1 Kings xvi. 29. Ch. xvii.1. AHAB, King of Israel, the Son and Successor of Omri. He reigned two and twenty years, from the year of the World 3086 to 3107. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and exceeded all who went before him in impiety. He married Jezebel, the Daughter of Ethbaal, King of the Zidonians, who introduced the Idols Baal and Astarte among the Israelites, and engaged Ahab in the worship of these false Gods. God being provok’d by his sins, sent the Prophet Elijah to him, who declared to him that there would be a Famine of three years continuance; after which he retired, left King Ahab, or Jezebel his Queen, should procure his death. The Dearth having lasted for three years, Ahab sent Obadiah, who was Governor of his house, to look for some good pasture in the Country, that he might preserve some at least of his Cattle. In his journey 1 Kings xviii.he met Elijah, who commanded him to go and tell Ahab that Elijah was there. Ahab came immediately, and said to the Prophet, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answer’d, I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy Father’s house, in that thou hast forsaken the Commandments of the Lord, and hast followed Baalim.
He afterwards desired him to gather all the People unto Mount Carmel, and with them the Prophets of Baal; and when they were thus assembled, Elijah caused fire to descend from Heaven upon his sacrifice, as we shall see in the Article of ELIJAH. After this he obtained of God that it should rain, and the Earth recover its former fertility. This happen’d in the year of the World 3096, before J. C. 904, before the vulgar Æra 908.
Six years after, that is to say, in the year of the World 3103, Ben-hadad, King of Ch. xx.Syria, laid siege unto Samaria, and sent Ambassadors to Ahab in the City with this message, Thy Silver and thy Gold are mine, thy Wives also and thy Children, even the goodliest, are mine. To this the King of Israel answer’d, My Lord, O King, according to thy saying, I am thine and all that I have. And the Messengers came again from Benhadad, saying in their Master’s name, Thou shalt deliver me thy Silver and thy Gold, and thy Wives and thy Children; and I will send my Servants to-morrow unto thee about this time, and they shall search thine house, and the houses of thy Servants, and it shall be that whatsoever is pleasant in thine eyes, they shall put it in thine hand and take it away. Then Ahab called all the Elders of the land, and said, Mark, I pray you, and see how this Man seeketh mischief. I have yielded to all that he at first demanded, and he is not content with what is mine, but will have likewise what belongs unto my Subjects. And all the Elders and all the People said unto him, Hearken not to him nor consent. The Ambassadors of Ben-hadad returning to him, reported the resolution of the Samaritans. Whereupon he sent to Ahab, and said, The Gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the People that follow me. To which Ahab replied, Let not him that girdeth on his harness, boast himself as he that putteth it off. Benhadad was drinking in the shade with other Kings that accompanied him when he receiv’d this answer, and said immediately to his People, Set yourselves in array, and they set themselves in array against the City. At the same time there came a Prophet unto Ahab, saying, Hast thou seen this great multitude? behold I will deliver it into thine hand this day, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. And Ahab said, by whom? Even by the young men of the Princes of the Provinces. Ahab added, Who shall order the battle? And the Prophet answer’d Thou. Then Ahab reviewed the Princes of the Provinces, and found their number to be two hundred thirty two. After this he reviewed the People likewise that were in Samaria, and found that they amounted to seven thousand. They made a sally at noon day, while Ben-hadad was drinking, and overcharg’d with wine, and the two and thirty Kings that followed him were with him in the same condition. The young men of the Princes of the Provinces marched at the head of Ahab’s little army. Ben-hadad had notice that Ahab’s People were come out of the City, and he said, Whether they come to talk of Peace or to engage, take them all alive. The young men notwithstanding, followed by the inconsiderable army of Israel, advanced, and killed all that opposed them. Hereupon a panick terror seized on the Syrian army, and they all began to fly. Ben-hadad himself mounted his horse, and fled with his cavalry. Ahab seeing this, pursued the Run-aways, killed great numbers of them, and took a very considerable booty.
