1 Kings 22:23

1Ki 22:23 Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

Ver. 23. Now, therefore, behold the Lord.] He hath not only a permissive but an active providence in the just punishment of wicked persons; turning the devil loose upon them, and leaving them to their own hearts’ lusts.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 22:23. Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put, &c. — It is frequent in the Holy Scriptures to call that the Lord’s doing which he only permits to be done; because he has the supreme direction of all things, and governs the event. Wicked devices proceed from wicked men and wicked spirits: but, that they prevail and take effect, is owing to the hand of God directing and ordering when and where they shall light, and what shall be the issue of them. Hath put a lying spirit into the mouth, &c. — Hath permitted a lying spirit to influence these men. Hath spoken evil concerning thee — Hath decreed that thou shalt perish in this war. It may not be amiss to observe here, that “the evil being, named Satan, was little known to the Jewish people till their captivity; and then this history was taught openly as a security against the doctrine of the two principles. The Jewish lawgiver, where he so frequently enumerates and warns the Israelites of the snares and temptations which would draw them to transgress the law of God, never mentions this capital enemy of heaven. Nay, when the form of that sacred history which Moses composed obliged him to treat of Satan’s first grand machination against mankind, he entirely hides this wicked spirit under the animal which he made his instrument; but, as the fulness of time drew near, they were made more and more acquainted with this their capital enemy. When Ahab, for the crimes and follies of the people, was suffered to be infatuated, we have the account in the words of Micaiah above. Satan is not here recorded by name; and so we must conclude the people were yet to know little of his history: however, this undertaking sufficiently declared his nature.” Div. Leg., vol. 4. p. 279.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 23. The Lord hath put a lying spirit] He hath permitted or suffered a lying spirit to influence thy prophets. Is it requisite again to remind the reader that the Scriptures repeatedly represent God as doing what, in the course of his providence, he only permits or suffers to be done? Nothing can be done in heaven, in earth, or hell, but either by his immediate energy or permission. This is the reason why the Scripture speaks as above.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(23) The Lord . . . the Lord.—The emphatic repetition of the Name Jehovah hero is an implied answer to the insinuation of mere malice in 1Ki_22:8; 1Ki_22:18.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. The Lord hath put a lying spirit] These words bear out what has been said on 1Ki_22:21. It was a messenger from Jehovah which led these prophets astray. We are not to conclude from this that it was an evil spirit, or Satan, as some have suggested. Such spirits are not God’s agents. The spirit which here wrought the evil did but foster the false notions which a long course of previous warnings had had no effect in driving away. Now therefore Ahab is given up to them. God sends him ‘a strong delusion, that he should believe a lie’ (2Th_2:11). Cf. Psa_78:49. ‘He sent messengers of evil (not, evil angels) among them’.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And say, thus saith the king, put this fellow in prison,.... In the common prison of the city, where he had been before, as it seems; and might be now ordered into a more confined place in it, and what might be called "little ease":

and feed him with bread of affliction, and with water of affliction; with bad bread and foul water, and but little of either; just enough to keep alive, and to continue starving:

until I come in peace; which he seemed confident of, and intimates that then he would punish him more severely, even with death, as a false prophet.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Now therefore, behold, the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth Of all these thy Cf. oJ? oi=kov uJmwn, (Mat_23:38) prophets This statement, especially to those who have taken the narrative literally, and who have seen in "the spirit" either one of the angels of God, or Satan himself, has presented almost insuperable difficulties. The main difficulty lies in the fact that the Almighty and All Holy is here made to give His sanction to deceit and lying, for the purpose of tempting Ahab to his death. We have precisely the same difficulty, though, if possible, more directly expressed in Eze_14:9: "If the prophet be deceived I the Lord have deceived that prophet." Cf. Jer_20:7; 1Sa_16:15. But this difficulty vanishes if we remember that this iseuthropopathic language, and is merely meant to convey that God had "taken the house of Israel in their own heart," because they were "estranged from Him through their idols". (Eze_14:5) Ahab wished to be guided by false prophets, and the justice of God decreed that he should be guided by them to his ruin. Sin is punished by sin. "God proves His holiness most of all by this, that He punishes evil by evil, and destroys it by itself" (Bahr). Ahab had chosen lying instead of truth: by lying according to the lex talionis he should be destroyed. The difficulty, in fact, is that of the permission of evil in the world; of the use of existent evil by God to accomplish His purposes of good, and the Lord not I alone, ver. 18 hath spoken i.e., decreed evil concerning thee.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.