2 Kings Chapters 9-10 Commentary

Second Kings Chapters 9-10 Chapter 9 9:1 While King Jehoram remained at the royal retreat in Jezreel recuperating from his wounds suffered in the battle against the Arameans at Ramoth Gilead (2 Kings 8:28-29), Elisha summoned one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu king over Israel. During the lifetime of Elijah, God had predicted the rise of Jehu as His instrument to inflict judgment upon what remained of Ahab’s household (1 Kings 19:15). That program of divine retribution began to unfold in the closing years of the reign of Ahab’s son Jehoram. The instruments of God’s judgment upon Israel would be Hazaek, Jehu, and Elisha (1 Kings 19:15-17).

Elisha had begun his work in 1 Kings 19:19-21, and Hazael begins his work in 2 Kings 8—“so now there is no reason to be surprised that Jehu begins his in chapter 9” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 145).

9:2 Apparently, Jehu was one of the military officers in the Israelite army which was still besieging Ramoth Gilead (9:5). The father of Jehu, Jehoshaphat, is not the same as the Judean king by that name. It appears that his grandfather “Nimshi” (NIM shy---which means “weasel”) was more famous than his father because later Jehu is known as simply the son of Nimshi (2 Kings 9:20). Even the secular world acknowledges that Jehu isn’t a mythical character, he is mentioned twice in the cuneiform inscriptions on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III. This inscription, translated in 1851 (now in the British Museum), tells how Jehu brought tribute to the Assyrian king. There is even a picture of Jehu’s entourage presenting the tribute to the Assyrian monarch.

9:3 Evidently the surprise anointing would allow Jehu to choose the right time to raise the standard of his revolt without alerting Jehoram. The surprise would prevent the king from making preparation to oppose it. Elisha had instructed the unnamed prophet who did the anointing to immediately flee after it was over. “For a stripling of a prophet to assume the prerogative of anointing a king to a still occupied throne was nothing short of insurrection. His safety demanded an abrupt departure” (Winters p. 214). “The rush of Jehu’s anointing

1

seemed to be prophetic of the entire career of this mad militarist” (Whitcomb p.

84).

9:4-10 Jehu was specifically told that he was God’s instrument to bring judgment upon the Jezebel and her offspring for all the evil that they had committed against God’s people. Every male person who was a descendant of Ahab was to be executed (9:8). This dynasty was to be completely eliminated, just like the same judgment which had fallen upon the dynasties of Jeroboam and Baasha (9:9). The specific prophecy about the dogs eating the remains of Jezebel was near fulfillment (1 Kings 21:23; 9:10). “I think verse 9 is a political statement. Not that there can never be rulers or leaders cut from different cloth, but verse 9 seems to reflect the general and boring pattern of politics as a realm in revolt against God’s word and in which His judgment is repeatedly necessary” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 150).

When the young prophet arrived at Ramoth-Gilead, he found the army officers sitting together, and some writers believe they were in the process of hatching a plot against the monarchy. “It is instructive to note that when the officers found out about the anointing they seemed instantly ready to elevate Jehu to the kingship. Evidently it was not a new thought to them. Verses 6-10 list an accumulation of curses against the evil kings of Israel that are now coming to a head with the destruction of the house of Ahab” (Vos pp. 162-163). Jeroboam’s dynasty and Baasha’s dynasty had ended violently (1 Kings 15:25, 28-29; 16:3-4).

9:11-13 What has been done in secret now moves quickly into the public arena.

The other officers are troubled by the coming of the prophet and his quick departure. Did he bring good or bad news? The other officers called the prophet a “madman”. Something about this young man’s appearance or action, or perhaps just their knowing that he was a prophet, led these observers to characterize him as a wild man. “The term betrays the low spiritual condition of the soldiers and carries with it their contempt for God’s prophets” (Gaebelein p.

206). Compare with Acts 26:24. Jehu isn’t anxious to report what the prophet had said and tries to nonchalantly imply that such a man says nothing rational.

But the officers sensed that the news was very rational and very important, they reply to Jehu, “It is a lie”, or “nonsense”! Immediately upon hearing what the prophet had said, they construct a make-shift throne and pledge their loyalty.

“Why was Jehu reluctant to reveal to his comrades what the messenger had said and done inside the house? It was probably not humility. More likely Jehu was testing the loyalty of Jehoram’s generals by revealing the facts a little at a time 2

and watching carefully their reactions. One rash step, and he would be labeled a traitor and arrested” (Dilday p. 345). “He is declared king, but he has much to do for the proclamation to be more than wasted breath” (House p. 287).

