And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.
What have I to do with thee ... Wishing to produce a deep spirit of humility and contrition, Elisha gave a stern repulse to the king of Israel, accompanied by a sarcastic sneer, in bidding him go and consult Baal and his soothsayers. He acknowledged Jehoshaphat king of Judah alone, because it was the theocratic kingdom, and he was descended from the royal dynasty, of David (see similar instances-Hosea, a prophet of Israel, dates his prophetic writings "in the days of Uzziah, etc., kings of Judah"). "What have I to do with thee?" - (see as to this elliptic phrase the note at 1 Kings 17:18.) Its import in this passage is, What have we in common, I a prophet of the true God, and thou the descendant of idolatrous Ahab, that thou shouldest ask counsel of me? But the distressed condition, especially the imploring language, of the royal suppliants, who acknowledged the hand of the Lord in this distress, drew from the prophet the solemn assurance, that solely out of respect to Jehoshaphat, the Lord's true servant, did he take any interest in Jehoram.