So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was keeping Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria; but king Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) Jehu said, “If this is your thinking, then let no one escape and go out of the city, to go to tell it in Jezreel.” So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram. Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a company.” Joram said, “Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’ ”
So one went on horseback to meet him, and said, “the king says, ‘Is it peace?’ ” Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me!” The watchman said, “The messenger came to them, but he isn’t coming back.”
Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them, and said, “The king says, ‘Is it peace?’ ” Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me!”
The watchman said, “He came to them, and isn’t coming back. The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”
Joram said, “Get ready!” They got his chariot ready. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him on Naboth the Jezreelite’s land.
When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace, so long as the prostitution of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft abound?”
Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, “This is treason, Ahaziah!”
Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and struck Joram between his arms; and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, “Pick him up, and throw him in the plot of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how, when you and I rode together after Ahab his father, Yahweh laid this burden on him: ‘Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons,’ says Yahweh; ‘and I will repay you in this plot of ground,’ says Yahweh. Now therefore take and cast him onto the plot of ground, according to Yahweh’s word.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 20, 22, 25, 26 God had thus ordained, as is read, 2 Chron.…
God had thus ordained, as is read, 2 Chron. 22:7, that this wicked and idolatrous King, who was more ready to gratify wicked Joram, than to obey the will of God, should perish with him, by whose means he thought to have been stronger.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14–26 2Ki 9:14 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the…
2Ki 9:14 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria.
Ver. 14. Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead.] Which he had newly won from the Syrians in this expedition, but had somewhat to do to hold it.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead; which interpreters conclude to have…
Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead; which interpreters conclude to have been taken by Joram before this time, though the taking of it be not mentioned. This they gather, first, from the mention of the inner chamber, 2Ki 9:2, and of the top of the stairs here; secondly, from 2Ki 9:15, Let none go forth out of the city. But these arguments seem not to be cogent. Not the former, because there might be some suburbs or outbuildings belonging to the city, or not far from it, which the Israelite might have in their possession. Nor the latter, as we shall there see. And if it was taken, why should all Israel be there to keep it, for which a strong garrison was sufficient? The words therefore may be otherwise rendered, exactly according to the Hebrew,
Joram had kept, or did keep, (to wit, by his army left there,) or put guards, or laid siege at, or to, (for so the particle beth is oft used,)
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Ramoth-gilead. And therefore he had all Israel, i.e. all the military force of Israel, with him, that he might both maintain the siege, and withal oppose Hazael, who sought to relieve it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v16 From Ramoth-Gilead to Jezreel was more than one day's…
From Ramoth-Gilead to Jezreel was more than one day's march; about the mid-way between them the river Jordan must be crossed. We may suppose Jehu to have marched with all possible expedition, and to have taken the utmost precaution to prevent the tidings from getting to Jezreel before him; and, at length, we have him within sight first, and then within reach, of the devoted king.
I. Joram's watchman discovers him first at a distance, him and his retinue, and gives notice to the king of the approach of a company, whether of friends or foes he cannot tell. But the king (impatient to know what is the matter, and perhaps jealous that the Syrians, who had wounded him, had traced him by the blood to his own palace, and were coming to seize him) sent first one messenger, and then another, to bring him intelligence, Kg2 9:17-19. He had scarcely recovered from the fright he was put into in the battle, and his guilty conscience put him into a continual terror. Each messenger asked the same question: "Is it peace? are you for us or for our adversaries? Do you bring good tidings or bad?" Each had the same answer: What hast thou to do with peace? Turn thee behind me, Kg2 9:18. 19. As if he had said, "It is not to thee, but to him that sent thee, that I will give answer; for thy part, if thou consult thy own safety, turn thee behind me, and enlist thyself among my followers." The watchman gave notice that the messengers were taken prisoners, and at length observed that the leader of this troop drove like Jehu, who it seems was noted for driving furiously, thereby discovering himself to be a man of a hot eager spirit, intent upon his business, and pushing forward with all his might. A man of such a violent temper was fittest for the service to which Jehu was designated. The wisdom of God is seen in the choice of proper instruments to be employed in his work. But it is not much for any man's reputation to be known by his fury. He that has rule over his own spirit is better than the mighty. The Chaldee paraphrase gives this a contrary sense: The leading is like that of Jehu, for he leads quietly. And, it should seem, he did not come up very fast, for then there would not have been time for all this that passed. And some think he chose to march slowly, that he might give Joram time to come out to him, and so dispatch him before he entered the city.
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II. Joram himself goes out to meet him, and takes Ahaziah king of Judah along with him, neither of them equipped for war, as not expecting an enemy, but in haste to have their curiosity satisfied. How strangely has Providence sometimes ordered it, that men have been in haste to meet their ruin when their day has come to fall.
1. The place where Joram met Jehu was ominous: In the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite, Kg2 9:21. The very sight of that ground was enough to make Joram tremble and Jehu triumph; for Joram had the guilt of Naboth's blood fighting against him and Jehu had the force of Elijah's curse fighting for him. The circumstances of events are sometimes so ordered by divine Providence as to make the punishment answer to the sin as face answers to face in a glass.
2. Joram's demand was still the same: "Is it peace, Jehu? Is all well? Dost thou come home thus flying from the Syrians or more than a conqueror over them?" It seems, he looked for peace, and could not entertain any other thought. Note, It is very common for great sinners, even when they are upon the brink of ruin, to flatter themselves with an opinion that all is well with them, and to cry peace to themselves.
3. Jehu's reply was very startling. He answered him with a question: What peace canst thou expect, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel (who, though queen dowager, was in effect queen regent) and her witchcrafts are so many? See how plainly Jehu deals with him. Formerly he durst not do so, but now he had another spirit. Note, Sinners will not always be flattered; one time or other, they will have their own given them, Psa 36:2. Observe, (1.) He charges upon him his mother's wickedness, because he had at first learned it and then with his kingly power protected it. She stands impeached for whoredom, corporal and spiritual (serving idols and serving them with the very acts of lewdness), for witchcraft likewise, enchantments and divinations, used in honour of her idols; and these multiplied, the whoredoms and the witchcrafts many; for those that abandon themselves to wicked courses know not where they will stop. One sin begets another. (2.) Upon that account he throws him off from all pretensions to peace: "What peace can come to that house in which there is so much wickedness unrepented of?" Note, The way of sin can never be the way of peace, Isa 57:21. What peace can sinners have with God, what peace with their own consciences, what good, what comfort, can they expect in life, in death, or after death, who go on still in their trespasses? No peace so long as sin is persisted in; but, as soon as it is repented of and forsaken, there is peace.
