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2Ki_9:1-37. [2Ch_22:7-9.]
4So the young man, even the young man [the servant of] the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. 5And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O captain. 6And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have anointed [I anoint] thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. 7And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all 8the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel. For [omit for] The whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left [both him that is of age and him that is not of age] in Israel: 9and I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah: 10and the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion [purlieus] of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.
11Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication [secret]. 12And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed [I anoint] thee king over Israel. 13Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him [Jehu] on the top of the stairs 14[bare steps], and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king. So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept [defended] Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of [against] Hazael king of Syria: 15but king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your minds, then let none [no fugitive] go forth nor escape [omit nor escape] out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel. 16So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram. 17And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace [Is all well]? 18So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace [Is all well]? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace [well or ill]? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again. 19Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace [Is all well]? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace [well or ill]? turn thee behind me. 20And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously. 21And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against [to meet] Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace [Is all well], Jehu? And he answered, What peace [is well], so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts [sorceries] are so many? 23And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, 24[Treachery!] O Ahaziah. And Jehu drew [took] a bow with his full strength [in his hand] and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at 25his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain [lieutenant], Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode together [two by two] after Ahab his father, the Lord laid this burden [passed this sentence] upon him; 26Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the Lord; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the Lord. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the Lord.
27But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also [Him also! Smite him] in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. 28And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. 29And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.
30And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face [eyelids], and tired her head, and looked out at a window. 31And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master 32[Hail! thou Zimri, murderer of his master!]? And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. 33And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. 34And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now [to] this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter. 35And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. 36Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion [purlieus] of Jezreel shall 37dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel. And the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion [purlieus] of Jezreel; [so] [so] that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.
2Ki_9:2. And go in: i.e., into the house in which he dwells, as is clear from 2Ki_9:6 ( äַáַּéְúָä ), and from the words: to an inner chamber (see note on 1Ki_20:30). Jehu with his army was not, therefore, in camp before Ramoth besieging it, but in the city itself defending it (see note on 2Ki_8:28). [No mention is made anywhere of any hostilities between Israel and Syria, from the death of Ahab until this time, in which the city of Ramoth could have changed hands. It is clear that the representation throughout this chapter is, that the Israelites were in possession of the city. It may, therefore, be inferred with considerable certainty that they had succeeded in taking it in this war, either in the assault in which Joram was wounded, or in some previous one. If Joram had gained this important victory for them, it is not probable that the army would lave been in a disposition to see him deposed by my one else. The inference is that, in the battle, he had not conducted himself well, and that Jehu’s talents had shone by comparison. It would be quite consistent with the character of each as it appears to us elsewhere. Moreover, we see from 2Ki_9:21 that Joram was already so far recovered as to be able to go out in his chariot to meet Jehu. Yet he had not rejoined his army. This would seem to indicate that he had made much of a slight wound, and that he was shirking the hardships of the war. Putting all this together, we can understand that the feeling of the army towards the king was that of contempt, and towards Jehu that of admiration and respect, and the sudden and complete success of the revolution is not then difficult to understand.—W. G. S.] The prophet-disciple entered the house, in the court of which the generals were sitting together, perhaps holding a council of war. Jehu was to be anointed privately, and the fact was for a time to be kept secret.
2Ki_9:3. And tarry not: that no questions might be asked and “that he might not be involved in affairs with which he was not competent to deal” (Von Gerlach); Josephus: ὅðùò ëÜèῃ ðÜíôáò ἐêåῖèåí ἀðéþí . It was not, therefore, in order that he might escape the danger of being captured by the friends of Joram (Theodoret, Clericus).
2Ki_9:6. I have anointed thee; see above. Exeg. on 1Ki_19:16.—On 2Ki_9:7-10 see notes on 1Ki_14:10; 1Ki_16:3-4; 1Ki_18:4; 1Ki_19:10; 1Ki_21:21 sq. On çֵìֶ÷ see note on 1Ki_21:23 [and note on this verse under Textual and Grammatical].
