The Histories · Old Testament

2 Chronicles 18

2 Chronicles 18: Micaiah's vision and the death of Ahab at Ramoth-gilead

General context

Jehoshaphat, rich and honoured, joins affinity with Ahab. Some years later he goes down to Samaria, where Ahab feasts him and persuades him to go up to Ramoth-gilead. Jehoshaphat agrees to join the war but asks him to enquire at the word of the Lord. Ahab's four hundred prophets say go up, for God will deliver it. Jehoshaphat asks for a prophet of the Lord besides; Ahab names Micaiah the son of Imla, whom he hates because he never prophesies good. At the gate of Samaria Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah makes iron horns to push Syria. Urged to speak good like the rest, Micaiah says he will speak what his God says. Asked by the king, he first says go up and prosper; adjured to tell the truth, he says he saw Israel scattered like sheep without a shepherd, and the Lord sending them home in peace. He then tells of the Lord on his throne asking who will entice Ahab to fall at Ramoth-gilead, and a spirit sent to be a lying spirit in the mouth of Ahab's prophets. Zedekiah strikes Micaiah's cheek; Ahab orders him imprisoned on bread and water of affliction until he returns in peace, and Micaiah answers that if Ahab returns in peace the Lord has not spoken by him. The kings go up. Ahab disguises himself and has Jehoshaphat wear his robes. The Syrian chariot captains, ordered to fight only the king of Israel, surround Jehoshaphat until he cries out and God moves them away. A man draws a bow at a venture and hits the king of Israel between the joints of his armour; he asks to be carried out of the host, props himself in his chariot against the Syrians until evening, and dies at sundown.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 18:1, 2 Chronicles 18:2, 2 Chronicles 18:3, 2 Chronicles 18:4, 2 Chronicles 18:5, 2 Chronicles 18:6, 2 Chronicles 18:7, 2 Chronicles 18:9, 2 Chronicles 18:10, 2 Chronicles 18:12, 2 Chronicles 18:13, 2 Chronicles 18:14, 2 Chronicles 18:15, 2 Chronicles 18:16, 2 Chronicles 18:18, 2 Chronicles 18:19, 2 Chronicles 18:21, 2 Chronicles 18:23, 2 Chronicles 18:24, 2 Chronicles 18:26, 2 Chronicles 18:27, 2 Chronicles 18:29, 2 Chronicles 18:30, 2 Chronicles 18:31, 2 Chronicles 18:33, 2 Chronicles 18:34

2 Chronicles 18 (KJV)

¹Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and joined affinity with Ahab.

²And 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 Ramoth-gilead.

³And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Wilt thou go with me to Ramoth-gilead? And he answered him, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people; and we will be with thee in the war.

⁴And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the Lord to day.

⁵Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the king’s hand.

⁶But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might enquire of him?

⁷And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

⁸And the king of Israel called for one of his officers, and said, Fetch quickly Micaiah the son of Imla.

⁹And 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.

¹⁰And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made him horns of iron, and said, Thus saith the Lord, With these thou shalt push Syria until they be consumed.

¹¹And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

¹²And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one assent; let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thou good.

¹³And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, even what my God saith, that will I speak.

¹⁴And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper, and they shall be delivered into your hand.

¹⁵And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou say nothing but the truth to me in the name of the Lord?

¹⁶Then he said, I did see all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the Lord said, These have no master; let them return therefore every man to his house in peace.

¹⁷And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good unto me, but evil?

¹⁸Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the Lord; I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left.

¹⁹And the Lord said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner.

²⁰Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith?

²¹And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said, Thou shalt entice him, and thou shalt also prevail: go out, and do even so.

²²Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee.

²³Then 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?

²⁴And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.

²⁵Then the king of Israel said, Take ye Micaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son;

²⁶And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace.

²⁷And Micaiah said, If thou certainly return in peace, then hath not the Lord spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, all ye people.

²⁸So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead.

²⁹And 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.

³⁰Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of the chariots that were with him, saying, Fight ye not with small or great, save only with the king of Israel.

³¹And 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.

³²For it came to pass, that, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back again from pursuing him.

³³And 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.

³⁴And 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.

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Historical context

The tie between Jehoshaphat and Ahab is called affinity and not explained here; a later chapter says Jehoshaphat's son had the daughter of Ahab to wife. The interval is only after certain years. Ahab is named at the start and in Micaiah's vision, but through the battle the narrator calls him only the king of Israel, and the king of Syria is not named at all. Micaiah is the son of Imla, Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah, and Amon the governor and Joash the king's son appear only in Ahab's order. The four hundred prophets are never called prophets of the Lord by the narrator; Jehoshaphat's request for a prophet of the Lord besides sets them apart, and Micaiah's vision describes a lying spirit in their mouths. Micaiah's first answer, go up and prosper, is left in the record; the text does not label it, but the king's demand for nothing but the truth shows he did not receive it as such. The throne vision is Micaiah's own report of what he saw, and no separate confirmation is given beyond the outcome. Jehoshaphat's cry is reported without words; the narrator attributes his escape to the Lord and to God moving the captains. The bowman is a certain man shooting at a venture. No burial or obituary is given for Ahab here; the next chapter opens with Jehoshaphat returning in peace and being confronted by Jehu the son of Hanani.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 18:1, 2 Chronicles 21:6, 2 Chronicles 18:2, 2 Chronicles 18:19, 2 Chronicles 18:33, 2 Chronicles 18:30, 2 Chronicles 18:25, 2 Chronicles 18:5, 2 Chronicles 18:6, 2 Chronicles 18:22, 2 Chronicles 18:14, 2 Chronicles 18:15, 2 Chronicles 18:18, 2 Chronicles 18:31, 2 Chronicles 18:34, 2 Chronicles 19:1, 2 Chronicles 19:2

Literary context

Most of the chapter is talk at the gate of Samaria, and the battle takes six verses. The king's question, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead or forbear, is asked twice, and the answer go up and prosper is given twice, once by the crowd of prophets and once, under pressure, by Micaiah, so that the same words carry opposite weight. Return in peace runs through the second half: the Lord's word in Micaiah's first vision sends Israel home in peace, Ahab promises to return in peace, and Micaiah makes that return the test of his own truth. Two visions follow one another, sheep without a shepherd and then the Lord's throne, the second explaining the unanimity of the first scene. Zedekiah's iron horns and slap set a sign and a blow against a bare word. The disguise is the chapter's turn: Ahab hides himself and dresses his ally as the target, the Syrians go for the robes, and an arrow shot at random finds the man in disguise. The narrator drops Ahab's name in the battle, calling him the king of Israel to the end. The opening phrase, riches and honour in abundance, is carried over from the previous chapter so that Jehoshaphat's blessing becomes the setting for his misjudgment. The words that close the exchange, Hearken, all ye people, widen the audience beyond the gate.

Cited passages: 2 Chronicles 18:5, 2 Chronicles 18:14, 2 Chronicles 18:11, 2 Chronicles 18:16, 2 Chronicles 18:26, 2 Chronicles 18:27, 2 Chronicles 18:18, 2 Chronicles 18:10, 2 Chronicles 18:23, 2 Chronicles 18:29, 2 Chronicles 18:31, 2 Chronicles 18:33, 2 Chronicles 18:34, 2 Chronicles 17:5, 2 Chronicles 18:1

Key moments

Affinity with Ahab (2 Chronicles 18:1). Jehoshaphat, rich and honoured, allies himself with Ahab.
I hate him (2 Chronicles 18:7). Ahab names Micaiah as the one prophet of the Lord left and says he hates him.
Sheep without a shepherd (2 Chronicles 18:16). Adjured to speak truth, Micaiah reports Israel scattered on the mountains.
The lying spirit (2 Chronicles 18:21). Micaiah tells of a spirit sent to deceive Ahab's prophets.
Bread of affliction (2 Chronicles 18:26). Ahab orders Micaiah imprisoned until he returns in peace.
Jehoshaphat cries out (2 Chronicles 18:31). Mistaken for the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat cries out and God moves the captains away.
Ahab dies at sundown (2 Chronicles 18:34). Wounded by a chance arrow, the king of Israel props himself up until evening and dies.

For reflection

Micaiah first tells Ahab to go up and prosper, and only under oath says what he saw. Why might the narrator leave the prophet's first answer standing in the record beside the one Ahab did not want to hear?

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