Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
2 Kings 9:30-37
YHWH's Judgment On Jezebel (2 Kings 9:30).
The fact that YHWH carried out his judgment on Jehoram and Ahaziah, and now on Jezebel, through Jehu, does not mean that YHWH would approve wholly of all Jehu's methods, and later Jehu is castigated for his excesses (see Hosea 1:4). But he is commended for destroying the house of Ahab (2 Kings 10:30). When God calls men into His service and works through them He does not control all their actions, and they may do things of which He disapproves, and even go too far, often in their zeal. He knows perfectly well that those whom he calls are sinners, and will not carry out His will perfectly. (Even Martin Luther and John Knox would have been very different men in the twenty first century AD. We can rejoice in their godliness and piety, without necessarily agreeing with all that they did). His sovereign will and men's freewill actions in history go along in parallel and we may see His hand at work even when the detail of all that occurs is not with His approval. Compare how later the king of Assyria will be raised up and used as the rod of His anger, but will have to be punished for going about it in the wrong way (Isaiah 10:5).
Jehu was a man of blood, and he had just come from the seat of war. He had served in the army for long years, having seen service under both Ahab and Jehoram as a charioteer, and to him death was a way of life. Thus when he carried out what he saw as God's will he did it in the way that life had taught him. He did not shrink from the shedding of blood. God was behind his aims, but not necessarily behind his methods, even though the latter did result in the remarkable fulfilment of Elijah's prophecy. God had purposed that Jehu become king of Israel, but it was Jehu and his fellow officers who determined on the way in which it would come about (2 Kings 9:12).
As Jehu now approached Jezreel, with two kings disposed of, his purpose was to destroy what he and most in Israel saw as the greatest curse on the land, Jezebel, Ahab's Phoenician and idolatress princess, and he did not care how he did it. Thus when he saw her peering out of the window, decorated in all her finery, he commanded those who were on his side to throw her out of the window, and when her blood spattered the wall he rode his chariot over her, just as he had regularly ridden his chariot over his enemies.
And yet he remembered too that she was a king's daughter, and he therefore commanded that her remains be gathered up for honourable burial, only to learn that meanwhile the scavenger dogs had done their worst, so that only her skull, he feet and the palms of her hands were left, in accordance with Elijah's prophecy, ‘the dogs will eat Jezebel by the walls of Jezreel' (1 Kings 22:23).
Analysis.
a And when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window (2 Kings 9:30).
b And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, “Is it peace, you Zimri, your master's murderer?” (2 Kings 9:31).
c 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 (2 Kings 9:32).
d And 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 trod her under foot (2 Kings 9:33).
c And when he had come in, he ate and drank, and he said, “See now to this cursed woman, and bury her, for she is a king's daughter” (2 Kings 9:34).
b 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 (2 Kings 9:35).
a For which reason they came back, and told him. And he said, “This is the word of YHWH, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “In the portion of Jezreel will the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel, and the body of Jezebel will be as dung on the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they will not say, ‘This is Jezebel' ” (2 Kings 9:36).
Note that in ‘a' Jezebel presented herself as she saw herself in all her ageing beauty, and in the parallel she is presented as God saw her in all her nothingness. In ‘b' she castigates his murderous behaviour, and in the parallel she herself is found murdered, and worse. In ‘c' Jehu looked for help from the servants in the palace, and in the parallel he ate and drank in the palace. Central in ‘d' is a description of the actual murder of Jezebel.
‘And when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window.'
The news of what Jehu had done to the two kings was hurriedly brought back to Jezreel and conveyed to Jezebel, who could have been in no doubt that her end had come. She would know that she could expect no mercy from the people whom she had treated so badly. But as any brave woman would in the circumstances, she painted herself up so that she could meet death proudly. She was not going to let Jehu know that she feared him. Then she went to her open window so that she could challenge him on his arrival. It is clear that she did not lack courage. An oriental woman would not in normal circumstances have been so bold, but Jezebel now knew that she was temporarily representing the royal family as its head
The blackening of her eyes would be with kuhl (also mentioned as guhlu in the Assyrian record of the tribute received from Hezekiah) which was sulphide of antimony mixed with oil, and was later widely used among Arabic women as a cosmetic.
