Bible Strands
1 Kings 22:13
Then the messenger who had gone to call Micaiah instructed him, “Behold now, with one accord the words of the prophets are favorable to the king. So please let your words be like theirs, and speak favorably.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — A royal messenger sent to fetch the prophet Micaiah intercepts him and urges him to align his prophecy with the unanimous favorable predictions of King Ahab’s court prophets. (1 Kings 22:13)
The words — The Hebrew מַלְאָךְ (mal'akh), "messenger," identifies an official royal envoy, while דִּבֶּר (diber), "he spoke," frames the directive as a command to shape prophetic speech. (1 Kings 22:13)
The thread — This pressure for uniform prophecy mirrors the immediate context where all court prophets speak with one voice (1 Kings 22:12), contrasting with the isolated truth-teller stance in 1 Kings 22:14 and the biblical warning against self-deceptive isolation found in Psalms 10:11 and 14:1.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to reject consensus when it contradicts divine instruction, demanding obedience to God’s specific word over social or political pressure to conform.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good.
Cross-references
- Psalms 10:11 He says to himself, “God has forgotten; He hides His face and never sees.”
- Psalms 11:1 For the choirmaster. Of David. In the LORD I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain!
- Psalms 14:1 For the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.
- Psalms 50:21 You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.
- Isaiah 30:10 They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
- Hosea 7:3 They delight the king with their evil, and the princes with their lies.
- Amos 7:13 But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.”
- Micah 2:6 “Do not preach,” they preach. “Do not preach these things; disgrace will not overtake us.”
- Micah 2:11 If a man of wind were to come and say falsely, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” he would be just the preacher for this people!
- 1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.