(15) Go, and prosper.—Micaiah is a true disciple of Elijah in the defiant irony of the tone in which he takes up and mocks the utterance of the false prophets so bitterly as at once to show Ahab his scorn of them and him. But his message is couched in metaphor and symbolic vision, unlike the stern directness of the style of Elijah.

1 Kings 22:15-16. He answered him, Go, and prosper — He gave the very same answer, and in the same words, which the other prophets had done; but spake them in such a manner, that Ahab plainly discerned he derided and mocked him: his meaning being evidently this: Because thou dost not seek to know the truth, but only to please thyself, go to the battle, as all thy prophets advise thee, and try the truth of their prediction by thy own experience. The king said, How many times shall I adjure thee? — He had not adjured him before, but now he does; as, probably, observing something in the countenance and gesture of Micaiah, which persuaded him that what he said was rather ironical than the real sentiments of his mind.

22:15-28 The greatest kindness we can do to one that is going in a dangerous way, is, to tell him of his danger. To leave the hardened criminal without excuse, and to give a useful lesson to others, Micaiah related his vision. This matter is represented after the manner of men: we are not to imagine that God is ever put upon new counsels; or that he needs to consult with angels, or any creature, about the methods he should take; or that he is the author of sin, or the cause of any man's telling or believing a lie. Micaiah returned not the blow of Zedekiah, yet, since he boasted of the Spirit, as those commonly do that know least of the Holy Spirit's operations, the true prophet left him to be convinced of his error by the event. Those that will not have their mistakes set right in time, by the word of God, will be undeceived, when it is too late, by the judgments of God. We should be ashamed of what we call trials, were we to consider what the servants of God have endured. Yet it will be well, if freedom from trouble prove not more hurtful to us; we are more easily allured and bribed into unfaithfulness and conformity to the world, than driven to them.And he answered him ... - Micaiah speaks the exact words of the 400 in so mocking and ironical a tone, that the king cannot mistake his meaning, or regard his answer as serious. The king's rejoinder implies that this mocking manner was familiar to Micaiah, who had used it in some former dealings with the Israelite monarch. Hence, in part, the king's strong feeling of dislike (compare 1 Kings 22:8). 14-17. what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak—On the way the messenger who conducted [Micaiah] to the royal presence informed him of the tenor of the prophecies already given and recommended him to agree with the rest, no doubt from the kindly motive of seeing him released from imprisonment. But Micaiah, inflexibly faithful to his divine mission as a prophet, announced his purpose to proclaim honestly whatever God should bid him. On being asked by the king, "Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I forbear?" the prophet gave precisely the same answer as the previous oracles that had been consulted; but it must have been given in a sarcastic tone and in ironical mockery of their way of speaking. Being solemnly urged to give a serious and truthful answer, Micaiah then declared the visionary scene the Spirit had revealed to him;— He answered him; not seriously, but ironically, using the very words of the false prophets, in way of derision; as appears, first, From his omission of that solemn preface,

Thus saith the Lord, or, This is the word of the Lord, which the prophets generally used, and which himself useth when he comes to his serious answer, 1 Kings 21:19.

Secondly, From Ahab’s reply, 1 Kings 21:16, which shows that he suspected Micaiah’s sincerity in that answer, and gathered by his gesture or manner of speaking that he spake only mimically, as representing and traducing the false prophets for their answer. See the like ironical passages Genesis 3:22 Judges 10:14 1 Kings 18:27 Ecclesiastes 11:9 Ezekiel 20:39 Amos 4:4,5; all which expressions are not used to lead men into mistakes, but to bring them to the sight of their sin and duty, which may be done sometimes most efficaciously in this way. So Micaiah’s meaning is plainly this, Because thou dost not seek to know the truth, but only to please thyself, go to the battle, as all thy prophets advise thee, and expect the success which they promise thee, and try the truth of their prediction by thy own costly experience.

So he came to the king,.... Being introduced by the officer:

and the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go up against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? the same question in the same words that was put to the other prophets, 1 Kings 22:6, only there he uses the singular number, here the plural, including Jehoshaphat with him:

and he answered him, go, and prosper: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king; he answered not in the name of the Lord, saying, "thus saith the Lord", nor did he speak his own sense and in his own words, nor seriously, but by way of derision; he took up the words of the prophets, and bantered them; it is as if he should say, the prophets bid you go, and tell you that you shall "prosper", and that the city will be delivered into the king's hand; do as they direct you, and see what the issue will be, no doubt it will be good, since they are all agreed; but he delivered the above words with such gestures, and such a tone, and with a contemptuous smile in his countenance, which showed that he spoke not seriously, but sarcastically; and this the king plainly discovered, as appears by what follows.

So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, {n} Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

(n) He speaks this in derision, because the king attributed so much to the false prophets, meaning that by experience he should discern that they were liars.