall be fulfilled and their enemies too late will wonder and perish

3rdly Ahab pretends to honour Jehoshaphat but in fact intends to expose him so deceitful are the kisses of an enemy but God turns his wicked devices on his own head Jehoshaphat by divine interposition escapes while Ahab falls in his disguise and his armour is no protection from the arrow that God shoots against the

persecutors Man in vain contrives to escape when God hath determined his fall There is neither counsel nor might against the Lord

ELLICOTT (4) And JehoshaphatmdashSo exactly 1 Kings 225

Enquire at the wordmdashSeek the word

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 184 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the LORD to day

Ver 4 Inquire I pray thee of the Lord today] Yea but this should have been done before he had engaged to go Good Jehoshaphat is oft taxed for being smart too late Few consider that it is better to stop or step back than to run on out of the way

GUZIK 3 (2 Chronicles 184-8) Jehoshaphat proposes that they seek God in the matter

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel ldquoPlease inquire for the word of the LORD todayrdquo Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together four hundred men and said to them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And they said ldquoGo up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo But Jehoshaphat said ldquoIs there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Himrdquo So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD but I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil He is Micaiah the son of Imlardquo And Jehoshaphat said ldquoLet not the king say such thingsrdquo Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said ldquoBring Micaiah the son of Imla quicklyrdquo

a Please inquire for the word of the LORD today Considering the generally adversarial relationship between Ahab and the prophets of Yahweh this was a bold request of Jehoshaphat to ask of Ahab It wasnrsquot surprising that Ahab picked prophets who would tell them that they wanted to hear

i ldquoThough Jehoshaphat had already committed himself to the enterprise (2 Chronicles 183) and though he went on to disregard the guidance that was given him (2 Chronicles 1828) he still retained the religion of Yahweh to the extent that he insisted on seeking lsquothe counsel of the Lordrsquordquo (Payne)

b Go up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos hand When Ahab gathered the prophets they were not faithful prophets of the LORD These were prophets happy to please their kings and to tell them what they wanted to hear Jehoshaphat still wanted to hear from a prophet of Yahweh the LORD (Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Him)

i Trapp described this gather of prophets as ldquoAn ecumenical councilrdquo

c I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil Ahab hated the messenger because of the message His real conflict was with God but he focused his hatred against the prophet Micaiah Yet he was willing to listen to the King of Judah when he advised that Ahab should listen to the Prophet Micaiah

PULPIT The wording of this verse is identical with that of the parallel (1 Kings 225) Jehoshaphat if even not quite conscious of it is throwing some sop to his conscience in essaying to become and posing as the godly counsellor of the ungodly (2 Chronicles 192) At any rate his counsel is right even to the point of urging to-day and significantly deprecating procrastination It is not however so clear that he was in the first instance as decided in respect of the necessity of inquiring the will of the Lord at the mouth of a true prophet in distinction from a prophet merely of Israel though they should be four hundred in number Compare the following two verses however which show as though he was holding himself quite prepared and on the look-out for the expected occasion of having to rein Ahab up

5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsmdashfour hundred menmdashand asked them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoGordquo they answered ldquofor God will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (5) ThereforemdashAnd

Of prophetsmdashRather the prophets

Four hundredmdashKings ldquoAbout four hundredrdquo Alsorsquo Adonai (ldquothe Lordrdquo) instead of harsquoelocirchicircm (ldquothe [true] Godrdquo) and ldquoI go againstrdquo for ldquowe go tordquo where the former is obviously more appropriate

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 6: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

GILL 2-34 And after certain years Two years according to the Syriac and Arabic versions or in the third year after the affinity was contracted see 1Ki_222

he went down to Ahab to Samaria to pay him a visit upon the alliance civil and matrimonial contracted between them

and Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that he had with him entertained him and his retinue in a very grand and liberal manner

and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramothgilead from hence to the end of the chapter it is the same with 1Ki_224

JAMISO after certain years he went down to Ahab to Samariamdash This is word for word the same as 1Ki_221-53 (See on commentary on that chapter)

KampD 2-34 The campaign undertaken along with Ahab against the Syrians at Ramoth in Gilead with its origin course and results for Ahab is narrated in 1 Kings (in the history of Ahab) in agreement with our narrative only the introduction to the war being different here In 1Ki_221-3 it is remarked in connection with the preceding wars of Ahab with the Syrians that after there had been no war for three years between Aram and Israel in the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah came up to the king of Israel and the latter when he and his servants had determined to snatch away from the Syrians the city Ramoth in Gilead which belonged to Israel called upon Jehoshaphat to march with him to the war against Ramoth In the Chronicle the more exact statement ldquoin the third yearrdquo which is intelligible only in connection with the earlier history of Ahab is

exchanged for the indefinite שנים at the end of yearsrdquo and mention is made of theldquo לקץ

festal entertainment which Ahab bestowed upon his guest and his train (עו אשר to (העםshow the pains which Ahab took to induce King Jehoshaphat to take part in the

proposed campaign He killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance ויסיתהוecnadn and

enticed seduced him to go up with him to Ramoth הסית to incite entice to anything

(Jdg_114) frequently to evil cf Deu_137 etc עלה to advance upon a land or a city in a warlike sense The account which follows of the preparations for the campaign by inquiring of prophets and of the war itself vv 4-34 is in almost verbal agreement with 1 Kings 225-35 Referring to 1 Kings for the commentary on the substance of the narrative we will here only group together briefly the divergences Instead of 400 men who were prophets 2Ch_185 in 1Ki_225 we have about 400 men It is a statement in round numbers founded not upon exact enumeration but upon an approximate

estimate Instead of אה ל אה ל 2Ch_185 in Kings 1Ki_226 we have הנלךאם האלךאםboth verbs being in the same number and so too in 2Ch_1814 where in Kings 1Ki_2215 both verbs stand in the plural notwithstanding that the answer which follows

והצלח is addressed to Ahab alone not to both the kings while in the Chronicle the עלה

answer is given in the plural to both the kings והצליחו in 2Ch_187 ldquohe prophesies עלו

me nothing good but all his days (ie so long as he has been a prophet) evilrdquo the

meaning is intensified by the ל־ימיוamp which is not found in 1Ki_228 In 2Ch_189 the

and sitting upon the threshing-floorrdquo is dueldquo גרן which is introduced before the ויושביםto difference of style for it is quite superfluous for the signification In 2Ch_1815 the ambiguous words of Micah and Jahve will give into the hand of the kingrdquo (1Ki_2215) are given in a more definite form ldquoand they (the enemy) shall be given into your handrdquo

In 2Ch_1819 in the first כהamp אמר is not only ו-אמר after the preceding אמר the זהsuperfluous but improper and has probably come into the text by a copyists error We

should therefore read only כה ampכה corresponding to the זה of 1Ki_2220 זה ldquoThen spake

one after this manner and the other spake after another mannerrdquo In 2Ch_1823 the

indefinite אי־זה of 1Ki_2224 is elucidated by ה רך זה _is that the mannerrdquo (cf 1Kildquo אי

1312 2Ki_38) and the verb עבר follows without the relative pronoun as in the

passages cited In 2Ch_1830 only הרכב of the king are mentioned without any שרי

statement of the number which is given in 1Ki_2231 with a backward reference to the former war (1Ki_2024) In 2Ch_1831 after the words ldquoand Jehoshaphat cried outrdquo the higher cause of Jehoshaphats rescue is pointed out in the words ldquoand Jahve helped him and God drove them from himrdquo which are not found in 1Ki_2232 but by this religious reflection the actual course of the event is in no way altered Bertheaus remark therefore that ldquothe words disturb the clear connection of the eventsrdquo is quite

unwarrantable Finally in 2Ch_1834 מעמיד he was holding his position ie he held היה

himself standing upright the Hiph is more expressive than the Hoph מעמד (1Ki_2235) since it expresses more definitely the fact that he held himself upright by his own strength With Ahabs death which took place in the evening at the time of the going down of the sun the author of the Chronicle concludes his account of this war and proceeds in 2Ch_191-11 to narrate the further course of Jehoshaphats reign In 1Ki_2236-39 the return of the defeated army and the details as to Ahabs death and burial are recorded but these did not fit into the plan of the Chronicle

ELLICOTT (2) And after certain yearsmdashSee margin 1 Kings 222 has ldquoAnd it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat went downrdquo ampcmdasha date which is relative to the three yearsrsquo truce between Syria and Israel mentioned in the preceding verse From 1 Kings 2251 of the same chapter we learn that this visit took place in the sixteenth or seventeenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat The marriage of Jehoram and Athaliah preceded the visit by eight or nine years (Syriac and Arabic ldquoand after two yearsrdquo)

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundancemdashThis royal hospitality is here represented as part of a deliberate plan for obtaining the co-operation of Jehoshaphat in the projected campaign

Persuaded himmdashIncited pricked him on (Judges 112) especially to evil 1 Chronicles 211 Deuteronomy 137 In 1 Kings 223 Ahab broaches the subject of the expedition to his court

To go up tomdashTo make an expedition against a town or country (Isaiah 71 Isaiah 76 1 Kings 1517) Comp Isaiah 87-8

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 182 And after [certain] years he went down to Ahab to Samaria And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that [he had] with him and persuaded him to go up [with him] to Ramothgilead

Ver 2 He went down to Ahab to Samaria] See 1 Kings 222 in which chapter we have the same history related as here not abridged - as is usual with this author -but at large this much commendeth it unto us as necessary and profitable since the Holy Ghost doth nothing in vain

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen] As to feast him and his retinue so haply to sacrifice to the gods as idolaters used to do when great strangers came unto them Dido did so when AEligneas came to her court

ldquo Simul Aeneam in regia ducit

Tecta simul divum templis indicit honorem rdquo - Aeneid lib i

ow Jezebel was Didorsquos countrywoman and had a great influence upon her husband Ahab

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 182-3) Ahab sets his eyes upon Ramoth-Gilead

After some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo And he answered him ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will be with you in the warrdquo

a And persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth in Gilead Previously the King of Syria promised to return certain cities to Israel (1 Kings 2034) in exchange for leniency after defeat in battle Apparently this was a city that Ben-Hadad never returned to Israel and it was in a strategically important location

b Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah to help him in this dispute against Syria This made some sense because Ramoth-Gilead was only 40 miles from Jerusalem

PULPIT After certain years he went down In lieu of the italic type certain here the English idiom years after would aptly reproduce the facts of the case This journey to Samaria to see Ahab was made in the seventeenth year of

Jehoshaphats reign What were the precise antecedent circumstances of this visit of Jehoshaphat to Ahab it is interesting to surmisemdashwhether it were the fruit of an invitation direct from Ahab who had his own designs or whether it were for diplomatic reasons that worked in the mind of Jehoshaphat as well as of Ahab in view of Syria It is evident that Ahab promptly determined to improve this conference of kings Persuaded him ie he took steps to induce him This is the uniform signification of the word here used in the eighteen times of its occurrence and mostly in doubtful or worse than doubtful matter The form is the hiph of סות in which conjugation only the verb occurs The Revised Version renders moved The visiting and cooperating of Jehoshaphat and Ahab made a novel departure in the history of the rended kingdoms of Judah and Israel and continued till the time of Jehu Ramoth-Gilead This important city of Gad (Joshua 208 Joshua 2138) in Palestine beyond Jordan comes into question as one not surrendered to the king-dora of Israel in good faith according to the promise of Benhadad Benhadads father having taken it from Omri father of Ahab For all the might that he showed and presumably in conflicts with Syria Omri was evidently a heavy loser Ramoth-Gilead means the heights of Gilead

3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo

Jehoshaphat replied ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will join you in the warrdquo

CLARKE To Ramoth-gilead - This place belonged to the Israelites and was now held by the king of Syria

The whole of this chapter is circumstantially explained in the notes on 1 Kings 221-53

ELLICOTT (3) And Ahab king of IsraelmdashThis verse is essentially the same as 1 Kings 224 From this point the two narratives practically coincide (See the otes on 1 Kings 22)

To Ramoth-gileadmdashie Ramoth of or in Gilead Ramoth (ldquoheightsrdquo) or Ramath or Ramah (ldquoheightrdquo) was a common name in such a hilly country as Palestine Kings adds to the war

And my people in the warmdashThe symmetry of this part of the verse has been disregarded by the chronicler in order to make Jehoshaphat express an apparently more definite assent to Ahabrsquos request (Comp Kings ldquoMy people as thy people my horses as thy horsesrdquo (kamocircnicirc kamocircka kĕlsquoammicirc kĕlsquoammbka kĕsucircsai kĕsucircseika) The Syriac reads ldquoAnd my horses as thy horses and I will go with thee to the warrdquo Similarly the Arabic ldquoMy horsemen as thy horsemenrdquo

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 183 And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead And he answered him I [am] as thou [art] and my people as thy people and [we will be] with thee in the war

Ver 3 I am as thou art] See 1 Kings 224 Jehoshaphat was too facile It was noted as a fault in Henry IV of France that he was aeque male ac bono reconciliabilis of too good a nature as we say of some

PULPIT I am as thou etc The same unqualified kind of language was used By Jehoshaphat on another occasion (2 Kings 37) two years later when Jehoram son of the deceased Ahab also asked his help against Moab Whether on the one occasion or the other it is quite possible that Jehoshaphat thought he was serving common interests and the cause of his own kingdom as well as of Israel nevertheless Jehu the son of Hanani the seer ignores the supposed justification (2 Chronicles 192)

4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel ldquoFirst seek the counsel of the Lordrdquo

HERY 4-27 This is almost word for word the same with what we had 1 Kings 22 We will not repeat what was there said nor have we much to add but may take occasion to think 1 Of the great duty of acknowledging God in all our ways and enquiring at his word whatever we undertake Jehoshaphat was not willing to proceed till he had done this 2Ch_184 By particular believing prayer by an unbiased consultation of the

scripture and our own consciences and by an observant regard to the hints of providence we may make such enquiries and very much to our satisfaction 2 Of the great danger of bad company even to good men Those that have more wisdom grace and resolution cannot be sure that they can converse familiarly with wicked people and get no hurt by them Jehoshaphat here in complaisance to Ahab sits in his robes patiently hearing the false prophets speaking lies in the name of the Lord (2Ch_189) can scarcely find in his heart to give him a too mild and gentle reproof for hating a prophet of the Lord (2Ch_187) and dares not rebuke that false prophet who basely abused the faithful seer nor oppose Ahab who committed him to prison Those who venture among the seats of the scornful cannot come off without a great deal of the guilt attaching to at least the omission of their duty unless they have such measures of wisdom and courage as few can pretend to 3 Of the unhappiness of those who are surrounded with flatterers especially flattering prophets who cry peace to them and prophesy nothing but smooth things Thus was Ahab cheated into his ruin and justly for he hearkened to such and preferred those that humoured him before a good prophet that gave him fair warning of his danger Those do best for themselves that give their friends leave and particularly their ministers to deal plainly and faithfully with them and take their reproofs not only patiently but kindly That counsel is not always best for us that is most pleasing to us 4 Of the power of Satan by the divine permission in the children of disobedience One lying spirit can make 400 lying prophets and make use of them to deceive Ahab 2Ch_1821 The devil becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them 5 Of the justice of God in giving those up to strong delusions to believe a lie who will not receive the love of the truth but rebel against it 2Ch_1821 Let the lying spirit prevail to entice those to their ruin that will not be persuaded to their duty and happiness 6 Of the hard case of faithful ministers whose lot it has often been to be hated and persecuted and ill-treated for being true to their God and just and kind to the souls of men Micaiah for discharging a good conscience was buffeted imprisoned and condemned to the bread and water of affliction But he could with assurance appeal to the issue as all those may do who are persecuted for their faithfulness 2Ch_1827 The day will declare who is in the right and who in the wrong when Christ will appear to the unspeakable consolation of his persecuted people and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors who will be made to see in that day(2Ch_1824) what they will not now believe

BI 4-34 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord to-day

Divine truth and its typical reception

Here are four types of human conduct in relation to Divine truth

I Those who seek the truth Micaiah believed in its existence prayed for its teaching and determined to follow its leading

II Those who are opposed to the truth The priests assumed to be its only depositaries denied the claims of others ridiculed and opposed its representative None so slow to believe in a Divine Spirit as those accustomed to speak Divine words but in whose hearts is no Divine life

III Those who believe yet disobey the truth Jehoshaphat believed the prophet Micaiah mildly defended his character yet would not withdraw from Ahab

IV Those who are alarmed at truth Ahab roused in conscience afraid of results and tried to escape by stratagem (J Wolfendale)

BESO 2 Chronicles 184 Inquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord mdash This we should do whatever we undertake by particular believing prayer by an unbiased consulting of the Scriptures and our own consciences and by a close regard to the hints of Providence

COFFMA Jehoshaphats asking here for a prophet of Jehovah dramatically states that the four hundred prophets of Ahab were not prophets of Jehovah Ahabs god was Baal and his prophets were automatically prophets of Baal not of Jehovah (1 Kings 2253)

COKE 2 Chronicles 1814 Go ye up and prospermdash The kings answer plainly shews that he understood these words of Michaiah to be ironical

REFLECTIOSmdash1st Jehoshaphats growing greatness probably made the king of Israel desirous of his alliance and Jehoshaphat too readily consented An Israelitish princess seemed an eligible match for his son and he might hope to make some advantage of it by recovering the house of Israel to the service of God or the kingdom to his posterity The connection however proved dangerous to himself and ruinous to his family The first bad effect produced by it was his involving himself in a war with the Syrians in complaisance to Ahab who having nobly entertained him at Samaria drew him in to be his auxiliary for the recovery of Ramoth-gilead ote (1) Marriages founded on pride and worldly-mindedness cannot fail of bringing misery along with them (2) The strongest expressions of friendship from a wicked man are to be suspected at bottom he means to serve only himself

2nd For the account of Michaiah ampc see 1 Kings 22 We may only farther remark (1) How needful it is to consult God in all our ways (2) When for worldly ends we maintain fellowship with those who are enemies to God for fear of offending we shall often hear what we dare not rebuke and countenance by our presence what we are bound to condemn (3) Faithful prophets are few false prophets numerous It becomes us to beware of following the multitude and to attach ourselves to the faithful few (4) They who love prophets that prophesy smooth things and hate plain dealing are justly given up to their own delusions (5) Suffering for the truths sake is the hereditary portion of Gods ministers (6) The day is coming when the despised word of Gods prophets shall be fulfilled and their enemies too late will wonder and perish

3rdly Ahab pretends to honour Jehoshaphat but in fact intends to expose him so deceitful are the kisses of an enemy but God turns his wicked devices on his own head Jehoshaphat by divine interposition escapes while Ahab falls in his disguise and his armour is no protection from the arrow that God shoots against the

persecutors Man in vain contrives to escape when God hath determined his fall There is neither counsel nor might against the Lord