“For now Elisha fades from the scene. He will emerge later again, but the bulk of his work, the author chooses to describe, is over. Elisha has protected the company of the prophets, the widow and her family, and even the nation itself.

He has modeled the Lord’s grace by healing Naaman and has convinced Naaman that there are no other gods. Elisha has demonstrated the Lord’s sovereignty over political affairs in Judah, Israel, and Syria. He has concluded the ministry of his mentor, Elijah. Without question he has proved a more-thanworthy successor to his master” (House p. 287).

9:14-15 This revolution of 841 B.C. may well have been the most important political development in the history of the separate monarchies since the schism of 930 B.C. Both kingdoms were affected immediately by what transpired.

“Joram” is another way of spelling “Jehoram” king of Israel. Verses 14-15 are a repetition of 2 Kings 8:28-29 and it heightens the reader’s anticipation over what will occur. Jehu swears the men in Ramoth Gilead to secrecy, then drives his chariot toward Jezreel. “Using a parenthetical insertion, the author reminds us of the events that sent Jehoram, wounded in the battle of Ramoth Gilead, to Jezreel to recuperate” (Dilday p. 347). “All Israel”, in verse 14 refers to the Israelite army. Jezreel was located 40 miles west of Ramoth Gilead.

9:16 Remember, at this time the Judean king Ahaziah was visiting the recovering Joram, who was also his relative.

9:17 “Scattered along Jezreel’s city wall were a number of watchtowers. The one in verse 17 was obviously on the east side of the city where the plain falls away toward the valley” (Dilday p. 348). The phrase, “the company of Jehu”, may indicate that Jehu had soldiers with him. This watchman probably saw a cloud of dust on the horizon and concluded that many horsemen were approaching.

Fearful that these might be Arameans or bad news from Ramoth, Joram ordered a horseman to go intercept the convoy.

9:18-19 The phrase, “What have you to do with peace?”, apparently means something like, “Do not worry about the situation”, i.e., his business was with the king and he wasn’t going to divulge any information. “Interpreted in the light of verse 22, this means there could be no peace as long as the practices of Jezebel were tolerated. Jehu refused to let the horseman return” (Vos p. 163).

3

9:20 By now the platoon was close enough so it could be seen that Jehu, the furious chariot driver (or hot rodder) of ancient Israel, a man who drove with a distinctive reckless abandon, was approaching.

9:21 How fitting! Joram, Ahaziah and Jehu meet upon the very property which Jezebel had unlawfully seized from an innocent Naboth. “Like a mighty magnet, Naboth’s blood drew the kings to the fateful spot where Elijah had pronounced doom upon Ahab and his dynasty (1 Kings 21:21-22)” (Whitcomb p. 84). Yes, God sees and remembers things (Exodus 3:7), and to the wicked there is a “pay back” (2 Thess. 1:6-8). “Naboth may be dirt to Ahab and Jezebel but Yahweh knows his name” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 154).

9:22 Apparently, Joram did not suspect anything. It appears that both kings, by themselves, without any kind of escort or protection meet Jehu. Immediately after Jehu spoke, Joram realized the revolutionary nature of the captain’s appearance. He quickly wheeled about and fled, yelling warnings to Ahaziah. “’Harlotries’ and ‘witchcraft’ are figurative terms often used by the prophets for idolatry and faithlessness. The worship of Baal was essentially a fertility cult that featured cultic prostitution, so the terms were very appropriate here” (Dilday p.

349). 9:24-26 The day of reckoning had caught up to Joram! “Unrepentant to the last, and with the judgment of God ringing in his ears, Jehoram king of Israel died like his father” (Whitcomb pp. 84-85). Note, Jehu had personal knowledge of Elijah’s predicted retribution against Ahab’s house for the bloody crime against Naboth (1 Kings 21:17-22).

9:27-29 King Ahaziah was also a blood relative of Ahab (Ahab’s daughter Athaliah was his mother, so he was Ahab’s grandson). The “garden house” (Beth Haggan), was probably on the site of modern Jenin, about seven miles south of Jezreel on the road to Samaria and Jerusalem. “Ibleam” is modern Belameth, a mile south of Jenin. Jehu’s men wounded Ahaziah, but he managed to drive on to Megiddo where he died. At some point during this chase, Chronicles records that Ahaziah reached Samaria where he hid for some time (2 Chron. 22:9), and was captured and put to death. These two passages can be harmonized if Jehu was in Megiddo, where Ahaziah was brought before he died.

