Very Late Popular Prophetic Story 42 And he said to him, Thus saith Jehovah, 'Because thou hast let go out of thy hand the man whom I had condemned to destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life and thy people for his people.' 43And the king of Israel went homeward in ill-humor and sullen, and came to Samaria. 877. Predictions of Micaiah and the Four Hundred False Prophets, I Kgs. 221-28, II Chr. 181-27 Ahab History alli Aram I Kgs. 22 1Then for three years they remained at peace, without there The being war between Aram and Israel. 2But in the third year, when Jehosha- ance phat the king of Judah had come down to the king of Israel, 3the king of against Israel said to his servants, Do you know that Ramoth in Gilead belongs to us, yet we sit still instead of taking it from the king of Aram ph 4And he said to Jehoshaphat, Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth in Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. courag sage of ficial 5Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, Inquire at this time, I pray, Enfor the word of Jehovah. Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets ing together, about four hundred men, and asked them, Shall I go to fight against mesRamoth in Gilead or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for Jehovah the ofwill deliver it into the hand of the king. 7But Jehoshaphat said, Is there prophno other prophet of Jehovah, that we may inquire of him? 8And the king ets of Israel said, There is another by whom we may inquire of Jehovah, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him; for he prophesies for me nothing good, but only evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so. em tions tory "Then the king of Israel called an eunuch and said, Bring quickly Micaiah Their the son of Imlah. 10Now while the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king phatic of Judah were sitting each on his throne, clad in his robes of state at the predicentrancek of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying of vicbefore them, 11Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, Thus saith Jehovah, 'With these shalt thou push the Arameans until you have destroyed them!' 12And all the prophets prophesied the same saying, Go up to Ramoth in Gilead; for Jehovah will deliver it into the hand of the king. 2012 Heb., the man of my ban. $77 This is the immediate sequel of the victory over the Arameans recorded in 2025-34. The portrait which it gives of the early prophets, and especially those associated together in the prophetic guilds and probably in part supported from the royal treasury, is most valuable and explains the indignant declaration of Amos that he was no son of a prophet, 714. It also first introduces the idea of a lying spirit which perhaps later developed into the Jewish belief in Satan, the Adversary. b223 The parallel in II Chr. 183 reads, and Ahab killed sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people who were with him, and influenced him to go up to Ramoth in Gilead. i226 So certain codices. Cf. 11, 12. A scribe has in the received Heb. text substituted, Lord. 227 Gk., Luc., Syr., and Lat., Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah? This implies that the four hundred were not Jehovah prophets. But cf. 11, 12 2210 Making a necessary correction in the Heb. iah's defeat Ahab History Mica- 13 And the messenger who went to call Micaiah said to him, See, now the predic- prophets have with one consent promised good fortune' for the king; theretion of fore speak the same as they all do and prophesy good fortune. 14But Micaiah said, As Jehovah liveth, I will speak what Jehovah saith to me. 15 And when he came to the king, the king said to him, Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth in Gilead to fight or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go and prosper; and Jehovah will deliver it into the hand of the king! 16But the king said to him, How many times shall I adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of Jehovah? 17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And Jehovah said, 'These have no master; let each of them go home in peace!' up The 18 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell you that he lying spirit would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil? 19And Micaiah said, within Therefore hear the word of Jehovah: I saw Jehovah sitting on his throne official and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. proph- 20 And Jehovah said, 'Who shall delude Ahab so that he will go up and fall the ets Micaiah's im ment at Ramoth in Gilead?' And one proposed one thing and another another, 21until there came forth a spirit and stood before Jehovah and said, ‘I will delude him.' 22 And Jehovah said to him, 'By what means?' And he said, 'I will go forth and become a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Thereupon he said, 'Thou shalt delude him and shalt succeed also! Go forth, and do so.' 23So behold, Jehovah hath now put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets, since Jehovah hath determined to bring evil upon you. 24Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, Which way did the spirit of Jehovah from me go prison- to speak to you?m 25 And Micaiah said, Indeed, you shall see on that day, when you shall go from one chamber to another to hide yourself. 26Then the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king's son, 27and say, Thus the king commands, “Put this fellow in prison and feed him with a scanty fare of bread and water until I return in peace.' 28 And Micaiah said, If you indeed return in peace, Jehovah hath not spoken by me.° 1 2213 So Gk. and Luc. Heb., the words of the prophets are good. m 2224 The Gk., partially supported by Luc., has a smoother reading, where is the spirit of Jehovah that speaks in you? 2227 Heb., bread-affliction and water-affliction. As in Is. 3020, this is the idiomatic designation of prison fare. • 2228 So Gk, and Luc. In the Heb., a scribe has added from Mi. 12, and he said, Hear O people, all of you, mistakenly identifying the present prophet with a contemporary of Isaiah. § 78. Death of Ahab at Ramoth in Gilead, I Kgs. 2229-40, II Chr. 1828-34 Ahab History dis Jehosh I Kgs. 22 29Then the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah Ahab's went up to Ramoth in Gilead. 