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

2 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.

3 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.

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

5 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 king's hand.

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

7 And 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.

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

9 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.

10 And 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.

11 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.

12 And 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 their's, and speak thou good.

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

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

15 And 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?

16 Then 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.

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

18 Again 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.

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

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

21 And 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.

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

23 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?

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

25 Then 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;

26 And 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.

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

28 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead.

29 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and I will go to the battle; but put thou on thy robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went to the battle.

30 Now 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.

31 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.

32 For 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.

33 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.

34 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.

<html><b>And he went down at the end of years</b> And in I Kings (22:2) it is written: “And it was in the third year, that Jehoshaphat came down, etc.” This refers to the third year since he had released Ben Hadad (ibid. 20:34). <b>and he enticed him to go up to Ramoth Gilead</b> as is written in the Book of I Kings (22: 3): “Do you know that Ramoth Gilead is ours,” because when Jacob built the mound [of stones] there and called it Galead, he took possession of it, and our forefathers took Gilead and the heights (רָמוֹת), which are a continuation and an attachment to the city. But when our forefathers in Moses’ time seized Gilead, they were silent and refrained from taking it, because they did not care for it, or perhaps in Moses’ time, they did take it, but later the nations took it from Israel’s hands, but it is [in fact] ours.</html>

<html><b>Please inquire today the word of the Lord</b> and [do not inquire] of the prophets of the baalim in whom you trust.</html>

<html><b>And the king of Israel gathered the prophets, four hundred</b> And they were all true prophets, for he gathered for Jehoshaphat that which he had requested of him. And this is proven in the closely following text (verse 20f.): “And a spirit came forth, etc. and said: ‘I will entice him…and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets,’ for I will inspire them to say to Ahab: Ascend, and the Lord will deliver it into the hands of the king.” From here we can deduce that they were prophets of the Lord, for they prophesied only the word of the Lord, for if they were false prophets, they would not entice, for they would prophesy only that which they were inventing from their minds. Moreover, Jehoshaphat later said, “Is there no other prophet of the Lord?” I know that they are prophets of the Lord, but I have a tradition from my grandfather’s house that two prophets do not prophesy in the same style and with the same language, but all of these [prophets] are [unanimously] prophesying, “Ascend and prosper.”</html>

<html><b>but always bad</b> For this is what it says (I Kings 20:42): “Because you have released the man whom I designated for destruction, etc.”</html>

<html><b>Bring Micaiah at once</b> [Micaiah] is written with the “yud” missing. He called him by a different name, Micahu, in order to degrade him.</html>

<html><b>dressed in [their] attire</b> the royal raiment <b>and seated in a threshing floor</b> He is telling us that when the prophets prophesied before them, they were sitting outside the city, and spies of the king of Aram came there and heard that he [the prophet] informed the king of Israel that he alone would fall in battle. That is the reason that the king of Aram commanded his forces (v. 30): “Attack neither small nor great; only the king of Israel,” to fulfill the words of Micaiah. That is why it is written, “in a threshing floor,” for it was a place where spies could spy. If the meeting had been inside the city, the spies of the king of Aram would not have been able to infiltrate, for they would have detected that they were spies; but when they were outside the city, even if they [the Israelites] became aware of them, they could say, “We are going elsewhere, and the reason we drew near to the threshing floor is because of the great tumult and gathering of the armies here at the gate of the city; we were amazed, and turned off the road to see what was going on.” Consequently, the spies informed the king of Aram [what they had heard], who commanded to slay no one but the king of Israel. Otherwise, why did it enter his mind to command not to slay anyone of Israel, but the king? But he had spies who had heard Micaiah saying, (verses 16f.): “I saw all the Israelites scattered, etc. And the Lord said: These have no master.” This was a sign that the king would be slain, and that the Israelites would return each one to his house in peace. And they heard that he said, (v. 27): “If you return in peace…” The spies heard all and informed the king of Aram. The king of Aram then commanded to act in accordance with the word of Micaiah, and to slay only the king.</html>

<html><b>Go up and triumph, and may they be delivered into your hand</b> i.e., May you only prosper, and may they be delivered into your hands.</html>

<html><b>scattered over the mountains</b> For when they flee from battle, they flee on the mountains to a refuge, like (Gen. 14:10): “and those who remained fled to the mountains.” In addition, the battle was on the heights of Gilead, a mountainous and hilly terrain.<b>And the Lord said: These have no master</b> They are scattered like sheep on the mountains, because they have no shepherd, for their king will be slain. <b>Let them return each one to his house in peace</b> Ahab alone will be killed, but the rest of the Israelites will return each one to his house in peace, as the king of Aram commanded his people.</html>

