Bible Strands
2 Chronicles 18:7
The king of Israel answered, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good for me, but only bad. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.” “The king should not say that!” Jehoshaphat replied.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The king of Israel addresses Jehoshaphat during a military consultation, acknowledging a remaining prophet of the LORD while openly admitting his hostility toward him.
The words — The Hebrew terms מֶֽלֶךְ\־ (Me.lekh-) and אִישׁ\־ ('ish-) anchor the declaration, literally rendering "[the] king of" and "a man."
The thread — This dynamic of rejecting prophetic rebuke appears in 1 Kings 18:17, where Ahab labels Elijah a "troubler," and parallels the warning in Amos 5:10 against hating those who reprove in the gate.
Why it lands — The text records the king’s explicit statement that he avoids Micaiah because he prophesies only bad news. This demands readers examine whether they prioritize comforting assurances over corrective truth when facing divine instruction.
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 king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, by whom we may enquire of the Lord: but I hate him; for he never prophesied good unto me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
Cross-references
- Amos 5:10 There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
- Micah 2:7 Should it be said, O house of Jacob, “Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient? Are these the things He does?” Do not My words bring good to him who walks uprightly?
- 1 Kings 18:17 When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”
- 1 Kings 21:20 When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, “So you have found me out, my enemy.” He replied, “I have found you out because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the LORD.
- 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.
- Luke 6:22 Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.
- 1 Kings 18:4 for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
- 1 Kings 19:10 “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”
- 1 Kings 20:42 And the prophet said to the king, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have let slip from your hand the man I had devoted to destruction, your life will be exchanged for his life, and your people for his people.’”
- 2 Kings 9:22 When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?” “How can there be peace,” he replied, “as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”