30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, guise I will disguise myself and go into the battle, but you can put on your robes. and So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. 31 Now the aphat's king of Aram had given orders to the thirty-two commanders of his char- peril iots, saying, Fight with neither small nor great, except only with the king of Israel. 32 Accordingly when the commanders of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, Surely it is the king of Israel, and they surrounded him to fight against him, but Jehoshaphat cried out. 33Therefore, as soon as the commanders of the chariots saw that it was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. 34But a certain man drew at a venture and smote the king of Israel be- Ahab's fatal tween the attachments and the coat of mail. Therefore he said to the driver wound of his chariot, Turn about and carry me out of the army; for I am severely wounded. 35 And the battle increased that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot against the Arameans until evening, and the blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot. But at evening he died. 36 And toward sunset the cry went throughout the army, Each to his city and each to his land, 37for the king is dead!" so they came to Samaria and buried the king in Samaria. 38 And when they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, the dogs licked up his blood, and the harlots washed themselves in it,t just as Jehovah had declared. 39Now the other acts of Ahab, and all that he did and the ivory house which he Résumé built and all the cities that he built, are they not recorded in the Chronicles of the of his Kings of Israel? 40So Ahab slept with his fathers and Ahaziah his son became king reign in his place. § 79. Ahaziah's Reign and Fatal Illness, I Kgs. 2251-53, II Kgs. 1 Early Ephraimite Elijah Stories I Kgs. 22 51Ahaziah the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria in the Ahaseventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. ziah's 52 And he did that which displeased Jehovah, and walked in the way of his father and policy in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had led Israel into sin. 53 And he served Baal and worshipped him, and provoked to anger Jehovah, the God of Israel, just as his father had done. §78 This section contains the conclusion of the Ahab history. To the end of the quotation from the Ahab history some editor has added the note in 3, which reflects an entirely different conception of the king. It is evidently based on the prediction in the Elijah stories, 2119, although it overlooks the fact that Naboth's vineyard was not in Samaria but in Jezreel. The concluding verses contain a résumé of Ahab's reign in the familiar terms of the late prophetic editor. P 222 So Gk., Luc., and the parallel in II Chr. Heb., They turned aside against him. 2235 So Gk. and Luc., supported by II Chr. 1834. In the Heb. a scribe by mistake has introduced here the phrase, the king died, instead of in its logical place at the end of the verse. 2237 So Gk. and Luc. The Heb. connects this first clause with the following. 2237 So Gk. and Luc. Heb., he came. t2238 Gk. and Luc., in his blood. § 79 In addition to his familiar judgment upon the reign of Ahaziah, the editor has introduced in II Kgs. 11 (cf. I Kgs. 2254) a reference to the rebellion of Mesha, which is well authenticated by the contemporary inscription of that king himself. Cf. Appendix IV. In the older source-probably the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel-from which the editor takes his data Moab's rebellion Aha Early Ephraimite Elijah Stories II Kgs. 1 1And after the death of Ahab Moab rebelled against Israel. 2Now Ahaziah fell out through the lattice in his upper apartment in Samaria, and lay sick. Then he sent messengers and commanded them, embas- Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, whether or not I shall recover of this sickness. ziah's sy to Ekron Elijah's mes sage Report of the sy 3But the messenger of Jehovah said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel, that ye go to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?' 4Now therefore thus saith Jehovah, 'Thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou hast gone up, but thou shalt surely die.' Then Elijah went away. 5And when the messengers came back to him, he said to them, Why have embas- you returned? And they said to him, A man came up to meet us and said to us, 'Go back again to the king who sent you and say to him, "Thus saith Jehovah: Is it because there is no God in Israel that thou sendest to inquire of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron? Therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou hast gone up, but shalt surely die." And he said to them, What kind of man was he who told you these things? And they answered him, A man clad in a skin and girt with a leather girdle about his loins. Then he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite! Destruc tion of the later em bassies and reitera tion of the doom Death of Ahaziah "Thereupon he sent against him a commander of fifty with his fifty. And when he went up to him-for he was sitting on the top of the hill-he said to him, O man of God, the king said, 'Come down.' 10 And Elijah answered and said to the commander of fifty, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty. Then there fell fire from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. "And again he sent to him another commander of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, O man of God, thus has the king said, 'Come down quickly.' 12And Elijah answered and said to them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty. And the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. 13And again he sent a third commander of fifty with his fifty. But when the third commander of fifty went up, he came and fell on his knees before Elijah and besought him, saying to him, O man of God, I pray you spare my life and the life of these fifty your servants. 