ELLICOTT (4) And JehoshaphatmdashSo exactly 1 Kings 225

Enquire at the wordmdashSeek the word

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 184 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the LORD to day

Ver 4 Inquire I pray thee of the Lord today] Yea but this should have been done before he had engaged to go Good Jehoshaphat is oft taxed for being smart too late Few consider that it is better to stop or step back than to run on out of the way

GUZIK 3 (2 Chronicles 184-8) Jehoshaphat proposes that they seek God in the matter

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel ldquoPlease inquire for the word of the LORD todayrdquo Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together four hundred men and said to them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And they said ldquoGo up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo But Jehoshaphat said ldquoIs there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Himrdquo So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD but I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil He is Micaiah the son of Imlardquo And Jehoshaphat said ldquoLet not the king say such thingsrdquo Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said ldquoBring Micaiah the son of Imla quicklyrdquo

a Please inquire for the word of the LORD today Considering the generally adversarial relationship between Ahab and the prophets of Yahweh this was a bold request of Jehoshaphat to ask of Ahab It wasnrsquot surprising that Ahab picked prophets who would tell them that they wanted to hear

i ldquoThough Jehoshaphat had already committed himself to the enterprise (2 Chronicles 183) and though he went on to disregard the guidance that was given him (2 Chronicles 1828) he still retained the religion of Yahweh to the extent that he insisted on seeking lsquothe counsel of the Lordrsquordquo (Payne)

b Go up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos hand When Ahab gathered the prophets they were not faithful prophets of the LORD These were prophets happy to please their kings and to tell them what they wanted to hear Jehoshaphat still wanted to hear from a prophet of Yahweh the LORD (Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Him)

i Trapp described this gather of prophets as ldquoAn ecumenical councilrdquo

c I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil Ahab hated the messenger because of the message His real conflict was with God but he focused his hatred against the prophet Micaiah Yet he was willing to listen to the King of Judah when he advised that Ahab should listen to the Prophet Micaiah

PULPIT The wording of this verse is identical with that of the parallel (1 Kings 225) Jehoshaphat if even not quite conscious of it is throwing some sop to his conscience in essaying to become and posing as the godly counsellor of the ungodly (2 Chronicles 192) At any rate his counsel is right even to the point of urging to-day and significantly deprecating procrastination It is not however so clear that he was in the first instance as decided in respect of the necessity of inquiring the will of the Lord at the mouth of a true prophet in distinction from a prophet merely of Israel though they should be four hundred in number Compare the following two verses however which show as though he was holding himself quite prepared and on the look-out for the expected occasion of having to rein Ahab up

5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsmdashfour hundred menmdashand asked them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoGordquo they answered ldquofor God will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (5) ThereforemdashAnd

Of prophetsmdashRather the prophets

Four hundredmdashKings ldquoAbout four hundredrdquo Alsorsquo Adonai (ldquothe Lordrdquo) instead of harsquoelocirchicircm (ldquothe [true] Godrdquo) and ldquoI go againstrdquo for ldquowe go tordquo where the former is obviously more appropriate

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 7: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

me nothing good but all his days (ie so long as he has been a prophet) evilrdquo the

meaning is intensified by the ל־ימיוamp which is not found in 1Ki_228 In 2Ch_189 the

and sitting upon the threshing-floorrdquo is dueldquo גרן which is introduced before the ויושביםto difference of style for it is quite superfluous for the signification In 2Ch_1815 the ambiguous words of Micah and Jahve will give into the hand of the kingrdquo (1Ki_2215) are given in a more definite form ldquoand they (the enemy) shall be given into your handrdquo

In 2Ch_1819 in the first כהamp אמר is not only ו-אמר after the preceding אמר the זהsuperfluous but improper and has probably come into the text by a copyists error We

should therefore read only כה ampכה corresponding to the זה of 1Ki_2220 זה ldquoThen spake

one after this manner and the other spake after another mannerrdquo In 2Ch_1823 the

indefinite אי־זה of 1Ki_2224 is elucidated by ה רך זה _is that the mannerrdquo (cf 1Kildquo אי

1312 2Ki_38) and the verb עבר follows without the relative pronoun as in the

passages cited In 2Ch_1830 only הרכב of the king are mentioned without any שרי

statement of the number which is given in 1Ki_2231 with a backward reference to the former war (1Ki_2024) In 2Ch_1831 after the words ldquoand Jehoshaphat cried outrdquo the higher cause of Jehoshaphats rescue is pointed out in the words ldquoand Jahve helped him and God drove them from himrdquo which are not found in 1Ki_2232 but by this religious reflection the actual course of the event is in no way altered Bertheaus remark therefore that ldquothe words disturb the clear connection of the eventsrdquo is quite

unwarrantable Finally in 2Ch_1834 מעמיד he was holding his position ie he held היה

himself standing upright the Hiph is more expressive than the Hoph מעמד (1Ki_2235) since it expresses more definitely the fact that he held himself upright by his own strength With Ahabs death which took place in the evening at the time of the going down of the sun the author of the Chronicle concludes his account of this war and proceeds in 2Ch_191-11 to narrate the further course of Jehoshaphats reign In 1Ki_2236-39 the return of the defeated army and the details as to Ahabs death and burial are recorded but these did not fit into the plan of the Chronicle

ELLICOTT (2) And after certain yearsmdashSee margin 1 Kings 222 has ldquoAnd it came to pass in the third year that Jehoshaphat went downrdquo ampcmdasha date which is relative to the three yearsrsquo truce between Syria and Israel mentioned in the preceding verse From 1 Kings 2251 of the same chapter we learn that this visit took place in the sixteenth or seventeenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat The marriage of Jehoram and Athaliah preceded the visit by eight or nine years (Syriac and Arabic ldquoand after two yearsrdquo)

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundancemdashThis royal hospitality is here represented as part of a deliberate plan for obtaining the co-operation of Jehoshaphat in the projected campaign

Persuaded himmdashIncited pricked him on (Judges 112) especially to evil 1 Chronicles 211 Deuteronomy 137 In 1 Kings 223 Ahab broaches the subject of the expedition to his court

To go up tomdashTo make an expedition against a town or country (Isaiah 71 Isaiah 76 1 Kings 1517) Comp Isaiah 87-8

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 182 And after [certain] years he went down to Ahab to Samaria And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that [he had] with him and persuaded him to go up [with him] to Ramothgilead

Ver 2 He went down to Ahab to Samaria] See 1 Kings 222 in which chapter we have the same history related as here not abridged - as is usual with this author -but at large this much commendeth it unto us as necessary and profitable since the Holy Ghost doth nothing in vain

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen] As to feast him and his retinue so haply to sacrifice to the gods as idolaters used to do when great strangers came unto them Dido did so when AEligneas came to her court

ldquo Simul Aeneam in regia ducit

Tecta simul divum templis indicit honorem rdquo - Aeneid lib i

ow Jezebel was Didorsquos countrywoman and had a great influence upon her husband Ahab

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 182-3) Ahab sets his eyes upon Ramoth-Gilead

After some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo And he answered him ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will be with you in the warrdquo

a And persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth in Gilead Previously the King of Syria promised to return certain cities to Israel (1 Kings 2034) in exchange for leniency after defeat in battle Apparently this was a city that Ben-Hadad never returned to Israel and it was in a strategically important location

b Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah to help him in this dispute against Syria This made some sense because Ramoth-Gilead was only 40 miles from Jerusalem

PULPIT After certain years he went down In lieu of the italic type certain here the English idiom years after would aptly reproduce the facts of the case This journey to Samaria to see Ahab was made in the seventeenth year of

Jehoshaphats reign What were the precise antecedent circumstances of this visit of Jehoshaphat to Ahab it is interesting to surmisemdashwhether it were the fruit of an invitation direct from Ahab who had his own designs or whether it were for diplomatic reasons that worked in the mind of Jehoshaphat as well as of Ahab in view of Syria It is evident that Ahab promptly determined to improve this conference of kings Persuaded him ie he took steps to induce him This is the uniform signification of the word here used in the eighteen times of its occurrence and mostly in doubtful or worse than doubtful matter The form is the hiph of סות in which conjugation only the verb occurs The Revised Version renders moved The visiting and cooperating of Jehoshaphat and Ahab made a novel departure in the history of the rended kingdoms of Judah and Israel and continued till the time of Jehu Ramoth-Gilead This important city of Gad (Joshua 208 Joshua 2138) in Palestine beyond Jordan comes into question as one not surrendered to the king-dora of Israel in good faith according to the promise of Benhadad Benhadads father having taken it from Omri father of Ahab For all the might that he showed and presumably in conflicts with Syria Omri was evidently a heavy loser Ramoth-Gilead means the heights of Gilead

3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo

Jehoshaphat replied ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will join you in the warrdquo

CLARKE To Ramoth-gilead - This place belonged to the Israelites and was now held by the king of Syria

The whole of this chapter is circumstantially explained in the notes on 1 Kings 221-53

ELLICOTT (3) And Ahab king of IsraelmdashThis verse is essentially the same as 1 Kings 224 From this point the two narratives practically coincide (See the otes on 1 Kings 22)

To Ramoth-gileadmdashie Ramoth of or in Gilead Ramoth (ldquoheightsrdquo) or Ramath or Ramah (ldquoheightrdquo) was a common name in such a hilly country as Palestine Kings adds to the war

And my people in the warmdashThe symmetry of this part of the verse has been disregarded by the chronicler in order to make Jehoshaphat express an apparently more definite assent to Ahabrsquos request (Comp Kings ldquoMy people as thy people my horses as thy horsesrdquo (kamocircnicirc kamocircka kĕlsquoammicirc kĕlsquoammbka kĕsucircsai kĕsucircseika) The Syriac reads ldquoAnd my horses as thy horses and I will go with thee to the warrdquo Similarly the Arabic ldquoMy horsemen as thy horsemenrdquo

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 183 And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead And he answered him I [am] as thou [art] and my people as thy people and [we will be] with thee in the war

Ver 3 I am as thou art] See 1 Kings 224 Jehoshaphat was too facile It was noted as a fault in Henry IV of France that he was aeque male ac bono reconciliabilis of too good a nature as we say of some

PULPIT I am as thou etc The same unqualified kind of language was used By Jehoshaphat on another occasion (2 Kings 37) two years later when Jehoram son of the deceased Ahab also asked his help against Moab Whether on the one occasion or the other it is quite possible that Jehoshaphat thought he was serving common interests and the cause of his own kingdom as well as of Israel nevertheless Jehu the son of Hanani the seer ignores the supposed justification (2 Chronicles 192)

4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel ldquoFirst seek the counsel of the Lordrdquo

HERY 4-27 This is almost word for word the same with what we had 1 Kings 22 We will not repeat what was there said nor have we much to add but may take occasion to think 1 Of the great duty of acknowledging God in all our ways and enquiring at his word whatever we undertake Jehoshaphat was not willing to proceed till he had done this 2Ch_184 By particular believing prayer by an unbiased consultation of the

scripture and our own consciences and by an observant regard to the hints of providence we may make such enquiries and very much to our satisfaction 2 Of the great danger of bad company even to good men Those that have more wisdom grace and resolution cannot be sure that they can converse familiarly with wicked people and get no hurt by them Jehoshaphat here in complaisance to Ahab sits in his robes patiently hearing the false prophets speaking lies in the name of the Lord (2Ch_189) can scarcely find in his heart to give him a too mild and gentle reproof for hating a prophet of the Lord (2Ch_187) and dares not rebuke that false prophet who basely abused the faithful seer nor oppose Ahab who committed him to prison Those who venture among the seats of the scornful cannot come off without a great deal of the guilt attaching to at least the omission of their duty unless they have such measures of wisdom and courage as few can pretend to 3 Of the unhappiness of those who are surrounded with flatterers especially flattering prophets who cry peace to them and prophesy nothing but smooth things Thus was Ahab cheated into his ruin and justly for he hearkened to such and preferred those that humoured him before a good prophet that gave him fair warning of his danger Those do best for themselves that give their friends leave and particularly their ministers to deal plainly and faithfully with them and take their reproofs not only patiently but kindly That counsel is not always best for us that is most pleasing to us 4 Of the power of Satan by the divine permission in the children of disobedience One lying spirit can make 400 lying prophets and make use of them to deceive Ahab 2Ch_1821 The devil becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them 5 Of the justice of God in giving those up to strong delusions to believe a lie who will not receive the love of the truth but rebel against it 2Ch_1821 Let the lying spirit prevail to entice those to their ruin that will not be persuaded to their duty and happiness 6 Of the hard case of faithful ministers whose lot it has often been to be hated and persecuted and ill-treated for being true to their God and just and kind to the souls of men Micaiah for discharging a good conscience was buffeted imprisoned and condemned to the bread and water of affliction But he could with assurance appeal to the issue as all those may do who are persecuted for their faithfulness 2Ch_1827 The day will declare who is in the right and who in the wrong when Christ will appear to the unspeakable consolation of his persecuted people and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors who will be made to see in that day(2Ch_1824) what they will not now believe

BI 4-34 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord to-day

Divine truth and its typical reception

Here are four types of human conduct in relation to Divine truth

I Those who seek the truth Micaiah believed in its existence prayed for its teaching and determined to follow its leading

II Those who are opposed to the truth The priests assumed to be its only depositaries denied the claims of others ridiculed and opposed its representative None so slow to believe in a Divine Spirit as those accustomed to speak Divine words but in whose hearts is no Divine life

III Those who believe yet disobey the truth Jehoshaphat believed the prophet Micaiah mildly defended his character yet would not withdraw from Ahab

IV Those who are alarmed at truth Ahab roused in conscience afraid of results and tried to escape by stratagem (J Wolfendale)

BESO 2 Chronicles 184 Inquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord mdash This we should do whatever we undertake by particular believing prayer by an unbiased consulting of the Scriptures and our own consciences and by a close regard to the hints of Providence

COFFMA Jehoshaphats asking here for a prophet of Jehovah dramatically states that the four hundred prophets of Ahab were not prophets of Jehovah Ahabs god was Baal and his prophets were automatically prophets of Baal not of Jehovah (1 Kings 2253)

COKE 2 Chronicles 1814 Go ye up and prospermdash The kings answer plainly shews that he understood these words of Michaiah to be ironical

REFLECTIOSmdash1st Jehoshaphats growing greatness probably made the king of Israel desirous of his alliance and Jehoshaphat too readily consented An Israelitish princess seemed an eligible match for his son and he might hope to make some advantage of it by recovering the house of Israel to the service of God or the kingdom to his posterity The connection however proved dangerous to himself and ruinous to his family The first bad effect produced by it was his involving himself in a war with the Syrians in complaisance to Ahab who having nobly entertained him at Samaria drew him in to be his auxiliary for the recovery of Ramoth-gilead ote (1) Marriages founded on pride and worldly-mindedness cannot fail of bringing misery along with them (2) The strongest expressions of friendship from a wicked man are to be suspected at bottom he means to serve only himself

2nd For the account of Michaiah ampc see 1 Kings 22 We may only farther remark (1) How needful it is to consult God in all our ways (2) When for worldly ends we maintain fellowship with those who are enemies to God for fear of offending we shall often hear what we dare not rebuke and countenance by our presence what we are bound to condemn (3) Faithful prophets are few false prophets numerous It becomes us to beware of following the multitude and to attach ourselves to the faithful few (4) They who love prophets that prophesy smooth things and hate plain dealing are justly given up to their own delusions (5) Suffering for the truths sake is the hereditary portion of Gods ministers (6) The day is coming when the despised word of Gods prophets shall be fulfilled and their enemies too late will wonder and perish

3rdly Ahab pretends to honour Jehoshaphat but in fact intends to expose him so deceitful are the kisses of an enemy but God turns his wicked devices on his own head Jehoshaphat by divine interposition escapes while Ahab falls in his disguise and his armour is no protection from the arrow that God shoots against the

persecutors Man in vain contrives to escape when God hath determined his fall There is neither counsel nor might against the Lord

ELLICOTT (4) And JehoshaphatmdashSo exactly 1 Kings 225

Enquire at the wordmdashSeek the word

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 184 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the LORD to day

Ver 4 Inquire I pray thee of the Lord today] Yea but this should have been done before he had engaged to go Good Jehoshaphat is oft taxed for being smart too late Few consider that it is better to stop or step back than to run on out of the way

GUZIK 3 (2 Chronicles 184-8) Jehoshaphat proposes that they seek God in the matter

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel ldquoPlease inquire for the word of the LORD todayrdquo Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together four hundred men and said to them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And they said ldquoGo up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo But Jehoshaphat said ldquoIs there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Himrdquo So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD but I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil He is Micaiah the son of Imlardquo And Jehoshaphat said ldquoLet not the king say such thingsrdquo Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said ldquoBring Micaiah the son of Imla quicklyrdquo

a Please inquire for the word of the LORD today Considering the generally adversarial relationship between Ahab and the prophets of Yahweh this was a bold request of Jehoshaphat to ask of Ahab It wasnrsquot surprising that Ahab picked prophets who would tell them that they wanted to hear

i ldquoThough Jehoshaphat had already committed himself to the enterprise (2 Chronicles 183) and though he went on to disregard the guidance that was given him (2 Chronicles 1828) he still retained the religion of Yahweh to the extent that he insisted on seeking lsquothe counsel of the Lordrsquordquo (Payne)

b Go up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos hand When Ahab gathered the prophets they were not faithful prophets of the LORD These were prophets happy to please their kings and to tell them what they wanted to hear Jehoshaphat still wanted to hear from a prophet of Yahweh the LORD (Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Him)

i Trapp described this gather of prophets as ldquoAn ecumenical councilrdquo

c I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil Ahab hated the messenger because of the message His real conflict was with God but he focused his hatred against the prophet Micaiah Yet he was willing to listen to the King of Judah when he advised that Ahab should listen to the Prophet Micaiah

PULPIT The wording of this verse is identical with that of the parallel (1 Kings 225) Jehoshaphat if even not quite conscious of it is throwing some sop to his conscience in essaying to become and posing as the godly counsellor of the ungodly (2 Chronicles 192) At any rate his counsel is right even to the point of urging to-day and significantly deprecating procrastination It is not however so clear that he was in the first instance as decided in respect of the necessity of inquiring the will of the Lord at the mouth of a true prophet in distinction from a prophet merely of Israel though they should be four hundred in number Compare the following two verses however which show as though he was holding himself quite prepared and on the look-out for the expected occasion of having to rein Ahab up

5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsmdashfour hundred menmdashand asked them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoGordquo they answered ldquofor God will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (5) ThereforemdashAnd

Of prophetsmdashRather the prophets

Four hundredmdashKings ldquoAbout four hundredrdquo Alsorsquo Adonai (ldquothe Lordrdquo) instead of harsquoelocirchicircm (ldquothe [true] Godrdquo) and ldquoI go againstrdquo for ldquowe go tordquo where the former is obviously more appropriate

