¹⁰And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron, and said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until they be consumed. ¹¹And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king. ¹²And 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. =10.= _made him horns of iron_] For a similar use of symbolic action by a prophet compare Jeremiah xxvii. 2 (also xxviii. 10). For the meaning of the phrase compare Amos vi. 13, “Have we not taken to us horns?” i.e. “Have we not acquired military power?” _shalt thou push_] Compare Deuteronomy 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_, English Translation, p. 57.) ¹³And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what my God saith, that will I speak. =13.= _what my God saith_] Render, =surely, what my God shall say=. The Divine message has not yet come to the prophet. ¹⁴And when he was come to the king, the king said unto him, Micaiah¹, 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. ¹ Hebrew _Micah_. =14.= _Go ye up ... into your hand_] Micaiah addresses both kings. In 1 Kings Ahab only is addressed, _Go and prosper, for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king_. Micaiah repeats in mocking tones the utterance of the other prophets. ¹⁵And 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 LORD? =15.= _that thou speak unto me nothing but the truth_] The scorn in Micaiah’s voice was noticed by the king. ¹⁶And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master; let them return every man to his house in peace. ¹⁷And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? =16.= _as sheep that have no shepherd_] Compare Matthew ix. 36. _the LORD said, These have no master; let them return_, etc.] The prophet has had a vision of Israel’s army, defeated and scattered, like a flock of sheep wandering shepherdless upon the mountains. God, he means, proclaims that in the coming battle their king will fall and they will be beaten and dispersed. ¹⁸And he said, Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left.