2Ki_9:11. Then Jehu came forth, &c. The question äֲùָׁìåֹí occurs, in this chapter, six times, and it is impossible that it should have a different sense in each case. As it evidently stands in opposition to “strife” or “hostility” in 2Ki_9:17-18; 2Ki_9:22; 2Ki_9:31, it must also be translated in its original meaning in 2Ki_9:11, “Is it peace?” and not: rectene sunt omnia? (Vulg.); or Stehet es wohl (is all well)? (Luther). Cf. 1Ki_2:13. [Nearly all the commentators agree with the opinion here advocated, and translate “Is it peace?” ùׁìåí unquestionably meant, originally and etymologically, welfare, salus. It is often used generally, not in any special formula, for “peace.” As a formula of salutation, however, its etymological signification was entirely lost, as much as in our own “good-bye,” the etymological meaning of which we very seldom have in mind when we use it. As a question it is destitute of intrinsic meaning. It merely asks, “What is the news you bring?” In form only it asks, “Is it good news?” “Is all well?” Every language presents similar examples of current formulæ and words which have lost their etymological significance. Our own word “well” is a good instance, particularly in colloquial usage, where it often is almost meaningless, and where it often implies anything but approval of what has preceded. The inflection of the voice here carries all the significance. A similar instance occurs in this chapter. In 2Ki_9:26 Jehu quotes the sentence of God upon Ahab, beginning with the words àִí ìֹà . This is the formula for an oath, and an ellipsis is necessary to explain the form. This consists of an imprecation upon the speaker by himself. “If I did not see—then may—&c.” As Thenius well remarks, we cannot believe that the origin of this formula could have been present to the mind of Jehu, or that he could have thought of the alternate, omitted, phrase, when he represented God as having spoken in these words. The alternative was utterly lost sight of, and àí ìà meant simply “verily,” as a strong affirmation.— äùׁìåí therefore is simply a salutation which calls upon the person addressed to tell the news, or his message. So in 2Ki_9:11 it might be translated: “Well? Wherefore came,” &c. In 2Ki_9:17-18 it has the same meaning, but Jehu plays upon it by using it in its strict meaning in his reply (see the amended translation). In 2Ki_9:22 this is still more evident. In 2Ki_9:31 Jezebel uses it as the regular conventional salutation, with which to address her insulting and defiant words to Jehu. To make it mean in 2Ki_9:17-18; 2Ki_9:22, “Is there peace?” i.e., do you come with hostile or peaceful intent towards me? is to ascribe to the king a suspicion, first of the unknown party which is approaching, and afterwards of Jehu. If he had been suspicious that it was an enemy, he would not have sent out one man; if he had been suspicious of Jehu, he would not have gone down himself, and, as it seems, without guards, to meet him. Finally, 2Ki_9:23 shows that he did not suspect anything until he heard Jehu’s answer, which was a bold condemnation of Jezebel. Then he recognized treachery, and, as soon as he did, he endeavored to escape. To send out a man to meet the coming troop and “say äùׁìåí ,” was, therefore, simply to send him out to salute them and inquire what was the intelligence they brought. When Jehu was recognized, the same message was sent to him (cf. 2Ki_10:13). Finally, the king went to ask for himself. The only news which he expected was news about the war. When the commander-in-chief came riding in hot haste towards the capital, news, either of a great victory or an overwhelming defeat, was to be expected. As for hostility from the approaching party before it was recognized, or from Jehu after he was recognized, there was no thought of it, until Jehu’s answer, in 2Ki_9:23, revealed it all at once as openly declared.—W. G. S.] The generals put this inquiry, not because “they feared the madman might have done him some harm” (Ewald), but because they inferred, from the haste with which the prophet-disciple departed, that he had brought important intelligence, perhaps bad news, about the war with Syria (Thenius). Their further question: Wherefore came this äַîְּùֻׁâָּò to thee? is generally understood as the mocking and contemptuous speech of rude soldiers about a prophet. The Hebrew word is then understood to mean a madman or rhapsodist. It is certain, however, that these soldiers, who were expecting important and perhaps discouraging intelligence in regard to the war, were not in a disposition to scoff at prophets. If they had taken the prophet for a madman, they would not, when Jehu made known to them (2Ki_9:12) the object for which he came, have taken the extraordinary step they did, without consideration or delay, and made Jehu king, on the word of a fanatic. In 2Ki_9:20 it is said of Jehu himself: “He driveth áְּùִׁðָּòåֹï ,” whereby it is not meant to be said that he was a crazy man, a lunatic, or a fanatic, but that he was a man of fierce and violent temper (Vatablus, following the Syriac, translates prœcipitanter). In Arabic ùׁâò means to be bold, rash, wild (see Ges. Dict., s. v.). The generals meant to say, therefore, that the wild behavior of the man, who had come and gone without saying a word to any one, had struck them. They thought that his conduct indicated some extraordinary intelligence, and they wanted to know what it was. Jehu at first gives them an evasive answer: Ye know the man and his ùִׂéçַ . This word does not mean “his speech or words” (Ges., De Wette, and Luther, who follows the Vulg.: et quid locutus sit); nor, “his babble” (Junius, Köster, and Philippson, who follows the Sept. ἀäïëåó÷ßá ), for the word, does not occur anywhere in this sense. Neither does Jehu connect with his words the meaning: “Ye yourselves have sent this prophet to me, in order to give me courage to carry out the plan which ye have formed (Dereser following Seb. Smith; J. D. Michaelis), nor this meaning: “Ye know the man and what he said to me; ye yourselves are at the bottom of this jest, for ye it was who planned the farce” (Krummacher). Jehu could not have meant this, for he