4. The execution was done immediately. When Joram heard of his mother's crimes his heart failed him; he presently concluded the long-threatened day of reckoning had now come, and cried out, "There is treachery, O Ahaziah! Jehu is our enemy, and it is time for us to shift for our safety." Both fled, and, (1.) Joram king of Israel was slain presently, Kg2 9:24. Jehu dispatched him with his own hands. The bow was not drawn at a venture, as that which sent the fatal arrow through the joints of his father's harness, but Jehu directed the arrow between his shoulders as he fled (it was one of God's arrows which he has ordained against the persecutor, Psa 7:13), and it reached to his heart, so that he died upon the spot. He was now the top branch of Ahab's house, and therefore was first cut off. He died a criminal, under the sentence of the law, which Jehu, the executioner, pursues in the disposal of the dead body. Naboth's vineyard was hard by, which put him in mind of that circumstance of the doom Elijah passed upon Ahab, "I will requite thee in this plat, said the Lord (Kg2 9:25, Kg2 9:26), for the blood of Naboth himself, and for the blood of his sons," who were either put to death with him as partners in his crime, or secretly murdered afterwards, lest they should bring an appeal, or find some way to avenge their father's death, or break their hearts for the loss of him, or (his whole estate being confiscated, as well as his vineyard) lose their livelihoods, which was in effect to lose their lives. For this the house of Ahab must be reckoned with; and that very piece of ground which he, with so much pride and pleasure, had made himself master of at the expense of the guilt of innocent blood, now became the theatre on which his son's dead body lay exposed a spectacle to the world. Thus the Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth. Higgaion. Selah. (2.) Ahaziah king of Judah was pursued, and slain in a little time, and not far off, Kg2 9:27, Kg2 9:28. [1.] Though he was now in Joram's company, he would not have been slain but that he was joined with the house of Ahab both in affinity and in iniquity. He was one of them (so he had made himself by his sins) and therefore he must fare as they fared. Jehu justly construed his commission as extending to them. Yet, [2.] Perhaps he would not at this time have fallen with them if he had not been found in company with them. It is a dangerous thing to associate with evil-doers; we may be entangled both in guilt and misery by it.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–26 So Jehu rode in a chariot,.... In great pomp…
So Jehu rode in a chariot,.... In great pomp and majesty as a king:
and went to Jezreel: set forward on a march thither with his captains, and part of his army at least, from Ramothgilead; which, according to Bunting (n), was twenty four miles:
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for Jordan lay there; to be cured of his wounds, as before observed:
and Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram; see Kg2 8:29.
(n) Travels, &c. p. 166.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv21, 22, 24 Portion of Naboth - The very sight of that…
Portion of Naboth - The very sight of that ground was enough to make Jehu triumph and Joram tremble. The circumstances of events are sometimes so ordered by Divine providence, as to make the punishment answer the sin, as face answers face in a glass.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv14, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 Verse 14. Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead] The confederate armies…
Verse 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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv14, 17, 21, 22, 23, 26 2Ki 9:14-15. So Jehu conspired against Joram — Contrived…
2Ki 9:14-15. So Jehu conspired against Joram — Contrived with the rest of the captains how to destroy Joram: for which they had the fairer opportunity, because he was gone from the army to Jezreel. Now Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead — That is, kept a strong garrison there, upon the frontiers of his kingdom, it having been taken by him before this time, although the taking of it be not mentioned. He and all Israel, because of Hazael, &c. — He left an army also there, or in the neighbouring parts, to watch Hazael’s motions; so that Jehu had the army with him which Joram had left, being gone home to Jezreel, ill wounded. Jehu said, Let none go forth out of the city — Or, from the city: that is, from within it, or from before it; from the siege or army; to go tell it in Jezreel — For he knew how necessary secrecy was to the execution of such great designs as he had in hand.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv14, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 Had kept - Rather, “was keeping watch.” The city…
Had kept - Rather, “was keeping watch.” The city had been taken: but the war continuing, and there being a danger of the Syrians recovering it, Joram and all Israel (i. e., the whole military force) were guarding the recent conquest, while Hazael threatened it.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv14, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 26 Conspired, with the captains. (Menochius) -- Besieged, as it…
Conspired, with the captains. (Menochius) -- Besieged, as it is observed above, chap. xxviii. 29. Hebrew, "had kept (Haydock) or observed;" watching the motions of Hazael, lest he should return, or succour the citadel.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv14, 16, 17, 25, 26 Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead--rather, "was keeping," guarding, or besieging…
Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead--rather, "was keeping," guarding, or besieging it, with the greater part of the military force of Israel. The king's wounds had compelled his retirement from the scene of action, and so the troops were left in command of Jehu.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 25 DEATH OF JEHORAM, 2Ki_9:14-26.
DEATH OF JEHORAM, 2Ki_9:14-26.
14. Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead — Rather, was keeping watch in Ramoth-gilead. He had forcibly taken it out of the hands of the Syrians, and now had all the army there to guard it lest it should be retaken by Hazael. The king himself, as we have already seen, (2Ki_8:28,) had been wounded during the siege by the Syrian archers, but after having taken it, he left it in charge of the army under command of Jehu, and returned to Jezreel to be healed of his wounds.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 14. conspired against Joram] The verb has the notion…
14. conspired against Joram] The verb has the notion of ‘binding’. Hence it implies here that Jehu made a league with the other generals to carry out the deposition and slaying of Joram. The word in the form here used is found again 2Ch_24:25-26 of those who combined ‘to execute judgement’ on Joash king of Judah.
Now Joram had kept [R.V. omits had] Ramoth-gilead] The reference is to the existing state of the war. The army of Israel was in Ramoth, to protect the place against the threatened invasion of the Syrians.
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he and all Israel] Meaning the greater part of the army, all the soldiery which could come into the field. Syria was clearly a most formidable enemy. Hazael was carrying out to the full the predictions of Elisha (2Ki_8:12).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv14–26 (14, 15) Now Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead . .…
(14, 15) 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 2Ki_9:15 : “Let none go forth . . . to tell it in Jezreel.” Although substantially a repetition of 2Ki_8:28-29, it was hardly “superfluous” (Thenius) to remind the reader at this point of Joram’s absence—a material element in the success of the conspiracy. Graf’s conjecture that Jehu should be read instead of Joram is an obvious one, but hardly correct.
Because of Hazael.—Rather, against Hazael.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv14–25 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of…
So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi (see the comment on ver. 2) conspired against Joram. It is not meant that there was a secret conspiracy previous to the prophet"s coming, but that, by the open acts which followed on his coming, Jehu and the captains were guilty of a "conspiracy." Now Joram had kept Ra-moth-Gilead; rather, now Joram was keeping Ramoth-Gilead. Joram, in his capacity of chief ruler, was keeping, i.e. defending, Ramoth-Gilead against the Syrians with the bulk of his forces. He and all Israel, because of Hazael King of Syria; since Hazael wished to win the city back, and would have done so, had it not been stoutly defended. The writer speaks of Joram as the defender, though he was absent, because the defense was made under his orders. Then, to lore-vent misunderstanding, he repeats what he had already said in 2Ki_8:29 with respect to Joram"s wounds, and his retirement to Jezreel to be healed of them.
Vers. 14-37. Jehu as avenger.
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No sooner is Jehu proclaimed king than, with characteristic decision, he gives orders that no one be permitted to leave the city to carry news to Jehoram; then, mounting his chariot, he drives off furiously to Jezreel. Whatever Jehu did, he did "with all his might". (Ecc_9:10) It is this vigorous decision of character which made him so suitable an instrument in executing God"s vengeance on the house of Ahab,
I JEHU"S APPROACH TO JEZREEL.
