1 Kings 20:22

FLATTERY INDUCED BEN-HADAD TO CONTINUE THE WAR

"And the prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee. And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their god is a god of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we: but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And do this thing: take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their room; and number thee an army like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot; and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so."

"And the prophet came near to the king of Israel" (1 Kings 20:22). "The Rabbinical commentators among the Jews identify this prophet as Micaiah."[14] Josephus also concurred in this, noting that in a later episode, Ahab imprisoned him (1 Kings 22:8).[15]

Sure enough, exactly as God's prophet had warned Benhadad, the return of the year brought another vicious attack by Benhadad against Israel. He chose, this time, a town on the plain, Aphek. But, since there were a dozen places bearing that name in Israel, it is still uncertain exactly where this second battle was fought.