Bible Commentaries

1 Kings 22:1 And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.

Ver. 1. And they continued three years.] No longer. Reconciliations are but fox-like friendships, and covenants with enemies hold not long:

“ Flamma redardescit, quae modo nulla fuit. ”

Witness the wars betwixt Charles V, emperor, and Francis I king of France, whom being his prisoner, he had dismissed, as Ahab did Benhadad, upon a covenant made at Madrid; but it lasted not many months, for the French king quickly combined with the Pope and State of Venice against the emperor, &c.

1 Kings 22:2 And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.

Ver. 2. Jehoshaphat came down to the king of Israel.] With whom he warred at first with good success: [2 Chronicles 17:1-3] but afterwards, for some politic respect, as haply to withstand the growing greatness of the Syrian, an ill neighbour to them both, he contracted with Ahab affinity and amity, and here cometh down to give him a courtly visit, which had like to have cost him his life.

1 Kings 22:3 And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead [is] ours, and we [be] still, [and] take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria?

Ver. 3. Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours?] A part of our promised inheritance, and one of our cities of refuge, [Joshua 20:8] besides Benhadad’s promise to restore it unto us, with the rest that were taken from us by his father, [1 Kings 20:24] but he never intendeth it.

1 Kings 22:4 And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramothgilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I [am] as thou [art], my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.

Ver. 4. And he said unto Jehoshaphat.] After that he had royally entertained him, [2 Chronicles 18:2] and concluded a match with him, betwixt his daughter Athaliah and Jehoshaphat’s son Joram.

I am as thou art, my people as thy people.] Here that of Solomon is exemplified, "A righteous man falling down before the wicked, is as a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring,." [Proverbs 25:26] Jehoshaphat was well chidden for this, as well he deserved. [2 Chronicles 19:2]

1 Kings 22:5 And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day.

Ver. 5. Inquire, I pray thee.] Ahab never thought of this, belike. God was not in all his thoughts. [Psalms 10:4] And yet Scipio went first to the capitol, and then to the senate. ^(a) And the Romans called a sacrifice hostia ; because, when they went against the enemies, they offered it. ^(b)

At the word of the Lord.] Some think that Jehoshaphat, hearing of Ahab’s late humiliation, mistook him for a true convert, and therefore thus bespake him, and thought he might lawfully join with him in so just a war.

Today.] Josephus saith that this was done when the armies were now met, and were ready to march.

1 Kings 22:6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king.

Ver. 6. About four hundred men.] Baal’s prophets all; perhaps those prophets of the groves, Jezebel’s trencher-flies, [1 Kings 18:19] who yet pretended the name of the Lord. Their number showeth that truth may not ever be measured by the poll: Non numeranda sed expendenda suffragia. A solid verity in one mouth is worthy to preponderate light falsehood in a thousand.

Go up.] Pithanologiae nunquam desunt pseudotheologis. The devil had deceived these prophets, and they deceive Ahab: quem in decipulam caedis quasi murem inducunt, who perished by his credulity and for his cruelty. [1 Kings 21:5-16]

For the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.] Yea, but of which king, thou lying spirit? Of Ahab, or of Benhadad? The particle ‘it’ is not in the original; the word ‘thee’ may be as well supplied. This answer, therefore, was ambiguous, like that Aio te Aeacida Romanos vincere posse: or that Croesus Halyn penetrans magnam disperdet opum vim. Howbeit the devil here hath more ingenuousness than have the Jesuits; for he confesseth his equivocating oracle to be a lie. "I will go and be a lying spirit," saith he, "in the mouth of all his prophets." [1 Kings 22:22]

1 Kings 22:7 And Jehoshaphat said, [Is there] not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him?

Ver. 7. Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides?] Good Jehoshaphat suspecting these four hundred of base flattery, maketh further inquiry for a prophet of the Lord that was melioris monetae of a better stamp. But should such a king as Jehoshaphat be without some true prophet or priest in his retinue?

That we might inquire of him.] But did he inquire pro forma tantum, as resolved to go on howsoever? This can hardly be excused.

1 Kings 22:8 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, [There is] yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

Ver. 8. There is yet one man.] Even king Ahab - as bad as he was - kept count of his prophets, and could give account of one that was missing.