1. The watchmans announcement. In the far distance the watchman on the tower of Jezreel beholds a company of horsemen rapidly approaching. What can it portend? The report is brought to the king, who unsuspiciously sends out a messenger on horseback to inquire. Towers and watchmen are for the protection of a city and its inhabitants. But except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain". (Psa_127:1) And if the Lord decrees the destruction of a city, or of those in it, towers and watchmen will do little to protect them.
2. Successive messengers. These verses are chiefly interesting as illustrating the character of Jehu. The messenger sent by Jehoram soon reaches the company, and asks, "Is it peace?" The idea probably is, "What tidings from the field of battle?" Jehu does not even answer him civilly, but, with a rude "What hast thou to do with peace?" he orders him to turn behind him. A man this who will brook no delay, submit to no curb, endure no check, in his imperious course. He sweeps obstacles from his path, and bends them to his will. This messenger returns not, and a second, sent out from the king, meets a like reception, and is also compelled to ride behind.
3. Jehu recognized. At length the horsemen are near enough for the watchman to get a closer view, and he has no difficulty in recognizing the furious driving of the leading figure as the driving of Jehu. It is familiar to all that character imprints itself on manner. Physiognomy, walk, gesture, handwriting even, are windows through which, to an observant eye, the soul looks out. Hypocrisy may create a mask behind which the real character seeks to hide itself. But hypocrisy, too, has characteristic ways of betraying its presence, and the mask cannot always be kept on. If we wish habitually to appear true, we must be true.
II JEHORAM AND AHAZIAH SLAIN.
1. The fateful meeting. On learning that Jehu was approaching, King Jehoram, now convalescent, prepared his chariot, and, accompanied by Ahaziah of Judah, went out to meet his captain.
(1) The two encountered at the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. Strange coincidence, only, as we shall see below, more than coincidence. As the chariots meet, the king puts the anxious question, "Is it peace, Jehu?" Alas! the day of peace is over; it is now the day of vengeance.
(2) Jehu throws no disguise over his intentions. With his usual vehement abruptness he at once bursts forth, "What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?" Jehu was right: there can be no peace in a state when the foundations of religion and morality are everywhere subverted. When fountains of immorality are opened at head-quarters, their poisonous influence speedily infects the whole nation. (Hos_4:5) They who are responsible for the subversion of righteousness in a state, must bear the penalty.
(3) Jehoram needed to hear no more. He saw at a glance the situation, and with a shout, "Treachery, O Ahaziah!" he turned and fled. But there was no grain of pity in Jehu. With fierce promptitude he seizes his bow, fits one arrow to the string, and, taking sure aim, smites the flying king right through the heart. Jehoram falls is dead.
1. Blood for blood. The tragedy thus transacted was in the immediate neighborhood of Naboth"s vineyard. On that very spot, or near it, Naboth"s own blood had been shed, (1Ki_21:13) and, as this verse shows (ver. 26), not his alone, but the blood of his sons. Thither, after the murder, Ahab went down to take possession of the vineyard, and there, when he arrived, he found Elijah standing, waiting to denounce upon him the doom of blood. This was not all, for among those who rode with Ahab that day were two of his captains, one of them Bidkar, the other this Jehu, who heard the prophetic announcements against Ahab and his family. (1Ki_21:19-24) Ahab himself was subsequently spared, but the doom predicted against him had now fallen on his son: "In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine". (1Ki_21:19) That prophecy, probably, had never altogether left the mind of Jehu, but now it came home to him with fresh force as he saw it actually fulfilled by his own hand. Bidkar, too, as it chanced, was there, and Jehu recalled to him the prophetic oracle. Then, to give it literal accomplishment, he bade Bidkar give orders that the corpse of Jehoram should be thrown into the plat of ground which formerly belonged to
2. Naboth. Startling correspondences often thus occur between sin and its mode of punishment. When they occur in fiction, we speak of them as instances of "poetic justice." But poetry, in this as in other cases, is "unconscious philosophy," and is not opposed to truth. Its truth in such representations lies rather in seizing and bringing to light actual laws in the moral government of the world. There is a singular tendency in events in history to fold back on each other even dates and places presenting a series of marvelous coincidences.
3. A partner in doom. The King of Judah had, the moment the alarm was given, sought his own safety. He fled "by the way of the garden house was it the "garden of herbs," into which Naboth"s vineyard had been converted? (1Ki_21:2) But in vain. The peremptory Jehu allows nothing to escape his vigilance, and immediately he is on Ahaziah"s track. His command was, "Smite him also in the chariot," and this was done, "at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam." Ahaziah continued his flight to Megiddo, where he died. A slightly different account of the manner of his death is given in 2Ch_22:9. Whatever the precise circumstances of the death, we cannot but see in it
1. a righteous retribution for his own sins; and
2. an example of the end of evil association.
Through his mother Athallah, daughter of Jezebel, he was brought into close and friendly relations with the court of Samaria, and, sharing in the crimes of Ahab"s house, shared also in their fate. It was his visit to King Jehoram which immediately brought down this doom upon him,
III THE FATE OF JEZEBEL.
1. Her daring defiance. When Jehoram had been slain, the end of Jezebel, the prime mover and presiding spirit in all the wickedness that had been wrought in Israel, could not be far distant. Jezebel perfectly apprehended this herself, for, on hearing that Jehu had come to Jezreel, she prepared to give him a defiant reception. While one loathes the character of the woman, it is impossible not to admire the boldness and spirit with which she faces the inevitable. Her proud, imperious nature comes out in her last actions. She paints her eyelids with antimony, tires her head, and adorns her person, as if she was preparing for some festal celebration. Then she plants herself at the window, and, when Jehu appears, assails him with bitter taunting words. "Is it peace, thou Zimri, thy master"s murderer?" she mockingly asked. What a power for evil this woman had been in Israel! What a power, with her strong intellect and will, she might have been for good!
2. Her ghastly end. If Jezebel thought, by this show of imperious defiance, to produce any effect on Jehu, perhaps to disarm him by sheer admiration of her boldness, she had mistaken the man. Jehu"s impetuous nature was not to be thus shaken from its purpose. He quickly brought the scene to a conclusion. "Who is on my side? who?" he cried, lifting up his eyes to the windows. Two or three eunuchs, no friends of Jezebel, and anxious only to please the new ruler, gave the needful sign. "Throw her down," was the pitiless order; and in another instant the painted Jezebel was hurled from the palace window, and, dashed on the ground, was being trodden by the hoofs of the horses. Pitiless herself, she now met with no compassion. One who had shed much blood, and rejoiced in it, her own blood was now bespattered on the wall and on the horses. Jehu had no compunctions, but, fresh from the dreadful spectacle, entered the palace, and sat down to eat and drink. But the climax was yet to come. As if even he felt that, vengeance being now sated, some respect was due to one who had so long held sway in Israel, he bade his servants "Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for," he said, "she is a king"s daughter." The servants went, but soon returned with a shocking tale. Attracted by the scent of blood, the prowling city dogs had found their way into the enclosure, and, short as the time had been, all that remained of haughty Jezebel was the skull, and feet, and palms of the hands, strewn about the court.
