1 Kings 22:1–53

22:4 As is typical in Kings, nothing prepares us for this exchange. Ahab invites Jehoshaphat to form a coalition, and his response to the “king of Israel”² is stunningly positive: “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” This is not military cooperation built on simple mutual interest. This language is covenantal.³

22:5–12 Jehoshaphat may be naive, but he truly is godly, and he creates one of the more comical scenes in 1 Kings. Jehoshaphat insists that Yahweh be consulted: “Inquire first for the word of the Lord.” This is in stark contrast to the entire Ahab narrative, in which Yahweh is completely absent from any of the deliberations (until Yahweh himself interjects through his prophets). However, Jehoshaphat’s relative piety exposes the sham of Yahwistic religion in Israel. Jehoshaphat is like a guest at a non-Christian’s dinner table who closes his eyes and says, “Will you say grace?” His request appears to send Ahab into a panic, as he searches for someone appropriate to bring a word from Yahweh. Verse 6 reveals that Ahab has reinstituted the “prophetic guild” post Mount Carmel: “Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men. . . .” The number of prophets may suggest that these are the replacement prophets of Baal (or, perhaps more likely, the Asherah prophets not executed by Elijah) rather than prophets of the one true God. This is supported by their use of the word “Lord” (ʼAdonay) in verse 6 rather than the “Lord” (Yahweh) used by Jehoshaphat, and also by the fact that the phrase “gathered the prophets” is identical to the language of 18:20.

Ahab’s question, while not wrong in itself, does not reflect any particular knowledge of, let alone intimacy with, the God over whose kingdom he reigns: “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?”⁴ The answer from his prophets comes back instantly: “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”⁵

Ahab brings out his tame prophets, and, true to form, they tell the kings that everything is looking good. But there is clearly something not quite right about this process, for Jehoshaphat asks immediately, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?” Jehoshaphat may have questionable judgment when it comes to alliances, but his radar for authentic, biblical religion is functioning well! Ahab’s answer to his challenge continues the ambiguity surrounding religious affiliation in his court: “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah.” In truth, it seems that Micaiah (whose name means “Who is like Yahweh?”) may be the only prophet of Yahweh rather than the only one who has been left out of the consultative process! Ahab’s next comment is telling: “But I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.” Ahab’s emphatic personal declaration shows that his problem with Yahwism is not simply theological but deeply pragmatic. The childish king of chapter 21 has not yet grown up but continues to operate on the assumption that he is the center of the universe.

Jehoshaphat is quick to point out the foolishness of his comment: “Let not the king say so.” The dynamics of this relationship are fascinating: perhaps because he is so keen to enlist his military help, Ahab seems anxious to please the straightforwardly godly Jehoshaphat, even to the point of commanding a servant to “bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.”

Having hinted strongly that the confrontation between Ahab and Micaiah may not go well, the writer deliberately slows the narrative in order to build tension. The scene is described in some detail: “The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes. . . .” These details may be included to suggest that neither the heir of David nor the ruler of the renegade kingdom of Israel is looking particularly “Deuteronomic” as each displays his regal splendor. The encounter takes place “at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria,” right at the heart of the capital of the rebellious nation,⁶ “and all the prophets were prophesying before them.” The fact that these two kings are watching—Ahab at least approvingly—as these (false) prophets do their work is a further indictment both of their alliance and of the spiritual state of God’s people.

At this point, “Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah” steps forward to center stage and, with a clearly premeditated dramatic flourish, takes “horns of iron” he has “made for himself” and says, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” This is doubtlessly received with warm approval by Ahab and echoed by the “prophetic chorus,” which adds, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” But the preceding events have given the reader more than enough reason to question this confident assertion of the mind of Yahweh.

22:13–14 The degree to which Ahab is interested more in his own political agenda than in hearing the voice of Yahweh is revealed once again in the message sent to Micaiah: “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” The “behold” language may mimic the weight and impact of the authentic word of Yahweh, but the sentiment is little more than wishful thinking! Micaiah, not surprisingly, confirms Ahab’s perception of him as one who sticks stubbornly to Yahweh’s agenda, maintaining, “As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak.” Like Elijah (and every other true prophet), Micaiah understands his role as conveying the word of the sovereign God. The assertion “as the Lord lives” is a favorite phrase of Elijah in 1 Kings (17:1; 18:15; cf. 17:12; 18:10).

22:15–18 What happens next is full of dark humor, as the kings are confronted with the authentic word of God. When Ahab asks Micaiah his question in verse 15, the prophet gives him the answer he is seeking, without hesitation: “Go up and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” However, there is clearly more communicated by the prophet than what the words alone convey, as Ahab responds with an exasperated accusation: “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” This does raise the question of how many times this has occurred! Ahab and Micaiah’s previous interactions seem to have been characterized by Micaiah’s mocking of Ahab’s attempts to enlist Yahweh (and his prophets) in support of his political agenda by simply parroting the party line. The prophet’s tactic has worked, as the duplicitous Ahab now begs for an authentic word from Yahweh.