But I hate him.] Evildoers hate the light, because it stands in the light of their wicked ways, as the angel did in Balaam’s way to his sin. But, Micaiah, could not you, to avoid Ahab’s hatred, meddle only with toothless truths, as Balak bid Balaam neither curse nor bless at all? Cannot you preach placentia? Know you not that truth breeds hatred?

For he doth not prophesy good concerning me.] Yes, once he did (if at least this were the same, as Pellican holdeth that he was), when he told you once and again that the Syrians should be given into your hands. Howsoever, it is very probable that Micaiah was that disguised prophet who brought to Ahab the fearful message of displeasure and death for dismissing Benhadad, for which he was ever since fast in prison, deep in disgrace.

But evil.] Ahab was not, as Vespasian was said to be, patientissimus veri, ^(a) most willing to hear the truth.

And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.] This was a too cold reproof, which should ever be warm, but not scalding.

1 Kings 22:9 Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten [hither] Micaiah the son of Imlah.

Ver. 9. Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah.] This was not Micah, one of the small prophets, as we call them, but another, that lived a hundred and fifty years before him. Michajah, with "J" consonant, Drusius will have him called.

1 Kings 22:10 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.

Ver. 10. Sat each on his throne.] This might have daunted the good prophet, but that he had lately seen the Lord sitting upon his throne with all the host of heaven standing by him, [1 Kings 22:19] and hence he so boldly looked in the face these two kings sitting in their majesty; for he beheld them as so many mice, Vel tanquam e palude sua repentes ranunculas. ^(a)

1 Kings 22:11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.

Ver. 11. Made him horns of iron.] After the manner of the true prophets of God, who usually, to the word they spake, added such outward sensible signs.

With these shalt thou push the Syrians.] Thus this horned beast vapoured and vaunted. Augustine observed of Primianus and Maximianus, that they were jolly fellows in a faction. Else, said he, Primianus might have been Postremianus, and Maximianus Minimianus.

1 Kings 22:12 And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the king’s hand.

Ver. 12. And all the prophets prophesied so.] These were fit handles for such a hatchet as Ahab was; fit lettuce for such lips; dignum patella operculum. Itching ears shall have clawing preachers.

For the Lord shall deliver it.] See on 1 Kings 22:6.

1 Kings 22:13 And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets [declare] good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak [that which is] good.

Ver. 13. The words of the prophets declare good.] Nihil assentatione suavius, nihil veritate gravius. See 2 Thessalonians 2:10-11.

Let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word.] This he might counsel the prophet out of a carnal courtesy, as wishing well to him, as also out of a special desire that the war might go forward.

1 Kings 22:14 And Micaiah said, [As] the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.

Ver. 14. As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me.] He was resolved to speak the naked truth, though he were sure to kiss the stocks for his stiffness.

1 Kings 22:15 So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king.

Ver. 15. Go, and prosper.] Ironice pseudo prophetas fingit. And Ahab perceived that he spake it scoffingly, and in a tone of derision. See the like, Genesis 3:22, 2 Chronicles 25:8, Ecclesiastes 11:9, Lamentations 4:21, Amos 4:4-5, 1 Kings 18:27.

1 Kings 22:16 And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but [that which is] true in the name of the LORD?

Ver. 16. How many times shall I adjure thee?] I charge thee again and again, as by solemn oath. Here he makes a great flaunt of love to the truth, which, when it was told him, he could by no means bear or brook. But how impudent was the devil, in adjuring our Saviour by God not to torment him! [Mark 5:7]

1 Kings 22:17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.

Ver. 17. And he said.] Being thus adjured, he speaks out, as did likewise our Saviour. [Matthew 26:63-64]

I saw all Israel, &c.] This was plain enough, without a gloss; Ahab shall die, and his army be routed.

1 Kings 22:18 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?

Ver. 18. Did I not tell thee? &c.] Hereby he would persuade Jehoshaphat - and perhaps did so persuade him - that Micaiah spake all out of ill-will, which never speaks well, and therefore was not much to be regarded.

1 Kings 22:19 And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.

Ver. 19. Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord.] Hear something more than yet thou hast heard. So when Jehoiakim had cut Jeremiah’s roll with a pen knife, and cast it into the fire, Baruch, by the prophet’s appointment, wrote a new copy, and added besides thereunto many like words. [Jeremiah 36:23]

I saw the Lord sitting on his throne.] See 1 Kings 22:10. So when Moses had seen God at the burning bush, how little cared he for Pharaoh’s frowns and threats!

On his right hand, and on his left.] We should in this sort represent God to our minds in the entrance of our prayers; Omnino oportet nos orationis tempore curiam intrare caelestem, in qua Rex regum stellato sedet solio, circundante innumerabili, et ineffabili beatorum spirituum exercitu. Quanta ergo cum reverentia, quanto timore, &c. ^(a)

1 Kings 22:20 And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.

Ver. 20. And one said on this manner, &c.] God cannot want a weapon to beat his rebels with; he hath store of plagues and treasures of wrath for the vessels of wrath; whom he can easily deliver up to strong delusions, vile affections, just damnation. "The deceiver and the deceived are both with him." [Job 12:16] {See Trapp on "Job 12:16"}

1 Kings 22:21 And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.

Ver. 21. And there came forth a spirit.] An evil spirit, haply, from the left hand of God’s throne.

I will persuade him.] {See Trapp on "1 Kings 22:6"}

1 Kings 22:22 And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade [him], and prevail also: go forth, and do so.

Ver. 22. And I will be a lying spirit.] This therefore was not Naboth’s spirit, as R. Solomon vainly conceited; for that was gathered to the rest of the "spirits of just men made perfect"; [Hebrews 12:23] but it was the devil who borrowed the mouths of these false prophets to vent his lies by.

Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also.] Ahab’s death then was revealed to the devil, and he could foretell it. What can the most intelligent spirits know of future things, but what they see either in their causes or in the light of participation?

1 Kings 22:23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

Ver. 23. Now, therefore, behold the Lord.] He hath not only a permissive but an active providence in the just punishment of wicked persons; turning the devil loose upon them, and leaving them to their own hearts’ lusts.

1 Kings 22:24 But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee?

Ver. 24. And smote Micaiah on the cheek.] In a most disgraceful manner, and in such a presence.

“ Nihil est audaeius illis

Deprensis, iram atque animos a crimine sumunt. ” - Juvenal.

Here "the prophet was a fool, the spiritual man mad." [Hosea 9:7]

Which way went the Spirit of the Lord?] Or, At what hour went, &c. Zedekiah would be thought to have the monopoly or sole enjoyment of the Spirit, as now the Jesuits would of learning and divinity. Aurelius the Sorbonist, a doctor of their own religion, saith of them, that they are a kind of men which have nothing more than theological arrogancy, but possess nothing less than theological science. ^(a)

1 Kings 22:25 And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.

Ver. 25. When thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself,] viz., From the Syrians’ invading; or rather from Ahab’s friends, who seeing him slain and the army routed, shall seek thee out to the slaughter for thy false prophecy.

1 Kings 22:26 And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son;

Ver. 26. And the king of Israel said.] In the heating of the king of Judah, who sat mute, and, loath to displease Ahab, had not a word to say for the good prophet. Ill company deadens one, casts a damp at least; "for the abundance of iniquity, the love of many shall wax cold."

Take Micaiah, and carry him back.] To prison, whence he was fetched likely; and whereof he might say, as that martyr did to the bishop who reviled and threatened him, Send me back to my frogs and toads, where I may be free to pray for your lordship.

1 Kings 22:27 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 come in peace.

Ver. 27. Put this fellow in the prison.] So Savanarola was served for his plain dealing with the Pope; but Mancinell much worse; who, for reproving Pope Alexander VI in a sermon at Rome, had first his hands cut off and then his tongue cut out; of which wound he died. ^(a) Livy ^(b) boasteth of the ancient Romans, that no nation had more gentle punishments for offenders than they; and that for the first seventy years, till the reign of Ancus Martius, they were without a prison. But the modern Romists, as they are noted for their cruelty - witness the bloody inquisition - so it is said to be a like difficult thing amongst them to find a wicked man in their prisons, or a good man out of them.

And feed him with bread of affliction.] With prisoners’ pittance; such as may keep him alive only, for further punishment at my return. The martyrs in the Marian times were fed, many of them, with bread made most part with sawdust; this was bread of affliction, worse than that in Deuteronomy 16:3. Bonner allowed William Hunter a half penny a day in bread and drink in prison. ^(c) Dr Martin bid the keeper give Elizabeth Young one day bread, and another day water. ^(d) The Bishop of Norwich kept Robert Samuel without meat and drink, whereby he was unmercifully vexed, saving that he had every day allowed two or three morsels of bread, and three spoonfuls of water. How oft would he have drunk his own water! but his body was so dried up with long emptiness, that he was not able to make one drop of water. ^(e)

