1 Kings 22:35-36
“And the battle continued that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, until at evening he died. And the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot. And about sunset a cry went through the army, “Every man to his city, and every man to his country!”
Ahab’s wound was mortal; nevertheless, he was propped up in his chariot so that his army—and the Syrians—could see him. It was a false hope, a futile last-ditch attempt to encourage the Israelite army and discourage the Syrians. It didn’t work.
That evening Ahab died in his chariot. When the Israelite soldiers saw the death of their king, they quit the field and fled to their respective homes.
“So the king died, and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria. And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it, according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken.” (1 Kings 22.37-38)
Ahab’s body was brought to Samaria in his chariot. Someone washed the chariot at a pool, and the dogs licked up his blood while the harlots bathed in the bloody pool, just as Micaiah the prophet had predicted.
So ends the life and reign of the evil king Ahab. His legacy of idolatry, however, lived on through his sons. The closing passage of 1 Kings 22 tells us that Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, continued in his father’s wicked ways.
“Ahaziah the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned two years over Israel. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. He served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger in every way that his father had done.” (1 Kings 22.51-53)
Next, we find out what happens to Jezebel.
