Introduction: Michayehu ben Yimla before the Two Kings
We continue in Chapter 18, at the grand assembly at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Shomron: Achav king of Israel and Yehoshaphat king of Yehudah are sitting, each on his throne, four hundred prophets are prophesying before them unanimously predicting success, and Michayehu ben Yimla - the only prophet Achav hates, because "he never prophesies good concerning me" - is brought before the king. From here onward, we will follow the order of the verses.
"Go Up and Succeed" - Prophecy or Mockery?
וַיָּבֹא אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵלָיו מִיכָה הֲנֵלֵךְ אֶל־רָמֹת גִּלְעָד לַמִּלְחָמָה אִם־אֶחְדָּל וַיֹּאמֶר עֲלוּ וְהַצְלִיחוּ וְיִנָּתְנוּ בְּיֶדְכֶם׃ (יד) - And he came to the king, and the king said to him, "Michah, shall we go to Ramot Gilead to battle, or shall I refrain?" And he said, "Go up and succeed, and they will be delivered into your hand." (14)
This is seemingly the first prophecy Michayehu delivers: go up and succeed, they will be given into your hand. Everything is fine, you may proceed. However, as we will immediately see, this is not a prophecy at all.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו הַמֶּלֶךְ עַד־כַּמֶּה פְעָמִים אֲנִי מַשְׁבִּיעֶךָ אֲשֶׁר לֹא־תְדַבֵּר אֵלַי רַק־אֱמֶת בְּשֵׁם יְהֹוָה׃ (טו) - And the king said to him, "How many times must I adjure you that you speak nothing to me but truth in the Name of Hashem?" (15)
Achav immediately realizes that this is not the word of Hashem. He says to him: not once or twice do I repeatedly adjure you to tell me only truth in the Name of Hashem. How did he know that these were not words of truth? Because the prophet did not say, "Thus said Hashem," nor did he use any phrasing indicative of prophecy. One who conveys the word of Hashem mentions this explicitly. It implies that Michayehu spoke here either mockingly and playfully - you want to hear good things? Here, blessing and success to you - or at most as a casual, conventional blessing, a sort of "Mi Shebeirach," but not as one delivering a prophecy.
"Like Sheep That Have No Shepherd"
וַיֹּאמֶר רָאִיתִי אֶת־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל נְפוֹצִים עַל־הֶהָרִים כַּצֹּאן אֲשֶׁר אֵין־לָהֶן רֹעֶה וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה לֹא־אֲדֹנִים לָאֵלֶּה יָשׁוּבוּ אִישׁ־לְבֵיתוֹ בְּשָׁלוֹם׃ (טז) - And he said, "I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd, and Hashem said: 'These have no master; let each return to his house in peace.'" (16)
Now, having been adjured, Michayehu conveys what was truly shown to him: I saw in prophetic vision all Israel scattered upon the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd. "Like sheep that have no shepherd" - meaning that the one struck down will be the shepherd himself. "These have no master" - in simple terms: the king is dead. Whereas the general public of Israel - "let each return to his house in peace." Why "scattered upon the mountains"? Because it was customary for fugitives to flee to the mountains, since a pursuer with chariots and horses will not pursue you into the mountains. So we find regarding David when he fled from Shaul to the mountains, and likewise, "and the remainder fled to the mountain." Moreover, Ramot Gilead itself is a region of mountains and hills.
וַיֹּאמֶר מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־יְהוֹשָׁפָט הֲלֹא אָמַרְתִּי אֵלֶיךָ לֹא־יִתְנַבֵּא עָלַי טוֹב כִּי אִם־לְרָע׃ (יז) - And the king of Israel said to Yehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you: he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?" (17)
Achav says to Yehoshaphat: Exactly as I told you. Did I not warn you that this man prophesies only evil concerning me? There, you see.
"I Saw Hashem Sitting on His Throne"
וַיֹּאמֶר לָכֵן שִׁמְעוּ דְבַר־יְהֹוָה רָאִיתִי אֶת־יְהֹוָה יוֹשֵׁב עַל־כִּסְאוֹ וְכׇל־צְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם עֹמְדִים עַל־יְמִינוֹ וּשְׂמֹאלוֹ׃ (יח) - And he said, "Therefore hear the word of Hashem: I saw Hashem sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on His right and on His left." (18)
Metzudat David explains: Since you suspect me of prophesying from my own mind, I will lay out before you the entire sequence of events exactly as they unfolded, and through this you will understand that the truth is with me. "On His right and on His left" - turning to the right and turning to the left, those advocating merit and those advocating guilt.
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה מִי יְפַתֶּה אֶת־אַחְאָב מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיַעַל וְיִפֹּל בְּרָמוֹת גִּלְעָד וַיֹּאמֶר זֶה אֹמֵר כָּכָה וְזֶה אֹמֵר כָּכָה׃ (יט) - And Hashem said, "Who will entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramot Gilead?" And one said thus, and another said thus. (19)
In Melachim it is written, "one said this way and another said that way," whereas here it says "thus." The matter is that Ahab had already incurred the death penalty. For all his wickedness - he did not leave a single furrow in the Land of Israel where he did not set up an idol; he incited and led Israel astray to idolatry; he married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, who persecuted the prophets of Hashem; and ultimately, he murdered Naboth the Jezreelite and inherited his vineyard. His record was full. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, asks: Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramot Gilead? And each member of the heavenly host offers a suggestion of his own. Metzudat David emphasizes that all these matters are stated by way of a parable, to make it understandable to the human ear according to the ways of man.
The Spirit of Naboth the Jezreelite
וַיֵּצֵא הָרוּחַ וַיַּעֲמֹד לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה וַיֹּאמֶר אֲנִי אֲפַתֶּנּוּ וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֵלָיו בַּמָּה׃ (כ) - Then the spirit came forward and stood before Hashem, and said, "I will entice him." And Hashem said to him, "How?" (20)
Well known are the words of Chazal that this was the spirit of Naboth the Jezreelite. That very Naboth against whom a false charge was fabricated to kill him and seize his vineyard - he is the one who now comes to take retribution against Ahab.
In the book Mishnat HaGilgulim, many accounts are brought concerning situations where the deceased summons a person still living in this world to judgment. In the time of the Chazon Ish, a man passed away, and a short time later his son passed away - the very son known to have made his father's life utterly miserable. The Chazon Ish remarked: His father summoned him to judgment in Heaven. We do not know what takes place there, but the Chazon Ish knew.
Another incident is cited there: A notorious evildoer died, and a yeshivah student who saw his corpse lying there tapped him lightly on the nose in contempt, and everyone laughed. Afterwards, the deceased began appearing to him in dreams, warning him to prepare to ascend to Heaven, as he wished to summon him to a Din Torah for the humiliation. This took place in the era of the Maharsha. A Beit Din was convened; they summoned the deceased to court, placed a partition, and called upon his soul. The deceased claimed that he was a tzaddik. They asked him: How can you be a tzaddik when you were a great evildoer? He replied that he had once saved a Jewish family from drowning, earning tremendous merits in Heaven, yet this student had disgraced a person of merit. The Rav said to him: It is true that you have merit, but you committed countless sins and lived as a wicked man. The Yetzer Hara cannot comprehend how someone he labored over all his days slipped away, suddenly cleared from judgment on account of saving a single family. Therefore, the Satan is now inciting you to sue the yeshivah student and bring about his death - and in this manner, one will cancel out the other: the merit of having saved lives will be offset by the guilt of causing the death of a yeshivah student, and then you will be held accountable for all your sins. If you possess any wisdom, leave him be. And he left him alone, and from that moment on, the soul did not appear again. Thus, judgment was carried out here on earth, and he returned no more. Other accounts of this nature, including from Rav Fetaya, are likewise cited there, showing how a deceased person seeks retribution against someone who wronged him during his lifetime. So too here: the spirit of Naboth seeks retribution against Ahab.