Ahab then receives a word from God, as Micaiah announces that this military campaign will end in disaster for both Ahab and the people of Israel: “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd.” The implications are then made clear by God’s own pronouncement: “And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” This campaign, should Ahab proceed, will be the end of his reign. Ahab’s response is, once more, immature at best, as he moans to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” Ahab appears to be concerned less with truth and more with how the message makes him feel.

22:19–22 Micaiah’s commentary on the current situation in Israel is not finished. He goes on to give an insight into the inner workings of the heavenly court, an insight that comes with all of the authority of Yahweh himself: “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left.” There are various glimpses of God’s heavenly throne in the OT (cf. Isaiah 6; Ezekiel 1), but, unusually in this case, the dialogue, rather than the impact of seeing the power and glory of God, is the main event.⁷

Micaiah relays the Lord’s own raising of the subject of Ahab’s demise: “Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?” For some, this raises the question of the morality of God in setting out to deceive Ahab, but the entire scene must be kept in mind. As things unfold, discussion ensues between unnamed heavenly servants of Yahweh, until “a spirit came forward and stood before the Lord, saying, ‘I will entice him.’” No further information is given concerning the nature of this being other than the designation “the spirit,” although other passages do portray Yahweh as using harmful spirits to bring about judgment (1 Sam. 16:14; 18:10; 19:9). Yahweh then asks about the details of this scheme, to which the spirit responds, “I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.” This scheme is adopted, and the die is cast: Ahab will be deceived and die. “You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.” Surprisingly, this scheme is revealed to Ahab. The point is not that he is deceived by Yahweh (who has told him in advance that the prophets are lying). Rather, this is a punishment to fit the crime: if one refuses to listen to the Lord’s word, one will be given the false lies one’s heart longs to hear. Ahab will gladly embrace this false hope and then pay the price for his consistent rebellion against Yahweh.

22:23–28 Micaiah goes on to spell out what by now is quite obvious: “The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets.” More than that, the prophet explains, “The Lord has declared disaster for you.” The outcome of these events is not in doubt; this is simply a revelation of the means through which Yahweh will act. At this point, “Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah” intervenes. As the one who presented the previous “revelation,” he has, presumably, the most to lose should Micaiah’s message be believed. So, in a sign of contempt, he “struck Micaiah on the cheek” (cf. Job 16:10; Lam. 3:30). He also asks a theological question: “How did the Spirit of the Lord go from me to speak to you?” In a way, this is a reasonable question. However, the answer is not what Zedekiah is anticipating. In time, it will become clear that Zedekiah was speaking under the influence not of the Spirit of God in the first place but, as we already know, of the lying spirit from the heavenly court.

At this stage, Micaiah simply says, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.” As events unfold, Zedekiah will be forced to run for cover, out of either fear or failure. Ahab’s intervention cuts off any further conversation and issues a command: “Seize Micaiah, and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son, and say, ‘Thus says the king, “Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations of bread and water, until I come in peace.”’” The king’s misplaced confidence is obvious, and, presumably as he is hauled away,⁸ Micaiah gets the last word: “If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” The mark of the true prophet is that his prophecy comes true (Deut. 18:21–22). Micaiah then calls everyone to witness this reality: “Hear, all you peoples!” This message must be heeded by all those watching.

22:29–30 After all of the prophetic back and forth, the joint military campaign finally begins, as “the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah” make their move on Ramoth-gilead. Verse 30 reveals yet another twist in this tale, as Ahab comes up with an incredible suggestion for Jehoshaphat: “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” Ahab’s plan is designed to fool the omniscient God in a clear attempt to foil any threat to his life and also to provide some security should Micaiah’s prophecy turn out to be true. However, the startling factor is the utterly self-seeking nature of the request, as Ahab’s safety is obviously dependent on Jehoshaphat’s putting himself in the firing line. The implication is that Jehoshaphat agrees to go along with the scheme, as Ahab “disguised himself and went into battle” (perhaps copying the man of God in 20:35–42) and Jehoshaphat—for reasons hard to understand—climbs into Ahab’s royal chariot in all of his finery.

22:31–35 As Ahab anticipates, the king of Syria has charged “the thirty-two captains of his chariots” with a special mission, telling them, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” Ahab’s cunning plan appears to work, drawing away the Syrian death squad’s attention, for as soon as they set eyes on Jehoshaphat, they “turned to fight against him.” The deception does not last long, however, for they quickly see they have been duped; “Jehoshaphat cried out” and they rapidly work out “that it was not the king of Israel, [and] they turned back from pursuing him.” At this moment “chance” intervenes, and “a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate,” one of the few places he would be unprotected. The point is simple: there is no fooling—nor defying—the living God. What happens next does not come as a surprise. Despite the disguise and the orders of the Syrian commander to go for the king (much to Jehoshaphat’s alarm in verse 32), all it takes is one “random” arrow—and a divine guidance system!—for God’s word to be fulfilled.