‘And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, “Is it peace, you Zimri, your master's murderer?” '
Thus as Jehu came through the gate into the city she called out bitterly the same words as had been borne by the messengers and by Jehoram himself, ‘is it peace?' It was a reminder to Jehu that in her eyes he was simply treacherous, and she ensured that it was properly understood by likening him to Zimri who was well remembered as a regicide (1 Kings 16:8). She was not looking for any favours.
Some see it as an attempt to parley with the word ‘zimri' being understood not as a name but as ‘you hero' (in line with the rare Ugaritic word dmr), but if so her words were to say the least tactless. However, the fact that it fits so perfectly with the behaviour of the actual Zimri supports the first interpretation, especially in the context of Kings. And her implication might have been that Jehu also would only last seven days.
It may well be that Jehu had in fact never seen the queen mother, but her words and her appearance would leave him in no doubt as to who this was who challenged him so boldly.
‘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.'
Her attitude and behaviour determined the method of her death. A Jehu with his blood aroused, and goaded by a woman he hated and despised (as she hated and despised him at this moment) determined to be avenged for her insults. Lifting up his face to the window he asked who among those who were in the palace were on his side, and ‘two or three eunuchs' responded.
‘And 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 trod her under foot.'
Then he commanded the eunuchs to throw Jezebel down from the window onto the road below. So they threw her down, and as her body hit the road her blood spattered the walls and the horses. Joel then drove his chariot over her. By his strategy he had cleverly ensured that Jezebel had been slain by the people, not by himself. His action was simply the final humiliation. And he had not needed to lift a hand against her. He did not want to be known as the man who killed a noblewoman. Nor did he want any Tyrian revenge to be aimed only at him. He wanted it thought of as the will of the people.
‘And when he had come in, he ate and drank, and he said, “See now to this cursed woman, and bury her, for she is a king's daughter.” '
The fact that there was no resistance in the city suggests that the city elders as a whole approved of, or at least gave consent to, Jehu's actions. Outside the inner court the house of Ahab was not popular, and this was Jezreel not Samaria (where greater resistance might have been expected). Thus affairs were soon settled and a welcoming feast laid on. This was not as callous as it sounds. Such offered hospitality was an immediate assurance of their support for Jehu, and his participating in it a sign that his intentions towards them were peaceable. It was a covenant meal. All who participated in the meal would be committed to friendship. It is, however, an indication both of Jehu's indifference in the face of bloodshed, and of his sense of propriety, that he thought of the need for Jezebel to be properly buried, but only after some time had elapsed. It came to his mind as he ate that, ‘cursed woman' as she was (no longer under the blessing of YHWH as the accepted ruler as a result of the evil of her life), Jezebel was a king's daughter and should therefore in her death be treated with respect. There is possibly underlying the author's description of her as ‘cursed' the thought that even while Jehu was eating and drinking, the scavenger dogs were also enjoying their meal. Jezebel's covenant meal was with the dogs, and she was on the menu.
‘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.'
Accordingly they went to bury her, but when they investigated they found only her bare skull, he feet, and the palms of her hands. All the remainder had been eaten or dragged off by the hungry scavenger dogs.
‘For which reason they came back, and told him. And he said, “This is the word of YHWH, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “In the portion of Jezreel will the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel, and the body of Jezebel will be as dung on the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel, so that they will not say, ‘This is Jezebel.' ”
When this was reported back to him he drew attention to the fact that it was the fulfilment of YHWH's word through Elijah, cited in 1 Kings 21:23 as, ‘The dogs will eat Jezebel by the walls of Jezreel'. This fuller version of the prophecy, which we have no reason for doubting as authentic, although possibly paraphrased by Jehu, was probably recorded in a different original record. It is sufficiently different from the facts to indicate that it was not just invention. It included not only the thought that Jezebel would be eaten by scavenger dogs, but that her remains would act as fertiliser in the area of Jezreel, with nothing remaining to remember her by. There would be insufficient preserved remains for anyone to be able to say, ‘This is Jezebel'. She had become a nothing.