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1 Kings 22:15
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Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
shall we go: 1 Kings 22:6
Go and prosper: This was strong irony; they were the precise words of the false prophets; but were spoken by Micaiah in such a tone and manner as at once shewed Ahab that he did not believe, but ridiculed these words of uncertainty. The reply of the Delphian oracle to Crosesus was as ambiguous as that returned to Pyrrhus, Croesus Halym penetrans magnam pervertet opum vim, "If Croesus crosses the Halys, he will overthrow a great empire." This he understood of the empire of Cyrus; the event proved it to be his own: he was deluded, yet the oracle maintained its credit. 1 Kings 18:27, Judges 10:14, 2 Kings 3:13, 2 Chronicles 18:14, Ecclesiastes 11:9, Matthew 26:45
Reciprocal: Judges 1:4 - Lord Judges 18:6 - Go in peace 1 Samuel 14:37 - Shall I go 2 Samuel 5:19 - And the Lord 2 Kings 8:10 - Thou mayest 1 Chronicles 14:10 - Go up Ezekiel 20:1 - that certain Mark 14:41 - Sleep
Gill's Notes on the Bible
So he came to the king,.... Being introduced by the officer:
and the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go up against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? the same question in the same words that was put to the other prophets, 1 Kings 22:6, only there he uses the singular number, here the plural, including Jehoshaphat with him:
and he answered him, go, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver [it] into the hand of the king; he answered not in the name of the Lord, saying, "thus saith the Lord", nor did he speak his own sense and in his own words, nor seriously, but by way of derision; he took up the words of the prophets, and bantered them; it is as if he should say, the prophets bid you go, and tell you that you shall "prosper", and that the city will be delivered into the king's hand; do as they direct you, and see what the issue will be, no doubt it will be good, since they are all agreed; but he delivered the above words with such gestures, and such a tone, and with a contemptuous smile in his countenance, which showed that he spoke not seriously, but sarcastically; and this the king plainly discovered, as appears by what follows.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
And he answered him ... - Micaiah speaks the exact words of the 400 in so mocking and ironical a tone, that the king cannot mistake his meaning, or regard his answer as serious. The kingâs rejoinder implies that this mocking manner was familiar to Micaiah, who had used it in some former dealings with the Israelite monarch. Hence, in part, the kingâs strong feeling of dislike (compare 1 Kings 22:8).
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 1 Kings 22:15. Go, and prosper — This was a strong irony; as if he had said, All your prophets have predicted success; you wish me to speak as they speak: Go, and prosper; for the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king. These were the precise words of the false prophets, (see 1 Kings 22:6; 1 Kings 22:12), and were spoken by Micaiah in such a tone and manner as at once showed to Ahab that he did not believe them; hence the king adjures him, 1 Kings 22:16, that he would speak to him nothing but truth; and on this the prophet immediately relates to him the prophetic vision which pointed out the disasters which ensued.
It is worthy of remark that this prophecy of the king's prophets is couched in the same ambiguous terms by which the false prophets in the heathen world endeavoured to maintain their credit, while they deluded their votaries. The reader will observe that the word it is not in the original: The Lord will deliver IT into the hand of the king; and the words are so artfully constructed that they may be interpreted for or against; so that, be the event whatever it might, the juggling prophet could save his credit by saying he meant what had happened. Thus then the prophecy might have been understood: The Lord will deliver (Ramoth-gilead) into the king's (Ahab's) hand; or, The Lord will deliver (Israel) into the king's hand; i.e., into the hand of the king of Syria. And Micaiah repeats these words of uncertainty in order to ridicule them and expose their fallacy.
The following oracles among the heathens were of this same dubious nature, in order that the priests' credit might be saved, let the event turn out as it might. Thus the Delphic oracle spoke to Croesus words which are capable of a double meaning, and which he understood to his own destruction:-
Croesus, Halym penetrans, magnam subvertet opum vim,
Which says, in effect: -
"If you march against Cyrus, he will either overthrow you, or you will overthrow him."
He trusted in the latter, the former took place. He was deluded, and yet the oracle maintained its credit. So in the following: -
Aio te, AEacida, Romanos vincere posse
Ibis redibis nunquam in bello peribis.
Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, understood by this that he should conquer the Romans, against whom he was then making war; but the oracle could be thus translated: "The Romans shall overcome thee." He trusted in the former, made unsuccessful war, and was overcome; and yet the juggling priest saved his credit. The latter line is capable of two opposite meanings: -
"Thou shalt go, thou shalt return, thou shalt never perish in war."
Or,
"Thou shalt go, thou shalt never return, thou shalt perish in war."
When prophecies and oracles were not delivered in this dubious way, they were generally couched in such intricate and dark terms that the assistance of the oracle was necessary to explain the oracle, and then it was ignotum per ignotius, a dark saying paraphrased by one yet more obscure.
