And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.
Parallel translations
- WEB Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made himself horns of iron, and said, “Yahweh says, ‘With these you will push the Syrians, until they are consumed.’”
- BSB Now Zedekiah son of Chenaanah had made for himself iron horns and declared, “This is what the LORD says: ‘With these you shall gore the Arameans until they are finished off.’”
- NKJV Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself; and he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.’ ”
- NASB Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed!’ ”
- NLT One of them, Zedekiah son of Kenaanah, made some iron horns and proclaimed, “This is what the Lord says: With these horns you will gore the Arameans to death!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The prophet Zedekiah uses iron horns as a dramatic prop, claiming in Yahweh's name that Ahab will gore the Syrians to destruction.
Overview
Zedekiah borrows the imagery of a goring bull (compare Deuteronomy 33:17) to lend his false message a sense of authority. He speaks confidently in Yahweh's name, showing that misusing God's name does not make a word true. The episode warns that prophecy must be tested by faithfulness to God, not by impressive performance.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Zech 1:18–21Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.
- Deut 33:17His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
- Ezek 22:27–28Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
- Ezek 13:6–9They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.
- Jer 23:25I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed.
- Jer 28:2–3Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon.
- Jer 23:17They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
- Acts 19:13–16Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the LORD Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
- Jer 27:2Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck,
- Jer 29:21Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, which prophesy a lie unto you in my name; Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall slay them before your eyes;
- 2 Cor 11:13–15For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
- Jer 28:10–14Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, and brake it.
- Jer 23:31Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith.
- 2 Tim 3:8Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
- Mic 3:11The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
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Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 22:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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