Imlah

Biblical Record

Imlah appears in 1 Kings 22:8–9 and 2 Chronicles 18:7–8. All four verses use the phrase "Micaiah the son of Imlah," and no deeds or words of Imlah himself are recorded.

The two passages report the same event. Before Ahab, king of the northern kingdom of Israel, goes out with Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to attack Ramoth-gilead, Jehoshaphat asks that they first inquire of the LORD. Ahab agrees and introduces Micaiah in these words: "There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil" (1 Kings 22:8). Ahab then sends an officer to summon Micaiah.

Significance in the Bible

Imlah's name serves to identify his son Micaiah. In the Old Testament, a person is commonly distinguished by being named together with his father. The phrase sets Micaiah apart from the other prophets active in the same period. It also helps prevent confusion between Micaiah and the later prophet Micah, who bore a similar name.

The text does not say whether Imlah was a prophet, which tribe he belonged to, or where he lived. The New Testament does not mention Imlah.

Interpretation and Discussion

The name is sometimes explained as meaning roughly "he (God) fills," in connection with the Hebrew verb "to fill." This interpretation, however, varies somewhat from lexicon to lexicon.

Additional traditions have been handed down concerning his son Micaiah. The Jewish historian Josephus is said to have identified Micaiah with the unnamed prophet who rebukes Ahab at the end of 1 Kings 20. This, however, is not stated directly in the biblical text, and it is an interpretation concerning Micaiah rather than a record about Imlah. No widely known extrabiblical accounts of Imlah's own life exist.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, Imlah is rarely the subject of a sermon in his own right. However, the story of Micaiah, who alone delivered a message different from that of the four hundred prophets before Ahab, is frequently cited in sermons contrasting true and false prophecy, or pleasing words and the word of God. In such sermons, Imlah is mentioned only within the textual phrase "Micaiah the son of Imlah."