=22.= _the LORD hath put a lying spirit..._] This and the preceding verse are singularly interesting for the frankness with which they apparently regard Jehovah as causing _moral_ evil. Of course the passage is not to be regarded as a philosophical pronouncement on the origin of moral evil. Rather is it to be treated as a naïve expression regarding a great fact of human life――see the conclusion of the note on verse 19, _who shall entice Ahab_. _Physical_ evils are constantly declared in the Old Testament to originate in Jehovah’s will; they are often sent by Him as punishments for sin. Here too it is only as the penalty of previous sinfulness (verse 8 “I hate him”) that the evil moral condition of the prophets who are deluded by the lying spirit from Jehovah is imposed. A parallel may be found in Ezekiel xiv. 1‒11. It is, however, a higher plane of thought when Jeremiah expresses the conviction that the false prophets of his day are not inspired at all by Jehovah, but speak solely out of their own hearts (Jeremiah xxiii. 16, 21). ²³Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and smote Micaiah upon the cheek, and said, Which way went the spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee? =23.= _Zedekiah_] He takes the lead as in verse 10. _smote ... upon the cheek_] This phrase is tantamount to “gave an insulting blow”; compare Micah v. 1; Matthew v. 39. ²⁴And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see on that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber¹ to hide thyself. ¹ Or, _from chamber to chamber_. =24.= _Behold, thou shalt see_] Micaiah answers Zedekiah’s gibe with the verb “see” (rather than “know”) because of its double meaning, “Behold, thou shalt be a seer, thou shalt possess the power of vision,” _when it is too late_. _go into an inner chamber_] i.e. seek safety in hiding from enemies; compare 1 Kings xx. 30 (same Hebrew phrase). ²⁵And the king of Israel said, Take ye Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king’s son; =25.= _carry him back_] Micaiah is not to accompany the expedition, having foretold its failure. ²⁶and say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I return in peace. =26.= _bread of affliction ... water of affliction_] Compare Ezekiel iv. 9‒11. ²⁷And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hear, ye peoples, all of you. =27.= _ye peoples, all of you_] The “peoples” represented at this gathering were probably, Israel, Judah, Edom, and Moab. The clause occurs in Micah i. 2, and in all probability has been added to the text of Kings (which the Chronicler here copies) by a glossator, who perhaps thought that Micaiah and Micah were one and the same person. =28‒34= (= 1 Kings xxii. 29‒37). THE DEATH OF AHAB AT RAMOTH-GILEAD.