^22:3The king of Israel said to his servants, “Surely you recognize that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us, though we are hesitant to reclaim it from the king of Syria.”³^22:4Then he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to attack Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I will support you; my army and horses are at your disposal.”⁴^22:5Then Jehoshaphat added,⁵ “First seek an oracle from the Lord.”⁶^22:6So the king of Israel assembled about four hundred prophets and asked them, “Should I attack Ramoth Gilead or not?”⁷ They said, “Attack! The sovereign one⁸ will hand it over to the king.” ^22:7But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord still here, that we may ask him?” ^22:8The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can seek the Lord’s will.⁹ But I despise¹⁰ him because he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but disaster. His name is Micaiah son of Imlah.¹¹ Jehoshaphat said, “The king should not say such things.” ^22:9The king of Israel summoned an official and said, “Quickly bring Micaiah son of Imlah.”

^22:10Now the king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah were sitting on their respective thrones,¹² dressed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria.¹³ All the prophets were prophesying before them. ^22:11Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made iron horns and said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘With these you will gore Syria until they are destroyed.’ ” ^22:12All the prophets were prophesying the same, saying, “Attack Ramoth Gilead! You will succeed; the Lord will hand it over to the king.” ^22:13Now the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the prophets are in complete agreement that the king will succeed.¹⁴ Your words must agree with theirs; you must predict success.”¹⁵^22:14But Micaiah said, “As certainly as the Lord lives, I will say what the Lord tells me to say.”

^22:15When he came before the king, the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?” He answered him, “Attack! You will succeed; the Lord will hand it over to the king.”¹⁶

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Footnotes

3 Heb “Do you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us, and we hesitate to take it from the hand of the king of Aram?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course, you must know!”
4 Heb “Like me, like you; like my people, like your people; like my horses; like your horses.”
5 Heb “and Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel.”
6 Heb “the word of the Lord.” Jehoshaphat is requesting a prophetic oracle revealing the Lord’s will in the matter and their prospects for success. For examples of such oracles, see 2 Sam 5:19, 23–24.
7 Heb “Should I go against Ramoth Gilead for war or should I refrain?”
8 Though Jehoshaphat requested an oracle from “the Lord” (יְהוָה, Yahweh), they stop short of actually using this name and substitute the title אֲדֹנָי (’adonai, “lord; master”). This ambiguity may explain in part Jehoshaphat’s hesitancy and caution (vv. 7–8). He seems to doubt that the four hundred are genuine prophets of the Lord.
9 Heb “to seek the Lord from him.”
10 Or “hate.”
11 The words “his name is” are supplied for stylistic reasons.
12 Heb “were sitting, a man on his throne.”
13 For location see ; ; ; ; .
14 Heb “the words of the prophets are [with] one mouth good for the king.”
15 Heb “let your words be like the word of each of them and speak good.”
16 “Attack! You will succeed; the Lord will hand it over to the king.” One does not expect Micaiah, having just vowed to speak only what the Lord tells him, to agree with the other prophets and give the king an inaccurate prophecy. Micaiah’s actions became understandable later, when it is revealed that the Lord desires to deceive the king and lead him to his demise. The Lord even dispatches a lying spirit to deceive Ahab’s prophets. Micaiah can lie to the king because he realizes this lie is from the Lord. It is important to note that in v. 14 Micaiah only vows to speak the word of the Lord; he does not necessarily say he will tell the truth. In this case the Lord’s word itself is deceptive. Only when the king adjures him to tell the truth (v. 16), does Micaiah do so.