What Does 1 Kings 22:20 Mean in the King James?
And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Here, persuasion is the instrument by which a named death is brought within reach.
THE MEANING
This verse makes visible how a fatal course can advance through persuasion: Ahab is to go up and fall, and the council asks how he will be moved toward it. Its living tension is that the outcome is stated while the decisive movement still appears as Ahab’s own going.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that a persuasive voice necessarily serves the hearer’s good: here, persuasion is sought as the path to Ahab’s death.
THE ROOT
יְפַתֶּה
yĕpattēh
GROWS FROM
פתה
The three consonants פ־ת־ה (p-t-h) have a semantic range that includes enticing, alluring, persuading, and deceiving; the verb here means “persuade” or “entice.”
The same root can describe persuasion that draws someone in and the experience of being deceived. English “persuade” can sound like reasoned consent; the Hebrew also leaves room for a lure that moves someone toward a fatal end.
ALSO GROWS
petî: Someone inexperienced or open to influence.
פֶּתִי
This noun shows a related branch of the root’s meaning: a person can be susceptible to being drawn in.
wāʾeppāt: A form of the same root describing the person who is persuaded or deceived.
וָאֶפָּת
Jeremiah uses it in a lament addressed to the LORD, showing that the root can describe the forceful experience of being drawn into something.
THE PATTERN
Enticement can direct a person toward ruin by making a destructive course feel persuasive, desirable, or true.
My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:THE THREAD
O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.Jeremiah uses the same פתה (p-t-h) root, translated “deceived,” that appears here as “persuade.” The shared root opens a sharper edge: the Hebrew can describe persuasion as an influence that overcomes a person, and Jeremiah applies it directly to the LORD in his lament.
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