"A Lying Spirit in the Mouth of All His Prophets"
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵצֵא וְהָיִיתִי לְרוּחַ שֶׁקֶר בְּפִי כׇּל־נְבִיאָיו וַיֹּאמֶר תְּפַתֶּה וְגַם־תּוּכָל צֵא וַעֲשֵׂה־כֵן׃ (כא) - And he said, "I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets." And He said, "You shall entice him, and you shall also prevail; go out and do so." (21)
If you wonder where this orchestrated and coordinated prophecy of four hundred prophets all saying the exact same thing comes from - this is the spirit of Naboth, which became a lying spirit in the mouths of your prophets. Incidentally, Pseudo-Rashi deduced from here that they were true prophets, since they prophesied only what Hashem placed in their mouths. But as we have already discussed, there is no proof from here at all. On the contrary, this actually supports the view of the other commentators: the Holy One, Blessed be He, sent Naboth's spirit as a one-time occurrence to be a lying spirit in their mouths so that they would all speak in unison and succeed in convincing Achav. In their very essence, however, they were false prophets - the four hundred prophets of the Baal - as is required by the approach of the other commentators.
"You shall entice him, and you shall also prevail" - sometimes a person tries to entice someone but fails to persuade him. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to it: Not only will you entice him, but you will also succeed, and he will indeed accept these words and march up to Ramoth-gilead.
Our Sages expound: What is the meaning of "Go out and do so"? "He who speaks falsehood shall not stand before My eyes." The Holy One, Blessed be He, told it: If you wish to do this - leave My presence, for you are about to become a lying spirit, and a lying spirit cannot emanate from before the Holy One, Blessed be He. This is an awesome and chilling thought: the intensity of the desire for vengeance that Naboth the Jezreelite possessed, even there in the Heavenly realm, was stronger than the desire to remain in the presence of the Holy One, Blessed be He. How deeply a person can feel the urge to take revenge on someone who wronged him!
וְעַתָּה הִנֵּה נָתַן יְהֹוָה רוּחַ שֶׁקֶר בְּפִי נְבִיאֶיךָ אֵלֶּה וַיהֹוָה דִּבֶּר עָלֶיךָ רָעָה׃ (כב) - "Now therefore, behold, Hashem has put a lying spirit in the mouth of these your prophets, and Hashem has spoken evil concerning you." (22)
In other words: see that everything is guided by Divine Providence. Everything you witnessed, with everyone standing by your side - it is all a lying spirit, and do not think there is genuine prophecy here.
The Slap of Zedekiah son of Chenaanah
וַיִּגַּשׁ צִדְקִיָּהוּ בֶן־כְּנַעֲנָה וַיַּךְ אֶת־מִיכָיְהוּ עַל־הַלֶּחִי וַיֹּאמֶר אֵי זֶה הַדֶּרֶךְ עָבַר רוּחַ־יְהֹוָה מֵאִתִּי לְדַבֵּר אֹתָךְ׃ (כג) - "Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and struck Michaiah upon the cheek, and said: 'Which way did the spirit of Hashem pass from me to speak with you?'" (23)
Zedekiah son of Chenaanah, who until now had commanded center stage with the iron horns he had made for himself, convincing everyone of his prophecy - "With these shall you gore the Arameans" - suddenly sees someone arrive and upset all his plans. He therefore slaps him across the cheek, demanding: The spirit of Hashem was with me, so how could it have departed from me to speak with you? I am the true prophet, and your words are false!
וַיֹּאמֶר מִיכָיְהוּ הִנְּךָ רֹאֶה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא אֲשֶׁר תָּבוֹא חֶדֶר בְּחֶדֶר לְהֵחָבֵא׃ (כד) - "And Michaiah said: 'Behold, you shall see on that day, when you shall go into an inner chamber to hide.'" (24)
Michaiah replied: The outcome will prove it. On the day of battle you will see it with your own eyes, when you will have to hide from chamber to chamber so people do not kill you for having caused Achav to go to war. You were the stumbling block, so you will flee and hide lest they exact retribution from you for giving the counsel that ended in disaster.
