2 Chronicles 18:5

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

So the king of Israel assembled 400 prophets and asked them,“Should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?” They said,“Attack! God will hand it over to the king.”

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וַיִּקְבֹּ֨ץ מֶֽלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵ֥ל אֶֽת־הַנְּבִאִים֮ אַרְבַּ֣ע מֵא֣וֹת אִישׁ֒ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֗ם הֲנֵלֵ֞ךְ אֶל־רָמֹ֥ת גִּלְעָ֛ד לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה אִם־אֶחְדָּ֑ל וַיֹּאמְר֣וּ עֲלֵ֔ה וְיִתֵּ֥ן הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים בְּיַ֥ד הַמֶּֽלֶךְ

Transliteration

wə-yiqbōṣ meleḵ-Yiśrāʾēl ʾeṯ-ha-nəḇîʾîm ʾarbaʿ mēʾôṯ ʾîš wə-yōʾmer to-them hă-nēlēḵ to-Rāmōṯ Gilʿāḏ to-the-milḥāmāh if-ʾeḥdāl wə-yōʾmərû go-up and-will-give hā-ʾelōhîm in-hand the-meleḵ

Grammar Details

• *wə-yiqbōṣ*: conjunction + qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - and he gathered
• *meleḵ*: masculine singular noun with definite article - the king
• *Yiśrāʾēl*: proper noun - Israel
• *ʾeṯ*: direct object marker
• *ha-nəḇîʾîm*: definite article + masculine plural noun - the prophets
• *ʾarbaʿ*: cardinal number - four
• *mēʾôṯ*: feminine plural noun - hundred
• *ʾîš*: masculine singular noun - man
• *wə-yōʾmer*: conjunction + qal imperfect 3rd masculine singular - and he said
• *hă-nēlēḵ*: interrogative particle + qal imperfect 1st common plural - shall we go?
• *Rāmōṯ*: proper noun - Ramoth
• *Gilʿāḏ*: proper noun - Gilead
• *milḥāmāh*: feminine singular noun with definite article - the battle/war
• *ʾeḥdāl*: qal imperfect 1st common singular - I refrain/cease
• *wə-yōʾmərû*: conjunction + qal imperfect 3rd masculine plural - and they said
• *hā-ʾelōhîm*: definite article + masculine plural noun (God) - the God

Word Meanings

• *wə-yiqbōṣ*: and he gathered/and he assembled/and he collected
• *ha-nəḇîʾîm*: the prophets/the seers
• *hă-nēlēḵ*: shall we go?/should we go?
• *ʾeḥdāl*: I refrain/I forbear/I cease
• *hā-ʾelōhîm*: God/the God/the deity

