=18.= _And he said_] There are three stages in the prophet’s dealings with the king, (1) irony in verse 14, (2) serious advice in verse 16, (3) denunciation of death in verses 18‒22. _the host of heaven_] angelic beings are meant, as in Psalms ciii. 21, and probably also in Nehemiah ix. 6; Daniel iv. 35, etc., but in these passages the usual meaning “the stars” is possible. The parallel verse in Kings (1 Kings xxii. 19) is apparently the earliest clear instance of the phrase in the significance “angelic beings.” ¹⁹And the LORD said, Who shall entice¹ Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one spake saying after this manner, and another saying after that manner. ¹ Or, _deceive_. =19.= _Who shall entice Ahab_] So 1 Kings (Revised Version). The same Hebrew word is used in Jeremiah xx. 7, “thou hast deceived (margin ‘enticed’) me,” where Jeremiah complains that he has been called to the fruitless labour of a hated prophet. For the underlying thought that delusion is sometimes a preliminary part of Divine punishment compare 2 Thessalonians ii. 11 (compare 2 Thessalonians ii. 9) and the famous saying, “quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat.” It should be noted however that the “lying spirit” in the mouth of the 400 prophets played only a subordinate part in Ahab’s fall, and indeed could have played no part at all, but for the fact that the king was more than willing to be enticed. Ahab had already made up his mind; he consulted the 400 only as an afterthought to satisfy Jehoshaphat (verse 4), he excluded the plain-speaking Micaiah until Jehoshaphat insisted on his presence (verses 6, 7), and he scorned the true prophet’s warning of the falseness of the 400 (verse 26). Delusion as a Divine punishment comes only upon the man who is willing to be deluded. ²⁰And there came forth a spirit¹, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will entice him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? ²¹And he said, I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt entice him, and shalt prevail also: go forth, and do so. ¹ Hebrew _the spirit_. =20.= _a spirit_] Hebrew _the spirit_, but the definite article simply singles out one spirit from the rest. The Evil Spirit (Hebrew “the Satan”) is not meant here but simply a superhuman being, such as was generally conceived to be the cause of the ecstatic condition manifested by prophets of this type (compare 1 Samuel x. 5, 6). ²²Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of these thy prophets; and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.