3. A prophecy fulfilled. Such was the dreadful end of this haughty, domineering, evil woman. Possibly even Jehu could not restrain a shudder when he heard of it. He had not thought of it before, but now he recalled the close of that awful prophecy of Elijah to Ahab, "The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel", (1Ki_21:23) the terms of which had been repeated to him by Elisha"s messenger, (ver. 10). That word of God had been fulfilled with ghastly literalness. Would that men would lay to heart the lemon, and believe that all God"s threatenings will be as certainly fulfilled! J.O.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv20, 22, 24 The driving is like the driving of Jehu.
2Ki_9:20
The driving is like the driving of Jehu.
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Religious fanaticism
Jehu was a religious fanatic; his whole nature was on fire with indignation against the idolatry in his country under the reign of King Joram. We may take this mans history to illustrate some of the worst features of fanaticism.
I. It driveth furiously, with a heartless disregard to the lives of all who differ from it. What eared Jehu for the lives of those who differed from him in religious opinion? Nothing. What do your religious fanatics, who often assemble in thousands to hoot Out their impious crudities, care for the bodily interests, health, or life of those who differ from them? Religious fanaticism is essentially cruel.
II. It driveth furiously, with an ostentatious spirit. Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord (2Ki_10:16). Jehu really did not care for the Lord or for true theology. He cared only for himself--self-display, self-glory. Fanaticism is essentially ostentations. It creates a morbid hunger for the applause of men. It will itinerate the country, have preachments every day of the week, prayer-meetings all the day, and drive furiously on; but it will take good care to have the whole set forth in puffing advertisements and paraded in all the prints of the so-called Christian world. Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord. How unlike the true ministry of heaven, which does not cause its voice to be heard in the street, which does its world silently as the sunbeam.
III. It driveth furiously under the cover of pretence. This Jehu resolved to destroy all the worshippers of Baal; but how did he set to work in order to accomplish this end? Not in a straightforward way. Inspiration tells us, Jehu did it in subtilty. There is a somewhat popular impression, that fanaticism is always sincere. This is a mistake; as a rule, it is a lying thing. As it works by falsehood, so it works under its cover. Fanaticism, says Professor Lange, dissolves all the bonds of life and love, but imputes the blame of it to faith. It leads a man to acts of betrayal, of rebellion, and of murder, while he imagines that he is offering sacrifices acceptable to God. It institutes a community of hatred, in opposition to the community of love, and treats the fire of hell as if it were sacred. It appears in the guise of religion, but for the purpose of banishing Christ and His Gospel from the earth. Conclusion:--Infer not that because a minister, a community, or a Church are driving furiously in religious work, that they are religious. Genuine religion is a life, not a passion; it is a river, silent and constant as the stars, not a flood rushing and roaring for the hour. (Homilist.)
Going ahead
Jehu has been dead many a long century now, but he has always had his successors; and probably they are more numerous to-day than ever. Among the young men of our day this go-ahead character is very common. Nor do I feel disposed to check it. Our tirades demand it. We are living in an age of lightning. It teems with revolutions every hour. Art, science, and commercial enterprises advance with inconceivable velocity. What was, not long since, the dreary journey of a week, is now a delightful excursion of a few hours; and young men feel that if they are to keep pace with the times, they must possess the go-ahead spirit of Jehu. This I do not condemn. Idleness leads to the greatest prodigality. But what I wish to do to-night is this--exhort you to mind that your zeal is guided by wisdom and prudence. You are zealous; but is your zeal directed to right ends? A misdirected zeal is like a sword in a madmans hand. There are numbers, who, with their go-ahead spirit, have found themselves in our gaols, or lying in our hospitals, with the wasting hand of disease inflicting upon them its awful torments. And, alas, they themselves are not the only sufferers. Look on those who wait on their footsteps, with muffled faces and sable garments. That is a father, and that is a mother, whose grey hairs are coming with sorrow to the grave. To all furious drivers I would say--
I. First, pull up. I have read somewhere, of a horse rushing down a country village, with nostrils distended, and with fire flashing from his heels, yet without driver or hand to guide him. He was dragging behind him a cart, in which was a child, who clung to its side in pale terror. A woman, as it passed, shot from her doorway, like an arrow from its bowstring, and followed in full pursuit, crying, Save that child! save that child! Why did she run and cry thus? Oh, you say, It was her child. No, it was not. She had left her own little ones all safe around her hearth; but she had a heart above that selfishness which would care only for its own. That child had a mother, but she was not there, the good woman would take her place--one of her children might want help some day. Imbued, I trust, with the unselfish spirit of this woman, we seek to-night to check the speed of those fiery passions which are dragging some of you to death. You are probably unknown to us; but have you not a mother who loves you, a mother who prays for you? You have been going ahead bravely of late, you think. You rightly judge life to be short, and you feel that if you are to enjoy life, you had better be quick about it; if you are to get a fortune you had better keep a sharp lookout. Yes, this is all very well, but where will this pleasure-seeking lead you? It may be, in your haste to get money, you do not scruple to be a little dishonest. Anyhow, by hook or by crook, you say, I mean to go ahead. Yes, but where will this furious driving lead you? Perhaps you have never thought of this. You dont know where you are going. I believe more young men are ruined for the want of thought, than aught else.
II. Now I want you to turn round. You feel to-night you have been going ahead on the wrong road. You have determined, as God shall help you, to pull up. But remember, pulling up is only part of the business. You have been on the wrong road; you now want the right. The first thing you need is a new heart. You need the power of the Holy Spirit to convert you. I shall have no faith in your fine resolutions to give up evil habits, evil companions, and pleasure-seeking, unless you have implanted within you new principles. Wind and tide will be against you. In your own strength you may pull until your veins stand like whipcord upon your brow, and you will go down the stream still: And even suppose you should be able to give up the grosset forms of sin, yet, without religion, you must feel when you come to die that, after all, your life has been a failure. Let me urge you, therefore, to seek salvation through Christ.
III. Now, go ahead. I must now assume that you have decided for Christ, united yourself with Christian companions and a Christian Church. At any rate, many young men here have done that; so that the advice I am about to give cannot be deemed impracticable. In common sense, Christian young men, this go-ahead spirit is very desirable; desirable even from a business point of view. We are commanded to be diligent in business. If you are in business for yourself, seek, in every true and honest way, to augment your income. In doing so, you will have Gods blessing upon you. Do not be miserly, do not be covetous; but do seek, by dint of plodding perseverance, and constant attention to business, to rise in the world. (W. Williams.)