knew that the plan or jest had not originated with the generals, and his answer would not then have been an evasive one. No less incorrect is the explanation of Cornelius a Lapide, whom Keil follows: Nostis, eum insanum esse ac proinde insana loquitur, ideoque non credenda, nec a me narranda, for ùִׂéçַ is no synonym of ùָׁâַò . Finally, we cannot translate it with Bunsen and Thenius, “his disposition:” “Ye should be accustomed to his disposition, since ye have often seen him before.” The word is rather to be taken here in the same sense as in 1Ki_18:27, i.e., meditatio, absorption in thought; so that, in other places, it stands for every deep agitation of the soul: rancor, sorrow, or dissatisfaction (Psa_54:2; Psa_102:1; Psa_142:2; Job_7:13), and in 1Sa_1:16 it stands as synonym to ëַòַí . Jehu means to say: The conduct of this man ought not to astonish you; he was lost in thought, as prophets are wont to be; therefore he did not enter into conversation with any one, and departed as hastily as he came. [It must be apparent that the epithet îְùֻׁâָּò , as it is correctly explained above, is not a proper epithet for a man who is lost in meditation. Wildness of behavior is in general inconsistent with meditation. Moreover, as above stated (note on 2Ki_9:11), it is an error to take äùìåí to mean “Is there peace?” and then to suppose that these soldiers asked the question with reference to the war with Syria. How should they ask whether there was peace with Syria, when they were there on purpose to make war with that country? or how should they expect that this prophet could bring intelligence which was to decide that point? The prophet came from home, from Israel, and although his message might ultimately bear upon the continuance of the war with Syria, the natural expectation would be that he brought news from Israel, whence he came. They asked in general what the news was which he brought. The epithet which they applied need not be pressed so far as to make them guilty of any intentional disrespect to a prophet. He was wild in his behavior, and they called him carelessly a “mad fellow.” The tone and meaning could hardly be better given in English. Jehu’s reply is best understood as an attempt to sound them. He appears in chap. 10. distinctly in the character of a crafty man. So here; he is in doubt whether the prophet has been instigated by his fellow-commanders to do this thing, because they hesitated to make an outspoken proposition of rebellion to him. He charges them With having plotted this, as a means of inducing him to rebel. Ye know the man, and the errand he had. ùִׂéçַ occurs very frequently in the sense of “complaint,” a deep-seated subject of anxiety. It is used here of the business or communication which the prophet brought deeply hidden in his heart—the deep plot which had been the result of long meditation. To this interpretation of 2Ki_9:11, ùֶׁ÷ֶø , “it is a lie,” in 2Ki_9:12, answers well. They deny the charge.—W. G. S.] The generals notice that Jehu is trying to evade them, and, as he is not able to conceal his agitation entirely, they are only the more urgent. They reply: ùֶׁ÷ֶø , i.e., not: “That is not true!” (Luther, Keil), or: “A lie!” (De Wette), but, “Deceit!” (1Sa_25:21; Jer_3:23), Thenius: “Nonsense! thou desirest to escape us.” Thereupon Jehu cannot help himself any longer; he tells them plainly what has happened. Niemeyer’s interpretation: “It is true that he (this man) does not always tell the truth, yet tell us what he said,” is certainly false.
2Ki_9:13. Then they hasted and took every man his garment. The immediate and joyful homage to the general shows, on the one hand, that they were far from scoffing at the prophet, or regarding him as a crazy man or a mere fanatic, on the other hand, that a deep dissatisfaction with Joram and the house of Ahab prevailed in the army, while Jehu stood in high esteem. The words àֶìÎâֶּøֶí äַîַּòֲìåֹú have been understood in many different ways. Generally âֶּøֶí is taken in the sense of its synonym òֶöֶí , “self,” and the clause is translated: “upon the stairs themselves,” i.e., upon the bare steps (Kimchi, whom Keil follows); but the word scarcely has this signification except in connection with personal pronouns. Still less can we approve the translation of Grotius, Clericus, and others: in fastigio graduum, for âֶּøֶí never means the top or summit. Thenius believes that âֶּøֶí is written for öֶìֶí , as the Vulg. shows: in similitudinem tribunalis. He translates: “As a representation of (or make-shift for) the (necessary) scaffolding [by mounting upon which to show himself to the people and receive their homage, a king was inaugurated], Jehu stepped up upon the piled-up garments.” But, to say nothing of other objections, there could be no mention of “steps” in connection with a pile of heaped-up garments. Evidently, we have rather to think of a spreading-out of the garments such as is recorded in Mat_21:8, and, as àֶì , which we must not interchange with òַì , designates motion to or towards, we translate literally: “towards,” or, “in the direction of, the stairs.” In the building, in which the generals were assembled, there was, therefore, a staircase, an arrangement like that in the court of the temple for the king (2Ch_6:13), which had perhaps been prepared for the king, who formerly lived in Ramoth. The generals spread their garments over the ground from the place where Jehu stood to this place, which was ordinarily reserved for the king, and thus formed a path for him to this place, on which they saluted him with royal honors. [See note under Grammatical on this verse.]—On the blowing of the trumpet, see note on 1Ki_1:34; cf., 2Ki_11:14.
2Ki_9:14 does not state the cause of the act in 2Ki_9:13, but the consequence of it, so that we must not understand that there was a “conspiracy” in the ordinary sense of the word, i.e., a secret bond, previous to the wounding of Joram (Köster). After they had chosen Jehu king by acclamation, he bound himself and them firmly and solemnly to hostility to Joram ( ÷ùø means to bind, to fetter). The word does not imply, in itself, that he made them take an oath of allegiance to himself.
