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1. And these were the circumstances in which Ahab was. But I now
return to Jehoshaphat, the king of Jerusalem, who, when he had
augmented his kingdom, had set garrisons in the cities of the
countries belonging to his subjects, and had put such garrisons
no less into those cities which were taken out of the tribe of
Ephraim by his grandfather Abijah, when Jeroboam reigned over the
ten tribes [than he did into the other]. But then he had God
favorable and assisting to him, as being both righteous and
religious, and seeking to do somewhat every day that should be
agreeable and acceptable to God. The kings also that were round
about him honored him with the presents they made him, till the
riches that he had acquired were immensely great, and the glory
he had gained was of a most exalted nature.
2. Now, in the third year of this reign, he called together the
rulers of the country, and the priests, and commanded them to go
round the land, and teach all the people that were under him,
city by city, the laws of Moses, and to keep them, and to be
diligent in the worship of God. With this the whole multitude was
so pleased, that they were not so eagerly set upon or affected
with any thing so much as the observation of the laws. The
neighboring nations also continued to love Jehoshaphat, and to be
at peace with him. The Philistines paid their appointed tribute,
and the Arabians supplied him every year with three hundred and
sixty lambs, and as many kids of the goats. He also fortified the
great cities, which were many in number, and of great
consequence. He prepared also a mighty army of soldiers and
weapons against their enemies. Now the army of men that wore
their armor, was three hundred thousand of the tribe of Judah, of
whom Adnah was the chief; but John was chief of two hundred
thousand. The same man was chief of the tribe of Benjamin, and
had two hundred thousand archers under him. There was another
chief, whose name was Jehozabad, who had a hundred and fourscore
thousand armed men. This multitude was distributed to he ready
for the king's service, besides those whom he sent to the best
fortified cities.
3. Jehoshaphat took for his son Jehoram to wife the daughter of
Ahab, the king of the ten tribes, whose name was Athaliah. And
when, after some time, he went to Samaria, Ahab received him
courteously, and treated the army that followed him in a splendid
manner, with great plenty of corn and wine, and of slain beasts;
and desired that he would join with him in his war against the
king of Syria, that he might recover from him the city Ramoth, in
Gilead; for though it had belonged to his father, yet had the
king of Syria's father taken it away from him; and upon
Jehoshaphat's promise to afford him his assistance, (for indeed
his army was not inferior to the other,) and his sending for his
army from Jerusalem to Samaria, the two kings went out of the
city, and each of them sat on his own throne, and each gave their
orders to their several armies. Now Jehoshaphat bid them call
some of the prophets, if there were any there, and inquire of
them concerning this expedition against the king of Syria,
whether they would give them counsel to make that expedition at
this time, for there was peace at that time between Ahab and the
king of Syria, which had lasted three years, from the time he had
taken him captive till that day.
4. So Ahab called his own prophets, being in number about four
hundred, and bid them inquire of God whether he would grant him
the victory, if he made an expedition against Benhadad, and
enable him to overthrow that city, for whose sake it was that he
was going to war. Now these prophets gave their counsel for
making this expedition, and said that he would beat the king of
Syria, and, as formerly, would reduce him under his power. But
Jehoshaphat, understanding by their words that they were false
prophets, asked Ahab whether there were not some other prophet,
and he belonging to the true God, that we may have surer
information concerning futurities. Hereupon Ahab said there was
indeed such a one, but that he hated him, as having prophesied
evil to him, and having foretold that he should be overcome and
slain by the king of Syria, and that for this cause he had him
now in prison, and that his name was Micaiah, the son of Imlah.
But upon Jehoshaphat's desire that he might be produced, Ahab
sent a eunuch, who brought Micaiah to him. Now the eunuch had
informed him by the way, that all the other prophets had foretold
that the king should gain the victory; but he said, that it was
not lawful for him to lie against God, but that he must speak
what he should say to him about the king, whatsoever it were.
When he came to Ahab, and he had adjured him upon oath to speak
the truth to him, he said that God had shown to him the
Israelites running away, and pursued by the Syrians, and
dispersed upon the mountains by them, as flocks of sheep are
dispersed when their shepherd is slain. He said further, that God
signified to him, that those Israelites should return :in peace
to their own home, and that he only should fall in the battle.
