CHAPTER IX _Elisha sends one of the disciples of the prophets to_ _Ramoth-gilead, to anoint Jehu king of Israel_, 1-3. _He acts according to his orders, and informs Jehu that he is_ _to cut off the whole house of Ahab_, 4-10. _Jehu's captains proclaim him king_, 11-14. _He goes again Jezreel;... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:4. _THE YOUNG MAN THE PROPHET_] This should be translated, _The servant of the prophet_; that is, the servant which Elisha now had in place of Gehazi.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:6. _KING OVER THE PEOPLE OF THE LORD_] This pointed out to Jehu that he was to rule that people according to God's law; and consequently, that he was to restore the pure worship of the Most High in Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:7. _THOU SHALT SMITE THE HOUSE OF AHAB_] For their most cruel murders they have forfeited their own lives, according to that immutable law, "HE that sheddeth man's blood by man shall _his_ blood be shed." This and the two following verses contain the _commission_ which Jehu received... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:10. _THE DOGS SHALL EAT JEZEBEL_] How most minutely was this prophecy fulfilled! See 2 Kings 9:33, c.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:11. _WHEREFORE CAME THIS MAD_ FELLOW _TO THEE?_] Was it because he was a _holy man_ of God that he was reputed by a club of irreligious officers to be a madman? In vain do such pretend that they fight for religion, and are the guardians of the public welfare and morals, if they perse... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:12. _THEY SAID_, IT IS _FALSE_] Or, as the Chaldee has it, _Thou liest_. Or, perhaps, it might be thus understood, "We know he has said nothing but folly and lies, nevertheless, let us hear what he has said.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:13. _TOOK EVERY MAN HIS GARMENT_] This was a ceremony by which they acknowledged him as _king_; and it was by such a ceremony that the multitudes acknowledged Jesus Christ for the _Messiah and_ _King of Israel_, a little before his passion: see Matthew 21:7, and the note there. The c... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:14. _JORAM HAD KEPT RAMOTH-GILEAD_] The confederate armies appear to have taken this city; but they were obliged to watch their conquests, as they perceived that Hazael was determined to retake it if possible.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:16. _JEHU - WENT TO JEZREEL; FOR JORAM LAY THERE._] From the preceding verse we learn, that Joram had been wounded in his attack on Ramoth-gilead, and had gone to Jezreel to be cured; and neither he nor Ahaziah knew any thing of the conspiracy in Ramoth-gilead, because Jehu and his c... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:17. _A WATCHMAN ON THE TOWER_] These watchmen, fixed on elevated places and generally within hearing of each other, served as a kind of _telegraphs_, to communicate intelligence through the whole country. But, in some cases, it appears that the intelligence was conveyed by a _horsema... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:18. _WHAT HAST THOU TO DO WITH PEACE?_] "What is it to thee whether there be peace or war? Join my company, and fall into the rear.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:20. _HE DRIVETH FURIOUSLY_] Jehu was a bold, daring, prompt, and precipitate general. In his various military operations he had established his character; and now it was almost proverbial.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:21. _JORAM - AND AHAZIAH - WENT OUT_] They had no suspicion of what was done at Ramoth-gilead; else they would not have ventured their persons as they now did.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:22. _WHAT PEACE, SO LONG AS THE WHOREDOMS_] Though the words _whoredom, adultery_, and _fornication_, are frequently used to express _idolatry_, and _false religion_, in general; yet here they may be safely taken in their _common_ and most _obvious_ sense, as there is much reason to... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:23. _THERE IS TREACHERY, O AHAZIAH._] This was the first intimation he had of it: he feels for the safety of his friend Ahaziah, and now they fly for their lives.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:24. _DREW A BOW WITH HIS FULL STRENGTH_] The marginal reading is correct: _He filled his hand with a bow_. That is, "He immediately took up his bow, set his arrow, and let fly." This is the only meaning of the passage. _BETWEEN HIS ARMS_] That is, between his _shoulders_; for he was... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:25. _CAST HIM IN THE PORTION OF THE FIELD_] This was predicted, 1 Kings 21; and what now happened to the son of Ahab is foretold in 1 Kings 21:29 of that chapter.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 26. _THE BLOOD OF NABOTH, AND THE BLOOD OF HIS SONS_] We are not informed in 1 Kings 21 that any of Naboth's _family_ was slain but himself: but as the object both of Ahab and Jezebel was to have Naboth's vineyard entirely, and _for ever_, it is not likely that they would leave any of his post... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 27. _FLED BY THE WAY OF THE GARDEN_] The account of the death of Ahaziah, as given in 2 Chronicles 22:8, is very different from that given here: _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... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _IN THE ELEVENTH YEAR OF JORAM_] The note in our _margin_ contains as good an account of this chronological difficulty as can be reasonably required: _Then he began to reign as viceroy to_ _his father in his sickness_; 2 Chronicles 21:18-14. _But in Joram's twelfth year he began to reign a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _SHE PAINTED HER FACE, AND TIRED HER HEAD_] She endeavoured to improve the appearance of her _complexion_ by paint, and the general effect of her countenance by a _tiara_ or turban head-dress. _Jonathan_, the _Chaldee Targumist_, so often quoted, translates this וכחלת בצדידא עינהא _vechach... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 31. Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?] Jarchi paraphrases this place thus: "If thou hast slain thy master, it is no new thing; for Zimri also slew Elah, the son of Baasha;" which words were rather intended to conciliate than to provoke. But the words are understood by most of the versions... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 33. So they threw her down] What a terrible death! She was already, by the fall, almost dashed to pieces; and the brutal Jehu trampled her already mangled body under his horse's feet!... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 34. She is a king's daughter.] Jezebel was certainly a woman of a very high lineage. She was daughter of the king of Tyre; wife of Ahab, king of Israel; mother of Joram, king of Israel; mother-in-law of Joram, king of Judah; and grandmother of Ahaziah, king of Judah.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 35. _THE SKULL - THE FEET, AND THE PALMS OF_ HER _HANDS._] The dogs did not eat those parts, say _Jarchi_ and _Kimchi_, because in her festal dances she danced like a dog, on her hands and feet, wantonly moving her head. What other meaning these rabbins had, I do not inquire. She was, no doubt... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Kings 9:37. _AND THE CARCASS OF JEZEBEL SHALL BE AS DUNG_] As it was not _buried_ under the earth, but was _eaten by the dogs_, this saying was also literally fulfilled. _THEY SHALL NOT SAY, THIS_ IS _JEZEBEL._] As she could not be buried, she could have no _funeral monument_. Though so gre... [ Continue Reading ]