2 Chronicles 18:1–11, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
2 Chronicles 18:1–11
Jehoshaphat joins Ahab while prophets promise victory
Marriage alliance, a feast in Samaria, and Ramoth-gilead
Jehoshaphat has riches and honour in abundance, and joins affinity with Ahab. After certain years he goes down to Ahab to Samaria. Ahab kills sheep and oxen for him in abundance, and for the people with him, and persuades him to go up with him to Ramoth-gilead. Persuaded means induced or enticed. Ahab says to Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to Ramoth-gilead? Jehoshaphat answers, I am as thou art, and my people as thy people; and we will be with thee in the war.
The celebrated teacher-king now stands inside the northern court. Hospitality and family alliance are the bait. Chronicles follows 1 Kings 22 closely here while omitting some of Kings' surrounding Ahab narrative. Religious consensus will next be summoned to bless the campaign.
Four hundred prophets say go up; one more is requested
Jehoshaphat says unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day. The king of Israel gathers four hundred men, and says, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? They say, Go up; for God will deliver it into the king's hand. Jehoshaphat asks, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him? The king of Israel says, There is yet one man, Micaiah son of Imla, by whom we may enquire, but I hate him; for he never prophesies good unto me, but always evil. Jehoshaphat says, Let not the king say so.
The king of Israel calls an officer to fetch Micaiah. The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat sit each on his throne, clothed in robes, in a void place at the entering of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesy before them. Zedekiah son of Chenaanah makes horns of iron: With these thou shalt push Syria until they be consumed. All the prophets prophesy so, saying, Go up to Ramoth-gilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king. Unanimity, iron horns, and royal seating are not truth. The prophets' status and sincerity are debated; the story's theology exceeds historical reconstruction. Confident prophecy does not excuse joining another ruler's war.
How this should shape us
Do not let a feast, a marriage tie, or four hundred agreeing voices decide a war. Ask for a word besides the approved chorus, and refuse to treat hospitality as a reason to send people to Ramoth-gilead.
Teach it back
Explain 2 Chronicles 18:1–11 in your own words. Include its movement, placement in Chronicles, one Samuel-Kings comparison, one material uncertainty, one affected person or group, and one modern use the complete context rules out.
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Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Chronicles closely follows Kings but omits some context; the prophets' status and sincerity are debated, and the story's literary theology exceeds historical reconstruction.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
2 Chronicles 18:1–11, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clauses, regnal formulas, temple vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Chr.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 18:1–11
Supports: Unit-bounded translation comparisons and only those lexical, textual, grammatical, numerical, historical, and parallel-passage notes attached to these verses.
STEP Bible NET2full, 2 Chronicles 18:1–11, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Supports: Publisher-visible framing of the Chronicler's God, worship, Israel, kingship, retribution, and hope, used within its access limitation rather than as uninspected detailed commentary.
Japhet, The Ideology of the Book of Chronicles (2009), chapter 3, 'The People of Israel,' pp. 209–307, and chapter 4, 'Kingship,' pp. 308–383; only the official exposed openings and ranges were inspected
Supports: Only the exposed late-Persian and alternative-history framing plus the fact of deliberate rewriting; not uninspected detailed claims.
Levin, 'The Chronicler's Rewriting of the History of Israel: Why and How?' (2020), pp. 173–188; official opening, XML metadata, and chapter record
Supports: A recent critical reading of institutional legitimation and selective historical discourse, used without reducing all worship to elite manipulation.
Geyser-Fouché, HTS 79.1 (2023), complete official HTML, sections on selective narration, temple and personnel, royal patronage, Athaliah and Joash, exile, and power
Supports: Case-sensitive distinction between events and literary presentation in ancient historiography, including credibility limits and rhetorical shaping.
Kalimi, 'History, Historiography, Historical Evaluation and Credibility,' repository PDF pp. 7–25
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
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 KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: 2 Chronicles 18:1–11, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 2 Chronicles
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording, morphology, names, clauses, regnal formulas, temple vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/2Chr.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 18:1–11
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Full Notes: 2 Chronicles
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press; STEP Bible presentation, 2019 edition; current web presentation
Supports: Unit-bounded translation comparisons and only those lexical, textual, grammatical, numerical, historical, and parallel-passage notes attached to these verses.
Exact location: STEP Bible NET2full, 2 Chronicles 18:1–11, verse-attached translation and translator notes
Open source ↗modern scholarly monograph limited access
The Ideology of the Book of Chronicles and Its Place in Biblical Thought
Sara Japhet
Eisenbrauns / Penn State University Press, English edition 1989; reprint 2009
Supports: Publisher-visible framing of the Chronicler's God, worship, Israel, kingship, retribution, and hope, used within its access limitation rather than as uninspected detailed commentary.
Exact location: Japhet, The Ideology of the Book of Chronicles (2009), chapter 3, 'The People of Israel,' pp. 209–307, and chapter 4, 'Kingship,' pp. 308–383; only the official exposed openings and ranges were inspected
Open source ↗peer reviewed scholarly book chapter limited access
The Chronicler's Rewriting of the History of Israel: Why and How?
Yigal Levin
Writing and Rewriting History in Ancient Israel and Near Eastern Cultures, Mohr Siebeck, 2020
Supports: Only the exposed late-Persian and alternative-history framing plus the fact of deliberate rewriting; not uninspected detailed claims.
Exact location: Levin, 'The Chronicler's Rewriting of the History of Israel: Why and How?' (2020), pp. 173–188; official opening, XML metadata, and chapter record
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access scholarly article
1 and 2 Chronicles as a discourse of power
Ananda Geyser-Fouche
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 79(1), article 8011, 2023
Supports: A recent critical reading of institutional legitimation and selective historical discourse, used without reducing all worship to elite manipulation.
Exact location: Geyser-Fouché, HTS 79.1 (2023), complete official HTML, sections on selective narration, temple and personnel, royal patronage, Athaliah and Joash, exile, and power
Open source ↗peer reviewed open access scholarly article
History, Historiography, Historical Evaluation and Credibility: Chronicles in Its Ancient Context
Isaac Kalimi
Poznań Theological Studies repository edition, pp. 7-25, 2019 repository edition
Supports: Case-sensitive distinction between events and literary presentation in ancient historiography, including credibility limits and rhetorical shaping.
Exact location: Kalimi, 'History, Historiography, Historical Evaluation and Credibility,' repository PDF pp. 7–25
Open source ↗