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 8: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

To go up tomdashTo make an expedition against a town or country (Isaiah 71 Isaiah 76 1 Kings 1517) Comp Isaiah 87-8

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 182 And after [certain] years he went down to Ahab to Samaria And Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance and for the people that [he had] with him and persuaded him to go up [with him] to Ramothgilead

Ver 2 He went down to Ahab to Samaria] See 1 Kings 222 in which chapter we have the same history related as here not abridged - as is usual with this author -but at large this much commendeth it unto us as necessary and profitable since the Holy Ghost doth nothing in vain

And Ahab killed sheep and oxen] As to feast him and his retinue so haply to sacrifice to the gods as idolaters used to do when great strangers came unto them Dido did so when AEligneas came to her court

ldquo Simul Aeneam in regia ducit

Tecta simul divum templis indicit honorem rdquo - Aeneid lib i

ow Jezebel was Didorsquos countrywoman and had a great influence upon her husband Ahab

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 182-3) Ahab sets his eyes upon Ramoth-Gilead

After some years he went down to visit Ahab in Samaria and Ahab killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people who were with him and persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth Gilead So Ahab king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo And he answered him ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will be with you in the warrdquo

a And persuaded him to go up with him to Ramoth in Gilead Previously the King of Syria promised to return certain cities to Israel (1 Kings 2034) in exchange for leniency after defeat in battle Apparently this was a city that Ben-Hadad never returned to Israel and it was in a strategically important location

b Will you go with me against Ramoth Gilead King Ahab of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Judah to help him in this dispute against Syria This made some sense because Ramoth-Gilead was only 40 miles from Jerusalem

PULPIT After certain years he went down In lieu of the italic type certain here the English idiom years after would aptly reproduce the facts of the case This journey to Samaria to see Ahab was made in the seventeenth year of

Jehoshaphats reign What were the precise antecedent circumstances of this visit of Jehoshaphat to Ahab it is interesting to surmisemdashwhether it were the fruit of an invitation direct from Ahab who had his own designs or whether it were for diplomatic reasons that worked in the mind of Jehoshaphat as well as of Ahab in view of Syria It is evident that Ahab promptly determined to improve this conference of kings Persuaded him ie he took steps to induce him This is the uniform signification of the word here used in the eighteen times of its occurrence and mostly in doubtful or worse than doubtful matter The form is the hiph of סות in which conjugation only the verb occurs The Revised Version renders moved The visiting and cooperating of Jehoshaphat and Ahab made a novel departure in the history of the rended kingdoms of Judah and Israel and continued till the time of Jehu Ramoth-Gilead This important city of Gad (Joshua 208 Joshua 2138) in Palestine beyond Jordan comes into question as one not surrendered to the king-dora of Israel in good faith according to the promise of Benhadad Benhadads father having taken it from Omri father of Ahab For all the might that he showed and presumably in conflicts with Syria Omri was evidently a heavy loser Ramoth-Gilead means the heights of Gilead

3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo

Jehoshaphat replied ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will join you in the warrdquo

CLARKE To Ramoth-gilead - This place belonged to the Israelites and was now held by the king of Syria

The whole of this chapter is circumstantially explained in the notes on 1 Kings 221-53

ELLICOTT (3) And Ahab king of IsraelmdashThis verse is essentially the same as 1 Kings 224 From this point the two narratives practically coincide (See the otes on 1 Kings 22)

To Ramoth-gileadmdashie Ramoth of or in Gilead Ramoth (ldquoheightsrdquo) or Ramath or Ramah (ldquoheightrdquo) was a common name in such a hilly country as Palestine Kings adds to the war

And my people in the warmdashThe symmetry of this part of the verse has been disregarded by the chronicler in order to make Jehoshaphat express an apparently more definite assent to Ahabrsquos request (Comp Kings ldquoMy people as thy people my horses as thy horsesrdquo (kamocircnicirc kamocircka kĕlsquoammicirc kĕlsquoammbka kĕsucircsai kĕsucircseika) The Syriac reads ldquoAnd my horses as thy horses and I will go with thee to the warrdquo Similarly the Arabic ldquoMy horsemen as thy horsemenrdquo

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 183 And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead And he answered him I [am] as thou [art] and my people as thy people and [we will be] with thee in the war

Ver 3 I am as thou art] See 1 Kings 224 Jehoshaphat was too facile It was noted as a fault in Henry IV of France that he was aeque male ac bono reconciliabilis of too good a nature as we say of some

PULPIT I am as thou etc The same unqualified kind of language was used By Jehoshaphat on another occasion (2 Kings 37) two years later when Jehoram son of the deceased Ahab also asked his help against Moab Whether on the one occasion or the other it is quite possible that Jehoshaphat thought he was serving common interests and the cause of his own kingdom as well as of Israel nevertheless Jehu the son of Hanani the seer ignores the supposed justification (2 Chronicles 192)

4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel ldquoFirst seek the counsel of the Lordrdquo

HERY 4-27 This is almost word for word the same with what we had 1 Kings 22 We will not repeat what was there said nor have we much to add but may take occasion to think 1 Of the great duty of acknowledging God in all our ways and enquiring at his word whatever we undertake Jehoshaphat was not willing to proceed till he had done this 2Ch_184 By particular believing prayer by an unbiased consultation of the

scripture and our own consciences and by an observant regard to the hints of providence we may make such enquiries and very much to our satisfaction 2 Of the great danger of bad company even to good men Those that have more wisdom grace and resolution cannot be sure that they can converse familiarly with wicked people and get no hurt by them Jehoshaphat here in complaisance to Ahab sits in his robes patiently hearing the false prophets speaking lies in the name of the Lord (2Ch_189) can scarcely find in his heart to give him a too mild and gentle reproof for hating a prophet of the Lord (2Ch_187) and dares not rebuke that false prophet who basely abused the faithful seer nor oppose Ahab who committed him to prison Those who venture among the seats of the scornful cannot come off without a great deal of the guilt attaching to at least the omission of their duty unless they have such measures of wisdom and courage as few can pretend to 3 Of the unhappiness of those who are surrounded with flatterers especially flattering prophets who cry peace to them and prophesy nothing but smooth things Thus was Ahab cheated into his ruin and justly for he hearkened to such and preferred those that humoured him before a good prophet that gave him fair warning of his danger Those do best for themselves that give their friends leave and particularly their ministers to deal plainly and faithfully with them and take their reproofs not only patiently but kindly That counsel is not always best for us that is most pleasing to us 4 Of the power of Satan by the divine permission in the children of disobedience One lying spirit can make 400 lying prophets and make use of them to deceive Ahab 2Ch_1821 The devil becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them 5 Of the justice of God in giving those up to strong delusions to believe a lie who will not receive the love of the truth but rebel against it 2Ch_1821 Let the lying spirit prevail to entice those to their ruin that will not be persuaded to their duty and happiness 6 Of the hard case of faithful ministers whose lot it has often been to be hated and persecuted and ill-treated for being true to their God and just and kind to the souls of men Micaiah for discharging a good conscience was buffeted imprisoned and condemned to the bread and water of affliction But he could with assurance appeal to the issue as all those may do who are persecuted for their faithfulness 2Ch_1827 The day will declare who is in the right and who in the wrong when Christ will appear to the unspeakable consolation of his persecuted people and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors who will be made to see in that day(2Ch_1824) what they will not now believe

BI 4-34 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord to-day

Divine truth and its typical reception

Here are four types of human conduct in relation to Divine truth

I Those who seek the truth Micaiah believed in its existence prayed for its teaching and determined to follow its leading

II Those who are opposed to the truth The priests assumed to be its only depositaries denied the claims of others ridiculed and opposed its representative None so slow to believe in a Divine Spirit as those accustomed to speak Divine words but in whose hearts is no Divine life

III Those who believe yet disobey the truth Jehoshaphat believed the prophet Micaiah mildly defended his character yet would not withdraw from Ahab

IV Those who are alarmed at truth Ahab roused in conscience afraid of results and tried to escape by stratagem (J Wolfendale)

BESO 2 Chronicles 184 Inquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord mdash This we should do whatever we undertake by particular believing prayer by an unbiased consulting of the Scriptures and our own consciences and by a close regard to the hints of Providence

COFFMA Jehoshaphats asking here for a prophet of Jehovah dramatically states that the four hundred prophets of Ahab were not prophets of Jehovah Ahabs god was Baal and his prophets were automatically prophets of Baal not of Jehovah (1 Kings 2253)

COKE 2 Chronicles 1814 Go ye up and prospermdash The kings answer plainly shews that he understood these words of Michaiah to be ironical

REFLECTIOSmdash1st Jehoshaphats growing greatness probably made the king of Israel desirous of his alliance and Jehoshaphat too readily consented An Israelitish princess seemed an eligible match for his son and he might hope to make some advantage of it by recovering the house of Israel to the service of God or the kingdom to his posterity The connection however proved dangerous to himself and ruinous to his family The first bad effect produced by it was his involving himself in a war with the Syrians in complaisance to Ahab who having nobly entertained him at Samaria drew him in to be his auxiliary for the recovery of Ramoth-gilead ote (1) Marriages founded on pride and worldly-mindedness cannot fail of bringing misery along with them (2) The strongest expressions of friendship from a wicked man are to be suspected at bottom he means to serve only himself

2nd For the account of Michaiah ampc see 1 Kings 22 We may only farther remark (1) How needful it is to consult God in all our ways (2) When for worldly ends we maintain fellowship with those who are enemies to God for fear of offending we shall often hear what we dare not rebuke and countenance by our presence what we are bound to condemn (3) Faithful prophets are few false prophets numerous It becomes us to beware of following the multitude and to attach ourselves to the faithful few (4) They who love prophets that prophesy smooth things and hate plain dealing are justly given up to their own delusions (5) Suffering for the truths sake is the hereditary portion of Gods ministers (6) The day is coming when the despised word of Gods prophets shall be fulfilled and their enemies too late will wonder and perish

3rdly Ahab pretends to honour Jehoshaphat but in fact intends to expose him so deceitful are the kisses of an enemy but God turns his wicked devices on his own head Jehoshaphat by divine interposition escapes while Ahab falls in his disguise and his armour is no protection from the arrow that God shoots against the

persecutors Man in vain contrives to escape when God hath determined his fall There is neither counsel nor might against the Lord

ELLICOTT (4) And JehoshaphatmdashSo exactly 1 Kings 225

Enquire at the wordmdashSeek the word

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 184 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the LORD to day

Ver 4 Inquire I pray thee of the Lord today] Yea but this should have been done before he had engaged to go Good Jehoshaphat is oft taxed for being smart too late Few consider that it is better to stop or step back than to run on out of the way

GUZIK 3 (2 Chronicles 184-8) Jehoshaphat proposes that they seek God in the matter

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel ldquoPlease inquire for the word of the LORD todayrdquo Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together four hundred men and said to them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And they said ldquoGo up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo But Jehoshaphat said ldquoIs there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Himrdquo So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD but I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil He is Micaiah the son of Imlardquo And Jehoshaphat said ldquoLet not the king say such thingsrdquo Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said ldquoBring Micaiah the son of Imla quicklyrdquo

a Please inquire for the word of the LORD today Considering the generally adversarial relationship between Ahab and the prophets of Yahweh this was a bold request of Jehoshaphat to ask of Ahab It wasnrsquot surprising that Ahab picked prophets who would tell them that they wanted to hear

i ldquoThough Jehoshaphat had already committed himself to the enterprise (2 Chronicles 183) and though he went on to disregard the guidance that was given him (2 Chronicles 1828) he still retained the religion of Yahweh to the extent that he insisted on seeking lsquothe counsel of the Lordrsquordquo (Payne)

b Go up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos hand When Ahab gathered the prophets they were not faithful prophets of the LORD These were prophets happy to please their kings and to tell them what they wanted to hear Jehoshaphat still wanted to hear from a prophet of Yahweh the LORD (Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Him)

i Trapp described this gather of prophets as ldquoAn ecumenical councilrdquo

c I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil Ahab hated the messenger because of the message His real conflict was with God but he focused his hatred against the prophet Micaiah Yet he was willing to listen to the King of Judah when he advised that Ahab should listen to the Prophet Micaiah

PULPIT The wording of this verse is identical with that of the parallel (1 Kings 225) Jehoshaphat if even not quite conscious of it is throwing some sop to his conscience in essaying to become and posing as the godly counsellor of the ungodly (2 Chronicles 192) At any rate his counsel is right even to the point of urging to-day and significantly deprecating procrastination It is not however so clear that he was in the first instance as decided in respect of the necessity of inquiring the will of the Lord at the mouth of a true prophet in distinction from a prophet merely of Israel though they should be four hundred in number Compare the following two verses however which show as though he was holding himself quite prepared and on the look-out for the expected occasion of having to rein Ahab up

5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsmdashfour hundred menmdashand asked them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoGordquo they answered ldquofor God will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (5) ThereforemdashAnd

Of prophetsmdashRather the prophets

Four hundredmdashKings ldquoAbout four hundredrdquo Alsorsquo Adonai (ldquothe Lordrdquo) instead of harsquoelocirchicircm (ldquothe [true] Godrdquo) and ldquoI go againstrdquo for ldquowe go tordquo where the former is obviously more appropriate

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 9: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

Jehoshaphats reign What were the precise antecedent circumstances of this visit of Jehoshaphat to Ahab it is interesting to surmisemdashwhether it were the fruit of an invitation direct from Ahab who had his own designs or whether it were for diplomatic reasons that worked in the mind of Jehoshaphat as well as of Ahab in view of Syria It is evident that Ahab promptly determined to improve this conference of kings Persuaded him ie he took steps to induce him This is the uniform signification of the word here used in the eighteen times of its occurrence and mostly in doubtful or worse than doubtful matter The form is the hiph of סות in which conjugation only the verb occurs The Revised Version renders moved The visiting and cooperating of Jehoshaphat and Ahab made a novel departure in the history of the rended kingdoms of Judah and Israel and continued till the time of Jehu Ramoth-Gilead This important city of Gad (Joshua 208 Joshua 2138) in Palestine beyond Jordan comes into question as one not surrendered to the king-dora of Israel in good faith according to the promise of Benhadad Benhadads father having taken it from Omri father of Ahab For all the might that he showed and presumably in conflicts with Syria Omri was evidently a heavy loser Ramoth-Gilead means the heights of Gilead

3 Ahab king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah ldquoWill you go with me against Ramoth Gileadrdquo

Jehoshaphat replied ldquoI am as you are and my people as your people we will join you in the warrdquo

CLARKE To Ramoth-gilead - This place belonged to the Israelites and was now held by the king of Syria

The whole of this chapter is circumstantially explained in the notes on 1 Kings 221-53

ELLICOTT (3) And Ahab king of IsraelmdashThis verse is essentially the same as 1 Kings 224 From this point the two narratives practically coincide (See the otes on 1 Kings 22)

To Ramoth-gileadmdashie Ramoth of or in Gilead Ramoth (ldquoheightsrdquo) or Ramath or Ramah (ldquoheightrdquo) was a common name in such a hilly country as Palestine Kings adds to the war

And my people in the warmdashThe symmetry of this part of the verse has been disregarded by the chronicler in order to make Jehoshaphat express an apparently more definite assent to Ahabrsquos request (Comp Kings ldquoMy people as thy people my horses as thy horsesrdquo (kamocircnicirc kamocircka kĕlsquoammicirc kĕlsquoammbka kĕsucircsai kĕsucircseika) The Syriac reads ldquoAnd my horses as thy horses and I will go with thee to the warrdquo Similarly the Arabic ldquoMy horsemen as thy horsemenrdquo

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 183 And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead And he answered him I [am] as thou [art] and my people as thy people and [we will be] with thee in the war

Ver 3 I am as thou art] See 1 Kings 224 Jehoshaphat was too facile It was noted as a fault in Henry IV of France that he was aeque male ac bono reconciliabilis of too good a nature as we say of some

PULPIT I am as thou etc The same unqualified kind of language was used By Jehoshaphat on another occasion (2 Kings 37) two years later when Jehoram son of the deceased Ahab also asked his help against Moab Whether on the one occasion or the other it is quite possible that Jehoshaphat thought he was serving common interests and the cause of his own kingdom as well as of Israel nevertheless Jehu the son of Hanani the seer ignores the supposed justification (2 Chronicles 192)

4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel ldquoFirst seek the counsel of the Lordrdquo

HERY 4-27 This is almost word for word the same with what we had 1 Kings 22 We will not repeat what was there said nor have we much to add but may take occasion to think 1 Of the great duty of acknowledging God in all our ways and enquiring at his word whatever we undertake Jehoshaphat was not willing to proceed till he had done this 2Ch_184 By particular believing prayer by an unbiased consultation of the

scripture and our own consciences and by an observant regard to the hints of providence we may make such enquiries and very much to our satisfaction 2 Of the great danger of bad company even to good men Those that have more wisdom grace and resolution cannot be sure that they can converse familiarly with wicked people and get no hurt by them Jehoshaphat here in complaisance to Ahab sits in his robes patiently hearing the false prophets speaking lies in the name of the Lord (2Ch_189) can scarcely find in his heart to give him a too mild and gentle reproof for hating a prophet of the Lord (2Ch_187) and dares not rebuke that false prophet who basely abused the faithful seer nor oppose Ahab who committed him to prison Those who venture among the seats of the scornful cannot come off without a great deal of the guilt attaching to at least the omission of their duty unless they have such measures of wisdom and courage as few can pretend to 3 Of the unhappiness of those who are surrounded with flatterers especially flattering prophets who cry peace to them and prophesy nothing but smooth things Thus was Ahab cheated into his ruin and justly for he hearkened to such and preferred those that humoured him before a good prophet that gave him fair warning of his danger Those do best for themselves that give their friends leave and particularly their ministers to deal plainly and faithfully with them and take their reproofs not only patiently but kindly That counsel is not always best for us that is most pleasing to us 4 Of the power of Satan by the divine permission in the children of disobedience One lying spirit can make 400 lying prophets and make use of them to deceive Ahab 2Ch_1821 The devil becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them 5 Of the justice of God in giving those up to strong delusions to believe a lie who will not receive the love of the truth but rebel against it 2Ch_1821 Let the lying spirit prevail to entice those to their ruin that will not be persuaded to their duty and happiness 6 Of the hard case of faithful ministers whose lot it has often been to be hated and persecuted and ill-treated for being true to their God and just and kind to the souls of men Micaiah for discharging a good conscience was buffeted imprisoned and condemned to the bread and water of affliction But he could with assurance appeal to the issue as all those may do who are persecuted for their faithfulness 2Ch_1827 The day will declare who is in the right and who in the wrong when Christ will appear to the unspeakable consolation of his persecuted people and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors who will be made to see in that day(2Ch_1824) what they will not now believe