1 Kings 22:28 And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.

Ver. 28. If thou return all in peace.] "The hope of unjust men perisheth": [Proverbs 11:7] Etiam spes valentissima perit, as some render that text: Julian, for instance, when he went out to war against the Persians, breathing out threatenings against the Christians at his return, which was never. And that French king who promised to see with his eyes Anne du Bourg, martyr, burned, had, before that time, one of his eyes thrust out at the jousts, of which wound he died. ^(a)

1 Kings 22:29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramothgilead.

Ver. 29. And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up.] Strange, that being so fairly warned, he should yet go with Ahab: but he had passed his word to him, and was loath to shrink back. So the queen of Navarre, wanting a French wife for her son, would not hear such of her ministers as dissuaded it in regard of the diversity of religions; but went on with it, to the destruction of herself and three hundred thousand others in the Parisian massacre.

1 Kings 22:30 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.

Ver. 30. I will disguise myself] This he did, saith Josephus, that he might the more easily and surely elude the prophecy of Micaiah concerning his death, wherewith he was scared doubtless, though he seemed to slight it.

1 Kings 22:31 But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.

Ver. 31. But the king of Syria commanded.] This Ahab might haply have some inkling of, and therefore go disguised. Benhadad also might hear - for kings have their corycaei, their spies, in all places - that Micaiah had foretold Ahab of his death in this expedition.

Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king.] Thus doth the unthankful infidel repay the mercy of his recent victor. Ill was the snake saved that requiteth the favour of his life with a bite. But God had a holy hand in it.

1 Kings 22:32 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it [is] the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out.

Ver. 32. And Jehoshaphat cried out.] To God for help, [2 Chronicles 18:31] but in addition in such a manner, as the Syrians perceived it was not Ahab, perhaps because he cried out to Jehovah alone, contemnens minutulos illos deos, modo Iovam sibi propitium haberet. And now Jehoshaphat seeth to his sorrow the great inconvenience of being in bad company: and that green wood also, if bound up with dry, doth easily take fire, and is burned together.

1 Kings 22:33 And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it [was] not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.

Ver. 33. They turned back from pursuing him.] By a sweet providence of God, in whose sight the death of his saints is precious. [Psalms 116:15]

1 Kings 22:34 And a [certain] man drew a bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the harness: wherefore he said unto the driver of his chariot, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host; for I am wounded.

Ver. 34. Drew a bow at a venture.] Heb., In his simplicity, or with all his might; as did also that cursed cuirassier {heavily armed cavalry soldier}, that killed the late gallant king of Sweden, whom yet he knew but too well, saying when he shot him, This is the right bird.

For I am wounded.] Heb., Made sick. And now what joy could Ahab’s black soul, ready to depart, have of his ivory house? Who had not rather be a Micaiah in the jail than Ahab in the chariot? Wicked men have the advantage of the way, godly men of the end.

1 Kings 22:35 And the battle increased that day: and the king was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.

Ver. 35. And the battle increased that day.] Heb., Ascended. Josephus then is out sure, who saith that Ahab only was slain that day, and all the army escaped.

1 Kings 22:36 And there went a proclamation throughout the host about the going down of the sun, saying, Every man to his city, and every man to his own country.

Ver. 36. Saying, Every man to his city.] This was foretold by Micaiah. [1 Kings 22:17] God will not suffer his faithfulness to fail, but will fulfil with his hand what he hath spoken with his mouth.

1 Kings 22:37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria.

Ver. 37. So the king died.] And now God was even with him for his idolatry, persecution of the prophets, cruelty to Naboth, who now was in far better condition likely. The wicked, saith a reverend man, ^(a) are like hawks, of great esteem whilst living, but after, nothing worth. The godly are compared to tamer fowls, which are hushed forth and little heeded whilst living; but after death, are brought into the parlour. Then, there is as much difference as between the falcon and the capon, the hawk and the hen.

1 Kings 22:38 And [one] washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the LORD which he spake.

Ver. 38. In the pool of Samaria.] So the pool in Jezreel might be called, for the reason above given, on 1 Kings 21:19.

1 Kings 22:39 Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he made, and all the cities that he built, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

Ver. 39. And the ivory house which he had made.] For pomp and pleasure: as the emperors of Constantinople had a room made of porphyry, wherein their empresses were delivered, and their children were there hence called Porphyrogeniti.

1 Kings 22:40 So Ahab slept with his fathers; and Ahaziah his son reigned in his stead.

Ver. 40. So Ahab slept with his fathers,] i.e., Died, as his predecessors had done before him. The mortal scythe is master of the royal sceptre.

1 Kings 22:41 And Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel.

Ver. 41. Jehoshaphat the son of Asa.] The father was good, but the son better; he repented when he was reproved; but his father stormed, and put the prophet in prison.

1 Kings 22:42 Jehoshaphat [was] thirty and five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name [was] Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

Ver. 42. When he began to reign,] i.e., When he was designed to reign in his father’s time. Compare 2 Chronicles 22:2.

And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.] He had the happiness - as afterwards also Timothy had - to come of a good mother, and good grandmother.

1 Kings 22:43 And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing [that which was] right in the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; [for] the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.

Ver. 43. Nevertheless the high places were not taken away,] viz., Those wherein the people served and worshipped the God of Israel. The people were much set upon them; and the king perhaps thought there was no great harm in them; hence they still stood, when there was otherwise a great reformation.

1 Kings 22:44 And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.

Ver. 44. And Jehoshaphat made peace with the king of Israel.] But better he had not, for God was deeply displeased with it. [2 Chronicles 19:2] Now a man had better be at odds with all the world, than with God and his own conscience. He purchaseth his outward peace at too dear a rate, that parteth with his inward for it. Numa’s temple of old is said to have had this inscription, πιστεως και ειρηνης ιερος, The temple of faith and peace; but first of faith.

1 Kings 22:45 Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, and his might that he shewed, and how he warred, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Ver. 45. And how he warred.] See 2 Chronicles 20:1-25.

1 Kings 22:46 And the remnant of the sodomites, which remained in the days of his father Asa, he took out of the land.

Ver. 46. And the remnant of the sodomites.] Called Cedeshim by antiphrasis; and Meritorii quia mercentur et quaestum faciunt corpore: prostituendo illud vitio ad explendam libidinem. This is "filthy lucre," indeed.

1 Kings 22:47 [There was] then no king in Edom: a deputy [was] king.

Ver. 47. There was then no king in Edom.] Never since victorious David "cast out his shoe over it," [Psalms 60:8] till wicked Joram’s days.

1 Kings 22:48 Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.

Ver. 48. To go to Ophir for gold.] See 1 Kings 9:28.

For his ships were broken.] This cross was in great mercy to Jehoshaphat. "Thou in very faithfulness hast afflicted me," saith David. This should be a patienting consideration; as it is said to have been to Philip, king of Spain, upon the defeating and scattering of his navy here in 1588. He gave and commanded to be given all over Spain, thanks to God, that the loss was no more grievous; and used singular mercy in relieving the distressed soldiers and sailors. ^(a)

1 Kings 22:49 Then said Ahaziah the son of Ahab unto Jehoshaphat, Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. But Jehoshaphat would not.

Ver. 49. But Jehoshaphat would not.] At first he would not, but afterwards he yielded. [2 Chronicles 20:35-37] Or, at first he did, and miscarried; and therefore would not hearken to a second motion. Vexatio dat intellectum.

1 Kings 22:50 And Jehoshaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David his father: and Jehoram his son reigned in his stead.

Ver. 50. And Jehoram his son.] His most wicked son, for so he proved, [2 Chronicles 21:6, &c.} being the worse doubtless for his wife Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab; between whom and good Jehoshaphat there was so great a league, that they gave the same names to each other’s children: Jehoshaphat called his son Jehoram - marrying him to Ahab’s daughter; and Jehoram called his son Ahaziah; and Ahab called his sons Ahaziah and Jehoram. Jehoshaphat also, by Ahab’s example, made his son Jehoram Prorex: whence Jehoram the son of Ahab is said {2 Kings 1:17] to have begun to reign in the second year of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah.

1 Kings 22:51 Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned two years over Israel.

Ver. 51. Began to reign.] His father Ahab yet living.

And reigned two years.] After his father’s death.

1 Kings 22:52 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin:

Ver. 52. And walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother.] So did Nero, of whom, while he was young, his father Domitius was wont to say, that no good child could be born of so bad parents as himself and his wife Agrippina were.

1 Kings 22:53 For he served Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked to anger the LORD God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.

Ver. 53. According to all, &c.] An ill egg of an ill bird, as they said of one of the first Roman emperors.