2Ki_9:14. Joram had defended Ramoth, &c. ùֹׁîֵø áְּøָîֹú shows again, what we saw in ver 6, that the city was not at that time besieged by Joram (Köster), but that he was in it and was defending it against the Syrians. In 2Ki_9:15-16 we have a repetition of 2Ki_8:28-29, but it is not “a mere superfluous” repetition, which “proves that those verses and the chapter before us were not written by the same person” (Thenius). In the former place the statement is purely historical, but here it is intended to explain the event narrated in 2Ki_9:1-14. 2Ki_9:21 shows that Joram was healed at the time that Jehu was anointed. Instead of returning, however, to share the labors and the dangers of the war, he remained in his summer palace in Jezreel, and appears to have been taking his pleasure with his guest, king Ahaziah of Judah. This must have had a bad effect on the army, which could see in it only indifference or cowardice, and it explains the enthusiasm with which they yielded allegiance to Jehu, as well as the haste with which the latter started for Jezreel, inasmuch as it was important for him to lay hands at once upon the trio, Joram, Ahaziah, and Jezebel. He therefore proposes to the generals that they shall keep the army at Ramoth, and not allow any one to leave the city, and he hastens with a small company ( ùִׁôְòָä 2Ki_9:17) to take possession of Jezreel. Peter Martyr: Silentium et celeritatem adhibet, ne Joramo spatium detur vel ad deliberandum vel ad se muniendum. Ewald’s assertion: “He mounted his chariot alone with his old companion in arms Bidkar, and drove,” &c., contradicts the text.
2Ki_9:17. And there stood a watchman, &c. 2Ki_9:17 stands in close connection with the end of 2Ki_9:16. While the two kings were enjoying themselves in the summer palace, and thought of no danger, the watchman appeared before Joram, and reported: “I see a company.” That which is narrated in 2Ki_9:17-20 is as characteristic of Joram as of Jehu, and that is why it is narrated with so much detail. It shows, on the one hand, how careless Joram was, since it was not till after he had in vain sent out two horsemen, that he took a more earnest view of the matter, and, on the other hand, how decided and energetic Jehu was, since he did not allow himself to be detained, and kept the two horsemen in his own train, lest they should hurry on before him with intelligence of his coming. His question in 2Ki_9:18 has the meaning, What is it of thy business, whether I come in friendship or in hostility; thou hast nothing to do with that, it does not concern thee. [See note on 2Ki_9:11.] It is probable that the watchman had seen, while they were at a distance, that they were not Syrians. As they came nearer, he recognized more and more distinctly that they were Israelites, and he inferred, from their violent speed, that Jehu, the commander of the army, whose wild and fierce disposition was well known to him, was at their head. On áְּùִׁâָּòåֹï see note on 2Ki_9:11.
2Ki_9:21. And Joram said; Make ready, &c. Now, at length, when he heard Jehu’s name, ho became anxious, and set out to meet him—a thing which he could not have done, be it noticed, if he had been confined by his wound. [It must be clear that this anxiety could only have been as to what events of the war east of the Jordan could have been the cause that the chief commander came hurrying home in such haste. If he had suspected treachery, it is not conceivable that he would have gone to meet Jehu. See notes on 2Ki_9:11; 2Ki_9:22; 2Ki_9:30.—W. G. S.] The portion of Naboth, where the two kings met Jehu, “is the ëֶּøֶí , vineyard, of Naboth, which now formed a part of the park of the royal palace” (Keil). Joram’s question, 2Ki_9:22, “Is it peace?” shows that he did not even yet suspect rebellion, but rather expected news of a victory from Ramoth, otherwise he certainly would not have gone out alone to meet him. [That is to say; the question had reference to the hostility between Syria and Israel, not to my suspected hostility of Jehu towards his king. This is just the distinction which must be kept in mind, and this question must be interpreted as asking news of the war. No other interpretation is possible. The rest of the chapter must therefore be interpreted consistently with this. The king did not here ask: Is there peace between me and thee? No more did he send a messenger to ask: Dost thou come for peace or war between me and thee? in 2Ki_9:17-18. If he knew that they were Israelites, he certainly did not ask the question in this sense; if he thought that they were Syrians, he would not send out one man to ask them the idle question whether they came for peace or war. See note below, on 2Ki_9:30.—W. G. S.]—In Jehu’s answer, òַã has the same force as in Jdg_3:26 [so long as, or, while]. He gives as the reason for his hostile coming, the whoredoms and sorceries of Jezebel. [He gives the king to understand that he has not come to bring news from the war, but to overthrow him, by a reply in which he condemns the vices of the queen-mother, in terms which no man could use who was willing any longer to be a subject.—W. G. S.] æְðåּðִéí not to be taken literally, but is used, as it so often is, in referring to idolatry (Jer_3:2; Jer_3:9; Eze_23:27, &c.), with which, however, licentiousness was almost always connected. By ëְּùָׁôִéí we have not to understand “mysteries” (Thenius), but that general practice of sorcery, and use of incantations for producing various supernatural effects (Winer, R.-W.-B., II. s. 718), which was closely connected with idolatry. All these practices were forbidden, as well as idolatry, on pain of death, in the Mosaic law (Exo_22:18; Deu_18:10). Jehu’s words show that Jezebel was generally regarded as the foundress and patroness of idolatry. They also contain a rebuke for Joram, because he had submitted to be led by her, had helped her instead of opposing her, and had thereby made himself accessory to her crime.— åַéַּäֲôֹêְ , 2Ki_9:23, see 1Ki_22:34. The exclamation, îִøְîָä , deceit, means, “We are deceived, i.e., really, betrayed” (Keil).
