The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 215

borrowed from the doubtfulness of Josephus, Mice.ie.h's bold explanation of how it comes Bee Smith's 'Bible Dictiono.ry,' iii. H136. to pa.88 that he has to bear the brunt of Had made him homs of iron. It would Ahab's "hate," on account of the uniformly seem o.e though Zedekiah had made these unfavourable character of his answers to "horns of iron " o.t some previou8 time, or, him, instead of four hundred other men perho.ps, now simulated some very rough sharing it with him. He declares on the presentation of horns of an impromptu kind. authority of his rapt vision, that it is' because The horns were the symbol of power, and they are posseesed by a lying spirit (Rom. i. the iron of a power invincible. 25, 28 ; 1 These. ii. 12). And, like the true Ver. 12.-This verse bespeaks very clearly prophet of e.11 time, he declares it e.t all the rotten condition of Church and state, hazards and e. t all cost. prophets and king and ''officers" (ver. 8). Ver. 23.-Which way went the Spirit ot Ver. 14.-This first reply of Micaiah, the Lord from me to speak unto thee l This given in the latter he.If of the verse, does question of Zedekiah, and Micaiah's answer not stand for untruth or deceit, but for very to him in the following verse, are both thinly veiled, very thinly disguised, very obscure and of doubtful interpretation, but keen taunt and reproof. It has been well their drift not at all so. Keil and Bertheau described e.s the ironical echo of the lan- correctly say,-in that Zedek:iah used the guage of the unreal prophets. Micaiah force and the language that he did, it is not begins by answering a fool according to his a bad sign that he was under a spirit's in- folly, i.e. according to his own heart's desire. fluence, but in that it was physical force He had just come from some place of im- which he used in a moral subJect, this was a prisonment or punishment (ver. 25). And conclusive sign of the character of the spirit he so spoke or so looked that the king that he was amenable to. Among many should know he had not spoken his last possible suggestions as to the exact meaning word in answer to the inquiry addressed to of the question, "Which way," etc.? it is him, possible that a sceptical taunt best e:s:plains Ver. 16.-The brief parable smote the Zedekiah's words, and that he meant that he very heart of Ahab (Numb. xxvii. 17) ; and did not believe the Spirit of the Lord went Ahab felt it, like "the sentence of death" any way to Micaiah. He will not yield to a in him, in a way all different, indeed, from doubt or to a suspicion thrown upon it that that in which e.n apostle of many a century the Spirit had been with himself, and he will afterward felt it. fain throw great doubt, whether he bad pro- Ver. 17.-Ahab's language in this verse ceeded from him to Micaiah ! shows that, though he had adjured Micaiah, Ver. 21.-So also, probably, this verse he did not wish to seem to believe that he would purport to tell us beforehand dis- could speak anything hut his own temper. tinctly what is not told after the issue of Ver. 19.-Who shall entioe, etc.? Hebrew the battle and Ahab's death, that Zedek.iah piel future i1QQ. This and the following and his co-prophets did what they could, three verses must have told, manifestly did however vainly, to hide a.nd to elnde the tell, with fearful force of faithful preaching, vengeance of Jezebel (1 Kings n. 30; x.rii. upon the unreal prophets and the wicked 25: 2 Kings ix. 2). king. How it was that their contents did not Ver. 25.-Ce.rry him baok. The last of avail with Jehoshaphat to throw full energy these three words tells, of conrse, its own again into his conscience, and to enable him to ta.le, of what had already been the treatment break at once with Ahab and his expedition, accorded to Micaie.b. Amon the governor is inexplicable (and the more as it was his . . . Joash the king's son. This latter person own pressing suggestion that the true pro- is found only here and in the parallel, and phet should be summoned), except as another the designation given him probably does not illustration of the fearful difficulty that lies intend e. personal relationship to the king, so often to human weakness, in the way of but an official; so see age.in eh. n.viii. 7: retracing a false step. Both these visions and note the conjunction again of the (vers. 16, 18-22) well illustrate how God governor of the house, in the next clause. revealed his truth, will, o.nd specific mes- 'fhe Vulgate translates the Hebrew for "the sages to his true prophets in vision. The kinv's," e.s though it were a proper name, vision of the throne, grand in e.11 the majesty "A~elech." See also Smith's 'Bible Dic- of its simplicity, oi' tlle psalmists (ix., xi., tionary,' under the name '' l\Ia,iseiah" 17. xiv., ciii.), of Isaiah (vi. 1-5), of Ezekiel Nor is Amon the governor known elsewhere (i. 26), of Daniel (vii. 9), of Stephen (Acts except in the po.rullel (1 Kings xxii. 26), but vii. 56), of St. John (Rev. iv. 2), is po.rt of these desi.,nntions, e.s through some chinks, J,caven's own stamp of authentication of the throw a little scC1nty light into tho subject Dible. of the interno.l administmtiou ttt thi.:l tirue of Ver. 22.-The vision cuhninaling ns re- the kingdom of Israel. Iu tbi:l kin:;dom ~an.ls its practicul object iu this verso is subsequent to the sepnrntion, decenk1lfaa.-  ~HI THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [err. xvm. 1-84-.