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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Jehoshaphat hath riches and honour in abundance, and joineth affinity to Ahab, |
Joined affinity – Ambitious to unite the two nations, Jehoshaphat made a marriage alliance for his son with the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel of the ten-tribe kingdom. R3393:3
The Lord's people should be especially on guard against associations with the ungodly. R3394:2
"Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers" (2 Cor. 6:14) neither by marriage nor b R4730:5
With Ahab – Jehoshaphat's most important mistake was in affiliating with Ahab. R4730:5
The lesson to us is that we need to "keep ourselves unspotted from the world." (Jas. 1:27) R3394:1
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| 2 and goeth down at the end of [certain] years unto Ahab to Samaria, and Ahab sacrificeth for him sheep and oxen in abundance, and for the people who [are] with him, and persuadeth him to go up unto Ramoth-Gilead. |
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| 3 And Ahab king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, 'Dost thou go with me [to] Ramoth-Gilead ' And he saith to him, 'As I so thou, and as thy people my people, even with thee in battle.' |
We will be with thee – Out of courtesy and to cultivate the friendship of Ahab Jehoshaphat yielded and accompanied him, with disastrous results. R3394:2
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| 4 And Jehoshaphat saith unto the king of Israel, 'Seek, I pray thee, this day, the word of Jehovah.' |
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| 5 And the king of Israel gathereth the prophets, four hundred men, and saith unto them, 'Do we go unto Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or do I forbear ' And they say, 'Go up, and God doth give [it] into the hand of the king.' |
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| 6 And Jehoshaphat saith, 'Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah still, and we seek from him ' |
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| 7 And the king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat, 'Still one man to seek Jehovah from him, and I I have hated him, for he is not prophesying concerning me of good, but all his days of evil, he [is] Micaiah son of Imlah;' and Jehoshaphat saith, 'Let not the king say so.' |
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| 8 And the king of Israel calleth unto a certain officer, and saith, 'Hasten Micaiah son of Imlah.' |
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| 9 And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah are sitting, each on his throne, clothed with garments, and they are sitting in a threshing-floor at the opening of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets are prophesying before them. |
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| 10 And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah maketh for himself horns of iron, and saith, 'Thus said Jehovah, |
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| 11 With these thou dost push Aram till thou hast consumed them.' And all the prophets are prophesying so, saying, 'Go up [to] Ramath-Gilead and prosper, and Jehovah hath given [it] into the hand of the king.' |
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| 12 And the messenger who hath gone to call for Micaiah hath spoken unto him, saying, 'Lo, the words of the prophets one mouth [are] good towards the king, and let, I pray thee, thy word be like one of theirs: and thou hast spoken good.' |
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| 13 And Micaiah saith 'Jehovah liveth, surely that which my God saith, it I speak.' |
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| 14 And he cometh in unto the king, and the king saith unto him, 'Micaiah, do we go unto Ramoth-Gilead to battle, or do I forbear ' And he saith, 'Go ye up, and prosper, and they are given into your hand.' |
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| 15 And the king saith unto him, 'How many times am I adjuring thee, that thou speak unto me only truth in the name of Jehovah ' |
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| 16 And he saith, 'I have seen all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd, and Jehovah saith, There are no masters to these, they turn back each to his house in peace.' |
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| 17 And the king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat, 'Did I not say unto thee, He doth not prophesy concerning me good, but rather of evil ' |
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| 18 And he saith, 'Therefore, hear ye a word of Jehovah: I have seen Jehovah sitting on His throne, and all the host of the heavens standing on His right and His left; |
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| 19 and Jehovah saith, Who doth entice Ahab king of Israel, and he doth go up and fall in Ramoth-Gilead And this speaker saith thus, and that speaker thus. |
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| 20 And go out doth the spirit, and stand before Jehovah, and saith, I do entice him; and Jehovah saith unto him, With what |
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| 21 and he saith, I go out, and have become a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of all his prophets. And He saith, Thou dost entice, and also, thou art able; go out and do so. |
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| 22 And, now, lo, Jehovah hath put a spirit of falsehood in the mouth of these thy prophets, and Jehovah hath spoken concerning thee evil.' |
A lying spirit – One of the fallen angels. R2173:4
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| 23 And Zedekiah son of Chenaanah cometh nigh, and smiteth Micaiah on the cheek, and saith, 'Where [is] this the way the Spirit of Jehovah passed over from me to speak with thee ' |
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| 24 And Micaiah saith, 'Lo, thou dost see in that day, that thou dost enter into the innermost chamber to be hidden.' |
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| 25 And the king of Israel saith, 'Take ye Micaiah, and turn him back unto Amon head of the city, and unto Joash son of the king, |
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| 26 and ye have said, Thus said the king, Put ye this [one] in the house of restraint, and cause him to eat bread of oppression, and water of oppression, till my return in peace.' |
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| 27 And Micaiah saith, 'If thou dost certainly return in peace, Jehovah hath not spoken by me;' and he saith, 'Hear ye, O peoples, all of them!' |
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| 28 And the king of Israel goeth up, and Jehoshaphat king of Judah, unto Ramoth-Gilead; |
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| 29 and the king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat to disguise himself, and to go into battle, 'And thou, put on thy garments.' And the king of Israel disguiseth himself, and they go into battle. |
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| 30 And the king of Aram hath commanded the heads of the charioteers whom he hath, saying, 'Ye do not fight with small or with great, except with the king of Israel by himself.' |
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| 31 And it cometh to pass at the heads of the charioteers seeing Jehoshaphat, that they have said, 'The king of Israel he is,' and they turn round against him to fight, and Jehoshaphat crieth out, and Jehovah hath helped him, and God enticeth them from him, |
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| 32 yea, it cometh to pass, at the heads of the charioteers seeing that it hath not been the king of Israel they turn back from after him. |
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| 33 And a man hath drawn with a bow, in his simplicity, and smiteth the king of Israel between the joinings and the coat of mail, and he saith to the charioteer, 'Turn thy hand, and thou hast brought me out of the camp, for I have become sick.' |
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| 34 And the battle increaseth on that day, and the king of Israel hath been stayed up in the chariot over-against Aram till the evening, and he dieth at the time of the going in of the sun. |
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