When Micalab had thus spoken, Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "I told
thee a little while ago the disposition of the man with regard to
me, and that he uses to prophesy evil to me." Upon which Micaiah
replied, that he ought to hear all, whatsoever it be, that God
foretells; and that in particular, they were false prophets that
encouraged him to make this war in hope of victory, whereas he
must fight and be killed. Whereupon the king was in suspense with
himself: but Zedekiah, one of those false prophets, came near,
and exhorted him not to hearken to Micaiah, for he did not at all
speak truth; as a demonstration of which he instanced in what
Elijah had said, who was a better prophet in foretelling
futurities than Micaiah for he foretold that the dogs should
lick his blood in the city of Jezreel, in the field of Naboth, as
they licked the blood of Naboth, who by his means was there
stoned to death by the multitude; that therefore it was plain
that this Micalab was a liar, as contradicting a greater prophet
than himself, and saying that he should be slain at three days'
journey distance: "and [said he] you shall soon know whether he
be a true prophet, and hath the power of the Divine Spirit; for I
will smite him, and let him then hurt my hand, as Jadon caused
the hand of Jeroboam the king to wither when he would have caught
him; for I suppose thou hast certainly heard of that accident."
So when, upon his smiting Micaiah, no harm happened to him, Ahab
took courage, and readily led his army against the king of Syria;
for, as I suppose, fate was too hard for him, and made him
believe that the false prophets spake truer than the true one,
that it might take an occasion of bringing him to his end.
However, Zedekiah made horns of iron, and said to Ahab, that God
made those horns signals, that by them he should overthrow all
Syria. But Micaiah replied, that Zedekiah, in a few days, should
go from one secret chamber to another to hide himself, that he
might escape the punishment of his lying. Then did the king give
orders that they should take Micaiah away, and guard him to Amon,
the governor of the city, and to give him nothing but bread and
water.
5. Then did Ahab, and Jehoshaphat the king of Jerusalem, take
their forces, and marched to Ramoth a city of Gilead; and when
the king of Syria heard of this expedition, he brought out his
army to oppose them, and pitched his camp not far from Ramoth.
Now Ahalx and Jehoshaphat had agreed that Ahab should lay aside
his royal robes, but that the king of Jerusalem should put on his
[Ahab's] proper habit, and stand before the army, in order to
disprove, by this artifice, what Micaiah had foretold. But
Ahab's fate found him out without his robes; for Benhadad, the
king of Assyria, had charged his army, by the means of their
commanders, to kill nobody else but only the king of Israel. So
when the Syrians, upon their joining battle with the Israelites,
saw Jehoshaphat stand before the army, and conjectured that he
was Ahab, they fell violently upon him, and encompassed him
round; but when they were near, and knew that it was not he, they
all returned back; and while the fight lasted from the morning
till late in the evening, and the Syrians were conquerors, they
killed nobody, as their king had commanded them. And when they
sought to kill Ahab alone, but could not find him, there was a
young nobleman belonging to king Benhadad, whose name was Naaman;
he drew his bow against the enemy, and wounded the king through
his breastplate, in his lungs. Upon this Ahab resolved not to
make his mischance known to his army, lest they should run away;
but he bid the driver of his chariot to turn it back, and carry
him out of the battle, because he was sorely and mortally
wounded. However, he sat in his chariot and endured the pain till
sunset, and then he fainted away and died.
6. And now the Syrian army, upon the coming on of the night,
retired to their camp; and when the herald belonging to the camp
gave notice that Ahab was dead, they returned home; and they took
the dead body of Ahab to Samaria, and buried it there; but when
they had washed his chariot in the fountain of Jezreel, which was
bloody with the dead body of the king, they acknowledged that the
prophecy of Elijah was true, for the dogs licked his blood, and
the harlots continued afterwards to wash themselves in that
fountain; but still he died at Ramoth, as Micaiah had foretold.
And as what things were foretold should happen to Ahab by the two
prophets came to pass, we ought thence to have high notions of
God, and every where to honor and worship him, and never to
suppose that what is pleasant and agreeable is worthy of belief
before what is true, and to esteem nothing more advantageous than
the gift of prophecy and that foreknowledge of future events
which is derived from it, since God shows men thereby what we
ought to avoid. We may also guess, from what happened to this
king, and have reason to consider the power of fate; that there
is no way of avoiding it, even when we know it. It creeps upon
human souls, and flatters them with pleasing hopes, till it leads
them about to the place where it will be too hard for them.
Accordingly Ahab appears to have been deceived thereby, till he
disbelieved those that foretold his defeat; but, by giving credit
to such as foretold what was grateful to him, was slain; and his
son Ahaziah succeeded him.
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