2 Chronicles 18:12-14

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. 2 Chronicles 18:12 tn Heb “the words of the prophets are [with] one mouth good for the king.”
2. 2 Chronicles 18:12 tn Heb “let your words be like one of them and speak good.”
3. 2 Chronicles 18:14 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Micaiah) has been specified in the translation both for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
4. 2 Chronicles 18:14 sn One does not expect Micaiah, having just vowed to speak only what the Lord tells him, to agree with the other prophets and give the king an inaccurate prophecy. Micaiah’s actions became understandable later, when we discover that the Lord desires to deceive the king and lead him to his demise. The Lord even dispatches a lying spirit to deceive Ahab’s prophets. Micaiah can lie to the king because he realizes this lie is from the Lord. It is important to note that in v. 13 Micaiah only vows to speak the word of his God; he does not necessarily say he will tell the truth. In this case the Lord’s word is deliberately deceptive. Only when the king adjures him to tell the truth (v. 15), does Micaiah do so.