2Ki_9:24. Between his arms, i.e., from behind, since Joram, in his flight, had turned his back to Jehu. It means, therefore, really, between the shoulders (Vulg. inter scapulas), so that the arrow went obliquely through his heart.
2Ki_9:25. Then said Jehu to Bidkar, his lieutenant. æְëֹø is rendered by all the old versions, which are misled by àðé , which follows, in the first person: “For I remember how,” &c. But it is evidently incorrect. Whether øֹëְáִéí here signifies riding on horseback, or in a chariot, is of very little importance. The point is, that Jehu was in Ahab’s retinue, was an ear-witness when the prophet pronounced upon the king the sentence of God, after the death of Naboth (1Ki_21:19 sq.). This had made an ineffaceable impression upon Jehu.— îַùָּׂà means really: “burden,” i.e., something which must be borne. If God lays a “burden” upon any one, he passes a sentence of punishment upon him, which must be endured. Hence the word is often used by the prophets in the sense of a condemnation of, or judicial sentence upon, a man or a nation (Isa_13:1; Isa_14:28; Isa_15:1).— àí ìֹà , in an oath or affirmation: “Verily” (Num_14:28). Jehu quotes the sentence which was pronounced 1Ki_21:19-24 according to its substance, as it remained in his memory after sixteen years, and with such inaccuracies in the wording as were occasioned by his excitement in a moment of the most violent activity. The repetition of “saith the Lord” places emphasis on the oracle of God, as such. I have seen, saith the Lord: I will repay, saith the Lord. Jehu, however, mentions something which was not mentioned at all in the former place; viz., “The blood of his sons,” and that he should be requited in the field of Naboth. Thenius considers this an “essential variation,” and says that “all attempts at reconciliation are vain.” But the author must have been the most thoughtless man in the world, if he had not perceived that what he here recorded was contradictory to what he had written a few pages before. It may, therefore, nevertheless be permitted us to attempt a “reconciliation” which will make him talk sense. Although the blood of the sons of Naboth is not mentioned in 1 Kings 21, it may nevertheless be that they were also killed. It is impossible that Jehu should have talked to an eye and ear witness, as Bidkar was, about the blood of the sons of Naboth, if their blood had never actually been spilled. Thenius very justly remarks on 2Ki_9:7 (“And the blood of all the servants of the Lord”), that “Jezebel must have vented her rage upon a still wider circle than that which is expressly mentioned.” Perhaps Naboth’s sons were murdered because it was feared that they might lay claim to the property of which their father had been robbed, and might avenge his murder. Jehu mentions their blood also, as well as that of their father, because the divine punishment would thereby appear all the more just, and his own command, to throw Joram’s corpse upon the field of Naboth, would be more completely justified. As the murder fell upon Naboth and his sons, so the penalty fell upon Ahab and his sons. The word “yesterday” must not be insisted upon too strongly in its strict signification. It implies simply, “a while ago,” as in Isa_30:33. The sentence of condemnation in 1 Kings 21. was certainly not pronounced on the day after Naboth’s murder. Secondly, as to the addition, “In this plat,” the emphasis is not upon this phrase, but upon the word requite: that is the main idea, about which all the rest is grouped, not the “plat.” The slaying of Joram, the “son of a murderer” (2Ki_6:32) is marked as a penalty for the murder of Naboth and his sons by this very circumstance, that his body is cast upon the field which that murder had been committed to win. Jehu very justly saw, in the fact that Joram must die just here, a dispensation of Providence, the ground for which he discovers in the oracle 1 Kings 21. [Jehu commands the corpse to be cast upon the field of Naboth, and proceeds to quote the oracle as a motive for the command, after which he repeats his order. (Throw him there, for God said that he would requite him there; therefore throw him there.) It is, therefore, evident that the emphasis is on the words, “In this plat.” For the rest, 1Ki_21:19 is strictly and literally fulfilled by this command of Jehu, although it is not literally quoted.—W. G. S.]
