The meeting of the
council is described in some detail in the vision of Micaiah in 1 Kgs 22:19-23.
Ahab of Israel and Jehoshaphat of Judah, having received a favorable oracle
from the four hundred prophets (22:5-6), summoned Micaiah (vv. 8-9), whose
oracle (v. 17) differed quite drastically from that of the other prophets. The
vision of the proceedings in the council reveals the reason for the discrepancy—Yahweh
had commanded a false oracle from the prophets and one of his council members
carried out his decree. The vision of Micaiah is introduced with an imperative
and the announcement of his authority: šema’ debar-YHWH,
“Hear the word of Yahweh” (v. 19). Like the messengers in the Ugaritic texts,
the message to or from the council is accompanied by the explicit mention of
the sender, tḥm DN, the semantic and literary equivalent of debar
YHWH. Having stated the authority for the message he was to deliver,
Micaiah proceeds with his vision: “I saw Yahweh enthroned upon his dais, and
all the host of heaven (kol-ṣeba’ haššāmāyim) were
standing about him (‘ōmēd ‘ālāw) on his right and on his left”
(v. 19). The heavenly scene is clear: Yahweh, like ‘ēl, is enthroned among the members of his council (cf. CTA
16.V.9-28; Ug. V.2I.2-4 [RS 24.252]). He then directly addresses his
council: “Who will entice Ahab . . . ?” (mî yepatteh ‘et-‘aḥ’āb,
v. 20; compare ‘ēl’s question, “Who
among the gods will drive off the illness . . .?,” my b’ilm ydy mrṣ, CTA
16.V.10-11, 14-15, 17-18, 20-21). Unlike the Ugaritic council, where the gods
sit helplessly by, unable even to answer (‘in b’ilm ‘nyh, 16.V.12-13,
16, 19, 22), the members of Yahweh’s council discuss the matter among themselves:
“One said one thing and another said another” (v. 20). When the matter has been
decided among the members, one of them addresses the head of the assembly: “The
spirit came forth and stood before Yahweh” (wayyēṣē’ hārūaḥ wayy’ămōd
lipnē YHWH, v. 21). The volunteer from the council is designated as “the
spirit” (hārūaḥ), a common designation of Yahweh’s messengers
(cf. Pss 104:4; 18:11 [= 2 Sam 22:11]; 148:8; Job 30:22; Jub. 2:2; etc.).
The “spirit” volunteers and is questioned by Yahweh as to his plan (v. 21). When
he reveals that he will become “a lying spirit in the mouth of all the
prophets,” Yahweh pronounces that he will succeed (v. 22). Finally, the
messenger o the council is commissioned with imperatives, “Go forth and do so”
(ṣē’ wa’ăśēh-kēn, v. 22), in the same manner that messengers in
the Ugaritic myths were dispatched. Verse 23, the final part of the vision,
recounts that the messenger has carried out his function—the decree of the
assembly has been fulfilled. The parallels with the Ugaritic council are
evident. The gods surround the high god, who is enthroned in their midst. They “stand”
(‘md) before him and respond to his questions. Yahweh selects his messenger
and commissions him to proceed, after guaranteeing the succession of the
mission. The word and decision of the council are the same as the decree of
Yahweh. The council only serves to reemphasize and execute his decision. Its
members carry out his decree exactly as commissioned. (E.T. Millen, Jr., The
Divine Council in Canaanite and Early Hebrew [Harvard Semitic Monographs
24; Chico, Calif.: Scholars Press, 1980; repr., Leiden, Brill: Brill, n.d.], 205-6)