Scorchers
The scorcher, as he is commonly understood in bicycle parlance, is a rider who is determined to have his own way and his own good time on the road, though he endanger the happiness and even life and limb of hundreds of other riders. He is certainly a nuisance and a despicable character. Alas! there are scorchers in other departments of life than bicycle riding. The scorcher in business or social or religious circles is just as mean and dangerous a character as when going at breakneck speed down the road on his wheel. The scorcher is such because of his selfishness. It is the work of Christianity to eleminate the scorcher, and bring in the brother in his place. The proverb of the scorcher is, Every man for himself, and the devil take the hindermost. The law of the brother is, Bear ye one anothers burdens and so fulfil the law of Christ. (L. A. Banks, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v15 2Ki_9:21. Each in his chariot went out against Jehu—Rather,…
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
2Ki_9:21. Each in his chariot went out against Jehu—Rather, to meet Jehu. They would not have ridden out in royal equipages for a hostile attack on him. This self-indulgent king, who had been idling in his summer palace with Ahaziah, now found himself well enough to exert himself.
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2Ki_9:22. Is it peace, Jehu?—Anxiety in the enquiry; fear of bad tidings as to the war, or of conspiracy against himself. What peace, so long as, &c.—Such a rebuke from a subject would at once convey to Joram Jehu’s revolt. Her witchcrafts are so many—Her many witchcrafts continue נְכו נִים, spiritual whoredom, idolatry, and כְּשׁפַים magical incantations, witchcrafts in general.
2Ki_9:25. Remember how … the Lord laid this burden upon him—Or “took up this oracle concerning him.” A divine sentence against a person or place is commonly called “a burden” (Isa_13:1, &c.) משָׂא means burden; something uttered, a sentence; and נָשָׂא means to take up, lift up; hence גָשָׂא מַשָּׂא אַל took up a sentence or oracle. Jehu and his lieutenant were together in Ahab’s retinue, and overheard the prophet’s sentence.
2Ki_9:27. Smite him also in the chariot—After these words there is an omission in the MS., which is, however, naturally supplied by inserting the verb of execution, וַיַּכֻּהוּ.
2Ki_9:30. Jezebel painted her face and tired her head—i.e., decorated herself royally, brightening her eyes, or darkening her eyelids with antimony or lead-ore powder, and building up her head adornments, or put on her crown. Her object was surely less to captivate Jehu than to overawe him with her majesty as queen.
2Ki_9:31. Had Zimri peace—Warning Jehu of a like fate (1Ki_16:10-18).—W. H. J.
HOMILETICS OF 2Ki_9:15-37
THE TERRIBLE WORK OF REVENGE
I. Is entered upon with prudence and decision.
1. The avenger secures a powerful following. “If it be your minds, let none tell it in Jezreel” (2Ki_9:15). This politic appeal to the army gained its purpose. The brother-officers of Jehu were fully committed to the new order of things, and there was no drawing back. With the army devoted to his cause, Jehu was prepared to carry out his work of vengeance without faltering. It is folly to attempt any enterprise involving risk and difficulty without the most careful and judicious preparation.
2. The avenger acts with promptness and energy (2Ki_9:16-19). Jehu mounts his chariot and drives towards Jezreel, determined to be the first to confront the deposed king. The messengers sent out by Joram are detained prisoners. Still uncertain of the purpose of Jehu, the two kings drive out of the city to meet him, little dreaming of the fate that awaited them; and there is surely something specially ominous in the fact, mentioned in the narrative with such severe and artless simplicity, that they “meet him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite” (2Ki_9:21). The rapidity and decisiveness of Jehu’s movements gave no opportunity to his victims to protect themselves. They were at once placed in his power. The man of promptness and decision has the advantage in every enterprise.
II. Is committed to one who is every way fitted to carry it out. “The driving is the driving of Jehu, for he driveth furiously” (2Ki_9:20). In this one reference we have the key to Jehu’s character, a man who having once made up his mind to a certain course, will pursue it with a wild, reckless, madcap energy, utterly indifferent to all sentiment and feeling. It was horrible work that Jehu had to do. An ordinary man would have recoiled from it with fear and loathing. Jehu was cautious, crafty, and perhaps slow in committing himself to a certain course of action; but having done so, he prosecuted it with a hot, hasty, and unrelenting energy, unmoved either by pity or fear. “He did not shrink from difficulties, did not hesitate at harsh means of accomplishing his purpose, did not feel pity in striking down those who stood in his way, did not leave behind him anything that might, at a later time, rise up to mar or overthrow his work. His is not a lovely character. It does not present the amiable virtues—patience, pity, mercy, kindness. It is not a character to be imitated in modern civilised life; neither ought it to be measured or judged by the standards of a society trained to peace and order, fearful of revolution and encased in law. In the providence of God suchmen are often raised up for great crises in church and state. The man is swallowed up in the movement. His personal virtues and faults are lost sight of in the stormy, tumultuous crises in which he lived. He was needed and was called; he responded and accomplished his calling well. That is his place in the history, and that is the judgment on his career.”
III. Falls upon the leading representatives of the wickedness to be punished (2Ki_9:22-35). Joram, Ahaziah, Jezebel—a royal trio—representatives of the idolatrous curse that had blighted both Israel and Judah, and brought down the judgment of heaven. Jezebel, whose end was so ignominious, and which is described with such dramatic vigour, was at the roof of the nation’s apostasy, and her crimes hastened the catastrophe. Joram, though taking his part in war, as his wound testified, appears in general “in the light of an oriental monarch, indolent, careless, luxurious, fond of ease. His death fulfilled a malediction upon his father. Ahaziah seems to have been one of those weak men who float on in the direction which their education and family traditions have given them. He followed the family traditions down to the family ruin. The two kings appear to be to a great extent the victims of the sins of their ancestors; and as Jezebel had controlled Ahab, we are led back to her as the origin of all this individual, family, and national calamity. She was one of those strong, bold, wicked women who have played such important roles in history. By Ahab’s marriage with this woman, the licentiousness of the worship of Baal and Astarte, the freedom of manners of the Phœnician court, the luxury and sensuality of the heathen nations, were imported into Israel. It became her aim to override and destroy all that was peculiar and national in Israel, but in so doing she was contravening all that belonged to and sustained God’s plan for Israel in human history. She braved the conflict, and re-asserted it in her last hour; and she and her descendants went down in the catastrophe” (Editor of Lange). The stroke of God’s vengeance never misses its object, and never mistakes its victim. The leaders of iniquity are sure to be smitten.
IV. Fulfils the Divine word with significant exactitude (2Ki_9:36-37). Fifteen years had passed away since Elijah prophesied—“The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel” (1Ki_21:23); and now the Divine word is fulfilled with such precision that the body of the proud, luxurious Jezebel is not recognizable—not a vestige is left but a few bones. “Though so great a woman by her birth, connexions, and alliances, she has not the honour of a tomb. There was not even a solitary stone to say, Here lies Jezebel! not even a mound of earth to designate the place of her sepulture! Judgment is God’s strange work; but when he contends, how terrible are His judgments!” Thrones totter and fall, but the word of the Lord abideth for ever.