Referenced Verses

• 1 Kgs 18:19 : 19 Now send out messengers and assemble all Israel before me at Mount Carmel, as well as the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah whom Jezebel supports.”
• 2 Kgs 3:13 : 13 Elisha said to the king of Israel,“Why are you here? Go to your father’s prophets or your mother’s prophets!” The king of Israel replied to him,“No, for the LORD is the one who summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to Moab.”
• 2 Chr 18:14 : 14 Micaiah came before the king and the king asked him,“Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?” He answered him,“Attack! You will succeed; they will be handed over to you.”
• 2 Chr 18:20-21 : 20 Then a spirit stepped forward and stood before the LORD. He said,‘I will deceive him.’ The LORD asked him,‘How?’ 21 He replied,‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ The LORD said,‘Deceive and overpower him. Go out and do as you have proposed.’
• Jer 8:10-11 : 10 So I will give their wives to other men and their fields to new owners. For from the least important to the most important of them, all of them are greedy for dishonest gain. Prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. 11 They offer only superficial help for the hurt my dear people have suffered. They say,“Everything will be all right!” But everything is not all right!
• Jer 23:14 : 14 But I see the prophets of Jerusalem doing something just as shocking. They are unfaithful to me and continually prophesy lies. So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil, with the result that they do not stop their evildoing. I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom, and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah.
• Jer 23:17 : 17 They continually say to those who reject what the LORD has said,‘Things will go well for you!’ They say to all those who follow the stubborn inclinations of their own hearts,‘Nothing bad will happen to you!’
• Jer 28:1-9 : 1 Jeremiah Confronted by a False Prophet The following events occurred in that same year, early in the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah. To be more precise, it was the fifth month of the fourth year of his reign. The prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, spoke to Jeremiah in the LORD’s temple in the presence of the priests and all the people. 2 “The LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel says,‘I will break the yoke of servitude to the king of Babylon. 3 Before two years are over, I will bring back to this place everything that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from it and carried away to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place Jehoiakim’s son King Jeconiah of Judah and all the exiles who were taken to Babylon.’ Indeed, the LORD affirms,‘I will break the yoke of servitude to the king of Babylon.’” 5 Then the prophet Jeremiah responded to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the LORD’s temple. 6 The prophet Jeremiah said,“Amen! May the LORD do all this! May the LORD make your prophecy come true! May he bring back to this place from Babylon all the valuable articles taken from the LORD’s temple and the people who were carried into exile. 7 But listen to what I say to you and to all these people. 8 From earliest times, the prophets who preceded you and me invariably prophesied war, disaster, and plagues against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 So if a prophet prophesied peace and prosperity, it was only known that the LORD truly sent him when what he prophesied came true.” 10 The prophet Hananiah then took the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it. 11 Then he spoke up in the presence of all the people.“The LORD says,‘In the same way I will break the yoke of servitude of all the nations to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon before two years are over.’” After he heard this, the prophet Jeremiah departed and went on his way. 12 But shortly after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, the LORD’s message came to Jeremiah. 13 “Go and tell Hananiah that the LORD says,‘You have indeed broken the wooden yoke. But you have only succeeded in replacing it with an iron one! 14 For the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel says,“I have put an irresistible yoke of servitude on all these nations so they will serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And they will indeed serve him. I have even given him control over the wild animals.”’” 15 Then the prophet Jeremiah told the prophet Hananiah,“Listen, Hananiah! The LORD did not send you! You are making these people trust in a lie! 16 So the LORD says,‘I will most assuredly remove you from the face of the earth. You will die this very year because you have counseled rebellion against the LORD.’” 17 In the seventh month of that very same year the prophet Hananiah died.
• Jer 38:14-28 : 14 Jeremiah Responds to Zedekiah’s Request for Secret Advice Some time later Zedekiah sent and had Jeremiah brought to him at the third entrance of the LORD’s temple. The king said to Jeremiah,“I would like to ask you a question. Do not hide anything from me when you answer.” 15 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah,“If I answer you, you will certainly kill me. If I give you advice, you will not listen to me.” 16 So King Zedekiah made a secret promise to Jeremiah and sealed it with an oath. He promised,“As surely as the LORD lives who has given us life and breath, I promise you this: I will not kill you or hand you over to those men who want to kill you.” 17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah,“The LORD God of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says,‘You must surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon. If you do, your life will be spared and this city will not be burned down. Indeed, you and your whole family will be spared. 18 But if you do not surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon, this city will be handed over to the Babylonians and they will burn it down. You yourself will not escape from them.’” 19 Then King Zedekiah said to Jeremiah,“I am afraid of the Judeans who have deserted to the Babylonians. The Babylonians might hand me over to them and they will torture me.” 20 Then Jeremiah answered,“You will not be handed over to them. Please obey the LORD by doing what I have been telling you. Then all will go well with you and your life will be spared. 21 But if you refuse to surrender, the LORD has shown me a vision of what will happen. Here is what I saw: 22 All the women who are left in the royal palace of Judah will be led out to the officers of the king of Babylon. They will taunt you saying,‘Your trusted friends misled you; they have gotten the best of you. Now that your feet are stuck in the mud, they have turned their backs on you.’ 23 “All your wives and your children will be turned over to the Babylonians. You yourself will not escape from them but will be captured by the king of Babylon. This city will be burned down.” 24 Then Zedekiah told Jeremiah,“Do not let anyone know about the conversation we have had. If you do, you will die. 25 The officials may hear that I have talked with you. They may come to you and say,‘Tell us what you said to the king and what the king said to you. Do not hide anything from us. If you do, we will kill you.’ 26 If they do this, tell them,‘I was pleading with the king not to send me back to die in the dungeon of Jonathan’s house.’” 27 All the officials did indeed come and question Jeremiah. He told them exactly what the king had instructed him to say. They stopped questioning him any further because no one had actually heard their conversation. 28 So Jeremiah remained confined in the courtyard of the guardhouse until the day Jerusalem was captured.The Fall of Jerusalem and Its AftermathThe following events occurred when Jerusalem was captured.
• Jer 42:2-3 : 2 They said to him,“Please grant our request and pray to the LORD your God for all those of us who are still left alive here. For, as you yourself can see, there are only a few of us left out of the many there were before. 3 Pray that the LORD your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.”
• Jer 42:20 : 20 You are making a fatal mistake. For you sent me to the LORD your God and asked me,‘Pray to the LORD our God for us. Tell us what the LORD our God says and we will do it.’
• Ezek 13:3-9 : 3 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit but have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets have become like jackals among the ruins, O Israel. 5 You have not gone up in the breaks in the wall, nor repaired a wall for the house of Israel that it would stand strong in the battle on the day of the LORD. 6 They see delusion and their omens are a lie. They say,“the LORD declares,” though the LORD has not sent them; yet they expect their word to be confirmed. 7 Have you not seen a false vision and announced a lying omen when you say,“the LORD declares,” although I myself never spoke? 8 “‘Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you have spoken false words and forecast delusion, look, I am against you, declares the Sovereign LORD. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see delusion and announce lying omens. They will not be included in the council of my people, nor be written in the registry of the house of Israel, nor enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD. 10 “‘This is because they have led my people astray saying,“All is well,” when things are not well. When anyone builds a wall without mortar, they coat it with whitewash. 11 Tell the ones who coat it with whitewash that it will fall. When there is a deluge of rain, hailstones will fall and a violent wind will break out. 12 When the wall has collapsed, people will ask you,“Where is the whitewash you coated it with?” 13 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: In my rage I will make a violent wind break out. In my anger there will be a deluge of rain and hailstones in destructive fury. 14 I will break down the wall you coated with whitewash and knock it to the ground so that its foundation is exposed. When it falls you will be destroyed beneath it, and you will know that I am the LORD. 15 I will vent my rage against the wall, and against those who coated it with whitewash. Then I will say to you,“The wall is no more and those who whitewashed it are no more– 16 those prophets of Israel who would prophesy about Jerusalem and would see visions of peace for it, when there was no peace,” declares the Sovereign LORD.’
• Ezek 13:22 : 22 This is because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies(although I have not grieved him), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and preserve his life.
• Mic 2:11 : 11 If a lying windbag should come and say,‘I’ll promise you blessings of wine and beer,’ he would be just the right preacher for these people!
• Mic 3:11 : 11 Her leaders take bribes when they decide legal cases, her priests proclaim rulings for profit, and her prophets read omens for pay. Yet they claim to trust the LORD and say,“The LORD is among us. Disaster will not overtake us!”
• 2 Tim 4:3 : 3 For there will be a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things.
• Rev 19:20 : 20 Now the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf– signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur.