Chapter 22 in Melachim A is a direct continuation of the previous chapter. In the previous chapter we saw that an absolute decree of death was pronounced upon Achav: "He who dies of Achav in the field the birds of the sky shall eat, and he who dies in the city the dogs shall eat," "Behold, I am bringing evil upon you," "And I will sweep away after you," "And I will cut off from Achav every male," and the dogs would lick his blood. And yet, after all these decrees, the chapter opens with three years of quiet. Why? Because "Have you seen how Achav has humbled himself before Me" - on account of that submission, the Holy One, blessed be He, was patient with him for three years. But it was of no avail, for Achav did not change his ways, and so the original decree remained in force.
וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁלֹשׁ שָׁנִים אֵין מִלְחָמָה בֵּין אֲרָם וּבֵין יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And they remained three years without war between Aram and Israel.
וַיְהִי בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁלִישִׁית וַיֵּרֶד יְהוֹשָׁפָט מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה אֶל־מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל׃ - And it came to pass in the third year that Yehoshafat king of Yehuda came down to the king of Israel.
"In the third year" - three years after Achav sent Ben Hadad off in peace. This was his earlier sin: the Holy One, blessed be He, delivered Ben Hadad king of Aram into his hand, and he made a covenant with him and released him, and did not destroy him as he had been commanded. And now Yehoshafat king of Yehuda comes down to the king of Israel, and immediately an idea stirs in Achav.
וַיֹּאמֶר מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־עֲבָדָיו הַיְדַעְתֶּם כִּי־לָנוּ רָמֹת גִּלְעָד וַאֲנַחְנוּ מַחְשִׁים מִקַּחַת אֹתָהּ מִיַּד מֶלֶךְ אֲרָם׃ - And the king of Israel said to his servants: Do you know that Ramot Gilad is ours, and we keep silent about taking it from the hand of the king of Aram?
Suddenly Achav remembers the king of Aram whom he had released, and he says to his servants: there is a portion that is due to us, Ramot Gilad, which is ours by the Torah - "Ramot in Gilad" was given to Gad - and behold, the king of Aram is not returning it to us. On this the Radak asks: but Ben Hadad said to Achav, "The cities that my father took from your father I will return to you," so why did he not return Ramot Gilad? And further: if there was peace for three years, why was he silent all that time and did not claim what was his? The Radak answers: Ramot Gilad had not been taken by the king of Aram from Omri, Achav's father, and the commitment was only regarding "the cities that my father took from your father." Concerning Ramot Gilad there was no commitment at all, and so until then Achav did not turn his attention to claiming it. But now, Achav says to himself, there is an opportunity: the king of Yehuda is here with me and can help me take what is due to me. Until now I feared going out to war over a city not included in the agreement, but today, when I have the proper strength at hand, I move to take it.
The Malbim adds according to his approach: indeed Ben Hadad promised to return the cities, but Achav waived these benefits and said to him: I do not need the cities, keep them for yourself, what matters to me is that you have made a covenant with me and that you are willing to make peace with me. And since this was so, it was fulfilled in him that this thing became a snare to him: what you did not take then, when you awaken to take it, there the hand of Hashem will meet you, there you will seize what the prophet had already promised you back then.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־יְהוֹשָׁפָט הֲתֵלֵךְ אִתִּי לַמִּלְחָמָה רָמֹת גִּלְעָד וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוֹשָׁפָט אֶל־מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל כָּמוֹנִי כָמוֹךָ כְּעַמִּי כְעַמֶּךָ כְּסוּסַי כְּסוּסֶיךָ׃ - And he said to Yehoshafat: Will you go with me to war at Ramot Gilad? And Yehoshafat said to the king of Israel: I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.
Why would Yehoshafat join Achav's war? Toward the end of the chapter we shall see that the two were related by marriage, and as in-laws there are mutual obligations. Therefore he had three reasons in his mouth: "I am as you are" - by virtue of the family bond, that we are related by marriage. "My people as your people" - by virtue of the nation, that we are all children of Israel. "My horses as your horses" - by virtue of the war itself, and in this there is also a matter of mutual benefit: when you need help my horses are your horses, and when I will need help, your horses will be my horses.
