Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 22:30
And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.
29 40. Battle of Ramoth-gilead. Defeat and death of Ahab (2Ch 18:28-34)
30. I will disguise myself, and enter [R.V. go ] into the battle ] Another tense of the same verb is translated ‘went’ in this verse, and ‘go’ is the rendering in 2Ch 18:29.
There must have been some mark by which the king of Judah could be distinguished from the king of Israel; something answering to modern blazonry or a coat of arms, or else the action of Ahab would have been one designed to put his brother-king into the greatest possible peril. This we can hardly think he would have wished to do, nor would Jehoshaphat alone have gone to the post of greatest danger. Ahab seems to have been alarmed lest after all there should be some truth in Micaiah’s words. He will therefore clothe himself like an ordinary soldier and let the king of Judah alone appear in kingly robes, for against him the attack would not be particularly directed.
put thou on thy robes ] The LXX. has ‘my’ ( ). But this would have been to expose Jehoshaphat to all the peril which he himself desired to avoid. Josephus says, Ahab meant to falsify ( ) the predictions of Micaiah.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I will disguise myself – Ahab had probably heard of Ben-hadads order to his captains 1Ki 22:31.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 30. I will disguise myself] Probably he had heard of the orders given by Ben-hadad to his thirty-two captains, to fight with the king of Israel only; that is, to make their most powerful attack where he commanded, in order to take him prisoner, that he might lead him captive whose captive he formerly was; and therefore he disguised himself that he might not be known.
But put thou on thy robes.] What is meant by this? He could not mean, “Appear as the king of Judah, for they will not molest thee, as the matter of contention lies between them and me;” this is Jarchi’s turn. For if Jehoshaphat aided Ahab, is it to be supposed that the Syrians would spare him in battle? A general in the civil wars of England, when he had brought his army in sight of their foes, thus addressed them: “Yonder are your enemies; if you do not kill them, they will kill you.” So it might be said in the case of Jehoshaphat and the Syrians.
The Septuagint gives the clause a different and more intelligible turn: “I will cover (conceal) myself, and enter into the battle; , but put thou on MY robes.” And does it not appear that he did put on Ahab’s robes? And was it not this that caused the Syrians to mistake him for the king of Israel? 1Kg 22:32.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
I will disguise myself, i.e. put off my imperial habit, that the Syrians may not know me, and direct their main force against me; which they will assuredly endeavour, as knowing that this war proceedeth from me, and is likely to die with me; and then thou shalt see that this man is a false prophet, and I shall have the success which I desire and expect, notwithstanding all his presages.
Thy robes; thy royal robes; which thou mayest do without any danger, because thou art not the object either of the Syrians rage, or of this false prophecy.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle,…. Change his clothes, his royal robes, and put on others, perhaps the habit of a common soldier; having, it may be, been informed by some deserters or spies, of the design of Benhadad against him. Abarbinel thinks the meaning is, that he would clothe himself with a coat of mail, and take to him the each of the instruments of war, and so go into the battle secure; this seems probable from 1Ki 22:34 and this he might do to elude the prophecy of Micaiah:
but put thou on thy robes; his royal robes, or rather keep them on, that he might appear to be the chief commander of the army. There seems to be a good deal of insincerity and treachery in this conduct of Ahab’s, whatever honour he might pretend to Jehoshaphat, or safety he might promise him in such a situation; his view seems to be to save himself at the hazard of the life of Jehoshaphat, especially if the Septuagint version could be established, “and put on my clothes”; which is natural enough, but would have been too barefaced:
and the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle; as if he had been a common soldier.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(30) I will disguise myself.The precaution of Ahab is almost ludicrously characteristic of his temper of half-belief and half-unbelief. In itself it is, of course, plainly absurd to believe that Gods judgment has in all probability been pronounced, and yet to suppose that it can be averted by so puerile a precaution. But, as experience shows, it is not the less on that account true to human nature, especially such a nature as his, always halting between two opinions.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
30. I will disguise myself This rendering, which follows the Septuagint, gives the true sense. The Hebrew is literally, to disguise myself and go into battle, as if the words were an exclamation, and thrown in without proper grammatical connexion. Ahab feared the issue of this battle, for Micaiah’s warning words had been to him an evil omen, and he thought by disguising himself to escape personal injury. Possibly, also, spies had informed him of the order of the king of Syria for his men to fight only with the king of Israel.
