IX. JEHU ANOINTED BY ELISHA’S MESSENGER AS KING OF ISRAEL. HE SLAYS JEHORAM. AHAZIAH AND JEZEBEL. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 22:7.) (1) AND ELISHA THE PROPHET CALLED. — Rather, _meanwhile Elisha had called — i.e._, while Joram was lying ill of his wounds. The Hebrew construction again indicates not so mu... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THOU COMEST THITHER. — Rather, _And enter into it — i.e._, into the town of Ramoth. This makes it clear that the Israelites had retaken Ramoth from the Syrians (comp. also the mention of “chambers” and “the door” in 2 Kings 9:3, and the order, 2 Kings 9:15, to “let no man escape out of the... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN. — _And_ (both times). THUS SAITH THE LORD... OVER ISRAEL. — Only the chief part of the message to Jehu is here given, to avoid publicity. (See _infra,_ 2 Kings 9:6.) OVER ISRAEL. — Literally, _unto Israel_, both here and in 2 Kings 9:12. But a great number of MSS., and all the versions in bo... [ Continue Reading ]
EVEN THE YOUNG MAN THE PROPHET. — Rather, the _young man of the prophet — i.e._, Elisha’s minister. The construction, however, is unusual, and some MSS., the LXX. and the Syriac, omit _the young man_ in the second place. This gives the suitable reading: “So the young man, the prophet, went,” &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE CAME, BEHOLD. — Rather, And _he went in, and behold_. He went into Jehu’s headquarters. THE CAPTAINS OF THE HOST WERE SITTING. — In council with Jehu.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE AROSE — _i.e._, Jehu arose. INTO THE HOUSE. — The council of war was sitting in the court. I HAVE ANOINTED THEE. — The commission to Elijah (1 Kings 19:16) was thus fulfilled by his successor. OVER THE PEOPLE OF THE LORD. — Israel being Jehovah’s people, Jehovah was Israel’s true king, and... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HOUSE OF AHAB THY MASTER. — _Not_ Ahab thy master, _but_ the house of Ahab thy lords. The LXX. adds, _from before me_. THE BLOOD OF MY SERVANTS THE PROPHETS. — See 1 Kings 18:4; 1 Kings 18:13. THE BLOOD OF ALL THE SERVANTS OF THE LORD. — We are not told elsewhere, but the thing is in itself pr... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR. — _And_. SHALL PERISH. — Syriac, Arabic, Vulg., “I will cause to perish” (different Hebrew points). The LXX. has, “and at the hand of all the house of Ahab,” a difference of reading which favours the ordinary Hebrew text. HIM THAT IS SHUT UP AND LEFT (_and him that is left_). — Reuss imitates... [ Continue Reading ]
BAASHA. — See 1 Kings 14:10; 1 Kings 16:3. Shalmaneser II. mentions a king of Ammon named Ba’sa.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE DOGS SHALL EAT JEZEBEL. — Literally, _and Jezebel the dogs shall eat_. (Comp. Elijah’s threat, 1 Kings 21:23.)... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SERVANTS OF HIS LORD. — Jehoram’s captains. AND ONE SAID. — Many MSS. and all the versions, except the Targum, have “and they said.” IS ALL WELL? — They dreaded some sinister news. THIS MAD FELLOW. — They were struck by his wild demeanour and furious haste. Or, perhaps, “this inspired one,” i... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS FALSE. — This is rather too strong, and does not convey the exact force of the reply. The captains reply to Jehu’s “Oh, you know all about it!” with the one word, “trickery!” i.e., “you are pretending!” “mere evasion!” They then assume a tone of persuasion: “Do tell us.” Even if they had reall... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN (_and_) THEY HASTED. — LXX., “and they heard, and hasted.” This is probably original, the sense being that the moment they heard it, they hastily took up their outer garments, and laid them as a carpet for Jehu to walk upon. (Comp. Luke 19:36.) The instantaneous action of the generals shows tha... [ Continue Reading ]