14Already fire has come down from heaven and consumed the two former commanders of fifty with their fifties; but now spare my life. And the Messenger of Jehovah said to Elijah, Go down with him; do not be afraid of him. So he arose and went down with him to the king. 16 And he said to him, Thus saith Jehovah, 'Because thou hast sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron -is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?"-therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed whither thou art gone up, but shalt surely die.' 17So he died according to the word of Jehovah which Elijah had spoken. And in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Jehoram his brother became king in his place, because he had no son. 18Now the other acts which Ahaziah did, are they not recorded in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? there may have followed a further account of the rebellion. 35 reiterates the fact and the subsequent verses contain a popular tradition of an unsuccessful attempt to reconquer Moab. The chief quotation regarding Ahaziah appears to come from the early Elijah stories. As in I Kgs. 171, 2117, the prophet is introduced as Elijah, the Tishbite, 3, 8. The forms of the divine address to Elijah in 3.4 recall the corresponding expressions in I Kgs. 2117. 19. The Messenger of Jehovah in 3 appears elsewhere in these chapters only in the Elijah stories of I Kgs. 197. Above all the Elijah, who in 11-4 suddenly arises to rebuke Ahaziah, is the same as he who figures in I Kgs. 17-19, 21, and his words reveal the same passionate zeal for Jehovah. Vss. 9-16 are little more than repetitions of the preceding. Cf. 16. The literary style and spirit are radically different. No ethical motive is evident for the wanton destruction of the two companies of fifty. The story strongly recalls the fate of the messengers of Saul in Samuel's presence, I Sam. 1918-24. If not modelled after that late tale, this insertion is closely related to it. It cannot be earlier than the popular Elisha stories (cf. especially 223-25), and does not reflect the older and nobler conception of the prophet. Cf. Introd., p. 18. u 116 The interjected question is lacking in the Gk. and Luc. § 80. Jehoram's Reign, II Kgs. 31-3 Late Prophetic Summary ram's II Kgs. 3 1Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel in JehoSamaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned relig twelve years. 2And he displeased Jehovah, but not as did his father and ious policy mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3However he clung to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat with which he made Israel sin and he did not depart from them. III POPULAR TRADITIONS ABOUT ELISHA, II Kgs. 21-815, 1314-27 § 81. Translation of Elijah and Consecration of Elisha, II Kgs. 2 Gilgal Cycle of Elisha Stories sha's follow Elijah II Kgs. 2 1Now at the time when Jehovah was about to cause Elijah to Eligo up by a whirlwind to heaven, Elijah was going with Elisha from Gilgal. persist2And Elijah said to Elisha, Remain here, I pray, for Jehovah hath sent me ency in as far as Bethel. And Elisha said, As Jehovah liveth and as you live, I ing will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel. 3And the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, Do you know that to-day Jehovah will take away your master from being over you? And he said, Yes, I know it; only keep silent. 4And Elijah said to him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray, for Jehovah hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As Jehovah liveth and as you live, I will not leave you. So they came §80 This editorial summary of Jehoram's reign naturally follows immediately after 1, and finds its direct continuation in 8161f. Into this editorial framework has been fitted the large group of Elisha stories, which are written from an entirely different point of view and can best be studied as a unit. Cf. §§ 81-92. Popular Traditions about Elisha.-The origin and history of this group of stories have already been considered in the Introd., pp. 18-20. That they were great favorites with the common people is demonstrated by their general character. They illustrate that personal and pastoral side of the prophetic activity which is often overlooked. All the traditions which gathered about Elisha represent him as a benignant prophet, in close touch with court and people. Their number and striking character testify to the greatness of his personality and work, for there is never smoke without some fire. Even though popular tradition associates with Elisha stories which appear originally in connection with Elijah, they contain so many original and realistic elements that it is impossible to regard their hero as a mere product of the imagination. Unfortunately he lived just before the beginning of Israel's great literary age, so that his words and acts were first recorded only in the popular memory, but back of the stories stands the man, identified by birth and training with the agricultural civilization of Northern Israel and thus fitted personally to direct the life and thought of his people, and to realize in the history of his race the principles and ideals proclaimed by his master Elijah. Differing radically in character and method from his great predecessor, he appears to have been the first of that new type of prophets, represented by Amos, Isaiah and their successors, who stood not apart from but in the midst of the people whom they addressed. $81 This story fittingly introduces those which follow. While it records the close of Elijah's life, its real purpose is to indicate the source of Elisha's supernatural power. His persistency in following Elijah, his words, and the wonder-working mantle, which fell down upon his shoulders, are more prominent than the great prophet of Gilead himself. Gilgal is conceived of as Elisha's home. The description of the journey from Gilgal by Bethel down to the Jordan indicates that the town in question was not the more famous one near Jericho, but the Gilgal a little southwest of Shiloh, which appears to have early inherited the traditions of that ancient sanctuary. Cf. Introd., pp. 18, 19. The prominence of the sons of the prophets also indicates that this story is from the Gilgal cycle. |