2Ki_9:27. But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, &c. The garden-house, towards which Ahaziah fled, was certainly not the summer palace in Jezreel (Calmet), but, since he sought the open country, either a house which “stood at one of the exits from the park” (Thenius), or which did not belong at all to the royal domain, but “stood at some distance from Jezreel” (Keil).—And Jehu followed after him, and said, &c. From his words it is clear that he did not himself pursue Jehu, but gave the command to do so, just as so often that which one commands to be done is ascribed to himself. His object was to reach Jezreel, where Isabel, the originator of all the mischief, was, and, as he was now close to the city, he hastened thither (2Ki_9:30), leaving the pursuit of Ahaziah to some of his followers. After the words: “Smite him in the chariot,” something must be supplied, viz., the fulfilment of the command, as also after the command in 2Ki_9:26 : “Cast him into the plat of ground,” &c. The Sept. have: Êáßãå áὐôüí . Êáὶ ἐðÜôáîåí áὐôὸí ἐðὶ ôῷ ἄñìáôé ὄíôá ἐí ôῇ ἀíáâÜóåé Ãïýñ . Thenius, as usual, follows them, and desires to make the utterly unnecessary change from äַëֻּäåּ to åַéַּëֵּäåּ . He then translates: “Him also! (I must have him also!) And he smote (wounded) him on the chariot on the height of Gur.” The rendering of the Vulg. is better: Etiam hunc percutite in curro suo! Et percusserunt eum in ascensu Gaver, except that in curru suo belongs with percusserunt. Ewald, Maurer, and Keil are satisfied with inserting åַéַּëֻּäåּ after äַëֻּäåּ , and this is certainly the simplest course to pursue.—The height or hill Gur is not mentioned anywhere else. [Thenius takes ðּåּø to mean a caravanserai (cf. âּåּø áַּòַì , 2Ch_26:7, hospitium Baalis. Ges.), and thinks that the hill had its name from an inn which stood alone upon it. Ges., Thesaurus, gives the name under âåּø , catulus, a cub or whelp. So that it would mean ascensus catuli. The place was not important, and the name was a popular and ephemeral one.—W. G. S.] Jibleam is mentioned Jos_17:11 and Jdg_1:27 in connection with Megiddo. On the latter place, see note on 1Ki_4:12. The location of Jibleam cannot be more definitely fixed either from the two places cited, or from 1Ch_6:55, where áִּìְòָí stands for it. As Megiddo lay, according to all the latest maps, directly west of Jezreel, and as Ahaziah died at Megiddo, Jibleam, whither he fled and where he was wounded, must have been likewise to the west of Jezreel, and between that place and Megiddo (Thenius). It is true that Keil objects that “between Jezreel and Megiddo there is only the plain of Jezreel or Esdraelom, in which we cannot suppose that there was any height Gur.” But Megiddo, and therefore Jibleam, which was near it, did not lie in the midst of the plain, but on the slope of Mt. Carmel, where there may well have been a height, such as is referred to. Least of all can we adopt Keil’s supposition that Jibleam was “south of Jenin,” for this place was in a direct line as far south of Jezreel as Megiddo was west. It is not clear how Ahaziah, when severely wounded, should have gone from there in a northwesterly direction, to Megiddo. He cannot have fled at the same time in a direct westerly and a direct southerly direction.—The chronicler gives another story of Ahaziah’s death (II., 2Ki_22:8 sq.): “And it came to pass that when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab … he sought Ahaziah, and they caught him, for he was hid in Samaria, and brought him to Jehu; and when they had slain him they buried him.” Keil thinks, in order to combine the two stories, that it is very possible “that Ahaziah really escaped to Samaria, and that he was there captured by Jehu’s followers and brought back. Then that he was wounded at the hill Gur, near Jibleam, and, having fled again from there, that he breathed his last at Megiddo.” This explanation is, in the first place, very forced and unnatural, but it falls to the ground when we know that Jibleam was on the road westward towards Megiddo, and not on the road from Jezreel to Samaria. A variation in the history is here clearly apparent, and cannot be denied. The main point, i.e., the slaying of Ahaziah by Jehu or his followers, is firmly established by both. A different tradition in regard to the where? and how? may have prevailed in the time of the Chronicler. The one which is followed by the record before us, which is certainly older, appears, especially on account of its geographical details, to be the more correct and reliable.—The difference between 2Ki_9:29 and 2Ki_8:25, which amounts, after all, to only one year, is explained “most simply on the supposition of a difference in reckoning the first year of the reign of Joram” (Keil). See above, note on 2Ki_8:16.
