Read 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18 at Bible Gateway.
Hebrew paragraph divisions
1 Kin 21:28-22:1 {p} The word of YHVH: because Ahab humbled himself, the calamity will not come in his day
1 Kin 22:2-18 {s} Ahab asks Jehoshaphat to join him in war with Syria/false prophets and Micaiah
1 Kin 22:19-40 {p} Ahab imprisons Micaiah/ he is killed in the battle that day
1 Kin 22:41-50 {s} The reign of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, 25 years, who did good in the eyes of the LORD
1 Kin 22:51-2 Kin 1:2 {s} …
2 Chr 18:1-17 {s} Alliance between Jeshoshaphat + Ahab: inquired of the prophets concerning war with Syria
2 Chr 18:18-22 {s} Prophet: the Lord has decreed a lying spirit in the mouths of the prophets, for you will not prevail
2 Chr 18:23-19:1 {s} As the prophet spoke so it was: Ahab was killed in battle, but Jehoshapat returned in peace
Strong themes
1 Kin 21:1-22:1 {px4} The crimes of Ahab + Jezebel, so that YHVH prophesied against them, but Ahab humbled himself
1 Kin 22:2-40 {s+p} Ahab initiated war with Syria, but he is killed in the battle, according to the word of YHVH
2 Chr 18:1-19:11 {sx3+p} Jeshoshaphat’s alliance with Ahab failed, therefore he allied himself with the LORD God
1 Kin 18:15-22:40 chiastic structure
I have been meditating on why the central axis is as it is, Ahab’s discussion with Naboth about his vineyard. Now Jezebel is the one who actually obtained Naboth’s vineyard illegally, but I think the LORD held Ahab accountable because he is the head of his wife. When his wife told him she would get the vineyard for him, he did not restrain her. He had Naboth’s answer in the central axis, and that answer should have been final whether it pleased him or not!
That he let his wife wear the pants in the family is reiterated in 1 Kin 21:25:
But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up.
She led him, he did not lead her. I understand that royal marriages were made to secure alliances without the consent of the bride or groom, so Ahab was put in a corner, having to take the princess of Phoenicia to wife. However, that he did not lead her but he allowed her to lead him into wickedness is on him.
Contrast unrighteous Ahab with righteous Jehoshaphat, who took delight in the ways of the LORD!
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