(30) And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and enter into the battle; but put thou on thy robes. And the king of Israel disguised himself, and went into the battle. (31) But the king of Syria commanded his thirty and two captains that had rule over his chariots, saying, Fight neither with small nor great, save only with the king of Israel. (32) And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, Surely it is the king of Israel. And they turned aside to fight against him: and Jehoshaphat cried out. (33) And it came to pass, when the captains of the chariots perceived that it was not the king of Israel, that they turned back from pursuing him.
There seems to have been a good deal of art in Ahab's thus disguising himself, and advising Jehoshaphat to go in his robes. It is probable that he had heard of the king of Syria's command to his generals, to fight only with the king of Israel. And as the person of Ahab was not known to those generals, it is very probable that Ahab pleased himself with the idea that the robes of Jehoshaphat would expose him, and his own disguise conceal himself. So that Ahab, if so, was as defective in friendship to Jehoshaphat, as in duty to the Lord. And no doubt, he that is false to God can never be true to man. The danger of Jehoshaphat, no doubt, taught him that he was out of the path of duty. In the parallel history in the Book of the Chronicles, we are told somewhat more particularly of this situation and conduct of the king of Judah. For there it is said that when the Syrians compassed him around to kill him, and he cried out, the Lord helped him, and God moved them to depart from him. And that when Jehoshaphat returned to his own home after the battle, the son of Hanani, the seer, who went out to meet him, reproved him for having gone to the help of the ungodly; and that therefore the wrath of the Lord was upon him. See 2Ch_18:31; 2Ch_19:1-2.