LESSONS:—
1. The triumph of iniquity is short-lived.
2. Jehovah is slow to punish, but when he does so it is with terrible severity.
3. The threatenings of God should lead to repentance and reformation; if disregarded and defied, ruin is inevitable.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2Ki_9:15. Jehu is no less subtle than valiant. He knew that the notice of this unexpected change might work a busy and dangerous resistance. He therefore gives order that no messenger of the news may anticipate his personal execution, that so he might surprise Jehoram in his palace of Jezreel, whether tending his late wounds, or securely feasting his friends, and dreaming of nothing less than danger. Secresy is the safest guard of any design. Disclosed projects are either frustrated, or made needlessly difficult.—Bp. Hall.
2Ki_9:17-20.—The minister of God’s word, a watchman.
1. He occupies an elevated and conspicuous position.
2. He keeps a vigilant lookout.
3. He is quick to discern the signs of the times.
4. He is faithful in reporting what is good, and in warning of coming danger.
5. He has keen insight into character, and the tendency of human conduct.
2Ki_9:17. There was usually in ancient times a watch-tower over the royal residence, where a man was always stationed, night and day, to keep a good look-out in all directions from which any sort of tidings might be expected. What he beheld that he deemed of any consequence, he declared below in the courts of the palace.
The Agamemnon of Æschylus opens with the soliloquy of such a watchman—
For ever thus? O keep me not, ye gods,
For ever thus, fixed in the lonely tower
Of Atreus’ Palace, from whose height I gaze
O’er-watched and weary, like a night-dog still
Fixed to my post; meanwhile the rolling year
Moves on, and I my wakeful vigils keep
By the cold star-light sheen of spangled skies.
In the present case, the frequency of reports from the seat of war, and the king’s desire for intelligence, naturally kept the attention of the watchman much in that direction.—Kitto.
2Ki_9:20. Reckless drivers. “Like the driving of Jehu, for he driveth furiously.” By the flash of that one sentence, we discover Jehu’s character. He came with such speed, not merely because he had an erraud to do, but because he was urged on by a headlong disposition, which had won him the name of a reckless driver, even among the watchmen. The chariot plunges until you almost expect the wheels to crash under it, or some of the princely party to be thrown out, or the horses to become utterly unmanageable. But he always goes so; and he becomes a type of that class of persons to be found in all the communities, who in worldly and religious affairs may be styled reckless drivers.
I. To this class belong all those who conduct their worldly affairs in a headlong way, without any regard to prudence or righteousness. Many a man sits in his pew on Sunday night, and sings Rock of Ages, and rolls up his eyes very piously, who, on coming out at the close of the service, shuts the pew-door and says, “Good-bye religion, I will be back next Sunday!” A religion that does not work all the week, as well as on Sunday, is no religion at all. There are to-day in our midst, many of our best citizens who have come from affluence into straightened circumstances, because there was a partner in their firm, or a cashier in their bank, or an agent representing their house, or one of the largest creditors, who, like Jehu, the son of Nimshi, was a furious driver. Once in a while a swindler is arrested, and if the case be too notoriously flagrant, the culprit is condemned, but the officials having him in charge must take the express train, and get to Sing Sing in briefest time, or the governor’s pardon gets there before him. We have feet of lightning when we get on the track of a woman who has stolen a paper of pins, or a freezing man who has abstracted a scuttle of coals; but when we go out in pursuit of some man who has struck down the interests of a hundred, and goes up along the Hudson to build his mansion, the whole city hangs on our skirts, crying, “Don’t you hurt him!” If a teamster, passing down the street, dashes heedlessly along and runs down a child, the authorities catch him; but for the reckless commercial drivers, who stop not for the rights of others, and who dash on to make their fortunes over the heads of innocence, virtue, and religion—no chastisements. When I see in the community men with largo incomes, but larger outgoes, rushing into wildest undertakings, their pockets filled with circulars about gold in Canada, and lead in Missouri, and fortunes everywhere, launching out in expenditures to be met by the thousands they expect to make, with derision dashing across the path of sober men, depending upon their industry and honour for success, I say, “Here he comes, the son of Nimshi, driving furiously.”
II. Now you may, in worldly affairs, be cautious, true, honourable, and exemplary; but all those who are speeding towards eternity without preparation—flying with the years, and the months, and the weeks, and the days, and the moments, and the seconds, towards an unalterable destiny, yet uncertain as to where they speed, are reckless drivers. What would you think of a stage-driver with six horses and twenty passengers, in the midnight, when it is so dark that you cannot see your hand before your face, dashing at full run over bridges, and along by dangerous precipices? Such a man is prudent, compared with one who, amid the perils of this life, dashes on towards an unknown eternity, not knowing where he goes. If, in driving, you come to the forks of a road, and one goes to the right, and the other to the left, you stop and make enquiry as to which road you ought to take. Tonight, you have come to the forks of a road. One leads to heaven, and the other to hell. Which road will you take? I see multitudes of people who do not even stop at the forks to make enquiry. The coursers behind which they go are panting with the speed, nostrils distended, foam dropping from the bit and whitening the flanks, but still urged on with lash, and shout, and laughter; the reins undrawn, the embankments unwatched, the speed unnoticed. Alas, for the reckless drivers! They may after awhile see the peril and seize the reins, and lay back with all their might, and put on the brakes, and cry for help until the hands are numb, and their eyes start from their sockets, and the breath stops, and the heart chills, as over the rocks they plunge, courser and chariot and horsemen tumbling in long resounding crash of ruin.
III. Some are drawn along by sinful pleasures—a wild team that ran away with all who have persisted in riding behind them. Once fully under way, no sawing of the bit can stop them. They start at every sudden sight or sound, and where it needs a slow step and great care, they go with bound terrific. Their eyes are a flame with terrors, and their hoofs red with the blood of men whose life they have dashed out, and, what is worse, the drivers scourge them into more furious speed. We come out and tell them of dangers ahead, but with jeer they pass on. The wild team smoke with the speed, and their flying feet strike fire, and the rumbling of swift wheels over rotten bridges that span awful chasms is answered by the rumbling of the heavens, “Because I called and ye refused, and stretched out my hands and no man regarded, therefore I will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh!” When this world gets full power over a man, he might as well be dead—he is dead! When Sisera came into the house of Jael, she gave him something to drink, and got him asleep on the floor. Then she took a peg from the side of her tent, and a mallet, and drove the peg through the brain of Jael into the floor. So the world feeds a man, and when it has him sound asleep, strikes his life out. Perhaps there are some who say, “Would God I could stop my bad practices! But I cannot stop. I know that I am on the wrong road, and that I have been a reckless driver; but I try to rein in my swift appetites, yet they will not heed.” I tell such that there is an Almighty hand which can pull back these wild racers. He whose beck the stars answer, and at whose mandate the chariots of heaven come and go, is more than a master for these temptations. Helpless yourself, and unable to guide these wild coursers, give Jesus Christ the reins; mighty to save unto the uttermost. Better stop now. Some years ago near Princetown, New Jersey, some young men were skating on a pond around an air-hole, and the ice began to break in. Some of them stopped, but a young man said, “I am not afraid, give us one round more!” He swung nearly round, when the ice broke, and not until next day was his lifeless body found.—Talmage.
—Impetuosity of disposition.
