_at a venture_] literally =in his innocence=, i.e. without knowing that he was aiming at Ahab. Compare 2 Samuel xv. 11. _between the joints of the harness_] Probably between the breastplate (or coat of mail) and the appendages to it; the wound would be in the lower part of the body. ³⁴And the battle increased that day: howbeit the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the even: and about the time of the going down of the sun he died. =34.= _stayed himself up in his chariot_] 1 Kings _was stayed up_. Ahab sustained his reputation as a good soldier (compare 1 Kings xx. 14, xxii. 31) to the last; his death caused the failure of the attack on Ramoth (1 Kings xxii. 36). CHAPTER XIX. =1‒3= (no parallel in Kings). THE REPROOF OF JEHU THE PROPHET. ¹And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. =1.= _in peace_] i.e. in safety. LXX. (B) omitted the phrase. ²And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the wicked, and love them that hate the LORD? for this thing wrath is upon thee from before the LORD. =2.= _Jehu the son of Hanani_] He must have been an old man at this time, for he had prophesied against Baasha (1 Kings xvi. 1), since whose reign two kings had ruled in Israel, viz., Omri (12 years) and Ahab (22 years). It appears, however, as if the Chronicler ignored or overlooked 1 Kings xvi. 1, for in 2 Chronicles xvi. 7 Hanani, Jehu’s father, is mentioned rebuking Asa, Jehoshaphat’s father. The two passages, in Kings and Chronicles, are not hopelessly irreconcilable, but together they yield a very odd and improbable sequence: the son active in Baasha’s reign, the father in Asa’s, and again after some 40 years the son in Jehoshaphat’s time! _and love them that hate the LORD_] Compare Psalms cxxxix. 21, 22. Actually, of course, Ahab even in this narrative appears as an adherent of Jehovah, whose prophets he consults. The phrase “them that hate the LORD” reflects the Chronicler’s view of north Israel. _for this thing_] Israel (in the Chronicler’s eyes) being wholly and utterly bad, apostate from Jehovah, Jehoshaphat’s alliance with Ahab had to be construed as a most serious sin which should meet with severe punishment. _wrath is upon thee_] the impending visitation of anger comes to pass in the invasion of the Moabite and Ammonite tribes described in chapter xx. For “wrath” (Hebrew _ḳeṣeph_) compare 2 Kings iii. 27, Revised Version margin. ³Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast put away the Asheroth out of the land, and hast set thine heart to seek God. =3.= _good things_] Compare xii. 12 (note). _the Asheroth_] plural of “Asherah”; compare notes on xiv. 3, and xv. 16.