Verse Lens · Concise explanation
1 Kings 22:18 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 18. 18And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition: “And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no….” Its responsible meaning belongs to the complete movement “Micaiah's irony yields to the shepherdless-Israel vision.”
Micaiah first says the court's sentence in a way Ahab can hear as mockery
This verse is one part of that explanation in 1 Kings 22:15–18. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 1 Kings 22:15–18
Read 1 Kings 22:18 with 22:15–18. The selected wording supplies one closing in the thought unit with its stated result or transition; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Delivers a first answer whose agreement with the court prophets is exposed as ironic by the exchange; shows Ahab treating an adverse word as proof of personal hostility.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Micaiah's irony yields to the shepherdless-Israel vision,” 1 Kings 22:18 closes the thought unit with its stated result or transition through the wording “And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: 1 Kings 22:1–14 establishes this prior movement: Opens with three years of peace between Aram and Israel; records Micaiah's oath to speak only what the LORD says. 1 Kings 22:15–18 responds to the pressure, request, or claim already established; that demonstrated relationship, rather than database adjacency alone, explains its placement.
Read 1 Kings 22:15–18 together
Why these verses belong together: Micaiah's irony yields to the shepherdless-Israel vision is the complete reviewed scene, prayer, oracle, list, or regnal notice bounded at 22:15–22:18.
Verse 15. 15 So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.
Verse 16. 16 And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD?
Verse 17. 17 And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.
Verse 18. 18 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?
What Remains True
Truthful witness may confront power without making every messenger, method, or claimed revelation morally infallible. This unit tests that truth through delivers a first answer whose agreement with the court prophets is exposed as ironic by the exchange; shows Ahab treating an adverse word as proof of personal hostility. In 1 Kings 22:18, the concrete line “And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 1 Kings 22:15–18 — Micaiah's irony yields to the shepherdless-Israel visionSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Kings 22:15–18, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 22:15–18
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 1 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only printed unit-level translation, lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and verse-numbering notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Kings PDF, printed pp. 625–627, translation and translator notes for 22:15–18
Open source ↗