"Bread of Affliction and Water of Affliction"
וַיֹּאמֶר מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל קְחוּ אֶת־מִיכָיְהוּ וַהֲשִׁיבֻהוּ אֶל־אָמוֹן שַׂר־הָעִיר וְאֶל־יוֹאָשׁ בֶּן־הַמֶּלֶךְ׃ (כה) - "And the king of Israel said: 'Take Michaiah, and carry him back to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son;'" (25)
וַאֲמַרְתֶּם כֹּה אָמַר הַמֶּלֶךְ שִׂימוּ זֶה בֵּית הַכֶּלֶא וְהַאֲכִלֻהוּ לֶחֶם לַחַץ וּמַיִם לַחַץ עַד שׁוּבִי בְשָׁלוֹם׃ (כו) - And you shall say: Thus said the king: Put this man in prison, and feed him scant bread and scant water, until I return in peace.
Amon the governor of the city was in charge of the prison, among other responsibilities, and Achav commanded that Michayehu be handed over to him and to Yoash the king's son, to be imprisoned. And why does the previous verse say vehashivuhu ("and return him"), a term of returning? Pseudo-Rashi explains that perhaps they had already imprisoned him in the past for delivering unpleasant prophecies, which is why it says "return him." Another possibility: this is the style of Scripture, and it does not necessarily imply he had been there before, similar to "The wicked shall return to Sheol" (Tehillim 9:18) - which does not mean they were there previously and are returning, but rather that they will arrive there. Here too, it simply means: bring him to the prison.
"Scant bread and scant water" - since this is not a Palestinian prisoner, do not let him earn a university degree, but give him only the bare minimum under duress, just enough to keep him alive. Pseudo-Rashi cites a similar expression in Yeshayahu: "bread of adversity and water of affliction" (Yeshayahu 30:20), meaning in meager measure. And some note in jest: "narrow bread and pressurized water" - a baguette and seltzer.
וַיֹּאמֶר מִיכָיְהוּ אִם־שׁוֹב תָּשׁוּב בְּשָׁלוֹם לֹא־דִבֶּר יְהֹוָה בִּי וַיֹּאמֶר שִׁמְעוּ עַמִּים כֻּלָּם׃ (כז) - And Michayehu said: If you indeed return in peace, the Lord has not spoken through me. And he said: Hear, all you peoples!
Michayehu says: If you truly return in peace, contrary to my words, it is a sign that Hashem did not speak through me and I fabricated it from my own heart. "Hear, all you peoples" - this does not refer to the surrounding nations, but to the tribes of Israel. And how do we know that "peoples" (amim) can refer to tribes? As in the verse, "Peoples shall call to the mountain" (Devarim 33:19), and similarly in several places. That is: let all the tribes be witnesses - if the king returns from the war, know that I am a false prophet.
Achav Disguises Himself
וַיַּעַל מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל וִיהוֹשָׁפָט מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה אֶל־רָמֹת גִּלְעָד׃ (כח) - So the king of Israel and Yehoshaphat the king of Judah went up to Ramot-gilad.
וַיֹּאמֶר מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־יְהוֹשָׁפָט הִתְחַפֵּשׂ וָבוֹא בַמִּלְחָמָה וְאַתָּה לְבַשׁ בְּגָדֶיךָ וַיִּתְחַפֵּשׂ מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיָּבֹאוּ בַּמִּלְחָמָה׃ (כט) - And the king of Israel said to Yehoshaphat: I will disguise myself and enter the battle, but you put on your robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.
Achav is not overly impressed by the prophecy and decides to go out to battle, in accordance with the words of the four hundred prophets of Baal. At first glance, it might sound as if he is telling Yehoshaphat to disguise himself, but that is not the plain meaning of the verse. The simple meaning is: I will disguise myself and enter the battle; I wish to change my clothing so that the men of Aram do not recognize me. But you, Yehoshaphat, have no need to do so - for they are not looking for you, and even if they recognize you there is no concern, because the grim prophecy was spoken about me and not about you. Therefore, "and you, put on your garments," your royal robes.
