^18:28The king of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah attacked Ramoth Gilead. ^18:29The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and then enter²⁸ the battle; but you wear your royal attire.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and they entered the battle. ^18:30Now the king of Syria had ordered his chariot commanders, “Do not fight common soldiers or high ranking officers;²⁹ fight only the king of Israel!” ^18:31When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “He must be the king of Israel!” So they turned and attacked him, but Jehoshaphat cried out. The Lord helped him; God lured them away from him. ^18:32When the chariot commanders realized he was not the king of Israel, they turned away from him.

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Footnotes

28 The Hebrew verbal forms could be imperatives (“Disguise yourself and enter”), but this would make no sense in light of the immediately following context. The forms are better interpreted as infinitives absolute functioning as cohortatives (see §35.5.2a). Some prefer to emend the forms to imperfects.
29 Heb “small or great.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramoth-gilead. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle. Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his chariots, “Fight with neither small nor great, but only with the king of Israel.” As soon as the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “It is the king of Israel.” So they turned to fight against him. And Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him; God drew them away from him. For as soon as the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.

Now the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.” When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, “This is the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him, for when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they stopped pursuing him.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Then the king of Israel and Judah’s King Jehoshaphat went up to Ramoth-gilead. But the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal attire.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.

Now the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone at all except the king of Israel.”

When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they shouted, “He must be the king of Israel!” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him. When the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

NLTNew Living Translation

So King Ahab of Israel and King Jehoshaphat of Judah led their armies against Ramoth-gilead. The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “As we go into battle, I will disguise myself so no one will recognize me, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.

Meanwhile, the king of Aram had issued these orders to his chariot commanders: “Attack only the king of Israel! Don’t bother with anyone else.” So when the Aramean chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat in his royal robes, they went after him. “There is the king of Israel!” they shouted. But Jehoshaphat called out, and the Lord saved him. God helped him by turning the attackers away from him. As soon as the chariot commanders realized he was not the king of Israel, they stopped chasing him.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Then the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth-Gilead. And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you, wear your garments.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went to war. Now the king of Aram had commanded the commanders of his chariots, saying, “Do not fight with the small or the great, but only with the king of Israel.” And it happened that when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, then they said, “It is the king of Israel!” And they turned against him to fight. Then Jehoshaphat cried out and Yahweh helped him. God drove them away from him. And it happened that when the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from following him.

KJV 1900King James Version

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

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