1 Kings 22:32,33 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

When the captains saw Jehoshaphat, they said, Surely, &c. They saw no other but him in a royal habit, and hence concluded he must be the king of Israel, whom they believed to be present in the battle, and to be the commander of the Israelitish army. They turned aside to fight against him They drew their forces from their several quarters toward him. And Jehoshaphat cried out By his danger God now let him know that he was displeased with him, for joining in confederacy with Ahab. They that associate with evil doers are in danger of sharing in their plagues. When the captains perceived it was not the king of Israel This they would easily perceive, either by the words which he spake, when he cried out, or by the difference of his form and countenance from those of Ahab, whom, probably, many of them had seen, and knew well. They turned back from pursuing him Thus, by his deliverance, God showed him that, though he was displeased with him, he had not deserted him. To him he cried out, not in cowardice, but devotion, and from him his relief came. For God, who has the hearts of all men in his hand, moved them to depart from him, 2 Chronicles 18:31. In the mean time Ahab, who brought him into this danger, seems to have been in no care to succour him. God is a friend who will not fail us when other friends do.