Ahab knows this his wound is serious, commanding his driver to get him out of the firing line and watching the rest of the battle “propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, until at evening he died.” Again the word of Yahweh has proven determinative for the destiny of Israel and her kings. Verse 35 concludes with a note that will become important for what follows: “And the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot.”

22:36–37 It seems that, around the time the king dies, it becomes evident that the Israelites have been defeated by the Syrians, so the retreat is sounded: “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!” The rebellious king who defied the word of Yahweh is buried in Samaria, the city founded as an alternative to Jerusalem, the city of David.

22:38–40 If we are in any doubt that Yahweh has orchestrated these events, such doubt is removed by verse 38. Because Ahab’s wound have bled all over his chariot, after his death someone is forced to clean it. So “they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria.” During the cleanup, “the dogs licked up his blood” just as Elijah had said would happen (21:19). In addition, “the prostitutes washed themselves in it.”⁹ The point is clear: all this has happened “according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken.” Ahab dies, and he dies according to the word of Yahweh—the word that warned him, the word that he ignored.

The final summary of Ahab’s reign is unremarkable, apart from the mention of “the ivory house that he built and all the cities that he built.” This ivory house is probably a lavish palace.¹⁰ Either way, it is not what is expected of the kings of Yahweh’s people, who are not to exalt themselves above their brothers (Deut. 17:14–20). The fact that he built many “cities” may be an allusion to the fact that, in human terms, his reign is long and successful. The preceding narrative, however, has made clear that, in the eyes of Yahweh, thing looks very different. The defining mark of Ahab’s reign is how he refuses to listen to the word of Yahweh.

22:41–44 Since 15:25 our focus has been firmly on the kings (and nation) of Israel, but finally we return to pick up the story of Judah and “Jehoshaphat the son of Asa,” whose reign was first announced in 15:24. Jehoshaphat ascended the throne in “the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. . . . and reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem.”¹¹ In keeping with the standard formula for the Davidic kings of Judah (and unlike the death notices of the northern kings), we are told that “his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.” Unusually, we are given the summary of Jehoshaphat’s reign before any of its details (which emerge in the Elisha narratives). Typically of the kings of Judah, Jehoshaphat’s reign is mixed. Positively, “he walked in all the way of Asa his father. He did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord.” It was said of his father that his heart “was wholly true to the Lord all his days” (15:14). The commendation of Jehoshaphat stops short of that. Not only did he fail in the same way as his father, in that “the high places were not taken away, and the people still sacrificed and made offerings on the high places”; he “also made peace with the king of Israel,” a fact that looks positive at face value but has already raised significant questions earlier in the chapter concerning his wisdom.

22:45–50 The additional details supplied concerning Jehoshaphat’s reign focus on the fact that he finished the job started by his father, Asa, “and from the land he exterminated the remnant of the male cult prostitutes who remained in the days of his father Asa.” The additional details also highlight the relative strength of Judah in the region (“There was no king in Edom; a deputy was king”), which leads to Jehoshaphat’s abortive attempts to launch a Judahite navy. The Red Sea port of Ezion-geber is in Edom. Like Solomon before him, Jehoshaphat seeks to import gold from Ophir, but “the ships were wrecked at Ezion-geber.”

At this point “Ahaziah the son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, ‘Let my servants go with your servants in the ships.’” This appears to be an offer to help his faltering maritime efforts, but “Jehoshaphat was not willing” to take up the offer. When this text is read with 2 Chronicles 20:35–37, it becomes clear that the initial foray into seafaring was also the result of an alliance with Ahaziah and the destruction of the fleet an expression of God’s judgment. Jehoshaphat’s refusal of help here thus fits well with the presentation of Jehoshaphat in Kings as a basically godly king who makes poor alliances but eventually learns his lesson.

As Jehoshaphat gives way to his son Jehoram, it seems that not much has changed during the downward spiral in Israel. Judah’s kings are better but are still a long way short of what Yahweh requires. Jehoshaphat does some good things (like refusing to throw himself into partnership with Ahab’s son Ahaziah) and some not-so-good things. Sometimes he listens to the word of Yahweh, but sometimes he does not. This basic perspective on the kings of Judah is crucial for the exilic generation in understanding its own history. Even the better kings were not totally reliable.

22:51–53 There is no such ambiguity with Ahaziah. The placement at the end of this book of the short summary of the reign of Jehoshaphat and the even shorter account of the two years of Ahaziah son of Ahab in verses 51–53 creates a strong sense of history repeating itself. In the same way that Jehoshaphat was an average king of Judah, so Ahaziah fits the mold of the kings of Israel perfectly: “He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.” There is nothing new in the reign of the child of Ahab and Jezebel, for he “served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger in every way that his father had done.” How can we tell a good king from a bad king? Through the way in which they respond to the word of the Lord.