1. A valuable power when used in a good cause.
2. Should be under control without being utterly crushed.
3. Absolutely necessary to accomplish certain results.
4. May hurry one into dangerous excesses.
—Dilatory and careless people do not accomplish anything. Only diligent and energetic persons succeed. Test thyself to see what spirit moves thee. The right motive power is the Holy Spirit, which never guides to folly. One may conduct spiritual affairs and manage the concerns of the kingdom of God with folly, want of judgment, and heat (Rom_10:2). Those only are children of God who are moved by the spirit of God (Rom_8:14).—Osiander.
2Ki_9:21-37. A terrible day of judgment.
1. It comes with awful suddenness.
2. It brings destruction to three notable monarchs when they little expected.
3. It is irresistible, and leaves no possible way of escape.
4. It fulfils and confirms the Divine threatenings.
2Ki_9:22-23. Wicked tyrant! What speakest thou of peace with men, when thou hast thus long waged war with the Almighty? That cursed mother of thine hath nursed thee with blood and trained thee up in abominable idolatries. Thou art not more hers than her sin is thine; thou art polluted with her spiritual whoredoms and enchanted with her hellish witchcrafts. Now that just God, whom thou and thy parents have so heinously despised, sends thee by me this last message of His vengeance, which, while he spake, his hand is drawing up that deadly arrow which shall cure the former wounds with a worse. Too late now doth wretched Jehoram turn his chariot and flee and cry, Treason, O Ahaziah! There was treason before, O Jehoram! Thy treason against the majesty of God is now revenged by the treason of Jehu against thee.—Bp. Hall.
2Ki_9:22. “Is it peace?” So it is to-day also: a false peace is demanded of those who are sent to make known the stern truth, in order that hoary evils may not be exposed. Those who have not true peace, generally want an external, shameful peace at any price (Eze_13:16). Ask thyself first of all, “Is there peace in thy heart?” and seek peace from Him who is our peace (Eph_2:14). There can be no lasting peace where there is apostasy from the living God and His word; there licentiousness, injustice, tyranny, strife, and war, with all their attendant miseries and horrors, must come. Though His sword rests for a time, yet it does not rest in its scabbard.—Lange.
2Ki_9:23-29. The death of the kings of Israel and Judah. It was sudden, unforeseen, and fell upon them in their security and blindness. The proverb applies to Ahaziah: “Hunt with the fox, and you will be hung with him.” Refrain from bad companions, if thou wouldst not be punished with them. The one is thrown upon Naboth’s field, and left without a grave; the other is brought indeed to the sepulchre of his fathers, but what is the use of a royal sepulchre to him who has lost his soul?—Wurt. Summ.
2Ki_9:25-26. The inflexible exactitude of retribution.
1. Is not affected by the changes of time.
2. Is the operation of a Divine law which is startlingly minute in its application.
3. Makes the place of the sin the place of the punishment. “I will requite thee in this plat.”
4. Should lead the evil-doer to pause and think.
—How just are the judgments of God! It was in the field of Naboth wherein Jehoram met with Jehu; that very ground called to him for blood. And now this new avenger remembers that prophecy which he heard out of the mouth of Elijah in that very place, following the heels of Ahab, and is careful to perform it. Little did Jehu think, when he heard that message of Elijah, that his hands should act it. Now, as zealous of accomplishing the word of a prophet, he gives charge to Bidkar his captain that the bleeding carcase of Jehoram should be cast upon that very plat of Naboth. O Naboth’s blood well paid for! Ahab’s blood is licked by dogs in the very place where those dogs licked Naboth’s.—Bp. Hall.
2Ki_9:25. Jehu remembers, and in substance repeats, the word of the Lord by Elijah (1Ki_21:19; 1Ki_21:29), and, conscious that he himself is the minister of judgment, he fulfils the word of the Lord. “This,” says Kitto, “completes the first act of this awful tragedy, which reads like the old Greek dramas—but far less old than this—of accomplished fate. The appointed executer of the doom was himself the witness of its being imposed. All is complete.”
2Ki_9:27. The danger of evil associations.
1. Begets a distaste to that which is good.
2. Leads to apostasy from God, and to excesses of wickedness at one time indignantly deemed impossible.
3. Results in suffering and premature death.
2Ki_9:30-37. What does the frightful end of Jezebel teach?
1. The transitoriness and nothingness of human might and glory. Jezebel relies upon her might. Before her the people tremble. She controlled and directed three kings. She raged against all who did not submit unconditionally to her will. Now she lies, thrown down from her height, like dung upon the field, so that no one could say, “That is the great and mighty queen Jezebel.”
2. The certainty of Divine retribution. Jezebel was an enemy of the living God and of His word. She seduced old and young to apostasy. She persecuted all who still held firmly to Jehovah. Her terrible end proves that such a temper is certainly punished. Her end has no parallel in Israelitish history. It calls aloud to all unto this day, “Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness” (Jer_22:13), and it is a pledge of the truth of this assertion, “Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked Psa_91:8).—Lange.
2Ki_9:30-35. Jezebel: the ignominious fall of pride and beauty.
1. The proud queen, defiant to the last, decks herself with ornaments, not hoping to captivate the impetuous Jehu with the charms of her beauty, but to awe him into submission by her imperious assumption of royal state and authority.
2. Her untamed, undaunted spirit is evident in the stinging reproof she uttered to Jehu as soon as he came within earshot, and which she seemed almost to hiss between her clenched teeth—“Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?” This is her last glory, to remind her enemy of the fate of one who had, like him, usurped the royal power, and killed his king, and, as Kitto says, “to cast one bitter burning word upon the head of the destroyer, such as should haunt and scorch him all his life.” But Jehu was not the man to be intimidated by words, though such fierce expressive words, and from the lips of such a woman.
3. She is instantly deserted and betrayed by those she considered her obsequious and obedient slaves. At the word of command, which they saw it was dangerous to disobey, her decked and painted body is ignominiously flung out of the window, dashed to the ground, and the last spark of life crushed out of it by the horses and chariot of the furious driver, the blood of the royal victim splashing against the wall, and sprinkling the horses. “This is one of the most terribly vivid and fearful pictures in all the annals of tragedy.”
4. Her body is left to be devoured by the pariah dogs, is denied even common sepulture, and, in a short time—quicker than it takes the king to banquet—a few bones are all that is left of the once imperious, queenly, but cruel and idolatrous Jezebel.
—The tidings of the revolution under Jehu, and of the death of Joram, spread with the greatest rapidity throughout Jezreel, and quickly reached the ears of the haughty Jezebel. One would suppose that, on hearing it, she would have trembled with terror, and gone to hide herself in some dark recess of the palace; but her fierce, masculine, vindictive spirit asserts its pre-eminence to the very last, and if she has to perish with the rest of Ahab’s house, she resolves to die the regal mistress she had lived.—Whedon.