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוֹשָׁפָט אֶל־מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל דְּרׇשׁ־נָא כַיּוֹם אֶת־דְּבַר יְהֹוָה׃ - And Yehoshafat said to the king of Yisrael: Inquire now this day for the word of Hashem.
Yehoshafat was a righteous king, and as we will see later in the chapter this is stated about him explicitly. Therefore, before he goes and acts, he wants to receive approval and endorsement from the mouth of the prophet. And what does "this day" mean? Two interpretations: the Metzudat David explains, even if you are not accustomed to this, today, while I am with you, seek. And the Malbim explains, "this day" means while I am here, right now, as long as I am still here I want to see what the prophet will say.
וַיִּקְבֹּץ מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־הַנְּבִיאִים כְּאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת אִישׁ וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם הַאֵלֵךְ עַל־רָמֹת גִּלְעָד לַמִּלְחָמָה אִם־אֶחְדָּל וַיֹּאמְרוּ עֲלֵה וְיִתֵּן אֲדֹנָי בְּיַד הַמֶּלֶךְ׃ - And the king of Yisrael gathered the prophets, about four hundred men, and said to them: Shall I go against Ramot Gilad to battle, or shall I refrain? And they said: Go up, and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.
Who were these prophets? Chazal say: the prophets of the Ashera, four hundred who ate at Izevel's table. And as we recall, when Eliyahu summoned the prophets to Mount Carmel, Izevel understood that from this affair there are only losers and that the losers would be them, and so she did not send her prophets. And since this was so, when Eliyahu slaughtered all the prophets of the Baal, the prophets of the Ashera remained alive. Now Achav pulls them out of the closet and says: You want prophets? I have plenty, and precisely of this type. I am bringing you four hundred for the price of one. And they come and say: "Go up, and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king."
The Malbim states an important principle: everywhere in this book where the word of Hashem is mentioned, it writes the name Havaya. And any other name that is mentioned means the names of idolatry. When "Elokim" is written, it means other gods; when a term of lordship is written, it means their "lord," the idol, the image, their object of idolatry. All these were wicked, and when they spoke of lordship they did not speak of Hashem, blessed be He, but of their images which supposedly revealed themselves to them.
The Malbim makes a further precise observation: they said "and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king," and not "and the Lord will deliver Ramot Gilad into the hand of the king." Why? Because these prophets would prophesy by means of sorcery, through all sorts of powers of impurity, and not prophecy in its plain sense. Prophecy is a clear vision, but what a person sees through astrology, through false prophecy, through demons and spirits and the like, is not something clear. Therefore they said only that they see general success, but they did not say "go up against Ramot Gilad and you will be victorious," for that they truly did not see.
וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוֹשָׁפָט הַאֵין פֹּה נָבִיא לַיהֹוָה עוֹד וְנִדְרְשָׁה מֵאֹתוֹ׃ - And Yehoshafat said: Is there not here a prophet of Hashem besides, that we may inquire of him?
These sounds were not pleasing to Yehoshafat's ears. He says: these are not "of Hashem"; these are the prophets of the Baal and the prophets of the Ashera, and I am looking for someone authentic. The Radak says that Yehoshafat spoke here with diplomatic delicacy: it was uncomfortable for him to say to Achav "come on, these are liars, these are false prophets," and so he phrased his words as if they too were prophets of Hashem and he was only requesting "one more" of Hashem. But in fact his intention was to hint: these are false prophets, and I want true prophets of Hashem.
Chazal say: Yehoshafat said to him, "Is there not here a prophet of Hashem besides," and Achav said to him: all these are prophets of Hashem. Yehoshafat said to him: this is my tradition from the house of my father's father, one style rises for several prophets, but no two prophets prophesy in one and the same style. That is: several prophets can say the same idea, but not in the same words. And the analogy: one dish that is cooked in several pots, each pot emits its own flavor. A pot in which something spicy was cooked will emit a spicy taste, a meat pot will emit a meat flavor, a dairy pot a dairy flavor. So too, the prophecy itself is the word of Hashem, but the prophet brings it out in his own language. The Radak brings an example: Ovadya said "the arrogance of your heart has beguiled you," and Yirmeyahu said "your terribleness has deceived you, the arrogance of your heart" - the same idea, but the wording changes, for each one phrases the word of Hashem in his own speech. And if so, when they all say exactly the same wording, it is a sign that they are false prophets.