Then the Prophet of the Lord came to Ch. xx. 22, &c. seq.Ahab, to infuse new courage into him, and caution him to be upon his guard, because Ben-hadad would return against him the year following. Accordingly at the year’s In the Year of the World 3104, before J. C. 896, before the vulgar Æra 900.end he return’d, and incamped at Aphek with a design of giving battle to the Israelites. The King of Israel march-ed against him with an Army much inferior in force and number; but a Prophet from God came and assured him of the victory. Both Armies were ranged in order of Battle for seven days successively. At last upon the seventh day the Combat began; the Israelites killed an hundred thousand of the Syrians, and the rest fled to Aphek. But as they were pressing to get into the City, the walls of Aphek fell upon them, and killed seven and twenty thousand more. Benhadad throwing himself upon the clemency of Ahab, this Prince received him into his own chariot, made an alliance with him, and permitted him to go, upon condition that Ahab should be allowed to make Streets and Market-places in Damascus, as Ben-hadad’s Father had done before in Samaria.
This Clemency shewn so unseasonably, provoked the Lord. A certain Prophet said unto one of his companions, Smite me; and upon his refusal to do so, he said unto him, Because thou wouldst not smite me, as soon as thou art departed from me, a Lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him a Lion found him and slew him. He said then to another Man Smite me, and the Man smote him and wounded him. The Prophet disguised himself with ashes upon his face to prevent his being known; and going to the King, said, Thy Servant went out into the midst of the Battle, and a Prisoner was deliver’d to my care with this Charge, Thou shalt answer for this Man with thy life, or shalt pay a talent of Silver: In the midst of the distraction and perplexity which I was then in, turning to one side and the other, the Man on a sudden disappeared. Ahab answer’d, You have pronounced your own sentence. Whereupon the Prophet wiping the dust from off his face, said to the King, Because thou hast let go out of thine hand a Man whom I had destined to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy People for his People. Ahab returned to Samaria in great indignation, without concerning himself much about the Prophet’s Prediction. This happened in the year of the World 3104, before J. C. 896, before the vulgar Æra 900.
The year following 3105, Ahab desiring to make a Kitchen-garden near his Palace, requested of one Naboth, a Citizen of Jezreel, that he would sell him his Vineyard, because it lay convenient for him, and withal told him, that he would either give him a better, or would pay the value of it. The Lord forbid, said Naboth, that I should give the inheritance of my Fathers unto thee. Ahab therefore returned in great passion to his house, threw himself upon his bed, turned towards the wall, and would eat nothing. Jezebel his Wife coming in, asked the reason of his great concern, and being informed, she said, For one who is King of Israel, your Authority indeed is very great: Rise, eat, and take your rest, for I will undertake to put Naboth the Jezreelite’s Vineyard into your possession. She immediately therefore wrote Letters in the name of Ahab, sealed them with the King’s signet, and sent them to the Elders of Jezreel. The Letters were drawn up in these terms, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the People. And set two Men, Sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the King, and then carry him out and stone him, that he may die. These orders were but too punctually executed, and Ahab being informed of Naboth’s death, immediately took possession of his Vineyard.
As he returned from Jezreel to Samaria, the Prophet Elijah, by God’s direction, met him, and said, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? Now thus saith the Lord, in the place where Dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall Dogs lick thy blood, even thine. And Ahab said to him, Hast thou found me, O my Enemy! And he answer’d, I have found thee: Because thou hast sold thy self to work evil in the sight of the Lord, behold I will bring evil upon thee, and upon all thy Family. If Ahab dies in the City the Dogs shall eat him, if in the Fields the Fowls of the air shall eat him. And for Jezebel, of her the Lord spake, saying, The Dogs shall eat Jezebel by the way of Jezreel. Ahab hearing these words, rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his Flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. Then the Lord said to the Prophet Elijah, Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? Because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days, but in his Son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house. But as Ahab’s Repentance was neither sincere nor persevering, God nothwithstanding inflicted some part of this punishment upon his Person, but did not extirpate his Family till the reign of his Son Ahaziah, as we shall see in another place.
