Commentaria in III Regum
Chapter Twenty-two. Synopsis of the Chapter
To King Achab going to war the false prophets foretell victory, but the prophet Michaeas destruction. Wherefore in the battle Achab, pierced by an arrow, falls, and dogs lick his blood. Then, verse 41, the acts of Josaphat king of Juda are described, and his fleet sent to Ophir. Finally, when he dies, verse 51, his son Joram succeeds him, and Ochozias the son succeeds Achab.
1. And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. 2. And in the third year, Josaphat king of Juda went down to the king of Israel. 3. And the king of Israel said to his servants: Know you not that Ramoth Galaad is ours, and we neglect to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria? 4. And he said to Josaphat: Wilt thou come with me to battle to Ramoth Galaad? And Josaphat said to the king of Israel: As I am, so art thou; my people and thy people are one: and my horsemen are thy horsemen. 5. And Josaphat said to the king of Israel: Inquire, I beseech thee, this day, the word of the Lord. 6. Then the king of Israel gathered together the prophets, about four hundred men, and said to them: Shall I go to Ramoth Galaad to fight, or shall I forbear? They answered: Go up, and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king. 7. But Josaphat said: Is there not here some prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire by him? 8. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: There is one man left, by whom we may ask the Lord: but I hate him, for he doth not prophesy good to me, but evil, Micheas the son of Jemla. And Josaphat said: Speak not so, O king. 9. Then the king of Israel called an eunuch, and said to him: Make haste, and bring hither Micheas the son of Jemla. 10. And the king of Israel and Josaphat king of Juda sat each on his throne, clothed in royal robes, in the open space by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them. 11. And Sedecias the son of Chanaana made himself horns of iron, and said: Thus saith the Lord: With these shalt thou push Syria, until thou destroy it. 12. And all the prophets prophesied in like manner, saying: Go up to Ramoth Galaad, and prosper, and the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hands. 13. And the messenger that went to call Micheas, spoke to him, saying: Behold the words of the prophets with one mouth declare good things to the king: let thy word, I pray thee, be like theirs, and speak thou good. 14. And Micheas said to him: As the Lord liveth, whatsoever the Lord shall say to me, that will I speak. 15. So he came to the king, and the king said to him: Micheas, shall we go to Ramoth Galaad to fight, or shall we forbear? And he answered him: Go up, and prosper, and the Lord will deliver it into the hands of the king. 16. And the king said to him: I adjure thee again and again, that thou tell me nothing but that which is true, in the name of the Lord. 17. And he said: I saw all Israel scattered in the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the Lord said: These have no master, let them return every man to his house in peace. 18. Then the king of Israel said to Josaphat: Did I not tell thee that this man prophesieth no good to me, but evil? 19. And he continuing said: Therefore hear ye the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing about him, on the right hand and on the left; 20. and the Lord said: Who shall deceive Achab king of Israel, that he may go up, and fall at Ramoth Galaad? And one spoke after this manner, and another otherwise. 21. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said: I will deceive him. And the Lord said to him: By what means? 22. And he said: I will go forth, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said: Thou shalt deceive him, and shalt prevail: go forth, and do so. 23. Now therefore behold the Lord hath given a spirit of lying in the mouth of all thy prophets that are here, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee. 24. And Sedecias the son of Chanaana came and struck Micheas on the cheek, and said: Hath then the Spirit of the Lord left me, and spoken to thee? 25. And Micheas said: Thou shalt see on that day, when thou shalt go into a chamber within a chamber to hide thee. 26. And the king of Israel said: Take Micheas, and let him abide with Amon the governor of the city, and with Joas the king’s son. 27. And say: Thus saith the king: Put this fellow in prison, and feed him with the bread of affliction, and the water of distress, till I return in peace. 28. And Micheas said: If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said: Hear ye, all ye people. 29. So the king of Israel and Josaphat king of Juda went up to Ramoth Galaad. 30. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: Take arms, and go into the battle, and put on thy own garments; but the king of Israel changed his dress, and went into the battle. 31. Now the king of Syria had commanded the two and thirty captains of the chariots, saying: You shall not fight against any, small or great, but against the king of Israel only. 32. So when the captains of the chariots saw Josaphat, they suspected that he was the king of Israel, and making a violent assault they fought against him, and Josaphat cried out. 33. And the captains of the chariots perceiving that he was not the king of Israel, left off from pursuing him. 34. And a certain man bent a bow, shooting an arrow at a venture, and he struck the king of Israel between the lungs and the stomach. But he said to his driver: Turn thy hand, and carry me out of the army, for I am grievously wounded. 35. And the battle was fought that day, and the king of Israel stood in his chariot against the Syrians, and died in the evening: and the blood of the wound ran into the midst of the chariot, 36. and the herald proclaimed through the whole army before the sun was down, saying: Let every man return to his city, and to his own country. 37. And the king died, and was brought to Samaria: and they buried the king in Samaria, 38. and they washed his chariot in the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked his blood, and they washed his reins, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke. 39. Now the rest of the acts of Achab, and all that he did, and the house of ivory which he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 40. So Achab slept with his fathers, and Ochozias his son reigned in his stead. 41. And Josaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Juda in the fourth year of Achab king of Israel. 42. Josaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Azuba the daughter of Salai. 43. And he walked in all the way of Asa his father, and declined not from it: and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. 44. Nevertheless he took not away the high places: for the people still sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places. 45. And Josaphat had peace with the king of Israel. 46. Now the rest of the acts of Josaphat, and his valour which he shewed, and his battles, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 47. And the remnant of the effeminate, who had remained in the days of his father Asa, he took away out of the land. 48. And there was then no king appointed in Edom. 49. And king Josaphat made fleets at sea, to sail into Ophir for gold: but they could not go, because they were broken in pieces in Asiongaber. 50. Then Ochozias the son of Achab said to Josaphat: Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. And Josaphat would not. 51. And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David his father: and Joram his son reigned in his stead. 52. And Ochozias the son of Achab began to reign over Israel in Samaria, in the seventeenth year of Josaphat king of Juda, and he reigned over Israel two years. 53. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin. 54. And he served Baal, and adored him, and provoked the Lord the God of Israel according to all that his father had done.