It is told about the Rav of Brisk that in his time there was a certain preacher of corrupt views, who nonetheless preached beautifully and knew how to season his words with pesukim, midrashim and ideas. The Rav of Brisk forbade the students from going to his sermons because of his corrupt views. That preacher came and complained: Why does the Rav forbid the students from coming to my sermons? Everything I say is precise, written in the midrashim and in the words of Chazal, I invent nothing on my own, it is all glatt kosher. The Rav of Brisk said to him: Even if we take an animal and slaughter it with the utmost care and precision, and it be glatt kosher, and we only cook it in a treif pot, it already becomes forbidden to eat. Everything is glatt kosher, but it is being cooked in a treif pot; your head is a pot of treif, and whatever is cooked there comes out tasting of treif, and there is no cleverness in that, even though you claim the raw material was kosher. And this is what is being told to us here: every prophet brings out in his words something of his own essence.
וַיֹּאמֶר מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־יְהוֹשָׁפָט עוֹד אִישׁ־אֶחָד לִדְרֹשׁ אֶת־יְהֹוָה מֵאֹתוֹ וַאֲנִי שְׂנֵאתִיו כִּי לֹא־יִתְנַבֵּא עָלַי טוֹב כִּי אִם־רָע מִיכָיְהוּ בֶּן־יִמְלָה וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוֹשָׁפָט אַל־יֹאמַר הַמֶּלֶךְ כֵּן׃ - And the king of Israel said to Yehoshafat: There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Hashem, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but only evil, Michayehu son of Yimla. And Yehoshafat said: Let not the king say so.
How ridiculous are Achav's words: there is yet one more prophet, and him I hate, because he does not prophesy good concerning me. And in truth the first time he prophesied for his benefit and told him that Hashem was giving the king of Aram into his hand, and the second time too he told him to prepare for the return of the year, when the king of Aram would be delivered into his hand. It was only the third time that he told him: you did not kill him, "your life shall be in place of his life and your people in place of his people." A bitter taste remained in his mouth, and from then on he decided that this prophet prophesies concerning him only for the worse.
To this Yehoshafat responds: "Let not the king say so." Yehoshafat was a believer and a servant of Hashem, and so he argues: the prophet says what Hashem places in his mouth. What is "against me" or "for my benefit"? Whatever Hashem tells him, that is what he says. And what kind of request is it to seek out another prophet? The word of Hashem does not please you, so you replace the prophet?
And this is exactly as it was in ancient Greece, where when a messenger arrived and delivered bad news, they would kill him. What do you want from the messenger? This is what they said, "the face of the generation is like the face of a dog," and in the popular expression: the face of the generation is like the face of the dog. Why? The Chafetz Chaim explains: when a dog comes to bite a person and they push it away with a stick, it bites the stick. They strike it with the stick, and it tries to bite the stick, not understanding that there is a person standing behind the stick. So too will the face of the generation be in the footsteps of Mashiach: when troubles come, they will blame Hezbollah and Hamas and Ahmadinejad and will think that the problem is with them, and will not understand that there is One who holds the stick. "Woe to Ashur, the rod of My anger" - Ashur is nothing but the rod in the hand of the Creator of the world, the rod that expresses His anger and wrath. In this very same manner Achav behaves: he says that the prophet is against him, and Yehoshafat responds to him that the prophet is nothing but a messenger and a channel to convey to you the word of Hashem.
וַיִּקְרָא מֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־סָרִיס אֶחָד וַיֹּאמֶר מַהֲרָה מִיכָיְהוּ בֶן־יִמְלָה׃ - And the king of Israel called to a certain officer and said: Bring quickly Michayehu son of Yimla.
וּמֶלֶךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל וִיהוֹשָׁפָט מֶלֶךְ־יְהוּדָה יֹשְׁבִים אִישׁ עַל־כִּסְאוֹ מְלֻבָּשִׁים בְּגָדִים בְּגֹרֶן פֶּתַח שַׁעַר שֹׁמְרוֹן וְכׇל־הַנְּבִיאִים מִתְנַבְּאִים לִפְנֵיהֶם׃ - And the king of Israel and Yehoshafat king of Yehuda were sitting each on his throne, clothed in garments, in a threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Shomron, and all the prophets were prophesying before them.
"Clothed in garments" - did we think they were naked? asks the Radak. Rather the meaning is royal garments, garments of splendor befitting important people. "In a threshing floor" - that they were sitting in the shape of a threshing floor, like a half circle of a threshing floor, in the manner in which the Sanhedrin would sit.
And why does the pasuk present us with this entire description? The Malbim says: to teach you that prophecy requires preparation. A prophet did not simply sit and suddenly receive prophecy. Only Moshe Rabbeinu would say "stand, and let me hear what Hashem will command you," and immediately Hashem would speak with him as a man speaks to his fellow. The other prophets were not so; rather they required seclusion and great concentration on the concepts of the higher spirituality, and an elevation of the soul little by little until they would reach the upper chambers, and there the soul would as if detach from the spirit and receive prophecy. And most often this was in a dream, as the Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh says, and they would become detached from the powers of the body, to the point that they would lie on the floor with the whole body trembling as in an epileptic seizure, and appear like a madman. Therefore, when the prophet would arrive, they would say "behold, the madman is coming," and thus they would call him.
We find that the prophet needed optimal conditions and could not prophesy in every situation. One condition was quiet and tranquility, which is why they would go off to seclude themselves and unite with Hashem. Notice that all the shepherds of Israel were shepherds of flocks: Moshe Rabbeinu, David HaMelech, Yaakov Avinu, all of them shepherds, for there, among the flock, one could seclude himself with Hashem and reach great and awesome levels. And here, seemingly, the prophets were not able to seclude themselves: not because of the place, which was at the entrance of the city gate amid crowds of people who disturb concentration, and not because of the kings sitting before them in royal garments upon their thrones, for such a sight casts fear over a person and arouses in him the awe of exaltedness. And nevertheless, the verse tells you, notice that the spirit rested upon the false prophets.
וַיַּעַשׂ לוֹ צִדְקִיָּה בֶן־כְּנַעֲנָה קַרְנֵי בַרְזֶל וַיֹּאמֶר כֹּה־אָמַר יְהֹוָה בְּאֵלֶּה תְּנַגַּח אֶת־אֲרָם עַד־כַּלֹּתָם׃ - And Tzidkiyah ben Kenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said: So says Hashem, with these you shall gore Aram until they are destroyed.
Note the change from the previous verses: here the name of Havayah is written. What until now had been prophecy through the Baal, here already there is a shift: the prophet receives prophecy from Hashem Himself. The Malbim explains: when a spirit of prophecy descends, it descends through a channel, and from that channel it goes and spreads. As we find with Shmuel, that until his time "the word of Hashem was rare... and vision was not widespread," and it was Shmuel who broke open the vision. The source of prophecy is in Netzach and Hod, "the two thighs," and Shmuel rectified this matter. Therefore when he anointed Shaul he told the cook to bring the thigh, an allusion to Netzach and Hod which are the two thighs, through which the wellspring of the source of prophecy was opened. And from then there was prophecy of great and mighty power that flooded the entire nation, until whoever drew close to Shmuel would receive prophecy, like Shaul who drew close to him and began to prophesy, until "Is Shaul too among the prophets?"
Here, as it were, prophecy began with Tzidkiyah ben Kenaanah. Apparently this wicked one was the head of all those fleas, and as we will see he also performed an act, a sign that he was greater than all of them, and therefore it is specifically through him that Hashem bestows the abundance of prophecy, and this time true prophecy.
