78 ROBERT B. CHISHOLM, JR. announcement) or facilitate (in the case of a salvation announcement) its fulfillment 32. Jeremiah 18,1-10 is a foundational text in this regard, for it makes clear that the Lord’s announced intention can be altered by the re- cipient’s response 33. 7. Contingency in 2 Kings 3 Recognizing the principle of contingency helps us understand the fail- ure of prophecy in 2 Kings 3. When YAHWEH, speaking through Elisha, as- sured the coalition of victory, he implicitly endorsed their campaign. But this did not mean that Elisha’s oracle was performative and that victory was absolutely certain. As dynamic predictive discourse the oracle should have motivated faith. Armed with YAHWEH’s assuring promise and convinced of his powerful presence, the Israelites should have done their part and brought the campaign to a successful completion in accordance with the oracle of victory. Their failure to do so is tragic, but not surprising. Jeho- ram’s partial success in battle ironically mirrors his partial commitment to YAHWEH (vv. 1-3). As such, the concluding report of Israel’s retreat com- bines with the introductory report to form a thematic inclusio for the chapter : Those whose commitment to YAHWEH is half-hearted invariably forfeit his blessing. But what of the literary parallels between 1 Kings 22 and 2 Kings 3? 1 Kings 22 depicts Jehoram’s father Ahab being deceived by a false oracle of victory. Even when Micaiah was forced under oath to reveal the truth about the deception, Ahab did not listen but charged into battle, albeit in disguise, and was killed. 2 Kings 3 complements this earlier ac- count. Jehoram, even when given a genuine oracle of salvation, turned victory into defeat. CHISHOLM, “When Prophecy Appears to Fail”, 563. 32 Many recent interpreters recognize the contingent element in Old Testa- 33 ment prophecy. TIEMEYER, “Prophecy as a Way of Cancelling Prophecy”, 349, who compares biblical prophecy with Mesopotamian predictions, states: “Most predictions were conditional. They could be revoked by a number of means, de- pendent on the specific culture”. See as well W. HOUSTON, “What Did the Prophets Think They Were Doing? Speech Acts and Prophetic Discourse in the Old Testament”, Biblical Interpretation 1 (1993) 186-187; R. PRATT, Jr., “ Historical Contingencies and Biblical Predictions”, The Way of Wisdom: Essays in Honor of Bruce K. Waltke (eds. J. PACKER – S. SODERLUND) (Grand Rapids, MI 2000) 187-189; and D. FREEDMAN – R. FREY, “False Prophecy is True ”, Inspired Speech. Prophecy in the Ancient Near East. Essays in Honor of Herbert B. Huffmon (eds. J. KALTNER – L. STULMAN) (JSOTSS 378; London 2004) 82-87.