And when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. When the chariot commandersThe term "chariot commanders" refers to the military leaders responsible for the chariots, which were a crucial part of ancient Near Eastern warfare. Chariots were often used for their speed and mobility in battle, and commanders were typically seasoned warriors. Historically, the use of chariots in Israel and surrounding nations like Aram (Syria) was a sign of military strength and technological advancement. The Hebrew word for "commander" (שָׂר, sar) often denotes a person of authority, indicating the high rank and responsibility these individuals held. saw that he was not
The act of seeing here is more than just physical sight; it implies recognition and understanding. In the Hebrew context, "seeing" often involves discernment and insight. The commanders had to make a quick judgment in the heat of battle, which required not only keen eyesight but also the ability to assess the situation accurately. This moment of recognition was pivotal, as it determined their next course of action. the king of Israel
At this time, the king of Israel was Ahab, a ruler known for his idolatry and opposition to the prophets of Yahweh. Ahab's reign was marked by political alliances and conflicts, particularly with the kingdom of Aram. The historical context here is significant, as Ahab had disguised himself in battle, leading to confusion among the enemy forces. The identity of the king was crucial in battle, as capturing or killing a king could decisively end a conflict. they turned back
The phrase "turned back" indicates a change in direction or strategy. In the Hebrew text, the verb used here (שׁוּב, shuv) often conveys the idea of returning or repenting. In a military context, it suggests a tactical withdrawal or a reassessment of the situation. This decision by the commanders reflects their adaptability and the importance of recognizing and responding to new information in warfare. from pursuing him
The pursuit was initially based on the assumption that they were chasing the king of Israel. The Hebrew root for "pursue" (רָדַף, radaph) often implies a relentless chase, typically with the intent to capture or destroy. The cessation of pursuit indicates a shift in their mission priorities, underscoring the importance of accurate intelligence in military operations. This moment also highlights the providential protection over the individual being pursued, as the mistaken identity led to his safety. Persons / Places / Events 1. JehoshaphatThe king of Judah who allied with Ahab, the king of Israel, to fight against the Arameans at Ramoth-gilead. He was mistakenly identified as the king of Israel by the Aramean chariot commanders. 2. AhabThe king of Israel who disguised himself in battle to avoid being targeted by the Arameans, as they were specifically instructed to fight only against the king of Israel. 3. Aramean Chariot CommandersMilitary leaders tasked with targeting the king of Israel during the battle. They initially pursued Jehoshaphat, mistaking him for Ahab. 4. Ramoth-gileadThe location of the battle between the allied forces of Israel and Judah against the Arameans. 5. The BattleA significant conflict where the alliance between Israel and Judah faced the Arameans, highlighting themes of deception, divine intervention, and the fulfillment of prophecy. Teaching Points Discernment in AlliancesJehoshaphat's alliance with Ahab serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of seeking God's guidance before forming partnerships, especially with those who do not share the same values or faith. The Danger of DeceptionAhab's attempt to disguise himself highlights the futility of trying to escape God's will through deceit. It reminds believers of the importance of integrity and trust in God's plans. God's SovereigntyThe incident underscores God's control over events and His ability to fulfill His purposes, even through human actions and decisions. The Power of PrayerJehoshaphat's cry for help when he was mistaken for Ahab demonstrates the importance of turning to God in times of trouble and trusting in His deliverance. The Role of ProphecyThe fulfillment of Micaiah's prophecy in this battle serves as a reminder of the reliability of God's word and the importance of heeding prophetic warnings. Bible Study Questions 1. What can we learn from Jehoshaphat's experience about the importance of choosing our alliances wisely, and how can this be applied in our personal and professional lives? 2. How does Ahab's attempt to disguise himself reflect our own tendencies to avoid consequences, and what does this teach us about the importance of honesty before God? 3. In what ways does this passage demonstrate God's sovereignty, and how can this understanding impact our trust in His plans for our lives? 4. How does Jehoshaphat's response in the heat of battle encourage us to rely on prayer during our own times of crisis? 5. What role does prophecy play in this account, and how can we apply the lessons of listening to God's word in our daily decision-making? Connections to Other Scriptures 2 Chronicles 18This parallel account provides additional details about the battle and the alliance between Jehoshaphat and Ahab, emphasizing the prophetic warnings given by Micaiah. 1 Kings 22:20-23These verses describe the divine council where a spirit volunteers to entice Ahab into going to battle, illustrating God's sovereignty and the fulfillment of His word. Psalm 33:10-11These verses speak to the futility of human plans against the counsel of the Lord, which is evident in the outcome of the battle. People Ahab, Ahaziah, Amon, Aram, Asa, Azubah, Chenaanah, David, Geber, Imlah, Jehoram, Jehoshaphat, Jeroboam, Joash, Micah, Micaiah, Nebat, Ophir, Shilhi, Sodomites, Syrians, Tarshish, Tharshish, ZedekiahPlaces Edom, Ezion-geber, Jerusalem, Ophir, Ramoth-gilead, Samaria, Syria, TarshishTopics Captains, Charioteers, Chariots, Commanders, Heads, Pass, Perceived, Pursuing, Seeing, Stopped, Turn, War-carriagesDictionary of Bible Themes 1 Kings 22:1-38 8131 guidance, results 1 Kings 22:17-38 6708 predestination 1 Kings 22:29-37 5837 disguise Library Unpossessed Possessions