<html><b>and all the host of heaven were standing on His right and His left</b> These are the angels of destruction who stand before Him.</html>

<html><b>And a certain spirit came forth</b> The meaning is: And an angel came forth, for he says above, “and all the host of heaven, etc.” One of the angels came forth and said, “I will entice him,” as it is stated (Ps. 104:4): “He makes His angels spirits.” [Cf. Comm. Dig. ad loc.] He preceded this account by stating, “and all the host of heaven were standing,” so that you should not wonder when you read, “And a certain spirit came forth,” who he was and where he came from. When he says, “and all the host of heaven were standing,” it is to inform you where he came from: from among the rest of the spirits standing beside Him. Our Rabbis (<i>Sanh.</i> 89a, <i>Targum</i>) however, explained that this was the spirit of Naboth.</html>

<html><b>in the mouth of all his prophets</b> He should place the words “Go up and triumph,” in their mouths and he [Ahab] will go up and fall. This proves that they were true prophets who would prophesy only that which the Lord put into their mouths. <b>You will entice and you will prevail</b> When an enticer comes to entice his fellow, the one being enticed sometimes understands that this one wishes to entice him, and he takes heed and does not allow himself to be enticed, but with Ahab, you will entice and you will prevail.</html>

<html><b>Behold you will see</b> that Ahab will be killed.</html>

<html><b>Place this person in prison</b> We did not see that he incarcerated him in prison previously, but since he says, “and return him,” you may say that he had placed him in prison beforehand. If, however, you wish to say that they had never placed him in prison prior to this, “and return him” should not cause you any difficulty, because this is the style of the Scriptures, like (Ps. 9:18): “May the wicked return to the grave,” and many similar other cases. <b>a scant amount of bread, etc.</b> An example of this is (Isa. 30: 20): “scant bread and water of oppression.”</html>

<html><b>disguise myself and go</b> The meaning is: “I must make myself like a stranger and disguise myself in other clothes, so that they do not recognize that I am the king of Israel,” for he was wary of Micaiah’s words, saying, “If you return in peace, etc.” And he said to Jehoshaphat, “I wish to disguise myself and go to war, for I fear that the Arameans heard that Micaiah said, ‘If you return in peace,’ and they will attack only me.” <b>but you may wear your garb</b> The royal costume and the coat of mail and the royal weapons, for there is no need for anyone to be wary of the prophet’s words except the king of Israel, for his [the king of Aram’s] spies told [him] the words of Micaiah.</html>

<html><b>and Jehoshaphat cried out</b> He called to his troop and his armies to come to his aid, [using] the sign of the lion on his banner or the banner of the sons of Judah. And so is the custom when two troops engage in battle: each troop gives a name to the insignia of its division for the troop that is with it, so that if they separate from each other or if the troops mingle with one another, each troop shouts the name of its insignia, and they recognize the insignia and all gather together and become one group as originally. He did not, however, cry out to his God, as is proven from I Kings (22:32), for there it does not say, “and the Lord helped him, and God enticed them away from him,” but it is written, <b>And it was when the officers of the chariots saw that he was not the king of Israel</b> for they immediately recognized and understood when he cried out the insignia of his division, as was explained. As soon as they recognized him, they turned away from him in accordance with the order of the king of Aram, and it was from the Lord that they recognized him.</html>

<html><b>And a man drew his bow</b> An Israelite man intended to shoot at the camp of Aram, and inadvertently <b>and it hit</b> The arrow [hit] the king of Israel. <b>between the scales and the coat of mail</b> between the thong with which they attach the helmet on his head to the coat of mail. We cannot say that he was a heathen, because whom was he aiming at? Did not the king of Aram command, “Attack neither small nor great, except the king of Israel”? And he did not even aim at him, for it is written, “innocently.” Perforce, you must say that the archer was an Israelite who intended to shoot at the camp of Aram, and inadvertently hit the king of Israel. <b>and he said to the charioteer</b> to the one who drives the chariot. <b>and carry me out of the camp</b> i.e., away from these front lines, and take me to the rear lines.</html>

<html><b>And the battle withdrew</b> It withdrew, and not one of Israel was hurt except the king of Isra el, in accordance with the word of the prophet, (above verse 16): “These have no master. Let them return each one to his house in peace.” It does not say לְשָלוֹם, because Ahab was slain. <b>was standing in the chariot</b> He exerted himself and stood up so that the Israelites should not realize that he was wounded and flee, for the beginning of defeat is fleeing.</html>