2Ki_9:30. Jezebel heard of it. Women make use of paint for the eyes, in the Orient, until the present day. It consists of a mixture of antimony (stibium) and zinc, which is moistened with oil, and applied with a brush to the eye-brows and eye-lids. The eye itself is thrown into relief by the dark border, and appears larger (Pliny says of stibium in his Hist. Nat. 2Kings 33: in calliblepharis mulierum dilatat oculos). Large eyes were considered beautiful. Homer applies to Juno the epithet âïῶðéò (cf. Rosenmüller, Alt. und Neu. Morgenland, iv. 268, and Keil on this passage). [Boxes have been found in the tombs of Egypt containing portions of this mixture; also the small, smooth sticks of wood, or bone, or ivory, by means of which it was applied. There are specimens in the “Abbot Collection” in the rooms of the N. Y. Hist. Soc.—W. G. S.] And tired her head hardly means that she put on a “coiffure of false hair” (Thenius). It refers rather to the ordinary decorations of the head, head-band, crown, &c. The old opinion, which is still held by Ewald and Eisenlohr, that she summoned up all her seductive fascinations, in order to tempt and conquer Jehu, is certainly incorrect, for Jezebel had, at this time, a grandson who was 23 years old (2Ki_8:26), so that she must have been advanced in years. Since, moreover, women fade earlier in the Orient, she cannot have intended to excite any carnal desire in Jehu. The haughty, imperious woman intended, rather, to go to meet the rebel in all the majesty of her position as queen-dowager, and to so far overawe him that he should desist from any further steps. She therefore takes her place at the lofty window of the palace, and shouts to him, as he enters the gate, the bold and haughty words in 2Ki_9:31 : “Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of his master?” Luther translates [like the E. V.]: “Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?” Maurer supports this rendering by suggesting that she could not have asked him if he came in peace, at the same time that she called him a murderer of the king. But äùׁìåí cannot have any different meaning here from that in 2Ki_9:22 [where, as Bähr explains it, it means, “Is there peace in the Syrian war?” or, “Dost thou bring news of a victory?”]. Jezebel connects with the question this meaning: “Wilt thou submit to me, the queen, and desist from the rebellion, or wilt thou persist in it?” [The reader will see that this interpretation, which makes äùׁìåí mean, “Is there hostility between me and thee?” is not consistent with the author’s own exposition of 2Ki_9:22. Jezebel must have felt that the hostility of Jehu reached to herself, even if she had not heard that his declaration of war was aimed, in its terms, exclusively at her. She had heard of the fate of the king, as the last part of her speech shows. She could not, therefore, have intended to ask Jehu if he came, in general, on a peaceful errand. This is perhaps the clearest instance of all, to prove that this formula had lost its etymological significance, and it must be apparent that the attempt to give it this meaning here produces inconsistency and confusion. It was a standing formula, empty of all independent meaning, used as an interjection in beginning an address: Ho! or Hail!—Just what she hoped to accomplish by her decorations, and by her address, it is difficult to see. Perhaps the safest conclusion is one founded upon her domineering and wilful character. These traits were developed in her to a tragical degree. She has scarcely a parallel either in history or poetry save Medea. Her last toilet was probably the consequence of a determination to die in full state, self-willed, arrogant, defiant to the last.—W. G. S.] There is a threat also in her words. Zimri, who murdered king Elah (1Ki_16:10-18), reigned only seven days, and met with a frightful end. She means to terrify the violent rebel. “Thou shalt fall as did Zimri. Thy rule shall not endure!” Perhaps she had also taken measures of resistance, had collected about her those on whom she thought that she could rely, and was, therefore, all the more self-willed. Jehu’s reply, 2Ki_9:32, Who is on my side? Who? seems to sustain this opinion. He gives her no answer whatever, still less does he submit to the influence of her manner; he knew well that no one would heartily support the hated and tyrannical woman. The two eunuchs, who were her immediate attendants, gave Jehu a sign, probably from another window, that they would join him and serve his purposes. They obeyed his command. [The “or” between “two” and “three” in 2Ki_9:32 is not. in the text. It means either that two looked out first, and were immediately joined by another, or that two appeared at one window, and three at another (the latter is adopted by Stanley).—W. G. S.]— åַéִּøְîְñֶðָּä , 2Ki_9:33, literally: And he trode her under foot, not, however, “with his own feet” (Ewald). He caused her to be trodden under foot, i.e., the horses of his chariot trode upon her. Hence the Sept. and Vulg. have the plural óõíåðÜôçóáí áὐôÞí , conculcaverunt eam (cf., Hom., Il., x. 432; xi. 534).
2Ki_9:34. And when he was come in, &c. After Jezebel was slain, Jehu went into the palace, took possession of it, and refreshed himself, after the day of bloody labor, with food and drink. Then, not, according to Köster’s fiction, at the banquet, but afterwards, he gave orders to see to the corpse of Jezebel and bury it. He calls her: this cursed woman, not “abusing her in his wrath” (Thenius), but as the originator of all the corruption which had now met with its fitting reward. Nevertheless, he does not wish to have her refused burial, for, he says, she is a king’s daughter. Not, therefore, because she was the wife of Ahab, the mother of Joram, and the grandmother of Ahaziah, but because she was the daughter of the king of Tyre and Sidon, she was to be spared the last ignominy of lying unburied (see note on 1Ki_14:11). Polus: Forte sic fecit, ne invidiam et odium regum Zidoniorum in se inflammaret. When he was told that sepulture was no longer possible, he remembered also the remainder of the oracle which he had quoted in 2Ki_9:26 (1Ki_21:23). This shows that that was no prediction post eventum. He quotes the oracle freely, according to its sense, calling to mind particularly that portion of it which seemed to him the most important. This explains the use of çֵìֶ÷ instead of çֵì (see above, on 2Ki_9:10 [and the Grammatical note on that verse]). Jehu did not intentionally bring it about that Jezebel had no sepulchre, i.e., that there was no spot which perpetuated her memory. This was ordained by God. The memory of her was to be rooted out (Psa_34:16).