BI 4-34 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord to-day

Divine truth and its typical reception

Here are four types of human conduct in relation to Divine truth

I Those who seek the truth Micaiah believed in its existence prayed for its teaching and determined to follow its leading

II Those who are opposed to the truth The priests assumed to be its only depositaries denied the claims of others ridiculed and opposed its representative None so slow to believe in a Divine Spirit as those accustomed to speak Divine words but in whose hearts is no Divine life

III Those who believe yet disobey the truth Jehoshaphat believed the prophet Micaiah mildly defended his character yet would not withdraw from Ahab

IV Those who are alarmed at truth Ahab roused in conscience afraid of results and tried to escape by stratagem (J Wolfendale)

BESO 2 Chronicles 184 Inquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord mdash This we should do whatever we undertake by particular believing prayer by an unbiased consulting of the Scriptures and our own consciences and by a close regard to the hints of Providence

COFFMA Jehoshaphats asking here for a prophet of Jehovah dramatically states that the four hundred prophets of Ahab were not prophets of Jehovah Ahabs god was Baal and his prophets were automatically prophets of Baal not of Jehovah (1 Kings 2253)

COKE 2 Chronicles 1814 Go ye up and prospermdash The kings answer plainly shews that he understood these words of Michaiah to be ironical

REFLECTIOSmdash1st Jehoshaphats growing greatness probably made the king of Israel desirous of his alliance and Jehoshaphat too readily consented An Israelitish princess seemed an eligible match for his son and he might hope to make some advantage of it by recovering the house of Israel to the service of God or the kingdom to his posterity The connection however proved dangerous to himself and ruinous to his family The first bad effect produced by it was his involving himself in a war with the Syrians in complaisance to Ahab who having nobly entertained him at Samaria drew him in to be his auxiliary for the recovery of Ramoth-gilead ote (1) Marriages founded on pride and worldly-mindedness cannot fail of bringing misery along with them (2) The strongest expressions of friendship from a wicked man are to be suspected at bottom he means to serve only himself

2nd For the account of Michaiah ampc see 1 Kings 22 We may only farther remark (1) How needful it is to consult God in all our ways (2) When for worldly ends we maintain fellowship with those who are enemies to God for fear of offending we shall often hear what we dare not rebuke and countenance by our presence what we are bound to condemn (3) Faithful prophets are few false prophets numerous It becomes us to beware of following the multitude and to attach ourselves to the faithful few (4) They who love prophets that prophesy smooth things and hate plain dealing are justly given up to their own delusions (5) Suffering for the truths sake is the hereditary portion of Gods ministers (6) The day is coming when the despised word of Gods prophets shall be fulfilled and their enemies too late will wonder and perish

3rdly Ahab pretends to honour Jehoshaphat but in fact intends to expose him so deceitful are the kisses of an enemy but God turns his wicked devices on his own head Jehoshaphat by divine interposition escapes while Ahab falls in his disguise and his armour is no protection from the arrow that God shoots against the

persecutors Man in vain contrives to escape when God hath determined his fall There is neither counsel nor might against the Lord

ELLICOTT (4) And JehoshaphatmdashSo exactly 1 Kings 225

Enquire at the wordmdashSeek the word

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 184 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the LORD to day

Ver 4 Inquire I pray thee of the Lord today] Yea but this should have been done before he had engaged to go Good Jehoshaphat is oft taxed for being smart too late Few consider that it is better to stop or step back than to run on out of the way

GUZIK 3 (2 Chronicles 184-8) Jehoshaphat proposes that they seek God in the matter

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel ldquoPlease inquire for the word of the LORD todayrdquo Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together four hundred men and said to them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And they said ldquoGo up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo But Jehoshaphat said ldquoIs there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Himrdquo So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD but I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil He is Micaiah the son of Imlardquo And Jehoshaphat said ldquoLet not the king say such thingsrdquo Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said ldquoBring Micaiah the son of Imla quicklyrdquo

a Please inquire for the word of the LORD today Considering the generally adversarial relationship between Ahab and the prophets of Yahweh this was a bold request of Jehoshaphat to ask of Ahab It wasnrsquot surprising that Ahab picked prophets who would tell them that they wanted to hear

i ldquoThough Jehoshaphat had already committed himself to the enterprise (2 Chronicles 183) and though he went on to disregard the guidance that was given him (2 Chronicles 1828) he still retained the religion of Yahweh to the extent that he insisted on seeking lsquothe counsel of the Lordrsquordquo (Payne)

b Go up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos hand When Ahab gathered the prophets they were not faithful prophets of the LORD These were prophets happy to please their kings and to tell them what they wanted to hear Jehoshaphat still wanted to hear from a prophet of Yahweh the LORD (Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Him)

i Trapp described this gather of prophets as ldquoAn ecumenical councilrdquo

c I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil Ahab hated the messenger because of the message His real conflict was with God but he focused his hatred against the prophet Micaiah Yet he was willing to listen to the King of Judah when he advised that Ahab should listen to the Prophet Micaiah

PULPIT The wording of this verse is identical with that of the parallel (1 Kings 225) Jehoshaphat if even not quite conscious of it is throwing some sop to his conscience in essaying to become and posing as the godly counsellor of the ungodly (2 Chronicles 192) At any rate his counsel is right even to the point of urging to-day and significantly deprecating procrastination It is not however so clear that he was in the first instance as decided in respect of the necessity of inquiring the will of the Lord at the mouth of a true prophet in distinction from a prophet merely of Israel though they should be four hundred in number Compare the following two verses however which show as though he was holding himself quite prepared and on the look-out for the expected occasion of having to rein Ahab up

5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsmdashfour hundred menmdashand asked them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoGordquo they answered ldquofor God will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (5) ThereforemdashAnd

Of prophetsmdashRather the prophets

Four hundredmdashKings ldquoAbout four hundredrdquo Alsorsquo Adonai (ldquothe Lordrdquo) instead of harsquoelocirchicircm (ldquothe [true] Godrdquo) and ldquoI go againstrdquo for ldquowe go tordquo where the former is obviously more appropriate

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 10: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

To Ramoth-gileadmdashie Ramoth of or in Gilead Ramoth (ldquoheightsrdquo) or Ramath or Ramah (ldquoheightrdquo) was a common name in such a hilly country as Palestine Kings adds to the war

And my people in the warmdashThe symmetry of this part of the verse has been disregarded by the chronicler in order to make Jehoshaphat express an apparently more definite assent to Ahabrsquos request (Comp Kings ldquoMy people as thy people my horses as thy horsesrdquo (kamocircnicirc kamocircka kĕlsquoammicirc kĕlsquoammbka kĕsucircsai kĕsucircseika) The Syriac reads ldquoAnd my horses as thy horses and I will go with thee to the warrdquo Similarly the Arabic ldquoMy horsemen as thy horsemenrdquo

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 183 And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah Wilt thou go with me to Ramothgilead And he answered him I [am] as thou [art] and my people as thy people and [we will be] with thee in the war

Ver 3 I am as thou art] See 1 Kings 224 Jehoshaphat was too facile It was noted as a fault in Henry IV of France that he was aeque male ac bono reconciliabilis of too good a nature as we say of some

PULPIT I am as thou etc The same unqualified kind of language was used By Jehoshaphat on another occasion (2 Kings 37) two years later when Jehoram son of the deceased Ahab also asked his help against Moab Whether on the one occasion or the other it is quite possible that Jehoshaphat thought he was serving common interests and the cause of his own kingdom as well as of Israel nevertheless Jehu the son of Hanani the seer ignores the supposed justification (2 Chronicles 192)

4 But Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel ldquoFirst seek the counsel of the Lordrdquo

HERY 4-27 This is almost word for word the same with what we had 1 Kings 22 We will not repeat what was there said nor have we much to add but may take occasion to think 1 Of the great duty of acknowledging God in all our ways and enquiring at his word whatever we undertake Jehoshaphat was not willing to proceed till he had done this 2Ch_184 By particular believing prayer by an unbiased consultation of the

scripture and our own consciences and by an observant regard to the hints of providence we may make such enquiries and very much to our satisfaction 2 Of the great danger of bad company even to good men Those that have more wisdom grace and resolution cannot be sure that they can converse familiarly with wicked people and get no hurt by them Jehoshaphat here in complaisance to Ahab sits in his robes patiently hearing the false prophets speaking lies in the name of the Lord (2Ch_189) can scarcely find in his heart to give him a too mild and gentle reproof for hating a prophet of the Lord (2Ch_187) and dares not rebuke that false prophet who basely abused the faithful seer nor oppose Ahab who committed him to prison Those who venture among the seats of the scornful cannot come off without a great deal of the guilt attaching to at least the omission of their duty unless they have such measures of wisdom and courage as few can pretend to 3 Of the unhappiness of those who are surrounded with flatterers especially flattering prophets who cry peace to them and prophesy nothing but smooth things Thus was Ahab cheated into his ruin and justly for he hearkened to such and preferred those that humoured him before a good prophet that gave him fair warning of his danger Those do best for themselves that give their friends leave and particularly their ministers to deal plainly and faithfully with them and take their reproofs not only patiently but kindly That counsel is not always best for us that is most pleasing to us 4 Of the power of Satan by the divine permission in the children of disobedience One lying spirit can make 400 lying prophets and make use of them to deceive Ahab 2Ch_1821 The devil becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them 5 Of the justice of God in giving those up to strong delusions to believe a lie who will not receive the love of the truth but rebel against it 2Ch_1821 Let the lying spirit prevail to entice those to their ruin that will not be persuaded to their duty and happiness 6 Of the hard case of faithful ministers whose lot it has often been to be hated and persecuted and ill-treated for being true to their God and just and kind to the souls of men Micaiah for discharging a good conscience was buffeted imprisoned and condemned to the bread and water of affliction But he could with assurance appeal to the issue as all those may do who are persecuted for their faithfulness 2Ch_1827 The day will declare who is in the right and who in the wrong when Christ will appear to the unspeakable consolation of his persecuted people and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors who will be made to see in that day(2Ch_1824) what they will not now believe

BI 4-34 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord to-day

Divine truth and its typical reception

Here are four types of human conduct in relation to Divine truth

I Those who seek the truth Micaiah believed in its existence prayed for its teaching and determined to follow its leading

II Those who are opposed to the truth The priests assumed to be its only depositaries denied the claims of others ridiculed and opposed its representative None so slow to believe in a Divine Spirit as those accustomed to speak Divine words but in whose hearts is no Divine life

III Those who believe yet disobey the truth Jehoshaphat believed the prophet Micaiah mildly defended his character yet would not withdraw from Ahab

IV Those who are alarmed at truth Ahab roused in conscience afraid of results and tried to escape by stratagem (J Wolfendale)

BESO 2 Chronicles 184 Inquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord mdash This we should do whatever we undertake by particular believing prayer by an unbiased consulting of the Scriptures and our own consciences and by a close regard to the hints of Providence

COFFMA Jehoshaphats asking here for a prophet of Jehovah dramatically states that the four hundred prophets of Ahab were not prophets of Jehovah Ahabs god was Baal and his prophets were automatically prophets of Baal not of Jehovah (1 Kings 2253)

COKE 2 Chronicles 1814 Go ye up and prospermdash The kings answer plainly shews that he understood these words of Michaiah to be ironical

REFLECTIOSmdash1st Jehoshaphats growing greatness probably made the king of Israel desirous of his alliance and Jehoshaphat too readily consented An Israelitish princess seemed an eligible match for his son and he might hope to make some advantage of it by recovering the house of Israel to the service of God or the kingdom to his posterity The connection however proved dangerous to himself and ruinous to his family The first bad effect produced by it was his involving himself in a war with the Syrians in complaisance to Ahab who having nobly entertained him at Samaria drew him in to be his auxiliary for the recovery of Ramoth-gilead ote (1) Marriages founded on pride and worldly-mindedness cannot fail of bringing misery along with them (2) The strongest expressions of friendship from a wicked man are to be suspected at bottom he means to serve only himself

2nd For the account of Michaiah ampc see 1 Kings 22 We may only farther remark (1) How needful it is to consult God in all our ways (2) When for worldly ends we maintain fellowship with those who are enemies to God for fear of offending we shall often hear what we dare not rebuke and countenance by our presence what we are bound to condemn (3) Faithful prophets are few false prophets numerous It becomes us to beware of following the multitude and to attach ourselves to the faithful few (4) They who love prophets that prophesy smooth things and hate plain dealing are justly given up to their own delusions (5) Suffering for the truths sake is the hereditary portion of Gods ministers (6) The day is coming when the despised word of Gods prophets shall be fulfilled and their enemies too late will wonder and perish

3rdly Ahab pretends to honour Jehoshaphat but in fact intends to expose him so deceitful are the kisses of an enemy but God turns his wicked devices on his own head Jehoshaphat by divine interposition escapes while Ahab falls in his disguise and his armour is no protection from the arrow that God shoots against the

persecutors Man in vain contrives to escape when God hath determined his fall There is neither counsel nor might against the Lord

ELLICOTT (4) And JehoshaphatmdashSo exactly 1 Kings 225

Enquire at the wordmdashSeek the word

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 184 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the LORD to day

Ver 4 Inquire I pray thee of the Lord today] Yea but this should have been done before he had engaged to go Good Jehoshaphat is oft taxed for being smart too late Few consider that it is better to stop or step back than to run on out of the way

GUZIK 3 (2 Chronicles 184-8) Jehoshaphat proposes that they seek God in the matter

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel ldquoPlease inquire for the word of the LORD todayrdquo Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together four hundred men and said to them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And they said ldquoGo up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo But Jehoshaphat said ldquoIs there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Himrdquo So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD but I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil He is Micaiah the son of Imlardquo And Jehoshaphat said ldquoLet not the king say such thingsrdquo Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said ldquoBring Micaiah the son of Imla quicklyrdquo

a Please inquire for the word of the LORD today Considering the generally adversarial relationship between Ahab and the prophets of Yahweh this was a bold request of Jehoshaphat to ask of Ahab It wasnrsquot surprising that Ahab picked prophets who would tell them that they wanted to hear

i ldquoThough Jehoshaphat had already committed himself to the enterprise (2 Chronicles 183) and though he went on to disregard the guidance that was given him (2 Chronicles 1828) he still retained the religion of Yahweh to the extent that he insisted on seeking lsquothe counsel of the Lordrsquordquo (Payne)

b Go up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos hand When Ahab gathered the prophets they were not faithful prophets of the LORD These were prophets happy to please their kings and to tell them what they wanted to hear Jehoshaphat still wanted to hear from a prophet of Yahweh the LORD (Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Him)

i Trapp described this gather of prophets as ldquoAn ecumenical councilrdquo

c I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil Ahab hated the messenger because of the message His real conflict was with God but he focused his hatred against the prophet Micaiah Yet he was willing to listen to the King of Judah when he advised that Ahab should listen to the Prophet Micaiah

PULPIT The wording of this verse is identical with that of the parallel (1 Kings 225) Jehoshaphat if even not quite conscious of it is throwing some sop to his conscience in essaying to become and posing as the godly counsellor of the ungodly (2 Chronicles 192) At any rate his counsel is right even to the point of urging to-day and significantly deprecating procrastination It is not however so clear that he was in the first instance as decided in respect of the necessity of inquiring the will of the Lord at the mouth of a true prophet in distinction from a prophet merely of Israel though they should be four hundred in number Compare the following two verses however which show as though he was holding himself quite prepared and on the look-out for the expected occasion of having to rein Ahab up

5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsmdashfour hundred menmdashand asked them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoGordquo they answered ldquofor God will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (5) ThereforemdashAnd

Of prophetsmdashRather the prophets

Four hundredmdashKings ldquoAbout four hundredrdquo Alsorsquo Adonai (ldquothe Lordrdquo) instead of harsquoelocirchicircm (ldquothe [true] Godrdquo) and ldquoI go againstrdquo for ldquowe go tordquo where the former is obviously more appropriate

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 11: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

scripture and our own consciences and by an observant regard to the hints of providence we may make such enquiries and very much to our satisfaction 2 Of the great danger of bad company even to good men Those that have more wisdom grace and resolution cannot be sure that they can converse familiarly with wicked people and get no hurt by them Jehoshaphat here in complaisance to Ahab sits in his robes patiently hearing the false prophets speaking lies in the name of the Lord (2Ch_189) can scarcely find in his heart to give him a too mild and gentle reproof for hating a prophet of the Lord (2Ch_187) and dares not rebuke that false prophet who basely abused the faithful seer nor oppose Ahab who committed him to prison Those who venture among the seats of the scornful cannot come off without a great deal of the guilt attaching to at least the omission of their duty unless they have such measures of wisdom and courage as few can pretend to 3 Of the unhappiness of those who are surrounded with flatterers especially flattering prophets who cry peace to them and prophesy nothing but smooth things Thus was Ahab cheated into his ruin and justly for he hearkened to such and preferred those that humoured him before a good prophet that gave him fair warning of his danger Those do best for themselves that give their friends leave and particularly their ministers to deal plainly and faithfully with them and take their reproofs not only patiently but kindly That counsel is not always best for us that is most pleasing to us 4 Of the power of Satan by the divine permission in the children of disobedience One lying spirit can make 400 lying prophets and make use of them to deceive Ahab 2Ch_1821 The devil becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them 5 Of the justice of God in giving those up to strong delusions to believe a lie who will not receive the love of the truth but rebel against it 2Ch_1821 Let the lying spirit prevail to entice those to their ruin that will not be persuaded to their duty and happiness 6 Of the hard case of faithful ministers whose lot it has often been to be hated and persecuted and ill-treated for being true to their God and just and kind to the souls of men Micaiah for discharging a good conscience was buffeted imprisoned and condemned to the bread and water of affliction But he could with assurance appeal to the issue as all those may do who are persecuted for their faithfulness 2Ch_1827 The day will declare who is in the right and who in the wrong when Christ will appear to the unspeakable consolation of his persecuted people and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors who will be made to see in that day(2Ch_1824) what they will not now believe

BI 4-34 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord to-day

Divine truth and its typical reception

Here are four types of human conduct in relation to Divine truth

I Those who seek the truth Micaiah believed in its existence prayed for its teaching and determined to follow its leading

II Those who are opposed to the truth The priests assumed to be its only depositaries denied the claims of others ridiculed and opposed its representative None so slow to believe in a Divine Spirit as those accustomed to speak Divine words but in whose hearts is no Divine life

III Those who believe yet disobey the truth Jehoshaphat believed the prophet Micaiah mildly defended his character yet would not withdraw from Ahab

IV Those who are alarmed at truth Ahab roused in conscience afraid of results and tried to escape by stratagem (J Wolfendale)

BESO 2 Chronicles 184 Inquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord mdash This we should do whatever we undertake by particular believing prayer by an unbiased consulting of the Scriptures and our own consciences and by a close regard to the hints of Providence