NOW JORAM HAD KEPT RAMOTH-GILEAD... BUT KING JORAM WAS RETURNED. — Rather, _Now Joram had been on guard in Ramoth-gilead_... _And Jehoram the king returned_. The whole is a parenthesis intended to explain Jehu’s words in 2 Kings 9:15 : “Let none go forth... to _tell it in Jezreel._” Although substan... [ Continue Reading ]
IF IT BE YOUR MINDS. — Literally, _if it be your soul_; some MSS., “if it be with your soul,” as in Genesis 23:8. The Vulg. paraphrases correctly, _si vobis placet_. LET NONE GO FORTH. — Literally, _let not a fugitive go forth._ This proves that Ramoth was in the hands of the Israelite army. If the... [ Continue Reading ]
LAY. — _Was lying_. His wounds were not yet quite healed. AHAZIAH KING OF JUDAH WAS COME DOWN. — See 2 Kings 8:29. After relating what had meanwhile occurred with the army at Ramoth, the narrative returns to that point. Instead of _Joram was lying there_, the LXX. has, “Joram king of Israel was bein... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE STOOD A WATCHMAN. — Literally, _and the watchman was standing_. The tower was attached to the palace, and the latter was, perhaps, near the eastern wall of the town. THE COMPANY OF JEHU. — The word (_shiph‘âh_) literally means _overflow_, and so a _multitude_ of waters (Job 22:11), of cam... [ Continue Reading ]
ONE ON HORSEBACK. — Literally, _the rider of the horse._ WHAT HAST THOU TO DO WITH PEACE? — A rough evasion: “What business is it of yours, on what ground I am come?” Conscious of his strength, Jehu can despise the royal message, and the messenger durst not disobey the fierce general, when ordered... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN. — _Literally, And he sent a second rider of a horse._ IS IT PEACE? — So the versions, many editions, and some MSS. The ordinary Hebrew text gives it as a salutation: “Peace!” but wrongly. Joram is still unsuspicious of evil. Some accident might have detained his first messenger.... [ Continue Reading ]
DRIVING. — Correct. The margin is wrong. THE SON OF NIMSHI. — Jehu was_ son of Jehoshaphat_ son of Nimshi. The former phrase may have fallen out of the text here. (Yet comp. 2 Kings 8:26, “Athaliah daughter of Omri.”) The Syriac and Arabic call Jehu “the son of Nimshi” in 2 Kings 9:2 also. HE DRIVE... [ Continue Reading ]
MAKE READY. — Literally, _bind_ — _i.e._, the horses to the chariot. AND HIS CHARIOT WAS MADE READY. — Literally, _And one bound his chariot._ AGAINST JEHU. — Rather, _to meet Jehu._ Joram was curious to know why his messengers had not returned, as well as why the commander-in-chief had left the s... [ Continue Reading ]
IS IT PEACE, JEHU? — Joram meant, “Is all well at the seat of war?” Jehu’s reply left no doubt of his intentions. He assumes the part of champion of the legitimate worship against Jezebel and her foreign innovations, and the lawless tyrannies by which she sought to enforce them. (Comp. 2 Kings 9:25.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JORAM TURNED HIS HANDS — _i.e._, turned the horses round. (Comp. 1 Kings 22:34.) THERE IS TREACHERY. — Literally, _Guile, or fraud, Ahaziah!_ Joram shouted these two words of warning to his companion as he was turning his horses to fly.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND JEHU DREW... STRENGTH. — See margin, which, however, is not quite accurate. Rather it should be, _And Jehu had filled his hand_ (with an arrow) _on the bow_ — _i.e._, had meanwhile put an arrow on his bow ready to shoot. Keil explains, “filled his hand with the bow,” _i.e._, seized the bow. The... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID JEHU. — Literally, _And he said._ BIDKAR. — The Syriac gives _Bar-dĕkar_, “son of stabbing,” _i.e._, “stabber,” “slayer” a very suitable name for Jehu’s squire. The Hebrew name is, therefore, a contraction of _Ben-dekar_. (Comp. Bedan, “son of Dan,” i.e., Danite, 1 Samuel 12:11; and Bedad... [ Continue Reading ]
