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Death of Ahaziah and Jezebel
v. 27. But when Ahaziah, the king of Judah, saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house, some structure in or near the palace grounds. And Jehu followed after him and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam, some miles to the west. And he fled to Megiddo and died there, on the slope of Mount Carmel. It seems, from 2Ch_22:9, that Ahaziah had first succeeded in reaching Samaria, but, having been found by Jehu's men, tried to escape to the northwest, where he was killed, as here related. He who sides with the enemies of God must expect to share the lot of such enemies.
v. 28. And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulcher with his fathers in the city of David.
v. 29. And in the eleventh year of Joram, the son of Ahab, began Ahaziah to reign over Judah, the difference between this statement and that of 2Ki_8:25, being due to a difference in reckoning the first year of the reign of Joram.
v. 30. And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, applying a special preparation to her eyebrows and eyelids, and tired her head, by putting on the head-band and crown which held her elaborate head-dress in place, and looked out at a window, arrogant, self-willed, and defiant to the last, hoping that the majesty of her position would save her.
v. 31. And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? 1 Kings 16; 1 Kings 9-20, literally, "Is it peace, thou Zimri, murderer of his lord?" She wanted to terrify the rebel by reminding him of the tragic end of Zimri, whose rule lasted only seven days.
v. 32. And he lifted up his face to the window and said, Who is on my side, who? And there looked out to him, in answer to his call, two or three eunuchs, two servants of the palace at one window and three at another, signifying their intention to do his bidding.
v. 33. And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down, dashing her from the window to the pavement below; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses; and he trode her under foot, causing the wheels of his chariot to pass over her and to extinguish the last spark of life.
v. 34. And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, he first refreshed himself after his hard trip, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman and bury her; for she is a king's daughter, a Phenician princess, 1Ki_16:31.
v. 35. And they went to bury her; but they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands, the rest having been eaten or dragged away by the savage dogs common in the Orient.
v. 36. Wherefore they came again and told him. And he, who had not intended to refuse her burial or deliberately to fulfill the prediction in regard to her, said, This Is the word of the Lord which He spake by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel, 1Ki_21:23;
v. 37. and the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel; there was no definite spot to keep her memory alive. Thus are the wicked punished who have seduced others to sin and worked harm to their souls.