COFFMA Jehoshaphats asking here for a prophet of Jehovah dramatically states that the four hundred prophets of Ahab were not prophets of Jehovah Ahabs god was Baal and his prophets were automatically prophets of Baal not of Jehovah (1 Kings 2253)

COKE 2 Chronicles 1814 Go ye up and prospermdash The kings answer plainly shews that he understood these words of Michaiah to be ironical

REFLECTIOSmdash1st Jehoshaphats growing greatness probably made the king of Israel desirous of his alliance and Jehoshaphat too readily consented An Israelitish princess seemed an eligible match for his son and he might hope to make some advantage of it by recovering the house of Israel to the service of God or the kingdom to his posterity The connection however proved dangerous to himself and ruinous to his family The first bad effect produced by it was his involving himself in a war with the Syrians in complaisance to Ahab who having nobly entertained him at Samaria drew him in to be his auxiliary for the recovery of Ramoth-gilead ote (1) Marriages founded on pride and worldly-mindedness cannot fail of bringing misery along with them (2) The strongest expressions of friendship from a wicked man are to be suspected at bottom he means to serve only himself

2nd For the account of Michaiah ampc see 1 Kings 22 We may only farther remark (1) How needful it is to consult God in all our ways (2) When for worldly ends we maintain fellowship with those who are enemies to God for fear of offending we shall often hear what we dare not rebuke and countenance by our presence what we are bound to condemn (3) Faithful prophets are few false prophets numerous It becomes us to beware of following the multitude and to attach ourselves to the faithful few (4) They who love prophets that prophesy smooth things and hate plain dealing are justly given up to their own delusions (5) Suffering for the truths sake is the hereditary portion of Gods ministers (6) The day is coming when the despised word of Gods prophets shall be fulfilled and their enemies too late will wonder and perish

3rdly Ahab pretends to honour Jehoshaphat but in fact intends to expose him so deceitful are the kisses of an enemy but God turns his wicked devices on his own head Jehoshaphat by divine interposition escapes while Ahab falls in his disguise and his armour is no protection from the arrow that God shoots against the

persecutors Man in vain contrives to escape when God hath determined his fall There is neither counsel nor might against the Lord

ELLICOTT (4) And JehoshaphatmdashSo exactly 1 Kings 225

Enquire at the wordmdashSeek the word

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 184 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the LORD to day

Ver 4 Inquire I pray thee of the Lord today] Yea but this should have been done before he had engaged to go Good Jehoshaphat is oft taxed for being smart too late Few consider that it is better to stop or step back than to run on out of the way

GUZIK 3 (2 Chronicles 184-8) Jehoshaphat proposes that they seek God in the matter

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel ldquoPlease inquire for the word of the LORD todayrdquo Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together four hundred men and said to them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And they said ldquoGo up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo But Jehoshaphat said ldquoIs there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Himrdquo So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD but I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil He is Micaiah the son of Imlardquo And Jehoshaphat said ldquoLet not the king say such thingsrdquo Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said ldquoBring Micaiah the son of Imla quicklyrdquo

a Please inquire for the word of the LORD today Considering the generally adversarial relationship between Ahab and the prophets of Yahweh this was a bold request of Jehoshaphat to ask of Ahab It wasnrsquot surprising that Ahab picked prophets who would tell them that they wanted to hear

i ldquoThough Jehoshaphat had already committed himself to the enterprise (2 Chronicles 183) and though he went on to disregard the guidance that was given him (2 Chronicles 1828) he still retained the religion of Yahweh to the extent that he insisted on seeking lsquothe counsel of the Lordrsquordquo (Payne)

b Go up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos hand When Ahab gathered the prophets they were not faithful prophets of the LORD These were prophets happy to please their kings and to tell them what they wanted to hear Jehoshaphat still wanted to hear from a prophet of Yahweh the LORD (Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Him)

i Trapp described this gather of prophets as ldquoAn ecumenical councilrdquo

c I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil Ahab hated the messenger because of the message His real conflict was with God but he focused his hatred against the prophet Micaiah Yet he was willing to listen to the King of Judah when he advised that Ahab should listen to the Prophet Micaiah

PULPIT The wording of this verse is identical with that of the parallel (1 Kings 225) Jehoshaphat if even not quite conscious of it is throwing some sop to his conscience in essaying to become and posing as the godly counsellor of the ungodly (2 Chronicles 192) At any rate his counsel is right even to the point of urging to-day and significantly deprecating procrastination It is not however so clear that he was in the first instance as decided in respect of the necessity of inquiring the will of the Lord at the mouth of a true prophet in distinction from a prophet merely of Israel though they should be four hundred in number Compare the following two verses however which show as though he was holding himself quite prepared and on the look-out for the expected occasion of having to rein Ahab up

5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsmdashfour hundred menmdashand asked them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoGordquo they answered ldquofor God will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (5) ThereforemdashAnd

Of prophetsmdashRather the prophets

Four hundredmdashKings ldquoAbout four hundredrdquo Alsorsquo Adonai (ldquothe Lordrdquo) instead of harsquoelocirchicircm (ldquothe [true] Godrdquo) and ldquoI go againstrdquo for ldquowe go tordquo where the former is obviously more appropriate

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 12: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

IV Those who are alarmed at truth Ahab roused in conscience afraid of results and tried to escape by stratagem (J Wolfendale)

BESO 2 Chronicles 184 Inquire I pray thee at the word of the Lord mdash This we should do whatever we undertake by particular believing prayer by an unbiased consulting of the Scriptures and our own consciences and by a close regard to the hints of Providence

COFFMA Jehoshaphats asking here for a prophet of Jehovah dramatically states that the four hundred prophets of Ahab were not prophets of Jehovah Ahabs god was Baal and his prophets were automatically prophets of Baal not of Jehovah (1 Kings 2253)

COKE 2 Chronicles 1814 Go ye up and prospermdash The kings answer plainly shews that he understood these words of Michaiah to be ironical

REFLECTIOSmdash1st Jehoshaphats growing greatness probably made the king of Israel desirous of his alliance and Jehoshaphat too readily consented An Israelitish princess seemed an eligible match for his son and he might hope to make some advantage of it by recovering the house of Israel to the service of God or the kingdom to his posterity The connection however proved dangerous to himself and ruinous to his family The first bad effect produced by it was his involving himself in a war with the Syrians in complaisance to Ahab who having nobly entertained him at Samaria drew him in to be his auxiliary for the recovery of Ramoth-gilead ote (1) Marriages founded on pride and worldly-mindedness cannot fail of bringing misery along with them (2) The strongest expressions of friendship from a wicked man are to be suspected at bottom he means to serve only himself

2nd For the account of Michaiah ampc see 1 Kings 22 We may only farther remark (1) How needful it is to consult God in all our ways (2) When for worldly ends we maintain fellowship with those who are enemies to God for fear of offending we shall often hear what we dare not rebuke and countenance by our presence what we are bound to condemn (3) Faithful prophets are few false prophets numerous It becomes us to beware of following the multitude and to attach ourselves to the faithful few (4) They who love prophets that prophesy smooth things and hate plain dealing are justly given up to their own delusions (5) Suffering for the truths sake is the hereditary portion of Gods ministers (6) The day is coming when the despised word of Gods prophets shall be fulfilled and their enemies too late will wonder and perish

3rdly Ahab pretends to honour Jehoshaphat but in fact intends to expose him so deceitful are the kisses of an enemy but God turns his wicked devices on his own head Jehoshaphat by divine interposition escapes while Ahab falls in his disguise and his armour is no protection from the arrow that God shoots against the

persecutors Man in vain contrives to escape when God hath determined his fall There is neither counsel nor might against the Lord

ELLICOTT (4) And JehoshaphatmdashSo exactly 1 Kings 225

Enquire at the wordmdashSeek the word

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 184 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the LORD to day

Ver 4 Inquire I pray thee of the Lord today] Yea but this should have been done before he had engaged to go Good Jehoshaphat is oft taxed for being smart too late Few consider that it is better to stop or step back than to run on out of the way

GUZIK 3 (2 Chronicles 184-8) Jehoshaphat proposes that they seek God in the matter

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel ldquoPlease inquire for the word of the LORD todayrdquo Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together four hundred men and said to them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And they said ldquoGo up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo But Jehoshaphat said ldquoIs there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Himrdquo So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD but I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil He is Micaiah the son of Imlardquo And Jehoshaphat said ldquoLet not the king say such thingsrdquo Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said ldquoBring Micaiah the son of Imla quicklyrdquo

a Please inquire for the word of the LORD today Considering the generally adversarial relationship between Ahab and the prophets of Yahweh this was a bold request of Jehoshaphat to ask of Ahab It wasnrsquot surprising that Ahab picked prophets who would tell them that they wanted to hear

i ldquoThough Jehoshaphat had already committed himself to the enterprise (2 Chronicles 183) and though he went on to disregard the guidance that was given him (2 Chronicles 1828) he still retained the religion of Yahweh to the extent that he insisted on seeking lsquothe counsel of the Lordrsquordquo (Payne)

b Go up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos hand When Ahab gathered the prophets they were not faithful prophets of the LORD These were prophets happy to please their kings and to tell them what they wanted to hear Jehoshaphat still wanted to hear from a prophet of Yahweh the LORD (Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Him)

i Trapp described this gather of prophets as ldquoAn ecumenical councilrdquo

c I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil Ahab hated the messenger because of the message His real conflict was with God but he focused his hatred against the prophet Micaiah Yet he was willing to listen to the King of Judah when he advised that Ahab should listen to the Prophet Micaiah

PULPIT The wording of this verse is identical with that of the parallel (1 Kings 225) Jehoshaphat if even not quite conscious of it is throwing some sop to his conscience in essaying to become and posing as the godly counsellor of the ungodly (2 Chronicles 192) At any rate his counsel is right even to the point of urging to-day and significantly deprecating procrastination It is not however so clear that he was in the first instance as decided in respect of the necessity of inquiring the will of the Lord at the mouth of a true prophet in distinction from a prophet merely of Israel though they should be four hundred in number Compare the following two verses however which show as though he was holding himself quite prepared and on the look-out for the expected occasion of having to rein Ahab up

5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsmdashfour hundred menmdashand asked them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoGordquo they answered ldquofor God will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (5) ThereforemdashAnd

Of prophetsmdashRather the prophets

Four hundredmdashKings ldquoAbout four hundredrdquo Alsorsquo Adonai (ldquothe Lordrdquo) instead of harsquoelocirchicircm (ldquothe [true] Godrdquo) and ldquoI go againstrdquo for ldquowe go tordquo where the former is obviously more appropriate

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 13: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

persecutors Man in vain contrives to escape when God hath determined his fall There is neither counsel nor might against the Lord

ELLICOTT (4) And JehoshaphatmdashSo exactly 1 Kings 225

Enquire at the wordmdashSeek the word

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 184 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel Enquire I pray thee at the word of the LORD to day

Ver 4 Inquire I pray thee of the Lord today] Yea but this should have been done before he had engaged to go Good Jehoshaphat is oft taxed for being smart too late Few consider that it is better to stop or step back than to run on out of the way

GUZIK 3 (2 Chronicles 184-8) Jehoshaphat proposes that they seek God in the matter

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel ldquoPlease inquire for the word of the LORD todayrdquo Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together four hundred men and said to them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And they said ldquoGo up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo But Jehoshaphat said ldquoIs there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Himrdquo So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD but I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil He is Micaiah the son of Imlardquo And Jehoshaphat said ldquoLet not the king say such thingsrdquo Then the king of Israel called one of his officers and said ldquoBring Micaiah the son of Imla quicklyrdquo

a Please inquire for the word of the LORD today Considering the generally adversarial relationship between Ahab and the prophets of Yahweh this was a bold request of Jehoshaphat to ask of Ahab It wasnrsquot surprising that Ahab picked prophets who would tell them that they wanted to hear

i ldquoThough Jehoshaphat had already committed himself to the enterprise (2 Chronicles 183) and though he went on to disregard the guidance that was given him (2 Chronicles 1828) he still retained the religion of Yahweh to the extent that he insisted on seeking lsquothe counsel of the Lordrsquordquo (Payne)

b Go up for God will deliver it into the kingrsquos hand When Ahab gathered the prophets they were not faithful prophets of the LORD These were prophets happy to please their kings and to tell them what they wanted to hear Jehoshaphat still wanted to hear from a prophet of Yahweh the LORD (Is there not still a prophet of the LORD here that we may inquire of Him)

i Trapp described this gather of prophets as ldquoAn ecumenical councilrdquo

c I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil Ahab hated the messenger because of the message His real conflict was with God but he focused his hatred against the prophet Micaiah Yet he was willing to listen to the King of Judah when he advised that Ahab should listen to the Prophet Micaiah

PULPIT The wording of this verse is identical with that of the parallel (1 Kings 225) Jehoshaphat if even not quite conscious of it is throwing some sop to his conscience in essaying to become and posing as the godly counsellor of the ungodly (2 Chronicles 192) At any rate his counsel is right even to the point of urging to-day and significantly deprecating procrastination It is not however so clear that he was in the first instance as decided in respect of the necessity of inquiring the will of the Lord at the mouth of a true prophet in distinction from a prophet merely of Israel though they should be four hundred in number Compare the following two verses however which show as though he was holding himself quite prepared and on the look-out for the expected occasion of having to rein Ahab up

5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsmdashfour hundred menmdashand asked them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoGordquo they answered ldquofor God will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (5) ThereforemdashAnd

Of prophetsmdashRather the prophets

Four hundredmdashKings ldquoAbout four hundredrdquo Alsorsquo Adonai (ldquothe Lordrdquo) instead of harsquoelocirchicircm (ldquothe [true] Godrdquo) and ldquoI go againstrdquo for ldquowe go tordquo where the former is obviously more appropriate

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 14: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

c I hate him because he never prophesies good concerning me but always evil Ahab hated the messenger because of the message His real conflict was with God but he focused his hatred against the prophet Micaiah Yet he was willing to listen to the King of Judah when he advised that Ahab should listen to the Prophet Micaiah

PULPIT The wording of this verse is identical with that of the parallel (1 Kings 225) Jehoshaphat if even not quite conscious of it is throwing some sop to his conscience in essaying to become and posing as the godly counsellor of the ungodly (2 Chronicles 192) At any rate his counsel is right even to the point of urging to-day and significantly deprecating procrastination It is not however so clear that he was in the first instance as decided in respect of the necessity of inquiring the will of the Lord at the mouth of a true prophet in distinction from a prophet merely of Israel though they should be four hundred in number Compare the following two verses however which show as though he was holding himself quite prepared and on the look-out for the expected occasion of having to rein Ahab up

5 So the king of Israel brought together the prophetsmdashfour hundred menmdashand asked them ldquoShall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoGordquo they answered ldquofor God will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (5) ThereforemdashAnd

Of prophetsmdashRather the prophets

Four hundredmdashKings ldquoAbout four hundredrdquo Alsorsquo Adonai (ldquothe Lordrdquo) instead of harsquoelocirchicircm (ldquothe [true] Godrdquo) and ldquoI go againstrdquo for ldquowe go tordquo where the former is obviously more appropriate

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 15: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 185 Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men and said unto them Shall we go to Ramothgilead to battle or shall I forbear And they said Go up for God will deliver [it] into the kingrsquos hand

Ver 5 Four hundred prophets] An ecumenical council See on 1 Kings 26

PULPIT These four hundred prophets as Keil justly notes were not prophets of Ashe-rah nor of Baal but strictly of Israel ie of the images of the calf (1 Kings 1226-33) Their word speedily showed itself not the word of the Lord but the word that was made up to order of the king and to suit his known wish at any time

6 But Jehoshaphat asked ldquoIs there no longer a prophet of the Lord here whom we can inquire ofrdquo

PULPIT The Revised Version well at-ranges the words of this verse Is there not here besides a prophet of the Lord The conscience of Ahab successfully made a coward of him that he took so quietly this pronounced slight put on his kingdom s prophets (prophetae vitulorum) by his brother-king Jehoshaphat

BI 6-7 There is yet one man by whom we may enquire of the Lord but I hate him

Micaiah the son of Imla

Jehoshaphatrsquos is the wise and reverent question to ask amid the illusions of every fashionable opinion amid all smooth and flattering promises It marks the devout habit of looking behind the outward show and of searching every matter to its depths in the fear of God Let us notice the frame of mind revealed in Ahabrsquos reply

I Note the significance of that one obdurate voice rising clearly above the four hundred unanimous in their approval

1 That is a voice which we hear again and again in our life we hear it most loudly at

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 16: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

special crises of our career

2 When one solitary voice flatly contradicts the voice of a multitude and contradicts it on matters of serious momentmdashwhich voice are we to believe Sometimes the question is practically decided as in Ahabrsquos case by the mood with which we come to think of the unsilenced prophet ldquoI hate himrdquo

(1) That tribute of hatred sprang from Ahabrsquos conscience It is the precise method by which weak and cruel men are wont to confess that not the man but the message has found them out

(2) Notice also Ahabrsquos device for suppressing an unwelcome truth

II This narrative symbolises manrsquos frequent attitude towards the truth It is a test case

1 Young men and women starting in life with abundant promise amid the acclamation of hosts of friends you may be irritated by perhaps one grim dissenting voice critical dissatisfied implacable which sadly challenges the place in this universe to which general opinion reads your title clear Be very careful how you treat that voice It may be the voice of an ignorant envious churlish man but on the other hand it may be the voice of one who has pierced to the secret of your inner life and who if you would only listen might spare you an idle journey might rescue you from misery and shame

2 Again there are books or teachers whom we have to deal with and who sadly irritate us and we say like Marguerite to Faust but often alas without her simplicity ldquoThou art not a Christianrdquo Let us patiently ask are we really angry in the name of the Lord of hosts or are we angry because these books or voices spoil our own theories wound our prejudices smile at our favourite catch-words wither our ideas of success and are in the name of the Truth of God relentless amid our flatterers Do they simply offend our self-love and rebuke our calculated prudence Let us be careful These books and voices may be wrong if so theirrsquos the loss and the penalty But very often conscience would tell us there is a possibility that they are right

3 There is one solemn application of this incident which has no doubt occurred to us already In every human heart disobedient to Christ impenitent and unreconciled there is a voice as of Micaiah the son of Imla but it is really the voice of the Lord Himself speaking to that heart amid all its distractions and its earthly pleasures the message of evil and not of good And men may come to chafe so angrily under that patient ever-haunting warning and appeal that finally they may cry ldquoI hate it I hate itrdquo If that be so remember Ahabrsquos doom (T Rhys Evans)