Put thou on thy robes Some have imagined that Ahab would have been pleased to have had Jehoshaphat killed in this war that he might seize upon his kingdom and unite it with his own, and therefore counseled him to array himself in his royal robes. As if to favour this thought, the Septuagint has, Put on my apparel. But this is hardly likely, and the sense of the passage more naturally is: Evil is predicted of me, and I will therefore disguise; but this precaution is not necessary for thee, and thou mayest put on thy royal apparel.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Failure Of The Subterfuge To Prevent The Fulfilment Of Micaiah’s Prophecy ( 1Ki 22:30-34 ).
With what Micaiah had prophesied in mind Ahab was determined to demonstrate that he was wrong. Both he and Jehoshaphat had heard the prophecy, and he thus suggested to Jehoshaphat that in the light of it he should go into the battle disguised, while Jehoshaphat led the attack in full royal armour. Jehoshaphat, who probably believed Micaiah’s prophecy would understand that this was not because of cowardice. It was because Ahab was seeking to change the pattern of life hoping thereby to overturn ‘fate’.
It was always policy to seek to slay the opposing king, because thereby the battle would be ended quickly, the king’s will no longer being relevant. It was, however, never a simple thing to accomplish, as he went into battle surrounded by his elite bodyguard, and was in a well protected chariot, amid other chariots. And by diverting the attention to Jehoshaphat the risk would be even more minimised. There would have seemed to him little reason why he should not come out unscathed, especially as by altering the usual pattern, there was hope that the prophecy, made on the basis of that pattern, might be disrupted. After all, it was four hundred prophets to one! And four hundred were supporting his safety.
Analysis.
a
b Now the king of Aram (Syria) had commanded the thirty and two captains of his chariots, saying, “Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel” (1Ki 22:31).
c And it came about, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “Surely it is the king of Israel,” and they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out (1Ki 22:32).
b And it came about, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him (1Ki 22:33).
a And a certain man drew his bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the armour, which was the reason why he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn your hand, and carry me out of the host, for I am sore wounded” (1Ki 22:34).
Note that in ‘a’ the king of Israel carried out his subterfuge, and in the parallel the subterfuge failed and he was fatally wounded. In ‘b’ the king of Aram’s command was to concentrate on slaying the king of Israel, and in the parallel as soon as they discovered that the man that they were attacking was not the king of Israel they turned their attention elsewhere. Centrally in ‘c’ the chariot captains concentrated on Jehoshaphat, thinking that he was the king of Israel, until his war cry revealed him not to be so.
1Ki 22:30
‘ And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself, and go into the battle, but you put on your robes.” And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.’
Both parties knew the reason for Ahab’s decision. It was simply an act of common sense. While royal leadership needed to be visible, that visibility could be provided by Jehoshaphat. (A king would always be a target and they would not be aware that he was to be an unusually special target) Meanwhile Ahab in his disguise would be recognised by his men while being ‘invisible’ to the opposition, and would thereby hopefully upset the prophecy. In Mesopotamia it was believed that if a king abstained from wearing his royal robes he could divert evil activities on certain days of ill omen. Perhaps Ahab, steeped in paganism, held a similar view).
1Ki 22:31
‘ Now the king of Aram (Syria) had commanded the thirty and two captains of his chariots, saying, “Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel.” ’
Meanwhile the strategy of the king of Aram was that all his chariot captains should avoid general conflict as much as possible and concentrate on attacking the king of Israel in person. The hope was that by working together they could break though the bodyguard surrounding the king until the opportunity arose for them to attack him in person.
It is probably not a coincidence that the king of Aram had previously had thirty two ‘rulers’ (1Ki 20:1), and now had thirty two captains of chariots. Each ruler possibly had his chariot arm. Or it may be that ‘thirty two’ was the Aramaean basis for organising and dividing their forces. Either way the thought is that Ahab had wrongfully spared the thirty two captured rulers, and now thirty two chariot captains were set to kill him. He was reaping what he had sown.
1Ki 22:32
‘ And it came about, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, “Surely it is the king of Israel,” and they turned aside to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out.’
Thus when the captains saw Jehoshaphat clothed in royal armour and with banners flying, riding in his chariot at the head of the charge, they assumed that it was the king of Israel, and they all converged on the royal party with a view to killing him.
Meanwhile, elated by the battle Jehoshaphat rallied his men by crying out his war cry, which would be something like, ‘YHWH for Jehoshaphat and Judah’. This was both a prayer for YHWH’s assistance, and a rallying cry (which the Chronicler tells us that YHWH heard).