The Death of Jezebel

4

9:30 Next on Jehu’s list of condemned enemies was Jezebel. “Jezebel had time to size up the situation and to recognize that shortly she, too, would be killed” (Vos p. 165). Jezebel must have been an aged woman by this time, but the years had not softened her brazen wickedness. “Her eye make-up in verse 30 was antimony, or stibium, a black powder used by women of the East to darken the edges of their eyelids and eyebrows” (Dilday p. 351).

9:31 In this verse Jezebel calls Jehu by the name “Zimri”. Zimri was the one who murdered King Elah and those who remained in the family of Baasha (1 Kings 16:10). He managed to hold the throne only a few days and committed suicide.

Therefore it is clear that Jezebel wasn’t trying to entice Jehu with her eye makeup but to prepare herself to die as a queen. “She showed icy composure, knowing she was about to be killed” (Dilday p. 351). “First, wicked people can meet their deaths with great flair. She was godless but gutsy. With Max Factor on her face and sarcasm on her lips she faced Jehu head on. Some of the children of this age can do that. They can be dashing even in death. Go out in style.

Leave their loved ones stories to tell about the brash way they walked into the Grim Reaper’s field. But one’s boldness in the face of death does not exempt from judgment after death. Some may put on a memorable piece of drama at death and still be damned. Secondly, the demise of the wicked should be the joy of the righteous. It may should crude to put it that way but that’s only because the church has stopped living in, for example, Psalms 83, and 94….There is no biblical spine in our theology” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 155-156).

9:32-33 “Her falling body bounced off certain wall projections at once smearing her blood on the walls and showering it on Jehu’s chariot horses as well. The captain then had his driver race over her crumpled corpse” (Smith p. 577). 9:3437 Jehu was completely unaffected by the bloodshed in which he had been involved. Not until Jehu had fed himself did he give any thought to the corpse of the late queen. Elijah had predicted four things about the fate of Jezebel: 1. That the dogs would devour her. 2. That this would take place in the portion of Jezreel. 3. That the carcass of Jezebel would be as dung upon the face of the ground. 4. That the fragments of the body would be so scattered that it would be impossible to bury all her remains in one tomb. “The name ‘Jezebel’ originally meant ‘chaste’, or ‘without cohabitation’; but because of her abominations, it has ever since epitomized the opposite (Revelation 2:20). She took a good name and completely ruined it” (Winters p. 219). In addition,

5

Jezebel served the ‘god of the dung heap’, and that’s exactly what she became. In many ways, people do become like what they worship.

Chapter 10 10:1 Seventy descendants of Ahab still lived in Samaria and any one of them could claim more right (in the eyes of men) than Jehu to succeed Joram. 10:2-3 Jehu boldly writes a letter to the leaders in Samaria and challenges them to appoint a new king and meet him in battle to decide who is to rule Israel. But because of his military experience and courage (he had already killed two kings, Joram and Ahaziah), the leaders in Samaria send Jehu word that they will do whatever he wishes (10:4-5).

10:6-11 Jehu then ordered these leaders (who were the personal advisors and tutors of Ahab’s sons), to decapitate Ahab’s seventy descendants and bring their heads twenty miles to Jezreel within twenty-four hours. After he received the royal heads he ordered that they be put on display in two heaps at the city gate.

The next morning Jehu addressed the inhabitants there. He openly admitted that the had slain his master (Joram), but tried to argue that the leaders of the nation had killed these seventy. Apparently Jehu is trying to justify his actions by saying: 1. He wasn’t a common murderer, rather he was God’s instrument to execute judgment upon the ungodly. 2. Secondly, even the great men of Jezreel and Samaria are a part of this judgment on the house of Ahab. When Jehu told the inhabitants of Jezreel, “You are innocent”, he was probably trying to put them at ease, lest others might blame them for what had happened.

“He claimed innocence of and implied ignorance of the execution of Ahab’s sons.

This had been done by Ahab’s chief officials but Jehu did not tell the people it had been done at his command. Since he had been honest with the people about his own responsibility in killing Joram, the people assumed he was being honest with them” (Bible Knowledge Comm. pp. 557-558).

10:11 Jehu also killed many who had been part of Ahab’s court and administration, including the idolatrous priests. Having eliminated all potential opposition both in Jezreel and throughout the land, Jehu set out for Samaria.