Metzudat David explains: Even though he did not believe the words of the prophet and had him put in prison, he nevertheless feared his words. Yet fundamentally, there is no real contradiction here - he believed him very well indeed. It was simply that the words were not pleasing to his ears. Kings consistently threatened the prophets, not because they disbelieved them, but quite the contrary: precisely because they believed them, they knew how much power their words possessed to sway the people against the king. The king worships idols, there are prophecies against him, and he views this as powerful propaganda. Therefore, they silence the prophet in prison - not out of disbelief, but out of belief. Achav knew full well what his own prophets were worth: he had a long history with them, he knew who they were, knowing they were prophets of Baal and futility, and that one true prophet outweighed them all. A proof of this: regarding Yehoram son of Achav, who came to recount to him the great deeds of Elisha? Gechazi. And Yehoram listened thirstily to all the miracles and wonders Elisha had performed. They knew and recognized who the true prophets were and what power they held. It was merely uncomfortable for them, so they silenced them.
Two Reasons for the Disguise - and How It Helped
Malbim in the Book of Melachim (I Kings 22) explains: He disguised himself so that they would not recognize him and fight him. Why was he afraid? Lest the king of Aram had spies who had heard what was delivered here in the prophecy - as Pseudo-Rashi also notes - and would then target the leader at the top. Why should they fight thousands of soldiers? Kill the head, and the rest will flee. After all, they were handed, as it were, the entire battle strategy: how to resolve the war easily. Moreover, this assembly had taken place at the city gate, not in a hidden location, so he feared the matter had reached their ears - and indeed it had, as we will soon see.
A second reason: he feared the prophet's own words, for the prophet said he was in danger. Yet this is astonishing: what good does a disguise do? The prophet said you will die - will a change of clothes prevent prophecy from reaching you? The Holy One, blessed be He, knows how to recognize you even in different clothes! Like that man, Jackie, who prayed and prayed to win the lottery, until they said in Heaven: Enough, he is making too much noise, let him have it. He bought whatever he could, enjoyed himself, and still had money left over with no idea what to do with it. He looked in the mirror and decided to get a "facelift" - plastic surgery. He walked out of the hospital completely unrecognizable, and right away a car sped past and ran him over. He went up to Heaven and complained: Master of the Universe, where is the justice? After all You gave me, suddenly You take me away? The Angel of Death looked at him and said: Who is that, Jackie? Wow, I didn't recognize you! So what did he think, that Heaven doesn't know who you are?
Yet consider a magnificent explanation by the Malbim, a principle already discussed and noted in the teachings on dreams, whose foundations are in the Gemara. The Gemara relates that a woman cursed one of the Sages, saying to him, "May your chair be overturned" - meaning that he should die, for when a person dies, the bed is overturned in mourning. That Sage ordered his chair to be overturned, and so they did. What was the rationale? When words are given some tangible manifestation, even in a small way, they no longer need to be fulfilled literally: she said "may your chair be overturned" - and behold, it was overturned.
This was cited in the teachings on dreams in the name of the Chasam Sofer regarding a man who saw in a dream that the door of his house was uprooted, and it is known in the interpretation of dreams that this signifies that his wife will die. They told him to personally uproot the door and remove it. The same principle applies: he gave the matter some physical fulfillment - the door was indeed uprooted - and through this, the dream's ominous portended reality was realized. There are sources for this even in the Torah: Pharaoh said, "See that evil is before you." How was that decree nullified? Through the blood of the Bris Milah - there was a certain evil of blood, and we had already received the blood that was destined to be shed. Similarly, the Egyptians saw through astrology that the savior of Israel would be stricken through water, and this was fulfilled either when Moshe was cast into the Nile, or when he was penalized through water at Mei Merivah, striking the rock and not entering the Land. In other words, the decree was fulfilled in some manner, and there was no longer a need to absorb the full measure; something resembling it was sufficient.
So too here. The prophet had said, "These have no master" - they have no king. What did Achav do? He changed his clothes and did not look like a king. Indeed, they had no king; he was dressed like an ordinary man, having ostensibly stepped down from his royal status. In this way, the prophet's words were fulfilled, and the ominous prophecy would no longer need to be realized in actuality.