Virtues necessary far religious warkers

Close sympathy with his kind personal lowliness self-suppression pushed even to pathetic extremes unshakable loyalty to the teaching of the Spirit of God and calm indifference to fashionable moods of flattery or disapprovalmdashthese are virtues necessary to every religious worker If he deferentially consults the noble of this world what message he may utter if he asks the man of affairs whose difficult lifo reminds him always not only of Jacobrsquos wrestling but also of Jacobrsquos subtlety and who is fiercely tempted to give his vote for a gospel of compromise if he asks the poor and becomes spokesman not of their wrongs but of a maddened despair which does not represent their truer self he passes from the side of Micaiah to that of the four hundred (T Rhys

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 17: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

Evans)

The faithful prophet

I The estimation in which he was held ldquoI hate himrdquo Hatred inveterate and strong often the reward of fidelity Am I then become your enemy because I tell you the truthrdquo

II The stand which he takes (2Ch_1813)

1 Dependence upon God

2 Expectation of Godrsquos help (Mat_1018-19)

3 Determination to utter Godrsquos Word

III The pleas urged to move from this stand

1 The opinion of the majority

2 The difficulty of judging who is right ldquoWhich way went the Spirit of the

Lord from me to theerdquo

3 The employment of physical force (J Wolfendale)

Hated for the truthrsquos sake

I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true ldquoA wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and My people love to have it sordquo

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller This is not Micaiahrsquos first appearance before the king He had established his reputation as a God-fearing and truth-speaking man and Ahabrsquos denunciation was in reality Micaiahrsquos highest praise

1 No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary

2 Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man

3 A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth Opposition will come (J Parker DD)

Truth awakens enmity

As the Turk taunted some Christians at Constantinople who said that they came thither to suffer for the truth telling them that they needed not to have come so far for that for had they but told the truth at home they could not have missed suffering for it Telling truth needs not travel far for enmity enmity will encounter it at home wheresoever it be Hence is that definition that Luther made of preaching ldquoProedicare nihil eat quam derivare in se furoremrdquo etcmdashthat to preach and preach home as he did was nothing else but to stir up the furies of hell about their ears (J Spencer)

Ministers not to accommodate their message to the likings of men

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 18: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

Suppose a number of persons were to call on a minister on the Sabbath-day morning and being admitted into his study one of them should say to him ldquoI hope sir you do not mean to-day to be severe against avarice for I love money and my heart goes after my covetousnessrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoI trust you will not be severe against backbiting for my tongue walketh with slanderers and I consider scandal to be the seasoning of all conversationrdquo Suppose another should say ldquoDo not represent implacability as being inconsistent with Divine goodness for I never didrdquo forgive such an one and I never will And so of the rest What would this minister say to these men Why if he were in a proper state of mind he would say ldquoOh thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lordrdquo (W Jay)

7 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat ldquoThere is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me but always bad He is Micaiah son of Imlahrdquo

ldquoThe king should not say such a thingrdquo Jehoshaphat replied

ELLICOTT (7) He never prophesied good unto me but always evilmdashLiterally He is not prophesying to me for good but all his days for evil Kings ldquoHe prophesieth not to me good but evilrdquo The chronicler has aggravated the idea of opposition by adding ldquoall his daysrdquo ie throughout his prophetic career (Comp Homer Iliad i 106)

MicaiahmdashHeb Micirckacircyĕhucirc which presupposes an older Micirckăyăhucirc (ldquoWho like Iahurdquo) Iahu is in all probability the oldest form of the Divine ame Iah being an abridgment of it Syriac and Arabic ldquoMicahrdquomdashthe form in 2 Chronicles 1814 (Heb)

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 19: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

ImlamdashHe is full or he filleth etymologically right

Let not the king say somdashJehoshaphat hears in the words a presentiment of evil and deprecates the omen

PULPIT The same is Micaiah This true prophet of the Lord is known only here in recorded history but it is evident he was otherwise well known to his generation and to Ahab (2 Chronicles 1825) The outspokenness of Ahab and the sustained courtesy of Jehoshaphat are alike agreeable to notice in this verse

SBC I What an appalling illustration is this of the fact that men love to be flattered and encouraged even at the expense of everything holy and true

II What a vivid illustration is this of the sublime function of an incorruptible truth-teller (1) No wicked man should be quite easy in the sanctuary (2) Do you suppose that it is pleasant for a minister to be always opposing any man (3) A man is not your enemy because he tells you the truth

III What a striking instance is this of the Lord giving a man up to the devices of his own wicked heart and letting him take his own ruinous way

Parker The Ark of God p 281

8 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said ldquoBring Micaiah son of Imlah at oncerdquo

ELLICOTT (8) Called for one of his officersmdashLiterally Called to a eunuch (See on 1 Chronicles 281)

MicaiahmdashHebrew text Micirckacirchucirc a contracted form The Hebrew margin substitutes the usual spelling

9 Dressed in their royal robes the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 20: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria with all the prophets prophesying before them

CLARKE The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat - ldquoAhab consulted false prophets but Jehoshaphat sought instruction from the presence of the Lord and prayed at the entering in of Samaria and before these all the false prophets prophesied liesrdquo -Targum

ELLICOTT (9) And the king of Israel sat either of them on his thronemdashRather ow the king of Israel were sitting each on his throne

Clothed in their robesmdashThe pronoun which is indispensable if this be the meaning is wanting in the Hebrew The Syriac has probably preserved the original reading ldquoClothed in raiment spotted white and blackrdquo (Vid infr)

And they satmdashWere sitting Explanatory addition by chronicler

A void placemdashA threshingfloor LXX ἐν τῷ εὐρυχώρῳ ldquoin the open groundrdquo Vulg ldquoin a threshing floorrdquo The word is probably corrupt and may have originated out of bĕruddicircm ldquospottedrdquo ie perhaps embroidered an epithet of robes

ProphesiedmdashWere prophesying ldquoVaticina-banturrdquo Vulg

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 189 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah sat either of them on his throne clothed in [their] robes and they sat in a void place at the entering in of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them

Ver 9 Clothed in their robes] And as the Septuagint have it ενοπλοι in their arms that they might provoke the people to take up arms

GUZIK 4 (2 Chronicles 189-11) An object lesson from the unfaithful prophets

The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah clothed in their robes sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria and all the prophets prophesied before them ow Zedekiah the son of

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 21: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself and he said ldquoThus says the LORD lsquoWith these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyedrsquordquo And all the prophets prophesied so saying ldquoGo up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper for the LORD will deliver it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

a Sat each on his throne and they sat at a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria This illustrates the ancient custom of holding court and making decisions at the gates of the city There were even thrones for high officials to sit on at the gates of the city of Samaria

b Thus says the LORD These unfaithful prophets (such as Zedekiah) prophesied in the name of the LORD but they did not prophesy truthfully Many commentators believe these prophets were pagan prophets perhaps representatives of Asherah or other pagan gods or goddesses Yet they clearly prophesied in the name of the LORD It is best to regard these not as pagan prophets but unfaithful prophets to the true God

i Perhaps these were true followers of Yahweh who were seduced by Ahabrsquos sincere but shallow repentance three years before (1 Kings 2127-29) After that they began to align with Ahab uncritically Three years later they were willing to prophesy lies to Ahab if that was what he wanted to hear

c With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed Zedekiah used a familiar tool of ancient prophets - the object lesson He used horns of iron to illustrate the thrust of two powerful forces armies that would rout the Syrians Zedekiah had the agreement of 400 other prophets (all the prophets prophesied so)

i ldquoDramas of this kind were a typical method of prophetic revelation (cf Jeremiah chapters 27-28) based on this occasion on the horns as a symbol of strengthrdquo (Selman)

ii This must have been a vivid and entertaining presentation We can be certain that every eye was on Zedekiah when he used the horns of iron to powerfully illustrate the point It was certainly persuasive to have 400 prophets speak in agreement on one issue o matter how powerful and persuasive the presentation their message was unfaithful

PULPIT The contents of this and the following two verses narrate either what had already taken place or the continuation of the scene that had not come to its end but had been interrupted in order to carry out fully the urgent exhortation of Jehoshaphat to-day so that Ahab sent at once there and then a messenger for Micaiah Any way the unreal prophets have their full opportunity and their say at least twice over as also Micaiah below (2 Chronicles 1814 2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22 2 Chronicles 1827) A void place ie a level floor Revised Version an open place The Hebrew word designates often just a threshing-floor but quite possibly here a recognized court at the gate of the city used for גרן

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 22: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

judgment is intended

10 ow Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared ldquoThis is what the Lord says lsquoWith these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyedrsquordquo

ELLICOTT (10) PushmdashButt (Daniel 84) Figuratively as here Deuteronomy 3317

Until they be consumedmdashUnto destroying them

PULPIT Zedekiah (named son of Chenaanah to distinguish him from some now unknown contemporary or perhaps because the father was in some way distinguished) was one of those who knew the truth nor feared to put it on his lips at the very time that his life did not incorporate it (Deuteronomy 3317) For other particulars of him borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus Bee Smiths Bible Dictionary 31836 Had made him horns of iron It would seem as though Zedekiah had made these horns of iron at some previous time or perhaps now simulated some very rough presentation of horns of an impromptu kind The horns were the symbol of power and the iron of a power invincible

11 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing ldquoAttack Ramoth Gilead and be victoriousrdquo they said ldquofor the Lord will give it into the kingrsquos handrdquo

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 23: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

ELLICOTT (11) Prophesiedmdashibbĕrsquoicircm ldquowere prophesyingrdquo Vulg ldquoprophetabantrdquo In 2 Chronicles 189 the synonym mith-nabbersquoicircm was used which also signifies ldquomad ravingrdquo Jeremiah 2926) The root meaning of this word is probably visible in the Assyrian nabucirc ldquoto call proclaimrdquo so that the nacircbicirc or prophet was the προφήτης or spokesman of God the herald of heaven to earth (Comp the name of the god ebo abirsquoum who answers in the Babylonian Pantheon to the Greek Hermes)

And prospermdashie and thou shalt prosper So LXX καὶ εὐοδωθήσῃ Vuig ldquoprosperaberisrdquo (Comp ldquoThis do and liverdquo and Genesis 207 ldquohe shall pray for thee and live thourdquo)

FormdashAnd

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1811 And all the prophets prophesied so saying Go up to Ramothgilead and prosper for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king

Ver 11 And all the prophets prophesied] See 1 Kings 2212 With as much confidence as Jesuits offer to pawn their souls for the truth of their assertions and tell us that if we be not damned they will be damned for us Event the master of fools confuted these bold affirmers

12 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him ldquoLook the other prophets without exception are predicting success for the king Let your word agree with theirs and speak favorablyrdquo

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 24: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

ELLICOTT (12) The words of the prophets one assentmdashSee margin and comp Joshua 92 ldquothey assembled to fight against Israel one mouth ldquomdashie with one consent)

Probably instead of dibhrecirc ldquowordsrdquo we should read dibbĕrucirc ldquothey saidrdquo a far slighter change in Hebrew writing than in English ldquoBehold the prophets have with one mouth spoken good unto (or of) the kingrdquo So LXX

Like one of theirrsquosmdashLiterally like one of them Kings like the word of one of them

GUZIK 5 (2 Chronicles 1812-15) The prophecy of Micaiah the faithful prophet

Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah spoke to him saying ldquoow listen the words of the prophets with one accord encourage the king Therefore please let your word be like the word of one of them and speak encouragementrdquo And Micaiah said ldquoAs the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speakrdquo Then he came to the king and the king said to him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrainrdquo And he said ldquoGo and prosper and they shall be delivered into your handrdquo So the king said to him ldquoHow many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORDrdquo

a As the LORD lives whatever my God says that I will speak The assistants of King Ahab tried to persuade Micaiah to speak in agreement with the 400 other prophets Micaiah assured him that he would simply repeat what God said to him

i This was a dramatic scene Micaiah was brought out from prison (1 Kings 2226 indicates that he came from prison) We see a prophet in rags and chains stand before two kings ready to speak on behalf of the LORD

ii ldquoThis might have daunted the good prophet but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon His throne with all the host of heaven standing by Him and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings in their majesty for he beheld them as so many micerdquo (Trapp)

b Go and prosper and they shall be delivered into your hand When Micaiah said this his tone was probably mocking and sarcastic He said similar words to the 400 unfaithful prophets but delivered a completely different message

c How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD King Ahab recognized the mocking tone of Micaiahrsquos prophecy and knew it contradicted the message of the 400 prophets He demanded that Micaiah tell nothing but the truth - which Ahab believed and hoped was the message of the 400 other prophets

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 25: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

13 But Micaiah said ldquoAs surely as the Lord lives I can tell him only what my God saysrdquo

ELLICOTT (13) Evenmdashay but whatsoever my God shall say

My GodmdashKings Jehovah

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1813 And Micaiah said [As] the LORD liveth even what my God saith that will I speak

Ver 13 Even what my God saith] His God he calleth him though he had suffered for God and was like to suffer more for his veracity He would not budge - as Ecebolius and other timeservers did - for any manrsquos pleasure or displeasure

14 When he arrived the king asked him ldquoMicaiah shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead or shall I notrdquo

ldquoAttack and be victoriousrdquo he answered ldquofor they will be given into your handrdquo

ELLICOTT (14) Shall I forbearmdashKings shall we forbear (See ote on 2 Chronicles 185)

And he said Go ye up and they shall be deliveredmdashKings repeats the words of 2

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 26: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

Chronicles 1811 ldquoGo thou up and prosper thou and the Lordrdquo ampc The chronicler has substituted a reply which states quite definitely that they (ie the Syrians) shall be delivered into the hands of the allied sovereigns In 2 Chronicles 1811 the object of the verb ldquodeliverrdquo was not expressed This rather reminds us of the Delphic oracle ldquoIf Crœsus pass the Halys a mighty empire will be overthrownrdquo though the words of Zedekiah in the preceding verse are plain enough

PULPIT This first reply of Micaiah given in the latter haft of the verse does not stand for untruth or deceit but for very thinly veiled very thinly disguised very keen taunt and reproof It has been well described as the ironical echo of the language of the unreal prophets Micaiah begins by answering a fool according to his folly ie according to his own hearts desire He had just come from some place of imprisonment or punishment (2 Chronicles 1825) And he so spoke or so looked that the king should know he had not spoken his last word in answer to the inquiry addressed to him

15 The king said to him ldquoHow many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lordrdquo

ELLICOTT (15) And the king saidmdash1 Kings 2216 literatim

I adjure theemdashCompare the words of the high priest to Christ (Matthew 2663)

16 Then Micaiah answered ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd and the Lord said lsquoThese people have no master Let each one go home in peacersquordquo

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 27: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

ELLICOTT (16) Upon the mountainsmdashKings ldquounto the mountainsrdquo

As sheepmdashLike the flock both of sheep and goats

GUZIK 6 (2 Chronicles 1816-17) Micaiah speaks the true prophecy from the LORD

Then he said ldquoI saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd And the LORD said lsquoThese have no master Let each return to his house in peacersquordquo And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDid I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evilrdquo

a I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains as sheep that have no shepherd Micaiah was challenged to tell the truth and now he changed his tone from mocking to serious He said that not only would Israel be defeated but also that their leader (shepherd) would perish

b Did I not tell you he would not prophesy good concerning me but evil King Ahab said that he wanted the truth - but he couldnrsquot handle the truth What he didnrsquot consider was that though Micaiah prophesied evil towards Ahab he prophesied truth

i ldquoAhab knew in his heart that Micaiah would not fear or flatter him but only declare the word of Jehovah This he construed into personal hatred Hatred of the messenger of God is clear evidence of willful wickednessrdquo (Morgan)

PULPIT The brief parable smote the very heart of Ahab (umbers 2717) and Ahab felt it like the sentence of death in him in a way all different indeed from that in which an apostle of many a century afterward felt it

BI Then he said I see all Israel scattered

The prophetic visions

Micaiah declared the visions revealed to him by the Spirit of God

I The sheepherdless people

II The parabolic providence

1 A picture of Godrsquos supremacy

2 An insight into supernatural ministry ldquoAll the host of heavenrdquo ready to serve

3 An interpretation of the events of history (J Wolfendale)

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 28: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

17 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoDidnrsquot I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me but only badrdquo

PULPIT Ahabs language in this verso shows that though he had adjured Micaiah he did not wish to seem to believe that he could speak anything but his own temper

18 Micaiah continued ldquoTherefore hear the word of the Lord I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing on his right and on his left

ELLICOTT (18) AgainmdashAnd

ThereforemdashLXX not so as if the Hebrew were locircrsquokccediln instead of laken Vulg excellently ldquoat ille idcirco ait audite verbum dominirdquo

Hear yemdashKings hear thou

Standing on his right handmdashLiterally were standing Kings And all the host of heaven was standing by him on his right hand and on his left The chronicler has abridged

GUZIK 7 (2 Chronicles 1818-22) Micaiah reveals the inspiration behind the 400 prophets

Then Micaiah said ldquoTherefore hear the word of the LORD I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing on His right hand and His left

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 29: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

And the LORD said lsquoWho will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gileadrsquo So one spoke in this manner and another spoke in that manner Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said lsquoI will persuade himrsquo The LORD said to him lsquoIn what wayrsquo So he said lsquoI will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophetsrsquo And the Lord said lsquoYou shall persuade him and also prevail go out and do sorsquo Therefore look The LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these prophets of yours and the LORD has declared disaster against yourdquo

a I saw the LORD sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing King Ahab and others at the court found it hard to explain how one prophet could be right and 400 prophets could be wrong Here Micaiah explained the message of the 400 prophets It is possible that this was just a parable but it is more likely that Micaiah had an accurate prophetic glimpse into the heavenly drama behind these events

b On His right hand and His left Since the right hand was the place of favor this may indicate that God spoke to the combined host of heaven both faithful and fallen angelic beings

i Some people forget that Satan and his fellow fallen angels have access to heaven (Job 16 Revelation 1210) There is a well-intentioned but mistaken teaching that God can allow no evil in His presence meaning that Satan and other fallen angels could not be in His presence These passages show that God can allow evil in His presence though He can have no fellowship with evil and one day all evil will be removed from His presence (Revelation 2014-15)

c Who will persuade Ahab king of Israel to go up that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead God wanted to bring judgment against Ahab so He asked this group of the host of heaven for a volunteer to lead Ahab into battle

d I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets Apparently one of the fallen angels volunteered for this task Since Ahab wanted to be deceived God would give him what He wanted using a willing fallen angel who worked through willing unfaithful prophets

i ldquoThe Hebrew that underlies the phrase rendered lsquoa spiritrsquo (came forward) reads literally lsquothe (well-known) spiritrsquo ie Satan the tempter (as in Job 16-12) Apparently Michaiah seems to assumed among his hearers a working knowledge of the Book of Jobrdquo (Payne)

ii ldquoThis strange incident can only be understood against the background of other Old Testament passages especially Deuteronomy 1311 and Ezekiel 141-11 both these passages speak of people being enticed by false prophets in each case as a result of a link with idolatryrdquo (Selman)

