1 Kings 2:13

2:13 Haggith’s son Adonijah visited Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. She asked, “Do you come in peace?” He answered, “Yes.” ¹ 

1 Kings 3:11

3:11 God said to him, “Because you asked for the ability to make wise judicial decisions, and not for long life, or riches, or vengeance on your enemies, ² 

1 Kings 9:13

9:13 Hiram asked, ³  “Why did you give me these cities, my friend ⁴ ?” He called that area the region of Cabul, a name which it has retained to this day. ⁵ 

1 Kings 12:9

12:9 He asked them, “How do you advise me ⁶  to respond to these people who said to me, ‘Lessen the demands your father placed on us’?” ⁷ 

1 Kings 13:12

13:12 Their father asked them, “Which road did he take?” His sons showed him ⁸  the road the prophet ⁹  from Judah had taken.

1 Kings 13:14

13:14 and took off after the prophet, ¹⁰  whom he found sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, “Are you the prophet ¹¹  from Judah?” He answered, “Yes, I am.”

1 Kings 22:21

22:21 Then a spirit ¹²  stepped forward and stood before the Lord. He said, ‘I will deceive him.’ The Lord asked him, ‘How?’

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¹ tn Heb “[in] peace.”

² tn Heb “because you asked for this thing, and did not ask for yourself many days and did not ask for yourself riches and did not ask for the life of your enemies, but you asked for yourself understanding to hear judgment.”

³ tn Heb “and he said.”

⁴ tn Heb “my brother.” Kings allied through a parity treaty would sometimes address each other as “my brother.” See 1 Kgs 20:32-33.

⁵ tn Heb “he called them the land of Cabul to this day.” The significance of the name is unclear, though it appears to be disparaging. The name may be derived from a root, attested in Akkadian and Arabic, meaning “bound” or “restricted.” Some propose a wordplay, pointing out that the name “Cabul” sounds like a Hebrew phrase meaning, “like not,” or “as good as nothing.”

⁶ tn In the Hebrew text the verb “we will respond” is plural, although it can be understood as an editorial “we.” The ancient versions have the singular here.

⁷ tn Heb “Lighten the yoke which your father placed on us.”

⁸ tn The Hebrew text has “and his sons saw” (וַיִּרְאוּ [vayyir’u], Qal from רָאָה [ra’ah]). In this case the verbal construction (vav consecutive + prefixed verbal form) would have to be understood as pluperfect, “his sons had seen.” Such uses of this construction are rare at best. Consequently many, following the lead of the ancient versions, prefer to emend the verbal form to a Hiphil with pronominal suffix (וַיַּרְאֻהוּ [vayyar’uhu], “and they showed him”).

⁹ tn Heb “the man of God.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the man of God.”

¹¹ tn Heb “the man of God.”

¹² tn Heb “the spirit.” The significance of the article prefixed to רוּחַ (ruakh) is uncertain, but it could contain a clue as to this spirit’s identity, especially when interpreted in light of v. 24. It is certainly possible, and probably even likely, that the article is used in a generic or dramatic sense and should be translated, “a spirit.” In the latter case it would show that this spirit was vivid and definite in the mind of Micaiah the storyteller. However, if one insists that the article indicates a well-known or universally known spirit, the following context provides a likely referent. Verse 24 tells how Zedekiah slapped Micaiah in the face and then asked sarcastically, “Which way did the spirit from the Lord (רוּחַ־יְהוָה, [ruakh-Yahweh], Heb “the spirit of the Lord”) go when he went from me to speak to you?” When the phrase “the spirit of the Lord” refers to the divine spirit (rather than the divine breath or mind, Isa 40:7, 13) elsewhere, the spirit energizes an individual or group for special tasks or moves one to prophesy. This raises the possibility that the deceiving spirit of vv. 20-23 is the same as the divine spirit mentioned by Zedekiah in v. 24. This would explain why the article is used on רוּחַ; he can be called “the spirit” because he is the well-known spirit who energizes the prophets.