דברי הימים ב, פרק י״ח, פסוק כ״ו

Faced with an unfavorable prophecy, the king reacts by ordering the prophet into confinement under severe conditions. Speaking with deep contempt [ביאור שטיינזלץ], the king commands that the prophet be placed in prison [מצודת ציון].

A question arises regarding whether the prophet had already been jailed previously. It is possible that he was a returning prisoner. However, even if this was his first time being locked away, biblical narratives frequently use terms of returning or putting someone back into a place even for an initial entry [רש״י].

During this confinement, the prophet is subjected to severe deprivation. The king decrees that he receive meager rations of food and water, provided so sparingly that they amount to the bare minimum needed to keep him alive [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This extreme rationing mirrors similar biblical descriptions of distress and affliction [רש״י].

The king declares that these punishing conditions will last until he returns safely from the battlefield. His ultimate goal is to survive the war and then settle the score with the prophet for the harsh words spoken against him [ביאור שטיינזלץ].