Two years after Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, making Ahab a visit in Samaria, at a In the Year of the World 3107, before J.C. 893, before the vulgar Æra 897. 1 Kings xxii.time when he was preparing to attack Ramoth-gilead, which Ben-hadad, King of Syria, unjustly detained from him, the King of Israel invited him to accompany him in this Expedition, which Jehoshaphat consented to, but wished that some Prophet of the Lord might be first consulted. Ahab therefore assembled all the Prophets of Baal, in number about four hundred, who all concurr’d in saying, Go up, for the Lord shall deliver Ramoth-gilead into the hand of the King. And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a Prophet of the Lord besides, that we might enquire of him? Ahab said, there is one, Micaiah the Son of Imlah, but he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the King say so. Micaiah therefore was called. In the mean time the two Kings were in an open place near the gate of Samaria, seated each upon his throne, dressed with a Magnificence truly royal, and all the Prophets of Baal were about them, counterfeiting inspired Persons; and one among the rest, Zedekiah, the Son of Chenaanah, making himself self horns of iron, said, Thus saith the Lord, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou hast consumed them. The rest also prophesied the same, each after his particular manner, and exhorted the Kings to march resolutely against Ramoth-gilead.
Ahab’s officer, who went in search for Micaiah, told him, that the Prophets all foretold nothing but prosperity to the two Kings; Let thy word therefore, said he, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good. And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, that which the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak. He went therefore to Ahab, who asked him whether he should march against Ramoth-gilead. Go, said Micaiah, and prosper, for the Lord shall deliver it into thine hand. The King added, I adjure thee, that thou tell me nothing but that which is true, in the name of the Lord. Then Micaiah, putting on a more serious air, said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as Sheep that have no Shepherd; and the Lord said, These have no master, let them return every man to his house in peace. Then Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee, that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil? Micaiah added, Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord, I saw the Lord sitting upon his throne, and all the host of Heaven standing by him, on his right hand and on his left; and the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth gilead ? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And then came forth a Spirit, and stood before the Lord and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying Spirit in the mouth of all his Prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him and prevail also; go forth and do so. It is this evil Spirit, which hath animated all thy Prophets, who endeavour only to engage thee in that which will be thy ruin.
At the same time Zedekiah the Son of Chenaanah smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the Lord to speak unto thee? And Micaiah answered, Behold thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thy self. Then Ahab gave orders to his people to secure Micaiah, and carry him to Amon the Governour of the City, and to Joash the King’s Son, and say, in his name, Put this fellow in prison, and feed him with the bread of affliction, and with the water of affliction, until I come in peace. And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you. Ahab therefore, and Jehoshaphat marched against Ramoth-gilead, and the King of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, I will disguise my self, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. For he knew that the King of Syria had commanded two and thirty Captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the King of Israel. These officers therefore having observed King Jehoshaphat to be dressed in royal robes, took him for the King of Israel, and fell all upon him with great impetuosity; so that this Prince seeing himself pressed so closely, cried out; this discovered him, and when he was known, he was pursued no longer by the Captains of the King of Syria.
But God, in order to fulfil his word, permitted one of the Syrian army to shoot a random arrow, which pierced the heart of Ahab: He said therefore to his charioteer, Turn thine hand, and carry me out of the host, for I am wounded. The battle lasted the whole day, and Ahab continued in his chariot with his face turned against the Syrians. In the mean while his blood was still issuing from his wound, and falling on his chariot; and in the evening he died. Then proclamation was made by sound of trumpet throughout the army, that every man should return to his own city and country. The King of Israel therefore being dead, was carried to Samaria, and there buried. His chariot, and the reins of his horses were washed in the fish-pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked his blood, according to the Lord’s prediction. Such was the end of Ahab, in the year of the world 3107. before J. C. 893. before the vulgar Æra 897. Ahaziah his Son succeeded him.