1 Kings 22:29-38

C. THE DEATH OF AHAB 22:29-38

TRANSLATION

(29) And the king of Israel went up along with Jehoshaphat to Ramoth-gilead. (30) And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but as for you, put on your garments. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and entered into battle. (31) Now the king of Aram had commanded his thirty-two chariot commanders, saying, Do not fight small or great, but only the king of Israel. (32) And it came to pass when the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely he is the king of Israel; and they turned against him to fight; and Jehohsaphat cried out. (33) And it came to pass when the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they turned from after him. (34) And a man drew his bow by chance and smote the king of Israel between the joints and the breastplate. And he said to his chariot driver, Turn your hand, and bring me out of the camp, for I am wounded. (35) But the battle became more furious that day, and the king was made to stand in the chariot against Aram, but he died in the evening; and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot. (36) And the shout went up in the camp as the sun was setting, saying, Each man to his city, and each man to his land. (37) And the king died, and was brought to Samaria, and they buried the king in Samaria. (38) And the chariot was washed beside the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked his blood (now harlots washed there) according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken.

COMMENTS

The ominous threats of Micaiah notwithstanding, the two kings went up to Ramoth-gilead to battle (1 Kings 22:29). Ahab's action is understandable and in character; that of Jehoshaphat is more difficult to explain. Why did this pious king reject the warning of God's prophet? Some or all of the following considerations may account for his conduct: (1) Jehoshaphat had committed himself to the war effort by the rash promise of 1 Kings 22:4; (2) in view of the royal hospitality extended to him by Ahab he may have felt under some obligation to acquiesce; (3) had he deserted his ally because of a prophecy which threatened that ally with death, he would have subjected himself to the charge of cowardice; (4) those about him were bent on battle, and treated the prophecy of Micaiah with contempt and disdain, and it would be most difficult for Jehoshaphat to swim alone against the current; (5) perhaps Ahab had been successful in convincing the Southern king that the ominous words of Micaiah could be discounted in view of the longstanding animosity which had existed between the king and this prophet; (6) finally, Jehoshaphat's own interests were threatened by the rising Aramean power, and he may well have feared trouble from that quarter if the war efforts were abandoned.

Upon the eve of battle Ahab came up with what he thought was an ingenious plan to circumvent the dire predictions which had been made against him. Micaiah had seen Israel scattered as sheep having no master (1 Kings 22:17). To thwart this prediction, Ahab decided in effect to relinquish his role of leader of the host. He decided not to lead the army, as kings were accustomed to do, in his royal robes. Rather he would disguise himself as a lesser officer and thus, so he thought, escape all danger. Since Jehoshaphat's life had not been threatened by the prophet, it would be unnecessary for him to take similar precautions (1 Kings 22:30). By this ingenious move, Ahab in effect put Jehoshaphat in the position of the recognized leader of the troops. If by any chance Micaiah was right in prophesying the death of the leader of Israel, that curse would no longer be on Ahab, but on Jehoshaphat.

Now it so happened that Benhadad had directed his thirty-two chariot officers to concentrate their attack on the king of Israel (1 Kings 22:31). The Aramean rightly reasoned that the death of the king would terminate the war. Seeing the royal robes of Jehoshaphat, the chariot captains pressed in that direction. When the king of Judah realized he had been singled out for concentrated attack, he cried out in desperation to God (1 Kings 22:32), and God intervened on his behalf (2 Chronicles 18:31). The charioteers recognized that it was not the king of Israel that they were pursuing, and so turned away from Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22:33).

Ahab's disguise could not avert the judgment of God! During the course of the battle, an Aramean soldier launched an arrow that was destined to find its mark in the breast of Ahab. The king knew his wound was mortal,[506] and so ordered his chariot driver to wheel about and carry him away from the scene of battle (1 Kings 22:34). He was anxious lest the army discover what had happened and become discouraged. The wound needed attention and had he remained with the host his condition would have been noted very soon. It is quite possible that the charioteer, in the din and confusion of the battle, may not have observed that his master was wounded. However, the fury of the battle increased so that day, that the king's driver could not comply with his request. Lest the troops become discouraged, Ahab's servants propped him up in the chariot. Unable to attend to his wounds, the king slowly bled to death. At evening Ahab died and his blood poured out into the floor of the chariot (1 Kings 22:35). When the hosts of Israel saw that their master had fallen, a shout went up among the troops as they urged one another to terminate the battle and make their way to their homes (1 Kings 22:36).

[506] The Hebrew reads literally, I have been made ill. Perhaps Ahab did not wish to reveal even to his trusted chariot driver the fact that he had been smitten by an arrow.

What a sad sight that must have been as the battle-weary, leaderless troops made their way back to Samaria. There they buried the fallen king (1 Kings 22:37). At the city pool, where harlots[507] customarily bathed,[508] they washed the chariot of the king. Packs of scavenger dogs licked up the blood of the fallen monarch. This fulfilled the word which the Lord had spoken concerning him (1 Kings 22:38). Not only the prophecy of Micaiah, but in essence, that of Elijah[509] as well was fulfilled on that day.

[507] The KJV gives the rendering armour for this common word meaning harlots. The KJV rendering involves a slight emendation of the Hebrew text.

[508] Keil (BCOT, p. 281) suggests that the grammatical construction can only be taken to mean that the harlots were bathing in the pool at the time Ahab's blood was being washed from his chariot.
[509] By his arrogant disregard for the word of God spoken by Micaiah, Ahab brought back upon himself the penalty which Elijah had foreseen, but which had been set aside as a result of Ahab's repentance (cf. 21:29).