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2 Chronicles 18:1-34 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

1 And Jehoshaphat hath riches and honour in abundance, and joineth affinity to Ahab,

2 and goeth down at the end of `certain' years unto Ahab to Samaria, and Ahab sacrificeth for him sheep and oxen in abundance, and for the people who `are' with him, and persuadeth him to go up unto Ramoth-Gilead.

3 And Ahab king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, `Dost thou go with me `to' Ramoth-Gilead?' And he saith to him, `As I -- so thou, and as thy people -- my people, even with thee in battle.'

4 And Jehoshaphat saith unto the king of Israel, `Seek, I pray thee, this day, the word of Jehovah.'

5 And the king of Israel gathereth the prophets, four hundred men, and saith unto them, `Do we go unto Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or do I forbear?' And they say, `Go up, and God doth give `it' into the hand of the king.'

6 And Jehoshaphat saith, `Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah still, and we seek from him?'

7 And the king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat, `Still -- one man to seek Jehovah from him, and I -- I have hated him, for he is not prophesying concerning me of good, but all his days of evil, he `is' Micaiah son of Imlah;' and Jehoshaphat saith, `Let not the king say so.'

8 And the king of Israel calleth unto a certain officer, and saith, `Hasten Micaiah son of Imlah.'

9 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah are sitting, each on his throne, clothed with garments, and they are sitting in a threshing-floor at the opening of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets are prophesying before them.

10 And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah maketh for himself horns of iron, and saith, `Thus said Jehovah,

11 With these thou dost push Aram till thou hast consumed them.' And all the prophets are prophesying so, saying, `Go up `to' Ramath-Gilead and prosper, and Jehovah hath given `it' into the hand of the king.'

12 And the messenger who hath gone to call for Micaiah hath spoken unto him, saying, `Lo, the words of the prophets -- one mouth -- `are' good towards the king, and let, I pray thee, thy word be like one of theirs: and thou hast spoken good.'

13 And Micaiah saith `Jehovah liveth, surely that which my God saith, it I speak.'

14 And he cometh in unto the king, and the king saith unto him, `Micaiah, do we go unto Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or do I forbear?' And he saith, `Go ye up, and prosper, and they are given into your hand.'

15 And the king saith unto him, `How many times am I adjuring thee, that thou speak unto me only truth in the name of Jehovah?'

16 And he saith, `I have seen all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd, and Jehovah saith, There are no masters to these, they turn back each to his house in peace.'

17 And the king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat, `Did I not say unto thee, He doth not prophesy concerning me good, but rather of evil?'

18 And he saith, `Therefore, hear ye a word of Jehovah: I have seen Jehovah sitting on His throne, and all the host of the heavens standing on His right and His left;

19 and Jehovah saith, Who doth entice Ahab king of Israel, and he doth go up and fall in Ramoth-Gilead? And this speaker saith thus, and that speaker thus.

20 And go out doth the spirit, and stand before Jehovah, and saith, I do entice him; and Jehovah saith unto him, With what?

21 and he saith, I go out, and have become a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets. And He saith, Thou dost entice, and also, thou art able; go out and do so.

22 And, now, lo, Jehovah hath put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of these thy prophets, and Jehovah hath spoken concerning thee -- evil.'

23 And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah cometh nigh, and smiteth Micaiah on the cheek, and saith, `Where `is' this -- the way the Spirit of Jehovah passed over from me to speak with thee?'

24 And Micaiah saith, `Lo, thou dost see in that day, that thou dost enter into the innermost chamber to be hidden.'

25 And the king of Israel saith, `Take ye Micaiah, and turn him back unto Amon head of the city, and unto Joash son of the king,

26 and ye have said, Thus said the king, Put ye this `one' in the house of restraint, and cause him to eat bread of oppression, and water of oppression, till my return in peace.'

27 And Micaiah saith, `If thou dost certainly return in peace, Jehovah hath not spoken by me;' and he saith, `Hear ye, O peoples, all of them!'

28 And the king of Israel goeth up, and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, unto Ramoth-Gilead;

29 and the king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat to disguise himself, and to go into battle, `And thou, put on thy garments.' And the king of Israel disguiseth himself, and they go into battle.

30 And the king of Aram hath commanded the heads of the charioteers whom he hath, saying, `Ye do not fight with small or with great, except with the king of Israel by himself.'

31 And it cometh to pass at the heads of the charioteers seeing Jehoshaphat, that they have said, `The king of Israel he is,' and they turn round against him to fight, and Jehoshaphat crieth out, and Jehovah hath helped him, and God enticeth them from him,

32 yea, it cometh to pass, at the heads of the charioteers seeing that it hath not been the king of Israel -- they turn back from after him.

33 And a man hath drawn with a bow, in his simplicity, and smiteth the king of Israel between the joinings and the coat of mail, and he saith to the charioteer, `Turn thy hand, and thou hast brought me out of the camp, for I have become sick.'

34 And the battle increaseth on that day, and the king of Israel hath been stayed up in the chariot over-against Aram till the evening, and he dieth at the time of the going in of the sun.

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Commentary on 2 Chronicles 18 Matthew Henry Commentary

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Chapter 18

The story of this chapter we had just as it is here related in the story of the reign of Ahab king of Israel, 1 Ki. 22. There it looks more creditable to Ahab than any thing else recorded of him that he was in league with so good a man as Jehoshaphat; here it is a great blemish in the reign of Jehoshaphat that he thus connected himself with so bad a man as Ahab. Here is,

  • I. The alliance he contracted himself with Ahab (v. 1).
  • II. His consent to join with him in his expedition for the recovery of Remoth-Gilead out of the hands of the Syrians (v. 2, 3).
  • III. Their consulting with the prophets, false and true, before they went (v. 4-27).
  • IV. The success of their expedition. Jehoshaphat hardly escaped (v. 28-32) and Ahab received his death's wound (v. 33, 34).

2Ch 18:1-3

Here is,

  • I. Jehoshaphat growing greater. It was said before (ch. 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 Ahab's, 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, v. 2. 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 (Ps. 26:5), nor desired to eat of their dainties, Ps. 141:4.
      • (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, v. 3. Some men's 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.

2Ch 18:4-27

This is almost word for word the same with what we had, 1 Ki. 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, v. 4. 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 (v. 9), can scarcely find in his heart to give him a too mild and gentle reproof for hating a prophet of the Lord (v. 7), 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, v. 21. 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, v. 21. 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, v. 27. 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 (v. 24) what they will not now believe.

2Ch 18:28-34

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 Jehoshaphat's 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, v. 31. God has all men's 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, v. 33. 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.