2Ki_9:30. How accurately this description fits many of her sex. The highest occupation they can conceive of is to adorn themselves, to conquer, and produce effects. Thou fool! If God demands thy soul of thee to-day, what shall all paint and powder upon the face avail before Him who tries the heart and the reins? Can velvet and silk cover thine inner stains (Isa_3:16)? There could be no sterner reproof of vanity, pride, and coquetry, and no more severe warning to take to heart the apostle’s words (1Pe_3:3) than the fate of Jezebel. Lange.
—Who would not have looked that Jezebel, hearing of this bloody end of her son and pursuit of her ally, and the fearful proceedings of this prosperous conspiracy, should have put herself into sackcloth and ashes; and now, finding no means either of defence or escape, should have cast herself into such a posture of humiliation as might have moved the compassion of Jehu? Her proud heart could not suddenly learn to stoop; rather she recollects her high spirits, and, instead of humbling her soul by repentance, and addressing herself for an imminent death, she paints her face, and, as one that vainly hopes to daunt the courage of an usurper by the sudden beams of majesty, she looks out and thinks to fright him with the challenge of a traitor, whose either mercy or justice could not be avoided. Extremity finds us such as our peace leaves us. Our last thoughts are spent upon that we most care for. Those that have regarded their face more than their soul, in their latter end are more taken up with desire of seeming fair than being happy. It is no marvel if a heart, obdured by the custom of sin, shut up gracelessly. Counterfeit beauty agrees well with inward uncleanness:—Bp. Hall.
2Ki_9:31. Who can be more perverse and pitiful than a man who boasts and puts on airs in the very face of death, and passes out of the world with abuse and insults against God, instead of begging for pity, and crying, “God be merciful to me a sinner!” Jezebel, who murdered the prophets, and Naboth, who revolted against the Lord of heaven and earth, calls Jehu a murderer and a rebel. The blind and stubborn human heart always finds in others just those sins of which it is itself guilty in a far higher degree.—Lange.
2Ki_9:34. This scene of hilarity and cheer in the midst of such fearful bloodshed makes one shudder. But the minister of doom to Ahab’s guilty house must needs be such a one as Jehu. Tenderness and sympathy would unfit the avenger of blood for his work of death. Not till after his feast does Jehu reflect that so much royalty and greatness have fallen. He had left the mangled corpse of the once mighty Jezebel on the mounds of offal outside the gate, a prey to the dogs which in the East ever prowl about such spots.—Whedon.
2Ki_9:35. The vanity of human greatness. I. Its external splendours fade. II. Its wicked and ambitious schemes are overthrown. III. Its boasted and bewitching beauty is represented at last by a few revolting fragments.
—In illustration of this shocking end of the corpse of Jezebel, it remains to remark that the more than half-wild street dogs of the East, living upon their own resources, and without owners, soon make a rapid clearance of the flesh of dead bodies left exposed, whether of human creatures or beasts. An Eastern traveller, describing the remains of some human bodies that had been devoured by dogs, says: “The only portion of the several corpses I noticed that remained entire and untouched, were the bottoms of the feet, and the insides of the hands; a proof of the rooted antipathy the dog has to prey upon the human hands and feet.” Dr. Thomson supposes that the dogs under Jezebel’s palace may have been taught to devour the wretched victims of her cruelty, in which case the retribution would be remarkably striking.
—The dogs have anticipated Jehu in his purpose, and have given Jezebel a living tomb, more ignoble than the worst of the earth. Only the skull, hands, and feet remain—the skull, which was the roof of all her wicked devices; the hands and feet, which were the executioners—these shall remain as the monuments of those shameful exequies, that future times, seeing these fragments of a body, might say: “The dogs were worthy of the rest.” Thus Jezebel is turned to dung and dog’s meat, Elijah is verified, Naboth is revenged, Jezreel is purged, Jehu is zealous. and, in all, God is just.—Bp. Hall.
2Ki_9:36-37. The infallibility of the Divine word.
1. Seen in the precision with which its threatenings are fulfilled.
2. Is acknowledged and declared by those who are called to carry out its threats.
3. Is as precise and full in the fulfilment of its promises of blessing.
—The story of the end of Jezebel is given with particular detail, because therein the prophet’s threat was fulfilled with especial frightfulness. As the sin of the house, Ahab was represented to the fullest extent in Jezebel, the originator and patroness of idolatry, so her terrible end forms the crisis of the Divine punishment. Ahaziah is fatally wounded, and dies in a strange place. Joram falls dead, pierced through the heart; but is thrown upon the field of Naboth, and not buried. Jezebel is thrown down from the window by her own attendants; as she lies weltering in her own blood, she is trodden under foot by horses, and the corpse lies unburied, “like dung upon the fields.” She appears here, in her last moments, such as she had ever been—proud and impudent—arrogant and domineering—defiant and insolent. She places herself at the window, painted and grandly dressed, and presumes upon her assumed majesty. Instead of recognising in the judgment which is failing upon her house the just recompense for her misdeeds, instead of sucing for grace, she, who had shed so much innocent blood, and had exalted herself against the God of Israel, insults the instrument of the Divine vengeance as a murderer and a traitor, demands that he shall submit to her, and threatens him, relying upon her imagined power, with destruction if he persists. Just here, judgment overtakes her; her nearest attendants forsake the hated queen, and hurl her down from her position. She does not reach the rest of the grave, and remains, even in death, marked with infamy for all time—a proof of the truth of the words: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”—Lange.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25 Translate the name of this man the same as…
Nimshi
Translate the name of this man the same as you did in 2 Kings 9:2. (See: How to Translate Names)
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Now Joram
This word is used here to mark a break in the main story line. Here the author tells background information about about how Joram was wounded and went to recover in Jezreel. (See: Background Information)
all Israel
These refers only to the Israelite army and not to everyone who lives in Israel. AT: "he and his army" or "he and the Israelite army" (See: Synecdoche)
to be healed of
This can be stated in active form. AT: "to recover from" (See: Active or Passive)
the wounds that the Arameans had given him
This means that he was wounded in battle with the Arameans. AT: "wounds that Joram got during the battle with the Aramean army" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
against Hazael king of Aram
This refers to Hazael and his army. AT: "against Hazael king of Aram and his army" (See: Synecdoche)
Hazael
Translate the name of this man the same as you did in 2 Kings 8:8. (See: How to Translate Names)
Jehu said to the servants of Joram
This refers to the officers who were with Joram at Ramoth Gilead.
If this is your opinion
"If you are in agreement with me" Jehu uses this phrase to refer to if people are supportive of him being king and of his decisions. AT: "If you truly want me to be your king" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
in order to go tell this news in Jezreel
This refers to telling Joram and his army of Jehu's plans. AT: "to warn king Joram and his army in Jezreel" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
Now Ahaziah
The word "now" is used here to mark a break in the main story line. Here the author tells background information about Ahaziah visiting Joram. (See: Background Information)
translationWords
Joram
Aram
cure
chariot
rest
kingdom of Judah
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 16, 21, 22 9:14-15 led a conspiracy: Because Jezreel, where Joram was…
9:14-15 led a conspiracy: Because Jezreel, where Joram was recovering from his wounds, lay about forty-five miles away, Jehu’s coup needed to be carried out swiftly and inconspicuously.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.