10:12 Jehu encountered some Judeans at “Beth-eked” (beth EE ked), which might have been about 16 miles NE of Samaria. 10:13-14 These travelers from Judah were relatives of Ahaziah (and thus of Ahab). Jehu may have reasoned

6

that they must be coming north to give aid and assistance to their relatives of the house of Ahab.

10:15-17 Continuing his journey Jehu met “Jehonadab” (juh HAHN uh dab) son of “Recab” (REE kab). This man was a faithful follower of Jehovah and a strict observer of the Mosaic Law (Jeremiah 35:6-7). In meeting Jehonadab, Jehu learned that he was a supporter of his policy to purge the land of Ahab’s apostate influence. Joining hands and sharing a chariot were signs of agreement and mutual commitment” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 558). This man and his descendants were convinced it was easier to live a godly life as nomads than in the settled life of the cities, where they would be tempted to compromise with idolatry and immorality. They did not drink wine or nay other intoxicating drink; they chose to live in tents rather than houses; and they refused to plant crops or own vineyards (Jeremiah 35:1-9).

10:18 Upon his arrival in Samaria, Jehu pretended to be a devout follower of Baal. He pretended that his zeal for Baal would be much greater than that of Ahab. “It seems the people knew that Jehu had taken over the kingdom but were unaware of his religious preference” (Dilday p. 357). “What a dramatic scene it must have been as the officials of Baal worship gathered in open celebration. They were excited that their new king, Jehu, and the famous sheik of the Rechabites, Jehonadab, were now distinguished converts and were joining them in a ceremonial sacrifice to Baal” (p. 357).

10:19 The great sacrifice for Baal would actually be the priests who served him!

10:20-21 Baal worshippers from all over Israel were brought to this feast.

10:22-28 The destruction of the shrine was so complete that it was totally leveled and the site became a well-known refuse dump. Literally, the word means “a latrine, cesspool, or privy”. 10:29 Yet, Jehu allowed the golden calves which Jeroboam had instituted to remain. 10:30 God approved of Jehu’s actions against Ahab and those who had supported his idolatrous policies.

10:31-36 But Jehu himself was unfaithful to God. “Jehu won God’s commendation for destroying Baal worship and the house of Ahab, but he, like the other kings of Israel, followed in the steps of Jeroboam. So for his degree of faithfulness to God’s instructions he had a promise of a dynasty lasting four generations: Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, and Zechariah. For his degree of unfaithfulness, God began to whittle Israel down. What happened historically was this. In 841, the year of his accession, Jehu was forced to pay tribute to Shalmaneser III of Assyria….This is recorded on Shalmaneser’s Black Obelisk.

7

But Jehu had relative peace during the years 841 to 838 B.C. while Shalmaneser was harassing Damascus. After 838 Assyria quit pressuring Syria, and Hazael was free to move against Israel in order to strengthen his rear. Eventually he took nearly all of Israel’s holdings in Transjordan and held them until Jeroboam II managed to conquer them (2 Kings 14:25). Jehu’s reign lasted twenty-eight years (841-814) and his son Jehoahaz succeeded him” (Vos pp. 170-171).

Closing Comments “For yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel” (Hosea 1:4).

God had commanded such bloodshed (2 Kings 9:1-10; 10:30), and yet it appears that Jehu is condemned for executing such a command. Note, Jehu wasn’t condemned for carrying out the command (he was commended, 2 Kings 10:30).

Rather, he is condemned here for carrying out such a command from the motive of selfishness. Jehu was faithful to these commands, not because of his great love for God, but rather, because he hated Ahab’s wife and kids. Jehu hated Baalism, but at the same time, he didn’t love the worship of the true God. Note he hated Baalism, but he endorsed the idolatry established by Jeroboam, yet in the sight of God one was just as wrong as the other. Many professed believers can be adamant against sin or a certain sin, but not because they love God. We need to make sure that our motives are pure, for people can obey God from wrong motives (1 Corinthians 13:1-4; Matthew 6:1ff).

“We must remember two points. First, the Bible shows that God frequently works, we might say, indirectly—through human instruments, and, unlike surgeons, God has no sterilized instruments; all of them are flawed and many of them opportunistic, self-serving Jehu’s. So God uses wicked people to carry out His divine design. Second, this is a situation involving the judgment of God, and it is very difficult to make judgment pleasant” (Dale Ralph Davis p. 161).

8