'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?'--1 KINGS xxii. 3. This city of Ramoth in Gilead was an important fortified place on the eastern side of the Jordan, and had, many years before the date of our text, been captured by its northern neighbours in the kingdom of Syria. A treaty had subsequently been concluded and broken a war followed thereafter, in which Ben-hadad, King of Syria, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureAhab and Micaiah
'And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides, that we might enquire of him? 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.'--1 KINGS xxii. 7,8. An ill-omened alliance had been struck up between Ahab of Israel and Jehoshaphat of Judah. The latter, who would have been much better in Jerusalem, had come down to Samaria …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Prophet Micah.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS. Micah signifies: "Who is like Jehovah;" and by this name, the prophet is consecrated to the incomparable God, just as Hosea was to the helping God, and Nahum to the comforting God. He prophesied, according to the inscription, under Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. We are not, however, entitled, on this account, to dissever his prophecies, and to assign particular discourses to the reign of each of these kings. On the contrary, the entire collection forms only one whole. At …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament The Poetical Books (Including Also Ecclesiastes and Canticles).
1. The Hebrews reckon but three books as poetical, namely: Job, Psalms, and Proverbs, which are distinguished from the rest by a stricter rhythm--the rhythm not of feet, but of clauses (see below, No. 3)--and a peculiar system of accentuation. It is obvious to every reader that the poetry of the Old Testament, in the usual sense of the word, is not restricted to these three books. But they are called poetical in a special and technical sense. In any natural classification of the books of the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible The Assyrian Revival and the Struggle for Syria
Assur-nazir-pal (885-860) and Shalmaneser III. (860-825)--The kingdom of Urartu and its conquering princes: Menuas and Argistis. Assyria was the first to reappear on the scene of action. Less hampered by an ancient past than Egypt and Chaldaea, she was the sooner able to recover her strength after any disastrous crisis, and to assume again the offensive along the whole of her frontier line. Image Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a bas-relief at Koyunjik of the time of Sennacherib. The initial cut, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 7 Use to be Made of the Doctrine of Providence.
Sections. 1. Summary of the doctrine of Divine Providence. 1. It embraces the future and the past. 2. It works by means, without means, and against means. 3. Mankind, and particularly the Church, the object of special care. 4. The mode of administration usually secret, but always just. This last point more fully considered. 2. The profane denial that the world is governed by the secret counsel of God, refuted by passages of Scripture. Salutary counsel. 3. This doctrine, as to the secret counsel of …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion The Shepherd of Our Souls.
"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep."--John x. 11. Our Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been foretold by the Prophets. "David My servant shall be king over them," says Almighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: "and they all shall have one Shepherd." And in the book of Zechariah, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered." …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII Of Councils and their Authority.
1. The true nature of Councils. 2. Whence the authority of Councils is derived. What meant by assembling in the name of Christ. 3. Objection, that no truth remains in the Church if it be not in Pastors and Councils. Answer, showing by passages from the Old Testament that Pastors were often devoid of the spirit of knowledge and truth. 4. Passages from the New Testament showing that our times were to be subject to the same evil. This confirmed by the example of almost all ages. 5. All not Pastors who …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion That the Employing Of, and Associating with the Malignant Party, According as is Contained in the Public Resolutions, is Sinful and Unlawful.
That The Employing Of, And Associating With The Malignant Party, According As Is Contained In The Public Resolutions, Is Sinful And Unlawful. If there be in the land a malignant party of power and policy, and the exceptions contained in the Act of Levy do comprehend but few of that party, then there need be no more difficulty to prove, that the present public resolutions and proceedings do import an association and conjunction with a malignant party, than to gather a conclusion from clear premises. …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Of Passages from the Holy Scriptures, and from the Apocrypha, which are Quoted, or Incidentally Illustrated, in the Institutes.
