ProphetOld Testament

Prophet Micaiah son of Imlah

9th century BC

Also known as Micaiah ben Imlah · Michaiah

A prophet who fearlessly spoke the word of the Lord to King Ahab.

December 14New Calendar

Feast Day

December 27Old Calendar

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Commemorated as

The Holy Prophet Micaiah, son of Imlah

Life

Micaiah, son of Imlah, was a prophet of the kingdom of Israel whose confrontation with King Ahab is recorded in the Hebrew Bible. He is honored in the Orthodox Church among the Holy Forefathers, the righteous and prophets of the Old Testament who are commemorated in the period before the Nativity of Christ. He is to be distinguished from the writing-prophet Micah, a separate figure of the prophetic canon.

His prophetic ministry is preserved in a single extended episode, narrated in 1 Kings 22 and its parallel in 2 Chronicles 18. There, alone against the court prophets of Ahab, Micaiah refuses to soften the word of the Lord and foretells the king's death in battle, a prophecy that the narrative reports as fulfilled.

Within the Orthodox calendar Micaiah is numbered with the prophets who prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah, and his memory is kept on December 14, while the broader assembly of Old Testament ancestors and prophets is honored on the Sunday of the Forefathers before the Nativity.

In his own wordsReadHide

As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.

1 Kings, 22:14 · King James Version (PD)

Contributions & Legacy

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The confrontation with Ahab

According to 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, joined Ahab, king of Israel, who proposed a joint campaign to recover Ramoth-gilead from Aramean control. Ahab's four hundred prophets unanimously endorsed the expedition, but Jehoshaphat asked whether there was a further prophet of the Lord to be consulted. Ahab reluctantly named Micaiah, son of Imlah, saying that he disliked him because his prophecies had never been favorable to the king.

When first brought before the kings, Micaiah echoed the assurance of the court prophets, but Ahab pressed him to speak the truth in the name of the Lord. Micaiah then delivered his genuine prophecy, describing a vision of the heavenly council in which the Lord sought one who would entice Ahab to go up to the battle in which he would fall. A spirit came forward and offered to become a lying spirit in the mouth of the prophets, accounting for the unanimous and false counsel Ahab had received.

Opposition and imprisonment

Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah, the leader of the four hundred prophets, struck Micaiah and insisted that the Lord spoke through himself rather than through Micaiah. Ahab ordered Micaiah imprisoned and sustained on bread and water until the king should return from the campaign in peace.

The narrative reports that Ahab nonetheless went up to Ramoth-gilead and died in the battle, which the biblical text presents as the fulfillment of Micaiah's word. The episode has long been read as an example of the prophet who speaks the truth at personal cost against the pressure of a royal court and a majority of false prophets.

Commemoration among the Forefathers

In the Orthodox Church Micaiah is commemorated on December 14 and is reckoned among the Holy Forefathers. The Sunday of the Forefathers, which falls between December 11 and 17 within the Nativity Fast, honors the ancestors of Christ according to the flesh and the prophets and righteous of the Old Testament, from Adam to Joseph the Betrothed, including those named in the genealogy of Luke 3:23-38.

This commemoration sets the prophets within the long preparation, embodied in the history of Israel, for the coming of the Messiah. As one of the prophets of that era, Micaiah is numbered among those whose witness the Church remembers as the Nativity of Christ draws near.

Member ofReadHide

Synaxis of the Holy Forefathers and Foremothers

Synaxis

Related Saints1 saintShowHide

Saints connected to his life, mission, and place in Orthodox tradition.

The king of Judah who, allied with Ahab against Ramoth-gilead, asked for a true prophet of the Lord and so summoned Micaiah; he heard the prophecy of Ahab's death that the campaign fulfilled.

Righteous King Jehoshaphat

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints