Page:The Books of Chronicles (1916).djvu/306

242 the son of Imla. Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, arrayed in their robes, and they sat in an open place at the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said, Thus saith the, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until they be consumed. And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the shall deliver it into the hand of the king. And the messenger that went to call Micaiah spake to him, saying, Behold, the words of the prophets declare good to the king with one mouth: let thy word therefore, I pray thee, be like one of theirs, and speak thou good. And Micaiah said, As the liveth, what my God saith, that will I speak. And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And he said, Go ye up, and prosper; and they shall be delivered into your hand. And the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou speak unto me nothing but the truth in the name of the ? And he said, I saw all

1 Sam. viii. 15 we may perhaps conclude that such officers were known in Israel from the very beginning of the monarchy. Cp. 1 Chr. xxviii. 1, note.

9. in an open place] Render, in a threshing-floor. The threshing-floor was convenient as being a large flat open space; cp. Gen. l. 10; 1 Chr. xiii. 9, xxi. 18 ff.

10. made him horns of iron] For a similar use of symbolic action by a prophet cp. Jer. xxvii. 2 (also xxviii. 10). For the meaning of the phrase cp. Amos vi. 13, "Have we not taken to us horns?" i.e. "Have we not acquired military power?"

shalt thou push] Cp. Deut. xxxiii. 17. So Rameses II is described in an Egyptian psalm as "the strong bull against the Ethiopians; his horn pushes them." (Erman, Ancient Egypt, Eng. Tr., p. 57.)

13. what my God saith] Render, surely, what my God shall say. The Divine message has not yet come to the prophet.

14. Go ye up into your hand] Micaiah addresses both kings. In 1 Kin. Ahab only is addressed, Go and prosper, for the shall deliver it into the hand of the king. Micaiah repeats in mocking tones the utterance of the other prophets.

15. that thou speak unto me nothing but the truth] The scorn in Micaiah's voice was noticed by the king.