And this man invested effort: he went and took iron, made horns from it, placed them on his head and said, "With these you shall gore Aram." What is the idea? So says the Ramban, and the Malbim mentions this in several places in his work: a prophecy that comes with a physical enactment, in which one performs an act that brings the prophecy down from something spiritual and abstract to something physical that takes on a garment in matter, this is a prophecy that will surely come to pass. As Elisha told Yoash to take the arrows and shoot them toward Aram, and afterward to strike the ground, "an arrow of deliverance for Hashem and an arrow of deliverance against Aram," and he grew angry with him for not shooting enough arrows. Likewise, when prophets were commanded to take a flask, write upon it and cast it into the river. Turning the matter into a physical reality brings it down from abstraction and from the spiritual impression into reality and gives it embodiment. Tzidkiyah learned this from the prophets of Hashem: this is what they do when they want to demonstrate something true, and therefore he too did so and took iron horns and said, "With these you shall gore Aram until they are destroyed."
וְכׇל־הַנְּבִאִים נִבְּאִים כֵּן לֵאמֹר עֲלֵה רָמֹת גִּלְעָד וְהַצְלַח וְנָתַן יְהֹוָה בְּיַד הַמֶּלֶךְ׃ - And all the prophets were prophesying so, saying: Go up to Ramot Gilad and prosper, and Hashem will give it into the hand of the king.
Following his prophecy the channel of prophecy was opened, and consequently all the prophets too receive the abundance. And note: when it concerns the word of Hashem, the prophecy is with specifics. Here they explicitly state the place: "Go up to Ramot Gilad and prosper," and also "Hashem will give it into the hand of the king," in the very name of Hashem, that the Holy One, blessed be He, is the one who gives.
וְהַמַּלְאָךְ אֲשֶׁר־הָלַךְ לִקְרֹא מִיכָיְהוּ דִּבֶּר אֵלָיו לֵאמֹר הִנֵּה־נָא דִּבְרֵי הַנְּבִיאִים פֶּה־אֶחָד טוֹב אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ יְהִי־נָא דְבָרְךָ כִּדְבַר אַחַד מֵהֶם וְדִבַּרְתָּ טּוֹב׃ - And the messenger who went to call Michayehu spoke to him, saying: Behold now, the words of the prophets with one mouth are favorable toward the king; let your word please be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.
A verse one cannot read without smiling. The messenger meets the prophet and says to him: do me a favor, do not spoil things. Everyone there is so pleasant, everyone said the king would succeed, why must you ruin the celebrations? Why must you always be a downer? Be nice for once, say it will be fine. Just like people say in our time: why do you religious ones always love to talk about Gog and Magog and about wars and about Gehinnom, be nice for once, tell a person to enjoy life, do not be extreme. "Go with the flow," he tells the prophet, "and speak favorably." From here we learn that foolishness and nonsense are not a product of our generation; there were fools already in the past, and today's fools are the descendants of the fools of back then. The messenger gives the prophet a background briefing before he enters: listen, in there it is idyllic, a pleasant crowd, brothers dwelling together in unity, so do not wreck it and do not spoil it. And by the way, wherever it is written "malach" it means a messenger; only very rarely does it mean an angel of Hashem, and even there it explicitly states "the angel of Hashem," but when it simply says "malach" it means a messenger.
וַיֹּאמֶר מִיכָיְהוּ חַי־יְהֹוָה כִּי אֶת־אֲשֶׁר יֹאמַר יְהֹוָה אֵלַי אֹתוֹ אֲדַבֵּר׃ - And Michayehu said: As Hashem lives, that which Hashem says to me, that I will speak.
Michayhu swore: as Hashem lives, whatever Hashem tells me, that is what I will speak, I will not add and I will not diminish. And so your request is superfluous and even absurd: what are you asking of me, can I change what Hashem says?
וַיָּבוֹא אֶל־הַמֶּלֶךְ וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ אֵלָיו מִיכָיְהוּ הֲנֵלֵךְ אֶל־רָמֹת גִּלְעָד לַמִּלְחָמָה אִם־נֶחְדָּל וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו עֲלֵה וְהַצְלַח וְנָתַן יְהֹוָה בְּיַד הַמֶּלֶךְ׃ - And he came to the king, and the king said to him: Michayhu, shall we go to Ramot Gilad for battle, or shall we refrain? And he said to him: go up and succeed, and Hashem will give it into the hand of the king.