2. The long-threatened downfall of the house of Ahab is the work of the prophet Elisha, in so far that he gave the order to anoint Jehu king. His name therefore stands at the head of the narrative, and whereas, in other places, his name stands either alone or with the epithet, “man of God,” here we find him expressly called “the prophet,” in order to show that he did what is here recorded of him as a prophet, i.e., by virtue of his prophetical calling; as one, therefore, who, as he himself solemnly declares (1Ki_17:1), stands, like Elijah, “before Jehovah,” and, as an immediate servant of God, acts in His name and by His authority. Thereby we are pointed, from the outset, to the grand difference between the fall of the house of Ahab and that of the other earlier or later dynasties. While the latter were all over-thrown by military chiefs, whose only concern was to arrive at power, the fall of the house of Ahab was brought about by the prophet, and did not aim at the gratification of ambition, but at the uprooting of the idolatry which had been introduced and fostered by this family. The first and chief duty of the prophets, before all, of the great prophets Elijah and Elisha, consisted in bearing witness by word and deed against the radical evil, idolatry, in combating it by every means, and in plucking it up by the roots. Jehovah had appointed them “watchmen over His people,” and armed them by His Spirit for this work, in order that the great object of the choice of this one people out of all the nations of the earth (Exo_19:3-6), i.e., its destined influence in the history of the world, might not be frustrated (Hab_2:1; Eze_3:17; Eze_33:7; Jer_6:17; Jer_6:27). The words which Jeremiah heard, when he was called to be a prophet: “See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant” (Jer_1:10; cf. Jer_18:7; Eze_43:3; Eze_32:18), hold true of all true prophets. They appear, therefore, as Knobel (der Proph. der Hebr., i. s. 196 sq.) justly observes, not only as heralds of the acts of God, but also as executors of them, and things are often ascribed to them which in truth were done, and could be done, by God alone (see Exeg. on 1Ki_19:15-18, and, besides the places already quoted, Jer_5:14; Jer_25:15; Hos_6:5). It was therefore the right and duty of the prophet Elisha, when idolatry had been pushed to the utmost, and every attempt to bring the house of Ahab into other courses had failed, by virtue of his prophetical office and calling, to labor to bring about the fall of that dynasty and the foundation of another. Far from being a sinful and rebellious undertaking, what he did was, for all Israel, as Eisenlohr himself admits, “an act of salvation.”
3. The anointing of Jehu is generally regarded, as it is by Keil, as the fulfilment of “the last of the commissions which Elijah received at Horeb” (1Ki_19:16). But the correct interpretation of that passage (see notes thereon) makes this explanation unnecessary; and it is moreover to be noticed, that such an explanation presupposes that Elijah commissioned his successor to do something which he was commanded to do, and which he might have done, since Jehu was already, in the lifetime of Elisha, in the train of Ahab (2Ki_9:25), but which he nevertheless did not do. There is no hint in the text that this act of Elisha was a fulfilment of that command to Elijah, and it is not consistent with the universal and unconditional obedience of Elijah. [The discrepancy between this chapter and 1Ki_19:16 in this particular must be frankly admitted. Even a superficial examination will show that, between the two, this passage contains the historical account of the share of the prophets in Jehu’s revolt.—W. G. S.] It is still more improbable that Elisha should not have executed a commission which had been given him, as is suggested, by Elijah, but should have commissioned another, a prophet-disciple, to do it. Von Gerlach thinks that the “already aged Elisha” did this, because “he was bent with age;” but Elisha did not die until Joash was on the throne (2Ki_13:14), so that he lived for at least forty-three years after Jehu was anointed. Accordingly, at the time of that event, he was not fifty years old. Neither can the reason which Krummacher assigns be maintained: “Nothing could have been more distasteful to the loving and evangelical disposition of Elisha than the command, in his own person, to put the avenging sword into the hands of Jehu. So God, who, father-like, weighs with the most tender anxiety what He may demand of each one of His children, and what not, exonerated him from this duty, and allowed him to send one of the prophet-disciples in his place.” The narrative itself shows us the reason clearly. The prophet-disciple was commanded to lead Jehu into an inner chamber, and, after anointing him, to depart immediately, without speaking a word to any one. The important transaction was, therefore, to be carried out in private, and to be kept as secret as possible. This was the reason why Elisha did not take it in hand himself, for if he, the well-known head of the prophet-guild, had gone to Ramoth and had had dealings with Jehu, it would have occasioned great observation, and the cause of his coming could not have been kept secret. The affair was to be kept quiet for a time, and only to be proclaimed when the right time should come according to the leadings of Providence, just as, at a former time, the communication of the prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam (1Ki_11:29 sq.) was not to be made public, and Jeroboam had to wait until the right moment for his elevation came (see Hist. § 3 on 1Ki_11:14-43). Therefore also Jehu did not at once make known to his fellow-commanders what had been done, but gave them an evasive answer. When they pressed him, he broke silence and thought that the right time had come. Elisha limited his own action strictly to the announcement of the destiny which awaited Jehu. All the rest he left to the control of Providence, so we hear no more of him until his death (chap. 13.).—As for the act of anointing, it was not performed with “the sacred oil of anointing” (Menzel), as in the case of the kings of Judah (1Ki_1:39; cf. 2Ki_11:12; 2Ki_23:30), for, in the kingdom of the ten tribes, where there was no sanctuary of Jehovah, and where the levitical priesthood did not exist, it appears th