2 Kings 9:1-10

I. THE ANOINTING OF JEHU 9:1-13

Jehu, the commander of the garrison at Ramoth-gilead, was selected by God to execute the divine wrath against the Omri dynasty. Quite unexpectedly, Jehu was thrust into a position to challenge the reigning monarch by (1) the anointing by a prophet (2 Kings 9:1-10); and (2) the acclamation of his fellow officers (2 Kings 9:11-13).

A. THE ANOINTING BY A PROPHET 9:1-10

TRANSLATION

(1) And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, Gird up your loins, and take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. (2) When you come to that place, find Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi there, and go and make him rise from the midst of his brethren, and take him into an inner chamber. (3) Then take the flask of oil, and pour it out on his head, and say, Thus says the LORD: I have anointed you king over Israel; then open the door, and flee, and do not tarry. (4) So the young man, even the young man who was a prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. (5) And he came, and behold the captains of the army were sitting; and he said, I have a word for you, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of us? And he said, To you, O captain. (6) And he went into the house, and poured oil upon his head, and he said to him, Thus says the LORD God of Israel: I have anointed you for king over the people of the LORD, over Israel. (7) And you shall smite the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel. (8) For all the house of Ahab shall be destroyed, and I will cut off to Ahab male descendants, him that is shut up and him that is left in Israel. (9) And 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. (10) And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door and fled.

COMMENTS

In the present paragraph Elisha carries out his commission to transfer the kingdom of Israel from the unworthy dynasty of Omri to that of a new dynasty. The prophet dispatched one of the prophetical students to Ramoth-gilead where general Jehu was commandant (2 Kings 9:1). He instructed his disciple to single out Jehu, take him behind closed doors (2 Kings 9:2), and anoint him to be king of Israel. Having done this the young prophet was to hastily depart (2 Kings 9:3). Secrecy was of extreme importance, lest the king should find out what was happening and prepare himself for resistance. Many years before Elijah had been commissioned to anoint this general as king, but, since the time was not ripe during his ministry, he had delegated this responsibility to his successor. Jehu had served as a soldier under Ahab, and under his two sons Ahaziah and Joram. He had worked his way up the ranks until he was chief captain of the host.

The young prophet carried out the instructions of Elisha and went to Ramoth-gilead (2 Kings 9:4). There he found the various officers sitting about informally chatting with one another. Looking at Jehu but addressing no one in particular, the prophet announced, I have a word for you, O captain. To clarify the recipient of the message, Jehu asked which of the officers he wished to address, and the prophet singled out Jehu (2 Kings 9:5). Jehu then left his seat and led the way from the courtyard where the officers had been sitting, into the house which adjoined the court.

In the privacy of that room the prophet took his flask of oil and anointed Jehu king over Israel in the name of the Lord. Along with the crown came a commission. Jehu was to smite, i.e., utterly destroy, the house of Ahab in order that God might avenge the deaths of his prophets and other worshipers at the hand of Jezebel (2 Kings 9:7). This general persecution of Yahweh worshipers had at one time reduced the number of the faithful in Israel to a mere seven thousand (1 Kings 19:18). Jezebel was at the bottom of the antagonism toward the people of God, at times taking matters into her own hands (e.g., 1 Kings 18:13; 1 Kings 21:8-14), and at times stirring up her husband (1 Kings 21:25) to do evil. For these crimes, all the posterity of Ahab must be cut off (2 Kings 9:8)[557] so that the house of Ahab would become like the house of Jeroboam (1 Kings 15:29) and the house of Baasha (1 Kings 16:11), both of which had been exterminated because of religious apostasy. As for Jezebel herself, her corpse would be eaten by dogs, and no one would be sufficiently interested in her fate to see that she received a decent burial. These details about the fate of Jezebel previously had been prophesied by Elijah (cf. 1 Kings 21:23). Having completed his mission of anointing and commissioning Jehu, the young prophet hastily departed (2 Kings 9:10).

[557] For an explanation of the phrases in 2 Kings 9:8, see comments on 1 Kings 14:10.