The King of Aram's Rules of Engagement
וּמֶלֶךְ אֲרָם צִוָּה אֶת־שָׂרֵי הָרֶכֶב אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ לֵאמֹר לֹא תִּלָּחֲמוּ אֶת־הַקָּטֹן אֶת־הַגָּדוֹל כִּי אִם־אֶת־מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל לְבַדּוֹ׃ (ל) - Now the king of Aram had commanded the chariot captains who were his, saying: "Fight neither with small nor great, but only with the king of Israel alone." (30)
From here we see, says the Malbim, that word had indeed reached the ears of the king of Aram. These were his rules of engagement: only against the king of Israel alone.
וַיְהִי כִּרְאוֹת שָׂרֵי הָרֶכֶב אֶת־יְהוֹשָׁפָט וְהֵמָּה אָמְרוּ מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל הוּא וַיָּסֹבּוּ עָלָיו לְהִלָּחֵם וַיִּזְעַק יְהוֹשָׁפָט וַיהֹוָה עֲזָרוֹ וַיְסִיתֵם אֱלֹהִים מִמֶּנּוּ׃ (לא) - And it came to pass, when the chariot captains saw Yehoshaphat, they said: "It is the king of Israel!" And they turned to fight against him; and Yehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him, and God moved them away from him. (31)
Their intelligence was incomplete: they knew they were to kill the king of Israel alone, but they did not know that he intended to disguise himself. When they saw Yehoshaphat in royal garments - "Your eyes shall behold the king in his beauty" - they said: Here is the king; he is the one to pursue! For no other royal figure was visible around him, since Achav was in disguise, and the only one recognizable as a king was Yehoshaphat.
"And Yehoshaphat cried out" - to whom did he cry? The Metzudas David explains that he cried out to his men to come to his aid, and the verse comes to teach that it was not his men who helped him, but the Lord who helped him, prompting them to turn away from him. However, the Malbim notes precisely that in Melachim it does not say "and the Lord helped him"; this is an addition by Ezra here in Divrei HaYamim - which proves that the cry was a cry of prayer. And what was the divine help? That they did not kill him immediately. Because they hesitated, in the meantime they recognized him and discerned that this was not Achav, but Yehoshaphat, king of Yehudah, and God moved them away from him so they would not kill him.
Here we must recall what the Malbim explained earlier regarding the distinction between lehasis (to entice) and lefatos (to seduce): hasatah always involves something advantageous to the person, where the instigator shows you why it is worthwhile for you. Just as Achav enticed (vayasitehu) Yehoshaphat to go up to Ramoth-gilead - by what means? Through the feast he prepared for him, generating a sense of personal benefit. Here too, the Malbim explains: what was the enticement by which God incited them, showing it was in their interest? They had a covenant with Yehoshaphat up to that day, and even though he was now fighting against them, they reasoned: It is worthwhile for us to spare him, for we have a covenant with him.
וַיְהִי כִּרְאוֹת שָׂרֵי הָרֶכֶב כִּי לֹא־הָיָה מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיָּשׁוּבוּ מֵאַחֲרָיו׃ (לב) - And it came to pass, when the chariot captains saw that he was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him. (32)
"And a Man Drew His Bow at Random"
וְאִישׁ מָשַׁךְ בַּקֶּשֶׁת לְתֻמּוֹ וַיַּךְ אֶת־מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל בֵּין הַדְּבָקִים וּבֵין הַשִּׁרְיָן וַיֹּאמֶר לָרַכָּב הֲפֹךְ יָדְךָ וְהוֹצֵאתַנִי מִן־הַמַּחֲנֶה כִּי הׇחֳלֵיתִי׃ (לג) - And a man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the joints and the armor; and he said to the charioteer, "Turn your hand and take me out of the camp, for I am wounded." (33)
The commentary attributed to Rashi writes that one might say the archer was an Israelite, who intended to shoot into the Aramean camp and inadvertently struck the king of Israel. This offers yet another proof that the commentary attributed to Rashi was not written by Rashi himself - and as noted, there is no need for many proofs, for anyone who reads it even a little sees this clearly. This is especially true here, since Rashi himself writes in II Kings chapter 5 on the verse, "And Naaman, captain of the army... for by him the Lord had given deliverance to Aram," that Naaman was the one who drew the bow at random and killed Achav, citing this from a Midrash. It follows that the one who killed Achav was not an Israelite but Naaman; thus, the words of the commentary attributed to Rashi here have no source in Chazal, and they even directly contradict Rashi's own commentary.