SURELY. — Literally, _if not_; a formula of emphatic asseveration, which originally must have run somewhat as follows: “If I have not seen, may I perish.” The inappropriateness of such an expression in the mouth of the Deity is obvious; but that only shows how completely the original meaning of the... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT WHEN... SAW THIS. — _Now Ahaziah... had seen it; and he fled, &c._ BY THE WAY OF THE GARDEN HOUSE — i.e., in the direction of the garden house, which was probably a sort of arbour or drinking pavilion near the gates of the palace gardens, of which Naboth’s vineyard formed a part. Ahaziah wished... [ Continue Reading ]
CARRIED HIM IN A CHARIOT. — Literally, _made him ride._ After this verb the LXX., Syriac, and Vulg. supply what the Hebrew text almost demands, “and brought him.” IN HIS SEPULCHRE. — _In his own sepulchre_, which he had in his lifetime prepared, according to the custom of antiquity.... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE ELEVENTH YEAR OF JORAM. — 2 Kings 8:25 says “in the twelfth year of Joram.” Such a difference is not remarkable, inasmuch as the synchronisms between the reigns of the two kingdoms are not based upon exact records. Moreover, different computations might make the same year the eleventh or twef... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN JEHU WAS COME. — Rather, _And Jehu came — i.e._, after the slaughter of Ahaziah, as the Hebrew construction implies. JEZEBEL HEARD OF IT. — Rather, _Now Jezebel had heard — scil._, the news of the death of the two kings. There should be a stop after Jezreel. AND SHE PAINTED HER FACE. — Ra... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS... SHE SAID. — _And Jehu had come into the gate, and she said._ HAD ZIMRI... MASTER? — Rather, _Art well_ (_literally, Is it peace_)_, thou Zimri, his master’s murderer_? The “Is it peace?” which Jezebel addresses to Jehu, appears to be an ironical greeting. Thenius explains: “Is there to be... [ Continue Reading ]
WHO IS ON MY SIDE? WHO? — This hardly implies, as Thenius thinks, that Jezebel had made preparations for resistance. Jehu knew that the imperious and cruel queen was well hated by the palace officials. The “two or three eunuchs,” who a moment before had crouched in servile dread before Jezebel, woul... [ Continue Reading ]
THROW HER DOWN. — Comp. Note on 1 Chronicles 13:9. WAS SPRINKLED ON. — _Spirted on to._ HE TRODE HER UNDER FOOT. — All the versions have they — _i.e._, the horses — _trode._ Thenius supposes they were excited by the blood being sprinkled upon them. But “_he_” — _i.e._, Jehu — “_trode_ her under fo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN... DRINK. — Rather, _And he went in_ (into the palace), _and ate and drank_. Jehu takes possession of the palace, having slain its former occupants. Savage warrior as he was, he forgot all about the victim of his violence until he had appeased the demands of his appetite. Then he could reme... [ Continue Reading ]
HER HANDS. — Heb., _the hands. _... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS IS THE WORD OF THE LORD. — See 1 Kings 21:23, where this oracle of Elijah is given. PORTION — _i.e._, domain, territory (_hçleq_). In 1 Kings 21:23, the word is “wall” (_hçl_), an error due to the loss of the final letter; not an original difference, as Keil assumes. DOGS. — _The dogs_.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE CARCASE OF JEZEBEL. — This continuation of the prophecy is not given in 1 Kings 21:23. It is probably original; not “a free expansion” by Jehu, as Keil asserts. SHALL BE. — It is questionable whether the Hebrew text is to be read as a rare ancient form _wehâyâth_); or simply as an instance... [ Continue Reading ]