Note 1651 — Chapter VIII

Iliad, ii, 1 ff. So Yahweh, by a lying spirit, sends Ahab to his death (1 Kings, xxii, 19 ff.) and deceives the prophet, who misleads the people (Ezek. xiv, 9). The theory of these ancient writers was that a deity, like an earthly king, had a right to use any means to gain his ends.