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 30: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

19 And the Lord said lsquoWho will entice Ahab king of Israel into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death therersquo

ldquoOne suggested this and another that

ELLICOTT (19) And one spake sayingmdashLiterally and one said (ie it was spoken) this one saying thus and that one saying thus The text is certainly right

After this mannermdashKacirchhacirch Kings bĕkhocirch Kings has and this one said in this wise and that one was saying in that wise

PARKER The Enticement of Ahab

2 Chronicles 1819

HOW singular how tragical is the experience of life For example who could have expected to find in history such an inquiry Strange words are imputed to the divine Speaker There is a mystery in every interpretation of these words Probably the minimum of mystery is to be found in the interpretation which boldly accepts the doctrine that there cannot be evil in the city without the Lord having done it The mistake is to call it evil in any final and inclusive sense If it ended in itself then the word evil might not be too superficial a term to employ in its description but the evil is but evil momentarily Do not interrupt the divine literature at a comma or a semicolon the Lord may need to work not only to-day and tomorrow he may ask for part of the third day he has always done Song of Solomon and not until he has concluded the whole process himself are we entitled to venture to form any judgment of Gods purpose and meaning in life We have no hesitation in accepting the doctrine that God leads men into temptation All the endeavours that have been made to strike that petition out of the Lords prayer would seem to be utter failures Jesus Christ was driven of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil in the wilderness Here again the admonition stands in all its proper force namely that we are not to interrupt the Almighty in his speech or in his action tomorrow we shall see what is invisible tomorrow shall bring an adequate light and when the glory shines upon the mystery it will be found that everything has been conceived in infinite wisdom and sanctified by infinite grace Your poverty may be from the

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 31: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

Lord The number of graves you have dug in the churchyard is not accidental it may be but a transcript of what was written before the earth was formed You must live in the sanctuary of the eternal if you would have calm in storm if you would have a table spread in the wilderness if in a frowning inhospitable rock you would find a home radiant with the presence and affluent with the benediction of God

Entice not even persuade certainly not force or overwhelm or unduly urge or violently overcome but enticemdasha step at a time a beckoning of the finger in directions that seem to be lighted up with sweet flowers and made tuneful by songs of birds a very little at once so that familiarity may be produced by a finely graduated process of descent A man may resent the idea that he is under any process of enticement because the process is so gradual so gentle so utterly wanting in anything that is apparently aggressive and violent but unless we are under the ministry of Gods grace we are being enticed in the other direction unless we are able to keep up to the rule of discipline we have lost ground if we are not as far on to-day as we were yesterday we have failed in duty and we have parted with some of our strength to do the duty that will come upon us tomorrow We cannot stand still and go forward at the same time Enticement is the deadly plague of life The lying spirit has a subtle tongue he does not proceed with broad dogmatic propositions he has nothing of a violent nature to suggest or propose it Isaiah to the end of the line to the turning of the corner to the ascent of the hill it is resting awhile then walking awhile or returning and reascendingmdashthe liar by our side all the while watching the pulsation of the soul that he may know how the enticement is proceeding Life itself is a temptation to live is to die How often have we laid down the doctrine that to be is to be in pain This is the mystery of life Life without pain would be life without joy life without winter would be life without summer heaven would be a surprise to us of an unwelcome kind if we had not made acquaintance with temptation and sin and sorrow whilst we were upon the earth

What then is our duty in view of this varied experience Here we have men shouting with a loud voice playing upon cornets and trumpets and uttering themselves in ecstatic enthusiasm because of their love of God and then we have men turning away from the Lord and seeking ministries which without him are worse than useless and then we have that discipline in life which is best described by the word enticement My Song of Solomon if sinners entice thee consent thou not That power is always at our disposal We are able to say o But we must not say it tremulously hesitatingly as if half-surrendering the argument we must say it with unction with passion with a tone that is itself a battle May not the word enticement be used in a better sense May not men entice one another to do good What is the meaning of the word enticement there It is that there is to be no attempt at force or violence in any form or in any degree Church-going is not to be a matter of task and penalty It should be the joy of the child to go to church Sweet little children should ask on the Lords day morning Is this not the promised day when we shall hear music and see the flowers of the kingdom of heavenmdasha day when all may feel that this earth is but a door opening upon paradise and rest We cannot flog men into virtue We may flog them because of vice but to go into virtuous courses to accept the ministry of purity and nobleness this comes of the consent of the heart

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 32: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

How then is this consent to be obtained Here again we come upon the old evangelical doctrine and there is none better that all this ministry is the action of the Holy Ghost upon the life Why should men trouble themselves by endeavouring to enlarge the sphere of instruction instead of accepting the instruction which is made possible to them Thus there are many who insist that the poets are inspired That is not the question the immediate question before us as pupils in Gods school Isaiah What are we to do with the moral injunction and inspiration of the Holy Scripture There may be more Isaiahs in the world than we have ever heard of but what are we going to do with the Isaiah we are quite sure about There may be transcendentalists spiritualists noble psychological seers who can see farther than the Apostle John ever saw meanwhile do not let us lose the advantages which the Apostle John contributes to our education and our comfort There may be a better kind of bread in some parts of the world than we know of fool is he who would say that and neglect to eat the bread that is provided for him when he is dying of hunger This is what we mean therefore by a dogmatic position we have certain truths injunctions and instructions laid before us and they are so proportioned to human life and so adapted to human necessity that whosoever walks according to their teaching will have strength and rest and hope of a kind which the world can neither give nor take away Understand that we do not say there is not another Bible in the world we only say we have not yet found it Far be it from us to assert that there is not a heart that can love infinitely more than the heart of Christ ever loved but we have never heard of it we have never seen it we are not going to be delighted by conjectures and speculations when there stands before us a Man whose heart is all tenderness who receives sinners and who leads all men into the kingdom of heaven Do not so live in an imaginary gallery of inconceivable dignities as to forget that there standeth One among you the Son of God who meanwhile oilers the heart all it can receive of pardon and pureness and liberty

PULPIT Who shall entice etc Hebrew piel future פתח This and the following three verses must have told manifestly did tell with fearful force of faithful preaching upon the unreal prophets and the wicked king How it was that their contents did not avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy again into his conscience and to enable him to break at once with Ahab and his expedition is inexplicable (and the more as it was his own pressing suggestion that the true prophet should be summoned) except as another illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies so often to human weakness in the way of retracing a false step Both these visions (2 Chronicles 1816 2 Chronicles 1818-22) well illustrate how God revealed his truth will and specific messages to his true prophets in vision The vision of the throne grand in all the majesty of its simplicity of the psalmists (Psalms 91-20 Psalms 111-7 Psalms 451-17 Psalms 1031-22) of Isaiah (Isaiah 61-5) of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 126) of Daniel (Daniel 79) of Stephen (Acts 756) of St John (Revelation 42) is part of heavens own stamp of authentication of the Bible

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 33: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

20 Finally a spirit came forward stood before the Lord and said lsquoI will entice himrsquo

ldquolsquoBy what meansrsquo the Lord asked

CLARKE Then there came out a spirit - The Targum gives a strange gloss here ldquoThen the spirit of Naboth of Jezreel came out from the abode of the righteous and stood before the Lord and said I will deceive him And the Lord said By what means To which he answered I will be a spirit of false prophecy in the mouth of his prophets And the Lord said Thou mayest then But although the power of deceiving them is given unto thee nevertheless it will not be lawful for thee to sit among the righteous for whosoever shall speak falsely cannot have a mansion among the righteous Therefore go forth from me and do as thou hast saidrdquo - Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1820 Then there came out a spirit and stood before the LORD and said I will entice him And the LORD said unto him Wherewith

Ver 20 And there came out a spirit] The Rabbis fable that this was abothrsquos ghost who to be revenged on Ahab thus offereth his service In times of Popery devils came saying that they were the souls of such and such dead persons and desired to be set free from the pains of purgatory ampc

21 ldquolsquoI will go and be a deceiving spirit in the mouths of all his prophetsrsquo he said

ldquolsquoYou will succeed in enticing himrsquo said the Lord lsquoGo and do itrsquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 34: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

BESO 2 Chronicles 1821 I will go out and be a lying spirit ampc mdash See the power of Satan One lying spirit can make four hundred lying prophets And thus he frequently becomes a murderer by being a liar and destroys men by deceiving them

ELLICOTT (21) And bemdashBecome (wĕhacircyicircthicirc lĕ) Kings omits the particle

A lying spiritmdashA spirit of falsehood (Comp Isaiah 112 Isaiah 1914 Ezekiel 149 ldquoAnd the prophet if he be deceived and speak a word it is I Jehovah who have deceived that prophetrdquo The verb ldquodeceiverdquo is that which is rendered ldquoenticerdquo here and in 2 Chronicles 1819 pittah LXX ἀπατήσεις (See also 2 Thessalonians 211)

22 ldquoSo now the Lord has put a deceiving spirit in the mouths of these prophets of yours The Lord has decreed disaster for yourdquo

PULPIT The vision culminating as regards its practical object in this verse is Micaiahs bold explanation of how it comes to pass that he has to boar the brunt of Ahabs hate on account of the uniformly unfavourable character of his answers to him instead of four hundred other men sharing it with him He declares on the authority of his rapt vision that it is because they are possessed by a lying spirit (Romans 125 Romans 128 1 Thessalonians 212) And like the true prophet of all time he declares it at all hazards and at all cost

23 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face ldquoWhich way did the spirit from[a] the Lord go when he went from me to speak to yourdquo he asked

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 35: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

ELLICOTT (23) ThenmdashAnd

And smotemdashWay-yak a correction of way-yakkegraveh (Kings) such as the chronicler often makes

which waymdashLiterally where is the way the spirit of Jehovah passed Kings where passed the spirit ampc

Unto theemdashWith thee

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1823 Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and smote Micaiah upon the cheek and said Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee

Ver 23 And smote Micaiah] To do this in open court and in such a presence was great impudency besides the violence which yet is usually offered to Christrsquos servants when other arguments are wanting Argumenta sua formant in Barbara et Ferio as one saith wittily If Micaiah should have smitten Zedekiah there would have been somewhat to do But some may better steal a horse than others look over the hedge

PULPIT Which way went the Spirit of the Lord from me to speak unto thee This question of Zedekiah and Micaiahs answer to him in the following verse arc both obscure and of doubtful interpretation but their drift not at all so Keil and Bertheau correctly saymdashin that Zedekiah used the force and the language that he did it is not a bad sign that he was under a spirits influence but in that it was physical force which he used in a moral subject this was a conclusive sign of the character of the spirit that he was amenable to Among many possible suggestions as to the exact meaning of the question Which way etc it is possible that a sceptical taunt best explains Zedekiahs words and that he meant that he did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went any way to Micaiah He will not yield to a doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that the Spirit had been with himself and he will fain throw great doubt whether he had proceeded from him to Micaiah

24 Micaiah replied ldquoYou will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner roomrdquo

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 36: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

ELLICOTT (24) Thou shalt seemdashThou art to see or destined to see on that day when thou shalt enter a chamber in a chamber to hide thyself (lĕhccedilchacircbccedilhrdquo correctly Kings lĕhccedilchacircbccedilh) Zedekiahrsquos further history is not recordedmdashan indication as Ewald justly observes that the original narrative contained much more than the present extract from it

GUZIK 8 (2 Chronicles 1824-28) The reaction of the false prophets and Ahab

Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said ldquoWhich way did the spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to yourdquo And Micaiah said ldquoIndeed you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hiderdquo Then the king of Israel said ldquoTake Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son and say lsquoThus says the king ldquoPut this fellow in prison and feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction until I return in peacerdquolsquo Then Micaiah said ldquoIf you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by merdquo And he said ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

a ow Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek Zedekiah responded the way many do when they are defeated in argument - he responded with violence

b Put this fellow in prison King Ahab responded the way many tyrants do when they are confronted with the truth Ahab wanted Micaiah imprisoned and deprived (feed him with bread of affliction and water of affliction)

i ldquoThe phrase lsquobread of affliction and water of afflictionrsquo may be translated lsquobread and water of scant measurersquordquo (Dilday)

c If you ever return in peace the LORD has not spoken by me The prophet Micaiah made one final and ultimate appeal He was willing to be judged by whether his prophecy came to pass or not Since he knew his words were true it was fitting for him to cry out as they dragged him back to prison ldquoTake heed all you peoplerdquo

PULPIT So also probably this verse would purport to tell us beforehand distinctly what is not told after the issue of the battle and Ahabs death that Zedekiah and his co-prophets did what they could however vainly to hide and to elude the vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings 2030 1 Kings 2225 2 Kings 92)

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 37: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

25 The king of Israel then ordered ldquoTake Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the kingrsquos son

ELLICOTT (25) Take ye carry himmdashKings Take thou carry thou addressed to some single officer

GovernormdashSar ldquoprefectrdquo LXX ἄρχοντα Syriact shallit

Carry backmdashie convey back Literally make him return

PULPIT Carry him back The last of these three words tells of course its own tale of what had already been the treatment accorded to Micaiah Amon the governor hellip Joash the kings son This latter person is found only here and in the parallel and the designation given him probably does not intend a personal relationship to the king but an official so see again 2 Chronicles 287 and note the conjunction again of the governor of the house in the next clause The Vulgate translates the Hebrew for the kings as though it were a proper name Amelech See also Smiths Bible Dictionary under the name Maaseiah 17 or is Amon the governor known elsewhere except in the parallel (1 Kings 2226) but these designations as through some chinks throw a little scanty light into the subject of the internal administration at this time of the kingdom of Israel In this kingdom subsequent to the separation decentralization seems to have been carried to a further point than in Judah and considering its greater extent its far inferior metropolitan force its double place of worship and sacrifice these largely idolatrous and in all this the undoubted degraded authority of its central government this is very explainable It is true that in both kingdoms history speaks equally of such offices and officers as were distinctly military or looked that way but it can scarcely be without a reason that for the numerous allusions in Israel (1 Kings 168-10 1 Kings 183 1 Kings 207 1 Kings 217-13 2 Kings 18-17 2 Kings 36 2 Kings 105) to councils of elders (well known before the disruption) and governors of palaces of cities of houses and of provinces there is scarcely one in the records of Judah Here possibly enough the executive would be more vigorous more compact and more direct and close in its action from headquarters while in both divisions of what should have been the one kingdom royalty was by profession constitutional and in its devolution hereditary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 38: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

BI 25-27 Then the king of Israel said Take ye Micaiah

Ahab and Micaiah or the false and true in character

I The power of the popular voice We see the multitude accommodating itself to the wishes of the king How easy and how congenial it is to human nature to float with the tide As a rule it pays best to suffer yourself to be carried along by the current Light things and feeble things can travel this way with small demand on strength and skill But dead things and all manner of refuse go this way too There is something to be feared in a great popular cry I have heard men say that they dreaded a crowd as much as they did a contagion If men had as wholesome a fear of going with the stream because it is the stream society would be healthier ldquoEverybodyrdquo is a fearful tyrant

II Here is one man opposed to the popular sentiment He valued truth Of Micaiah it may be said as it was of another more illustrious ldquoOf the people there were none with himrdquo He esteemed truth to be more precious than gold or any other earthly consideration He was a hero of no common mould Men are often misunderstood by those who should know them best

III Men of such moral heroism have often to suffer for them principles Suffering for conscience sake is not yet obsolete

IV Such men as Micaiah are morally brave and heroic because they are men of prayer We are apt to take low views of the nature of prayer It is more than simply an appointed means of telling God our wants and of beseeching Him to supply It is ldquowaiting upon God ldquoas a personal attendant waits upon his master with whom he converses and from whose lips he receives commands and instructions It is more than that it is communion fellowship interchange of thought and sentiment We may go a step further and say it is a union of kindred mindsmdashthe Divine so flowing into the human that it becomes transformed that Godrsquos will and mind become its governing law So life becomes one great connected prayer A man who understands and enjoys this is one of the strongest and bravest of men Stephen was such a man of prayer A man of prayer is prepared to do deeds of holy heroism which put to the blush the vaunted deeds of chivalry

V A consciousness of moral weakness is closely allied to moral cowardice Without a scruple Ahab put the life of Jehoshaphat in jeopardy to save his own ldquoConscience makes cowards of us allrdquo What a noble tribute was that which was paid to Havelock and his pious soldiers more than once during the Indian Mutiny When our army was hard pressed or some specially perilous work had to be done the command was given ldquoCall out Havelock and his praying men if this work can be done at all they are the men to do itrdquo

VI Retribution sometimes overtakes men in this life Ahab was left alone to pursue his course of hardened folly until he was ripe for retribution then God met him and ignominiously closed his career (J T Higgins)

26 and say lsquoThis is what the king says Put this

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 39: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safelyrsquordquo

BESO 2 Chronicles 1826 Put this fellow in the prison ampc mdash How frequently has this been the lot of faithful ministers to be hated and ill treated merely for being true to God and just and kind to the souls of men But that day will declare who is in the right and who is in the wrong when Christ appears to the unspeakable consolation of the persecuted and the everlasting confusion of their persecutors

ELLICOTT (26) Bread of affliction and with water of afflictionmdashIn the Hebrew the second word (lagravehats) is not a genitive but an accusative ldquobread with stintrdquo ldquowater with stintrdquo Literally squeezing Vulg ldquopanis modicum et aquae pauxillumrdquo Syriac ldquobread (enough) to keep life and water (enough) to keep liferdquo (Comp Isaiah 3020)

Until I returnmdashA correction of until I come (Kings)

PULPIT Only the slightest differences are noticeable between this verse and the parallel this latter using the sign of the objective case (which in this instance would probably lend some contemptuousness of expression) and using the word come instead of return

27 Micaiah declared ldquoIf you ever return safely the Lord has not spoken through merdquo Then he added ldquoMark my words all you peoplerdquo

ELLICOTT (27) And Micaiah saidmdashLiterally as 1 Kings 2228

If thou certainly returnmdashldquoIf thou dost returnrdquo

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 40: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

And he saidmdashie Micaiah said turning to the crowd of bystanders and making them witnesses to his prediction

Hearken all ye peoplemdashRather Hearken ye O peoples all Literally all of them The book of the prophet Micah opens with these very words (Micah 12) Hitzig thinks they were taken from that passage and oumlldeke that they ldquomust be and denote an abbreviation of the entire bookrdquo () Thenius on the other hand justly argues that the whole section before us bears indubitable marks of historical truth and is probably an extract from the history of Jehoshaphat written by Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 2034)

PULPIT The courage and fidelity of Micaiah in not deserting either his prophet-message or his prophet-Master are admirable and for his determined appeal to all the people which was made in the very face of the king or kings see again Micah 12

Ahab Killed at Ramoth Gilead

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead

HERY 28-34 We have here 1 Good Jehoshaphat exposing himself in his robes thereby endangered and yet delivered We have reason to think that Ahab while he pretended friendship really aimed at Jehoshaphats life to take him off that he might have the management of his successor who was his son-in-law else he would never have advised him to enter into the battle with his robes on which was but to make himself an easy mark to the enemy and if really he intended that it was as unprincipled a piece of treachery as ever man was guilty of and justly was he himself taken in the pit he digged for his friend The enemy had soon an eye upon the robes and vigorously attacked the unwary prince who now when it was too late wished himself in the habit of the poorest soldier rather than in his princely raiment he cried out either to his friends to relieve him (but Ahab took no care of that) or to his enemies to rectify their mistake and let them know that he was not the king of Israel Or perhaps he cried to God for succour and deliverance (to whom else should he cry) and he found it was not in vain The Lord helped him out of his distress by moving the captains to depart from him 2Ch_1831

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 41: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

God has all mens hearts in his hand and turns them as he pleases contrary to their own first intentions to serve his purposes Many are moved unaccountably both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them 2 Wicked Ahab disguising himself arming himself thereby as he thought securing himself and yet slain 2Ch_1833 No art no arms can save those whom God has appointed to ruin What can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is safe in his robes Ahab killed in his armour for the race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong

COFFMA This entire chapter is parallel to 1 Kings 22 where we have written twenty-three pages of comments (pp 283-305 in that commentary) and it is not necessary to add anything here The variations are unimportant

GUZIK B The death of King Ahab of Israel

1 (2 Chronicles 1828-29) Jehoshaphat and Ahab go into battle

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went into battle

a So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead It is easy to understand why King Ahab of Israel went to this battle he didnrsquot want to believe that Micaiahrsquos prophecy was true and wanted to courageously oppose it It is less easy to understand why King Jehoshaphat of Judah went to this battle with Ahab He should have believed the prophecy of Micaiah and known that the battle would end in disaster and the death of at least Ahab

i It may be that Jehoshaphat had a fatalistic attitude towards the will of God figuring that if it all was Godrsquos will then there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it

b I will disguise myself and go into battle but you put on your robes Going into the battle Ahab did not want to be identified as a king and therefore be a special target He thought this would help protect him against Micaiahrsquos prophecy of doom It is more difficult to explain why Jehoshaphat agreed to go into the battle as the only clearly identified king Perhaps he was either not very smart or he had very great faith

i ldquoAhab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecyrdquo (Trapp)

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 42: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

29 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat ldquoI will enter the battle in disguise but you wear your royal robesrdquo So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle

CLARKE I will disguise myself - See the note on 1Ki_2230

ELLICOTT (29) I will disguise myself and will gomdashLiterally disguising myself and entering A hurried exclamatory mode of speaking

They wentmdashKings he (Ahab) went into the battle So some Hebrew MSS LXX Syriac Vulg Arabic and Targum

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1829 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat I will disguise myself and will go to the battle but put thou on thy robes So the king of Israel disguised himself and they went to the battle

Ver 29 But put thou on thy robes] As if you were the general of both armies Ahab pretended herein to honour Jehoshaphat but intended to save himself and to elude Micaiahrsquos prophecy

PULPIT Ahab does not seem disposed to lose anything again for want of asking and even vouchsafing apparently (but it is exceedingly likely that this arises from our failing to appreciate exactly the force of the Hebrew forms in the text) to use the tone of directing to his brother-king of the better part and kingdom It must be presumed that there was something to relieve Ahabs language of the barefaced disregard for the safety of Jehoshaphat and regard for his own which lie on the surface of the words he uses Quite possibly for instance both knew that Ahab was to be the mark of the shooters Also Ahabs disguise may have meant a heavy price to pay to his pride while Jehoshaphats dignity was saved intact So too Ahab may have merely purported to say You can without any special risk wear your royal apparel but I etc

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 43: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

30 ow the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders ldquoDo not fight with anyone small or great except the king of Israelrdquo

ELLICOTT (30) That were with himmdashKings adds ldquothirty and twordquo referring to what is related in 1 Kings 2016 1 Kings 2024 a matter which the chronicler has not noticed The Syriac and Arabic supply the number here

With small or greatmdashSo Kings Our text is literally with the small or the great

They compassed about himmdashOr came round against him Kings wrongly ldquoturned aside against himrdquo In Hebrew the difference turns on half a letter

But Jehoshaphat cried outmdashProbably to bring his followers to the rescue (1 Kings 2232 ends with these words)

And the Lord helped him and God moved (literally incited ldquopersuadedrdquo 2 Chronicles 181) them from himmdashDrove them away from him This addition is evidently from the pen of the chronicler himself It appears that he understood the verb ldquocried outrdquo in the sense of a cry to God for help a sense which it often bears eg Psalms 226

How God ldquodrove them offrdquo is explained in the next verse The captains discovered their mistake and retired

This perfectly natural event is regarded by the chronicler as providential and rightly so Hebrew faith ldquoknows nothing of an order of the world which can be separated even in thought from the constant personal activity of Jehovahrdquo

GUZIK 2 (2 Chronicles 1830-34) Jehoshaphat is saved and Ahab dies in battle

ow the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots who were with him saying ldquoFight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israelrdquo So it was when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said ldquoIt is the king of Israelrdquo Therefore they surrounded him to attack but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God diverted them from him For so it was when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel that they

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 44: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

turned back from pursuing him ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints of his armor So he said to the driver of his chariot ldquoTurn around and take me out of the battle for I am woundedrdquo The battle increased that day and the king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening and about the time of sunset he died

a Fight with no one small or great but only with the king of Israel Ahabrsquos previous mercy to Ben-Hadad (1 Kings 2031-34) did not win any lasting favor with the rulers of Syria This strategy of the Syrian army made Ahabrsquos counter-strategy of disguising himself in battle seem very wise

i ldquoThus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his late victor but God had a holy hand in itrdquo (Trapp)

b Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him Finding himself as the only identifiable king in the battle Jehoshaphat found himself quickly in danger He cried out unto the LORD and was rescued when they turned back from pursuing him

c ow a certain man drew a bow at random and struck the king of Israel This seemed to be pure chance It was a certain man and he pulled his bow at random -but it struck as if it were a sin-seeking missile hitting right between the joints of his armor God orchestrated the unintended actions of man to result in an exercise of His judgment

i ldquoProbably this man already had shot many arrows and he went on in his simplicity little knowing that this particular arrow was to be guided through all the confusion straight to its mark by the unerring knowledge and power of God Yet so it wasrdquo (Morgan)

ii ldquoMen may secrete themselves so that other men may never find them but when the hour of their judgment has come God takes hold on some ordinary event and makes it the highway on which He comes to carry out His purpose lsquoIt just happenedrsquo says the man of the world lsquoGod did itrsquo says the man of faithrdquo (Morgan)

iii ldquoAnd now what joy could Ahabrsquos black soul ready to depart have of his ivory house Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot Wicked men have the advantage of the way godly men of the endrdquo (Trapp)

d The king of Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Syrians until evening Ahab faced the end of his life bravely dying propped up in his chariot to inspire his troops When his death became known the battle was over

i ldquoIt appears that the Israelites and Jews maintained the fight the whole of the day but when at evening the king died and this was known there was a proclamation made probably with the consent of both Syrians and Israelites that the war was overrdquo (Clarke)

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 45: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

PULPIT Our had commanded stands rendered in the parallel not so explicitly commanded but in both cases the Hebrew text is the same ( צוה ) Therefore if the place of 2 Chronicles 1829 2 Chronicles 1830 were inverted what reads like the cool suggestion of Ahab in 2 Chronicles 1829 would seem more tolerable Mean time Benhadads command argues the intensity of his resentment towards Ahab and not less ungrateful forgetfulness for the ultimate consideration that Ahab had allowed to him (1 Kings 2031-34)

31 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat they thought ldquoThis is the king of Israelrdquo So they turned to attack him but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him God drew them away from him

BARES And the Lord helped him - There is nothing correspondent to this passage in Kings It is a pious reflection on the part of the author who traces all deliverance to its real divine source

CLARKE But Jehoshaphat cried out - ldquoJehoshaphat cried and the Word of the Lord brought him assistancerdquo - Targum

BESO 2 Chronicles 1831 Jehoshaphat cried out mdash He cried out either to his friends to help or to his enemies to let them know he was not the king of Israel or to God and not in vain for he moved the captains to depart from him mdash

Many are moved in a manner unaccountable both to themselves and others but an invisible power moves them

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1831 And it came to pass when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat that they said It [is] the king of Israel Therefore they compassed about him to fight but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him and God moved them [to depart] from him

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 46: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

Ver 31 Therefore they compassed about him] This great strait Jehoshaphat cast himseff into as likewise the valiant Hunniades did at the battle of Varna where he was worsted and afterwards taken prisoner by Dracula for joining with that perjured Popish king of Hungary

And the Lord helped him] See 1 Kings 2232 where yet this precious passage is not but is here added by the penman of this book who relateth things formerly set down but oft with usury

PULPIT Comparing this and following verse minutely with the parallel (1 Kings 2232 1 Kings 2233) the exact correspondence of the latter of each pair of verses only the more clearly points the significance belonging to the two clauses of foreign matter interposed so characteristically by the writer of Chronicles for his own unvarying special objects viz the Lord helped him and God moved them What the cry of Jehoshaphat was remains uncertain whether a cry to his own bodyguard and soldiers or a cry to those who were beginning to compass him about as bees to let them know at any rate that he was not the king they sought or whether most improbably a cry to the Lord is meant The cry fulfilled its purpose and if Jehoshaphat had a sneaking love for Ahab (see the significant love them etc of Jehu in second verse of next chapter) he evidently had not any idea of needlessly dying for him The happy distinction of perceiving in next verse as compared with seeing in this verse is not warranted by the Hebrew text (in both cases כראות ) though it is by the gist of the connection and English idiom

32 for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel they stopped pursuing him

33 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the breastplate and the scale armor The king told the chariot driver ldquoWheel around and get me out of the fighting Irsquove been woundedrdquo

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 47: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

CLARKE A certainman drew a bow - The Targum tells us who it was ldquoNow Naaman the captain of the host of the great king of Syria drew a bow against him (that the prophecy of Elijah the Tishbite and of Micaiah the son of Imla might be fulfilled) and smote the king of Israel between the heart and the caul of the liver through the place where the coat of mail is joinedrdquo See the note on 2Ki_51 for this tradition

ELLICOTT (33) Drew a bowmdashWith the bow

At a venturemdashSee margin and comp 2 Samuel 1511 where a similar phrase occurs which Gesenius interprets ldquowithout thought of evil designrdquo The LXX εὐστόχως ldquowith good aimrdquo is a bad guess Syriac ldquoinnocently straight before himrdquo But the explanation of Rashi seems best ldquowithout knowing why he chose that particular man to shoot atrdquo

And smotemdashSee on 2 Chronicles 1823

Between the joints of the harnessmdashOr breastplate So Syriac ldquobetween the division of his mailrdquo the LXX has ldquoin the midst of the lungs and breast Vulgate ldquobetween the neck and shouldersrdquo both mere guesses

That thou mayst carry (literally bring) me outmdashKings and bring me out

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1833 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness therefore he said to his chariot man Turn thine hand that thou mayest carry me out of the host for I am wounded

Ver 33 Between the joints of the harness] The hand of Heaven carrying the arrow to that very place As when God will save a man a book in his bosom the money in his purse the buckle of his girdle shall preserve him from the deadly thrust or shot

For I am wounded] Heb I am sick or weary Perhaps he would have concealed his deadly wound from his chariot man but

ldquo Eυρε Fεος τον αλιτρονrdquo

His sin had now found him out and as stout hearted as he was death seized him For

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 48: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

PULPIT At a venture Hebrew לתמו ie in his innocence The root is the familiar root expressive of uprightness perfectness simplicity and the meaning here is that the shooter was innocent of what a distinguished deed he was doing of the personality of the man at whom he aimed (for it is not necessary to suppose his shot was quite at random) and of the skill that gave the arrow to reach its ultimate destiny Between the joints of the harness literally between the joints and the harness ie that part called the breastplate The arrow went through or by the side of one of the actual articulations of the armour-mail worn Ahabs direction to the chariot-driver at the spur of the first wounded moment to turn and carry him out of the host was evidently qualified when he found that the wound was not immediately fatal As the heat of the battle grew and victory did not at once turn one way or the other he was the more anxious to give the moral support of his presence to the last to his army and unable to stand by himself he was supported by his own orders (so our rendering is not inconsistent with that in the parallel was stayed (1 Kings 2235) in the chariot till he died in the evening Although the spirit of Ahab and his fidelity to his own army kingdom and self cannot but appear to advantage in these last incidents of his unworthy life yet it is probable that they find their record here for the sake of giving clear statement to the fact that in the chariot his life-bleed collected according to the saying of the parallel ote therefore particularly the truncated history of the writer of Chronicles in this instance He no doubt consciously omitted and with a purpose his own usual purpose but light is lost and the cross light tends rather to misleading except for that only correct user of Scripture which teaches us to compare one Scripture with another and balance one part against anothermdasha thing easy to do in matters of fact but too often forgotten in the weightier matter of doctrine Here our eighteenth chapter closes less the mention of the proclamation for the self-disbanding of Ahabs army which should fulfil the prophecy of our 2 Chronicles 1816 and less any mention of Ahabs burial of the washing of his chariot in the pool of Samaria of the dogs licking up of the blood there and of his ivory house etc (verses 37-40 of the parallel chapter) All of which omittings accord well with the one clear ecclesiastical and religious intent of the Chronicles in place of the pursuit of matters of general and merely graphic historic interest however charged with instruction they too might be

BI And a certain man drew a bow at a venture

The venturous aim

Now I would have you notice particularly the words ldquoA certain man drew a bow at a venturerdquo We take it that this was no distinguished warrior among the army of the Syrians but simply one of the ordinary archers He little thought that to him was the task committed of slaying the enemy of God and the king of His own nation ldquoAt a venturerdquo he drew his bow or in the words of the Revised Version as given in the margin ldquoIn his simplicityrdquomdashthat is never supposing at whom he was aiming the dart We may be for year after year fighting the Lordrsquos battles and seeking after some offender above other offenders some Ahab in disguise but our efforts shall in the end be rewarded with successmdashwe may have mistaken some conspicuous fault as manifest as were the gorgeous robes of Jehoshaphat for the sin that doth so easily beset bringing a host of others in its train but at length Godrsquos Spirit shall guide our words to the weak

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 49: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

place in that soulrsquos armour Some word spoken with no special purpose perhaps in season perhaps out of season shall open the wound that means death to that besetting sin But if what we have said applies to the case of those individual souls the same rule holds good also as regards our pulpit ministrations When we preach the Word we do not know who may be present before us probably many faces are familiar to us but we cannot see the inmost soul we know not what has passed in the life of any single person since last we spoke Therefore to a great extent our bow must be ever drawn at a venture (J Nepleton)

A bow drawn at a venture

Mr Spurgeon was wont to relate the following striking cases of drawing the bow at a venture ldquoI supposed the case of a young man who had got into fast company and once there meant to have his fling unfettered so was on the eve of starting to India in order to escape the restraint of a godly widowed motherrsquos influence I pointed to him and pleaded with him to retrace his steps ere yet he had broken his praying motherrsquos heart At the close of the Monday evening prayer-meeting a young man was shown into my room by William Olney As soon as alone with me he wished to know who had informed me as to his movements He could scarcely believe me when I told him I had received no information concerning him and did not even know his name The same week after the Thursday evening service another young man wished to see me alone wanted to know who had been telling me about him I asked What about him About his fast life and his intention to leave the country and escape his praying motherrsquos influence He had been very distressed ever since I pointed him out and appealed to him on Sunday evening he wished to see me about it but could not come on Monday evening as he had intended lsquoButrsquo said he lsquothere is one mistake you made Mr Spurgeon you told the people I was going to India and it is China I am booked forrsquordquo

Gospel archery

I The hearts of the unsaved are encased in harness

1 Indifference

2 Pleasure

3 Worldliness

4 Religious formality

II Having these hearts for a mark the gospel bow must be drawn At some must be shot the arrows ofmdash

1 Divine goodness

2 Divine threatenings

3 Divine love (R Berry)

34 All day long the battle raged and the king of

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

Page 50: 2 chronicles 18 commentary

Israel propped himself up in his chariot facing the Arameans until evening Then at sunset he died

CLARKE Stayed himself up - against the Syrians - There was a great deal of true personal courage and patriotism in this last act of the king of Israel he well knew that if his troops found that he was mortally wounded they would immediately give way and the battle would not only be lost but the slaughter would be great in the pursuit therefore he stayed himself up till the evening when the termination of the day must necessarily bring the battle to a close and when this was done the Israelites found that their king was slain and so they left the field of battle to their foes Thus Israel had a great loss and the Syrians had got a great deliverance Had it not been for this accident the Syrians had probably been defeated See on 1Ki_2236 (note)

In the notes referred to above the quibbling predictions of false prophets and lying oracles are mentioned and several instances given and the whole account of the lying spirit going forth from the Lord to deceive Ahab particularly considered See especially the notes as above on 2Ch_1819 (note) 2Ch_1823-24 (note)

The reader should never forget a truth so very frequently occurring in the Bible that God is repeatedly represented as doing what in the course of his providence he only permits to be done

BESO 2 Chronicles 1834 He died mdash Who can hurt those whom God will protect And what can shelter those whom God will destroy Jehoshaphat is saved in his robes Ahab is killed in his armour

ELLICOTT (34) IncreasedmdashLiterally went up grew (Comp Genesis 4010 Amos 7 the growth of grass)

Howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariotmdashLiterally and the king of Israel was (or continued) holding himself up in the chariot facing Aram until the evening 1 Kings 2235 reads was held up in the chariot ampc and he died in the evening The reading of Chronicles is preferable the sense being that Ahab bravely bore up against the pain of his wound in order not to discourage his own side by retiring from the field The rest of the narrative which tells of the return of the army and the washing of Ahabrsquos chariot at the pool of Samaria (1 Kings 2236-38) is omitted here because Jehoshaphat was not concerned in it and perhaps because the chronicler had a true perception of the real climax of this vivid story of the olden time

TRAPP 2 Chronicles 1834 And the battle increased that day howbeit the king of Israel stayed [himself] up in [his] chariot against the Syrians until the even and

about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho

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about the time of the sun going down he died

Ver 34 About the time of the sun going down he died] And so proved that a whole council - of false prophets especially - may err Ahab might now have sent for Zedekiah with his fellows as Rodulphus Suevus did for the Popish bishops who had put him on to take up arms against his master the emperor complaining of them at his death that they had deceived him to his destruction with the Popes

Petra dedit Petro Petrus diadems Rodulpho


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