1 Kings 22:1

THE BATTLE OF RAMOTH-GILEAD AND THE END OF AHAB;

AHAB'S ALLIANCE WITH JEHOSHAPHAT

"And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel. And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel. And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth-gilead is ours, and we are still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria? And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle, to Ramoth-gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses."

"They continued three years without war between Syria and Israel" (1 Kings 22:1). Not long after Benhadad's second defeat by Ahab, which ended in that "covenant" between Ahab and Benhadad, Ahab fulfilled his part of the "covenant" by providing 2,000 chariots and 10,000 infantry for an allied battle led by Benhadad against the threatening army of Assyrians.[1] This encounter was known as the battle of Qarqar (853 B.C.). The "three years" mentioned here is a reference to the three years following the "covenant." Benhadad, however, had not lived up to his part of the "covenant," still retaining the cities he had promised to restore to Israel.

"Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel" (1 Kings 22:2). It was a grave mistake for Jehoshaphat to do this. "He disregarded the vast moral and religious gulf separating the two kingdoms, and made an alliance with Ahab."[2] "This was the first time that a king of Judah (of the house of David) had visited one of the kings who had revolted from that dynasty."[3] "Neither the alliance formed here nor the matrimonial alliance that further cemented the two royal families met with the Lord's approval (2 Chronicles 19:2)."[4]

"Know ye not that Ramoth-gilead is ours, etc.?" (1 Kings 22:2). Yes, this was one of those cities Benhadad had falsely promised to restore. It was a walled city east of the Jordan, one of the cities of refuge, and had served as one of Solomon's provincial capitals.[5]

"I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses" (1 Kings 22:4). As for the reason why Jehoshaphat agreed to such a sinful and dangerous alliance, Hammond believed that was prompted, in part, by the fact that, "The Syrian army was entrenched at Ramoth-gilead, only forty miles from Jerusalem."[6] Of course, the marriage of Athaliah, a daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, thus sentimentally uniting the two families, might also have been a factor entering into Jehoshaphat's ready acceptance with Ahab's invitation. Whatever the reasons, the alliance was a mistake. Too intimate a relationship with evil people, "Has brought many good people into a dangerous fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness."[7]