1 Kings 22:29–53

So the king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, went up to Ramothgilead. Which, according to Bunting (r), was twenty four miles from Samaria. That Ahab went is no wonder, it was his own motion first, his inclination led to it, his prophets encouraged him, and, in bravado to the prophet of the Lord, was determined upon it; but it may seem much more strange that Jehoshaphat should, after such an account as Micaiah had given, and who, doubtless, could observe a great difference between him and the prophets of Ahab; and yet there is much to be said which might incline him to go, as that there were four hundred prophets all agreed, and who made use of the name of the Lord, and pretended to be true prophets; and though he might suspect them, he could not confute them; and Micaiah, he prophesied evil of Ahab only, and therefore Jehoshaphat might think himself safe in going; and besides, he had given his word to Ahab, and he did not choose to go from it; to which may be added, that Ahab's cause was just, to recover a part of his own dominions. (r) Travels, &c. p. 178.

And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle,.... Change his clothes, his royal robes, and put on others, perhaps the habit of a common soldier; having, it may be, been informed by some deserters or spies, of the design of Benhadad against him. Abarbinel thinks the meaning is, that he would clothe himself with a coat of mail, and take to him the each of the instruments of war, and so go into the battle secure; this seems probable from 1 Kings 22:34 and this he might do to elude the prophecy of Micaiah: but put thou on thy robes; his royal robes, or rather keep them on, that he might appear to be the chief commander of the army. There seems to be a good deal of insincerity and treachery in this conduct of Ahab's, whatever honour he might pretend to Jehoshaphat, or safety he might promise him in such a situation; his view seems to be to save himself at the hazard of the life of Jehoshaphat, especially if the Septuagint version could be established, "and put on my clothes"; which is natural enough, but would have been too barefaced: and the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle; as if he had been a common soldier.

But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had the rule over his chariots,.... This was the number of his kings in the first battle with Israel, and of his captains in the second, 1 Kings 20:1, and the same number he had now, being very probably not only the number of his chariots, but the division of his army was into so many battalions, under the command of these captains of chariots: saying, fight neither with small nor great; of those that belonged to Jehoshaphat: save only with the king of Israel; and his men; for it can hardly be thought that his orders were to fight with none, nor kill any in the battle but Ahab personally; though it is very probable he might give them directions to aim at him chiefly, knowing that, if he was killed or taken, his army would flee or surrender; and he might be desirous of getting him into his hands, as he had been in his; and the rather his spite was against him, as he was the mover of the war.

And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat,.... In his royal robes: that they said, surely it is the king of Israel; for they might not know the persons either of Ahab or him, but judged by his habit: and they turned aside to fight against him; pressed upon him with all their force, either to take him or slay him: and Jehoshaphat cried out; with a loud voice, either to the captains to let them know who he was, or to his men to come to his assistance, or rather to God to help and deliver him; since it is said in 2 Chronicles 18:31 that the Lord helped him, and moved or inclined the hearts of the captains to depart from him, as it follows here.

And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel,.... Against whom only their orders were to fight: that they turned back from pursuing him; for upon so great a force coming upon him he could not withstand, he fled.

And a certain man drew a bow at a venture,.... Not aiming at the king of Israel, or knowing whereabout he was. In the Targum on 2 Chronicles 18:33, this man is said to be Naaman, the general of the army of the king of Syria, and so Jarchi here; but though he did this in his simplicity, as the word signifies, without any intention to smite any particular person; yet God directed the arrow to the man he had marked for destruction, and neither his disguise, nor coat of mail, could secure from that: and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: of which the pieces of armour on him were joined together, the higher and lower parts of it, the breastplate, and what covered the belly; and though these were joined as close as they were capable of joining them in those times, yet the arrow, guided by divine Providence, found its way into his body: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, turn thine hand; or hands, with which he held the reins, and turn the horses on one side: and carry me out of the host; where the battle was hottest, to a place more remote and private, that he might have the wound examined, and the blood stopped, and return again, as it seems he did: for I am wounded; or rather "I am sick" (s), or ill, as the Targum; somewhat out of order, and therefore chose to retire a little while; not caring it should be known that he was smitten and wounded, lest his soldiers should be disheartened. (s) "aegrotare factus sum", Vatablus; "aegrotus factus sum", Junius & Tremellius.

And the battle increased that day,.... It went on, and did not stop upon Ahab's going out of the host, but was very hot, and both sides fought furiously: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians: the Targum is, "he strengthened himself, and stood;'' he exerted himself to the uttermost, and stood as long as he could, or could be supported, fighting against the Syrians, to animate his army, and that the Syrians might not have any notion of his being wounded: and died at even: in his chariot: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot; or "bosom" (t) of it, the hollow part of it. (t) "ad sinum", Montanus; "in sinum", Vatablus.

And there went a proclamation throughout the host, about the going down of the sun,.... Much about the time that Ahab died; and this proclamation by an herald might be made by his order, as he was dying, or by Jehoshaphat, when he understood he was dead: saying, every man to his city, and every man to his own country; the order was to cease fighting, and make the best of their way as fast as they could to their own homes, since their shepherd and master was dead, which fulfilled the vision of Micaiah, 1 Kings 22:17. It seems to have been a drawn battle, at least there is no account of the advantage on either side.

So the king died, and they brought him to Samaria,.... In the chariot he died in: and they buried the king in Samaria; where his father Omri was buried, 1 Kings 16:28.

