The eunuch explained to him on the road how all the other prophets had foretold that the king would be victorious; to which he replied that it was impossible for him to give a false report of God’s word, but he would speak whatever God should tell him concerning the king. So when he came before Ahab, and had been adjured by him to tell him the truth, he said that God had shown him the Israelites in flight, pursued by the Syrians and scattered by them to the mountains like flocks that had lost their shepherds. He added that it was revealed to him that they would return to their homes in peace, but he, and he only, would fall in the battle. When Micaiah had thus spoken, Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “See, I told you but now of this fellow’s disposition towards me and how he predicted for me nothing but the worst.” Micaiah replied that Ahab ought to listen to all that God foretold, and that the false prophets were inciting him to make this war, hoping that he would be victorious, whereas he was destined to fall in the battle. This caused the king to reflect; but Zedekiah, one of the false prophets, approached and advised him to pay no heed to Micaiah. “There is,” he said, “no truth in his words, as I can prove from a prophecy of one who could read the future better than this fellow, I mean Elijah. Elijah foretold that dogs would lick up your blood in the field of Naboth, as they had licked the blood of Naboth who for your sake was stoned to death by the people.[84] Clearly, then, this fellow is a liar, when he contradicts a prophet greater than himself, by asserting that you will die at a distance of three days’ journey from that spot. But you shall all learn whether he speaks the truth and possesses the power of the divine spirit. The instant I strike him, let him injure my hand, as Jadaus withered king Jeroboam’s right hand when he wished to arrest him.[85] You have heard, I presume, that that actually happened.” So he struck Micaiah, and, when no harm happened to him, Ahab took courage and was ready to lead his army against the king of Syria. Fate, I suppose, was winning the day and causing the false prophets to appear more plausible than the true, that so she might find a handle to bring about his end.—_Ant._ VIII. 15. 4 (401-439). Footnote 81: _i. e._ Ben-hadad, in the LXX “the son of (H)ader.” Footnote 82: Ramoth-gilead. Footnote 83: Imlah. Footnote 84: 1 Kings xxi. 19. Footnote 85: 1 Kings xiii. 4. The name Jadaus (or, as the Latin has, Jadon) is unscriptural. III. THE COMING OF THE ROMANS (8) Loss of Jewish Independence. Palestinian Settlement under Pompey The quarrels between the brothers Aristobulus II and Hyrcanus II bring about the intervention of Rome in Palestinian affairs. Pompey takes Jerusalem, and Syria becomes a Roman province. [Sidenote: 63 B.C.] See Map 40 in the _Hist. Atlas of Holy Land_ of G. A. Smith and J. G. Bartholomew.