1Ki 22:33
‘ And it came about, when the captains of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.’
Once the chariot captains heard his war cry they realised immediately that this could not be the king of Israel, and baffled in their objective turned their attentions elsewhere. The king of Judah was not considered to be of sufficient importance to take up their expertise.
1Ki 22:34
‘ And a certain man drew his bow at a venture, and smote the king of Israel between the joints of the armour, which was the reason why he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn your hand, and carry me out of the host, for I am sore wounded.” ’
One of the Aramaean archers, however, fired his arrow ‘at a venture’ (literally ‘in his simplicity, i.e. at random, not aiming at any particular target, but hoping that it would hit someone. Little did he realise what he would accomplish). His arrow struck Ahab at the point where pieces of his armour met. All armour had such weak points so as to retain flexibility. The arrow caused a deep wound, so much so that Ahab commanded his chariot driver to turn about and take him out of the heat of battle because he was sore wounded. All his attempts to defeat YHWH’s prophecy had failed.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Battle For Ramoth-gilead And The Death Of Ahab ( 1Ki 22:30-38 )
The prophetic author is not really interested in the details of the battle. His concern is with the failure of the subterfuge which sought to prevent the fulfilment of Micaiah’s prophecy, and with the subsequent death of Ahab and his ‘ritual’ disgracing. For while the king’s body was no doubt being buried with all honours, as a hero of the battlefield, YHWH was revealing his true worth by arranging for his blood, his very life source, to be licked up by scavenger dogs and mingled with the dirt washed from common prostitutes. It was a picture of YHWH’s view of him.
The description of the battle is split into two sections.
The Failure Of The Subterfuge To Prevent The Fulfilment Of Micaiah’s Prophecy (1Ki 22:30-34).
The Death Of Ahab And YHWH’s Arrangements For The Disposal Of His Blood (1Ki 22:35-38).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
(30) And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle. (31) But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel. (32) And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out. (33) And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.
There seems to have been a good deal of art in Ahab’s thus disguising himself, and advising Jehoshaphat to go in his robes. It is probable that he had heard of the king of Syria’s command to his generals, to fight only with the king of Israel. And as the person of Ahab was not known to those generals, it is very probable that Ahab pleased himself with the idea that the robes of Jehoshaphat would expose him, and his own disguise conceal himself. So that Ahab, if so, was as defective in friendship to Jehoshaphat, as in duty to the Lord. And no doubt, he that is false to God can never be true to man. The danger of Jehoshaphat, no doubt, taught him that he was out of the path of duty. In the parallel history in the Book of the Chronicles, we are told somewhat more particularly of this situation and conduct of the king of Judah. For there it is said that when the Syrians compassed him around to kill him, and he cried out, the Lord helped him, and God moved them to depart from him. And that when Jehoshaphat returned to his own home after the battle, the son of Hanani, the seer, who went out to meet him, reproved him for having gone to the help of the ungodly; and that therefore the wrath of the Lord was upon him. See 2Ch_18:31; 2Ch_19:1-2 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Ki 22:30 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle.
Ver. 30. I will disguise myself ] This he did, saith Josephus, that he might the more easily and surely elude the prophecy of Micaiah concerning his death, wherewith he was scared doubtless, though he seemed to slight it.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I will. See note on 1Ki 22:22. A feigned compliment. and piece of treachery.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
I will: etc. or, when he was to disguise himself
and enter into the battle: put thou on, 1Ki 22:10, Psa 12:2
disguised himself: 1Ki 14:2, 1Ki 20:38, 1Sa 28:8, 2Sa 14:2, 2Ch 18:29, 2Ch 35:22, Pro 21:30, Jer 23:24
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 22:30. The king of Israel said, I will disguise myself Put off my imperial habit, and appear as a private man, that the Syrians may not know me, and direct their main force against me. This he judged they would do, as knowing him to be the principal author of this war, and that it was likely to die with him. But put thou on thy robes Thy royal robes, which thou mayest do without danger, because thou art not the object of the rage of the Syrians, nor of this false prophecy. Thus, while he pretended to do honour to Jehoshaphat, and compliment him with the sole command of the army in this action, he hoped to elude the danger, and so defeat the threatening, as if by disguising himself he could escape the divine cognizance, and the judgments that pursued him.