And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria,.... After the body was taken out, very likely the chariot driver, who drove it into the pool, and plunged it into it, as the word signifies, to cleanse it from the blood of his master: and the dogs licked up his blood; mixed with the water of the pool; the Septuagint adds, "the swine", which is not probable, such creatures not being bred in the land of Israel: and they washed his armour; his coat of mail, through the joints of which the blood issued, and ran upon it. The word is sometimes used for whores, and is so translated here in the Greek version, and by Munster and Castalio; and both Ben Gersom and Abarbinel say, that women, who were harlots, washed here in his blood, mixed with water; and so Josephus (u) writes, that afterwards it was a custom for whores to wash in this pool; though some say (w) two whores were painted on Ahab's chariot, by the order of Jezebel, to inflame his lust, and these were what were washed; but the word signifies armour, or rather ornaments, clothes, jewels, &c. and now all this was according to the word of the Lord which he spake; both by Elijah, that as the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, so they should his, as they now did, though not in the same place; nor was it necessary to fulfil the prophecy; see Gill on 1 Kings 21:19, though some have thought (x) that his blood, mixed with the water of the pool of Samaria, was carried in a stream down to Jezreel, and there licked by the dogs, where Naboth's was; but chiefly what was spoken by Micaiah is here respected, that thus Ahab fell at Ramothgilead, as he had prophesied, 1 Kings 22:17 and his life went for the life of Benhadad, as he had before declared, 1 Kings 20:42. (u) Antiqu. l. 8. c. 15. sect. 6. (w) See Jarchi & Kimchi in loc. (x) Kimchi in loc.

Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made,.... Which, being a very curious and extraordinary thing, is particularly mentioned; though perhaps it might not be made wholly of ivory, but inlaid with it; we read of ivory houses in Amos 3:15, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? in which the acts of his predecessors were recorded, see 1 Kings 14:19 not the Scripture book of Chronicles, for there none of these things are related.

So Ahab slept with his fathers, and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead, Of whom more is said in the latter part of this chapter, and in the following book.

Jehoshaphat was thirty five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem,.... So that he must be sixty years of age when he died: and his mother's name was Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi; but of what family they were is not said.

And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father,.... Who was a good prince: he turned not aside from doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord; in his moral conversation, religious worship, and civil government: nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places; he took away the high places and groves for idolatrous worship, 2 Chronicles 17:6, but not the high places in which sacrifices were offered to the Lord, which ought to have been, especially since the temple was built; and those in the tribes of Judah and Benjamin were altogether inexcusable, being near to the temple, and under no restraint, as those of the ten tribes were; but the people were fond of them, because of their antiquity, and it was difficult for religious princes to remove them, if inclined.

And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel. First with Ahab, with whom he contracted an affinity, and joined with him in his expedition to Ramothgilead, and with Ahaziah his successor.

And all the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and all his might that he showed, and all his wars, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? Many of them are recorded in the canonical book of Scripture, which bears the name of Chronicles; and more might be in this referred to, out of which might be taken what God has thought fit to transmit to future times; see 2 Chronicles 17:1.

And the remnant of the Sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land. His father Asa removed many of these filthy creatures, but not all; as many, no doubt, as came within his knowledge, but some remained, whom this his son removed, being of the same disposition with his father, see 1 Kings 15:12.

There was then no king in Edom, a deputy was king. Which had been the case from the times of David, who subdued Edom, and placed garrisons in it, and governors over it, 2 Samuel 8:14 and continued through the reign of Jehoshaphat, unto the times of his son, under whom the Edomites revolted, and set up a king of their own, 2 Kings 8:20, with a view to which this is observed, as also to account for it how Jehoshaphat could build ships in Eziongeber, which was in the land of Edom, of which in the next verse, because the whole country was governed by a viceroy, or deputy, under him.

Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish,.... Ships to go to sea, particularly the Indian sea, 1 Kings 10:22. Tarshish is used for the sea in general, Psalm 48:7, in the Cetib, or text, it is "ten"; in the Keri, or margin, it is "made", which we follow, and may be put together, as in the Tigurine version, and read, "he made ten ships to go by sea": even to go to Ophir for gold; as Solomon did; of which place see 1 Kings 9:28, but they went not, for the ships were broken at Eziongeber; the port where they were built: as soon as they were launched, or sailed, they were broken to pieces against the rocks near the harbour, which stood up like a man's backbone, whence the port had its name; See Gill on 1 Kings 9:26, and if this was Calzem, as there observed, near to it was a dangerous place for ships, and where many were lost, and is supposed to be the place where Pharaoh and his host were drowned (y); the reason of this shipwreck was, because Jehoshaphat joined himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, for which he was reproved by the prophet Eliezer, and this was his punishment, 2 Chronicles 20:35. (y) Vid. Geograph. Nub. Climat. 3. par. 3. in fine.

Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat,.... Who very probably had built some more ships on his own, having broke off his partnership with Ahaziah: let my servants go with thy servants in the ships; since he was refused a part in the ships themselves, he desires leave to send men aboard them to traffic for him abroad: but Jehoshaphat would not; having been reproved by a prophet of the Lord, and had suffered the loss of his ships by joining with him already.

And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father,.... In the city of Sion, where David, Rehoboam, Abijam, and Asa, were buried: and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead; who was now thirty two years of age, and he reigned ten years.

Which evil was idolatry: and walked in the way of his father; his father Ahab, who worshipped Baal: and in the way of his mother; his mother Jezebel, who was still living, and served Baal and Astarte, the deities of her country: and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat; who set up and worshipped the golden calves: who made Israel to sin; by the worship of the same, into which he drew them by his example and authority.

For he served Baal, and worshipped him,.... That is, Ahaziah served him, as his father had done, and his mother still did: and provoked to anger the Lord God of Israel, according to all that his father had done; of which there is an instance in the first chapter of the following book; for falling through a lattice, and becoming sick upon it, he quickly died, having sent messengers to inquire of the god of Ekron whether he should die or not.