TO THE AUTHORS QUOTED IN THE INSTITUTES PREFATORY ADDRESS TO HIS MOST CHRISTIAN MAJESTY, THE MOST MIGHTY AND ILLUSTRIOUS MONARCH, FRANCIS, KING OF THE FRENCH, HIS SOVEREIGN; [1] JOHN CALVIN PRAYS PEACE AND SALVATION IN CHRIST. [2] Sire,--When I first engaged in this work, nothing was farther from my thoughts than to write what should afterwards be presented to your Majesty. My intention was only to furnish a kind of rudiments, by which those who feel some interest in religion might be trained to …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion He Does Battle for the Faith; He Restores Peace among those who were at Variance; He Takes in Hand to Build a Stone Church.
57. (32). There was a certain clerk in Lismore whose life, as it is said, was good, but his faith not so. He was a man of some knowledge in his own eyes, and dared to say that in the Eucharist there is only a sacrament and not the fact[718] of the sacrament, that is, mere sanctification and not the truth of the Body. On this subject he was often addressed by Malachy in secret, but in vain; and finally he was called before a public assembly, the laity however being excluded, in order that if it were …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh Sovereignty of God in Administration
"The LORD hath prepared His Throne In the heavens; and His Kingdom ruleth over all" (Psa. 103:19). First, a word concerning the need for God to govern the material world. Suppose the opposite for a moment. For the sake of argument, let us say that God created the world, designed and fixed certain laws (which men term "the laws of Nature"), and that He then withdrew, leaving the world to its fortune and the out-working of these laws. In such a case, we should have a world over which there was no intelligent, …
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God Tit. 2:06 Thoughts for Young Men
WHEN St. Paul wrote his Epistle to Titus about his duty as a minister, he mentioned young men as a class requiring peculiar attention. After speaking of aged men and aged women, and young women, he adds this pithy advice, "Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded" (Tit. 2:6). I am going to follow the Apostle's advice. I propose to offer a few words of friendly exhortation to young men. I am growing old myself, but there are few things I remember so well as the days of my youth. I have a most …
John Charles Ryle—The Upper Room: Being a Few Truths for the Times General Principles of Interpretation. 1 Since the Bible Addresses Men in Human Language...
CHAPTER XXXIV. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION. 1. Since the Bible addresses men in human language, and according to human modes of thinking and speaking, the interpreter's first work is to ascertain the meaning of the terms employed. Here he must proceed as in the case of other writings, seeking by the aid of grammars, lexicons, cognate languages, ancient versions, ancient interpreters, and whatever other outward helps are available, to gain a thorough knowledge of the language employed by …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Commerce
The remarkable change which we have noticed in the views of Jewish authorities, from contempt to almost affectation of manual labour, could certainly not have been arbitrary. But as we fail to discover here any religious motive, we can only account for it on the score of altered political and social circumstances. So long as the people were, at least nominally, independent, and in possession of their own land, constant engagement in a trade would probably mark an inferior social stage, and imply …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life The Figurative Language of Scripture.
1. When the psalmist says: "The Lord God is a sun and shield" (Psa. 84:11), he means that God is to all his creatures the source of life and blessedness, and their almighty protector; but this meaning he conveys under the figure of a sun and a shield. When, again, the apostle James says that Moses is read in the synagogues every Sabbath-day (Acts 15:21), he signifies the writings of Moses under the figure of his name. In these examples the figure lies in particular words. But it may be embodied …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Instruction for the Ignorant:
BEING A SALVE TO CURE THAT GREAT WANT OF KNOWLEDGE, WHICH SO MUCH REIGNS BOTH IN YOUNG AND OLD. PREPARED AND PRESENTED TO THEM IN A PLAIN AND EASY DIALOGUE, FITTED TO THE CAPACITY OF THE WEAKEST. 'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.'--Hosea 4:6 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This little catechism is upon a plan perfectly new and unique. It was first published as a pocket volume in 1675, and has been republished in every collection of the author's works; and recently in a separate tract. …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Kings
The book[1] of Kings is strikingly unlike any modern historical narrative. Its comparative brevity, its curious perspective, and-with some brilliant exceptions--its relative monotony, are obvious to the most cursory perusal, and to understand these things is, in large measure, to understand the book. It covers a period of no less than four centuries. Beginning with the death of David and the accession of Solomon (1 Kings i., ii.) it traverses his reign with considerable fulness (1 Kings iii.-xi.), …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 1 Kings 22:33 NIV1 Kings 22:33 NLT1 Kings 22:33 ESV1 Kings 22:33 NASB1 Kings 22:33 KJV
1 Kings 22:33 Commentaries
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