And what is meant by "between the joints and the armor" (bein hadevakim uvein hashiryan)? Metzudat David explains: The armor was made of iron like a garment with perforations, onto which scale-like plates were attached, as it says, "and he was dressed in scale armor." These plates were designed to cover the perforations of the armor so that an arrow could not enter, and they were called devakim (attachments) because they adhered to the armor. In simple terms: armor could have been fashioned as a single solid piece of metal, but that severely restricts mobility. Therefore, they crafted a thick mesh close to the body, upon which overlapping scales, like rows of coins, were affixed. Thus, when the warrior bent, the garment shifted with him rather than acting like an unyielding block of metal; and when struck or shot with an arrow, the impact hit the scales, which absorbed the blow and prevented it from penetrating within. Here, Scripture tells us that the arrow entered precisely between one of the scales and the armor, piercing his body through the perforation - an occurrence virtually impossible by natural means, showing that this was directed from Hashem.
"Turn your hand" - he instructed the charioteer, the driver of the chariot, to turn back and carry him out of the camp, "for I am wounded" (literally, "I have become sick"). Notice that he did not reveal that he had been struck by an arrow, but merely said, "I have become sick," not wishing to demoralize the people. Had they realized the king was struck down, they would not have continued fighting, and he wanted them to persist.
וַתַּעַל הַמִּלְחָמָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא וּמֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל הָיָה מַעֲמִיד בַּמֶּרְכָּבָה נֹכַח אֲרָם עַד־הָעָרֶב וַיָּמׇת לְעֵת בּוֹא הַשָּׁמֶשׁ׃ (לד) - And the battle intensified on that day, and the king of Israel held himself upright in the chariot facing Aram until evening, and died at sunset. (34)
"And the battle intensified" - it grew fiercer and escalated, battle line against battle line. "Held himself upright in the chariot" - he braced himself and remained standing in the chariot so that Israel would not realize he was wounded and flee, for "the beginning of defeat is flight," as Chazal teach. In the end, the fighting ceased and not a single man of Israel was harmed, except for the king of Israel alone - exactly in accordance with the words of the prophet: "These have no master; let each return to his home in peace." And if you ask why the verse states "in peace" (b'shalom) rather than "to peace" (l'shalom), the commentary attributed to Rashi explains: "L'shalom" denotes wholeness or completeness, whereas here Achav was slain, so it was not a return in completeness; therefore it says "b'shalom."
In summary:
In this chapter, we saw how Michayehu ben Yimla stood alone against four hundred prophets: first with sarcasm - "Go up and prosper" without "Thus said the Lord" - and then, once adjured, with a true prophecy: "like sheep that have no shepherd," "These have no master." He exposed the source of the wondrous consensus among the false prophets: the spirit of Naboth the Jezreelite, which became a lying spirit in their mouths, driven by a thirst for vengeance so fierce that it was willing to be banished from the Divine presence. Achav, who believed the prophecy all too well but found it unacceptable, silenced the prophet in prison and attempted to outsmart fate through disguise - which perhaps even facilitated a partial fulfillment of the prophecy, "These have no master." Ultimately, the arrow drawn "at random" found the sole vulnerability between the scale attachments and the armor; Achav remained propped up in his chariot until evening and died at sunset, while all Israel returned each man to his home in peace - demonstrating that there is neither counsel nor understanding against Hashem, and that the word of a single true prophet stands forever against four hundred false prophets.