The Radak says: he spoke to him mockingly, like the rest of the prophets. And the Radak is precise: he did not say "thus says Hashem, go up and succeed." For what did he swear? "That which Hashem says to me, that I will speak," and if Hashem had told him something, he could not have said otherwise. If so, how does he now say something else? Because in the meantime Hashem had not told him anything. Therefore it is as if he is saying to Achav: why did you call me? In order to hear what you want to hear. So I will tell you what you want to hear, go up and succeed, here you go.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֵלָיו הַמֶּלֶךְ עַד־כַּמֶּה פְעָמִים אֲנִי מַשְׁבִּיעֶךָ אֲשֶׁר לֹא־תְדַבֵּר אֵלַי רַק־אֱמֶת בְּשֵׁם יְהֹוָה׃ - And the king said to him: how many times must I adjure you that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of Hashem?
The king understands that there is mockery here and that the prophet is trying to put him off, and so he adjures him again and again. And he has two requests: the first, that he tell him only a true matter; and the second, that he tell it to him in the name of Hashem. I am not looking for blessings, I am not looking for a "Mi Sheberach" and "He who gives salvation to kings," I want you to come and tell me what Hashem said.
וַיֹּאמֶר רָאִיתִי אֶת־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל נְפֹצִים אֶל־הֶהָרִים כַּצֹּאן אֲשֶׁר אֵין־לָהֶם רֹעֶה וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה לֹא־אֲדֹנִים לָאֵלֶּה יָשׁוּבוּ אִישׁ־לְבֵיתוֹ בְּשָׁלוֹם׃ - And he said: I saw all Yisrael scattered on the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd, and Hashem said: these have no masters, let each return to his house in peace.
Now, once you have begun to speak to the point and you truly want to know what the word of Hashem is, here is the answer. In simple words the prophet tells him: the one who will die in the war is you, and the people of Yisrael will not die. "I saw all Yisrael scattered on the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd" - and what happened to their shepherd? He died. "And Hashem said: these have no masters" - they have no masters, meaning the master died in the war. "Let each return to his house in peace" - they do manage to return home in peace, which will not happen to you.
And the Malbim is precise: what he said here is not a prophecy and a word from Hashem, but a vision that he saw. I was gazing and I saw a sight from which I understand that you will die and they will be saved. For if it entered one's mind that he had a prophecy from Hashem, it would have been forbidden for him from the start to suppress his prophecy and conceal it, and he would have had to say the word of Hashem immediately. Therefore, note that it does not say here "thus says Hashem," for in truth he saw a vision. A prophet's vision is a mighty thing, but it is not a prophecy that he received as a mission to deliver to Achav, he did not deliver a message that he was asked to convey to him.
וַיֹּאמֶר מֶלֶךְ־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל־יְהוֹשָׁפָט הֲלוֹא אָמַרְתִּי אֵלֶיךָ לוֹא־יִתְנַבֵּא עָלַי טוֹב כִּי אִם־רָע׃ - And the king of Yisrael said to Yehoshafat: did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but only evil?
Achav exploits this opening: you see, he did not say "the word of Hashem," rather he is telling me the thoughts of his own heart, this is what he expects to happen. "He would not prophesy good concerning me, but only evil."
The chapter opens with three years of quiet granted to Achav in the merit of his submission, but since he did not change his ways the decree remained in force, and it is specifically Ramot Gilad, the city he did not claim at the time, that becomes the trap in which he will fall. Facing Achav stands the righteous Yehoshafat, who does not go out to war without inquiring of the word of Hashem, and who immediately recognizes that the four hundred prophets of the Ashera are not prophets of Hashem, since no two prophets prophesy in the same style. Achav, by contrast, hates the prophet because of the content of the prophecy, and in this he falls into the same error as one who strikes with a stick and does not see the One holding it. And Michayhu ben Yimla teaches the great principle: "את אשר יאמר ה' אלי אותו אדבר" - what Hashem says to me, that I will speak. The prophet does not sell merchandise pleasing to the ear, but delivers the word of Hashem as it is, even when all those around him ask of him, "and speak good."