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?”
Parallel Translations
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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?”
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And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?
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And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said: 'Is it peace, Jehu?' And he answered: 'What peace, so long as the harlotries of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?'
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to 2 Kings 9:22 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 2 Chronicles 21:13 but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the prostitute like Ahab’s house did, and also have slain your brothers of your father’s house, who were better than yourself,
- Nahum 3:4 because of the multitude of the prostitution of the alluring prostitute, the mistress of witchcraft, who sells nations through her prostitution, and families through her witchcraft.
- 1 Kings 16:30-33 Ahab the son of Omri did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight above all that were before him. As if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him. He raised up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did more yet to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
- 1 Kings 18:4 for when Jezebel cut off Yahweh’s prophets, Obadiah took one hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
- 1 Kings 19:1-2 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I don’t make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time!”
- 1 Kings 21:8-10 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and to the nobles who were in his city, who lived with Naboth. She wrote in the letters, saying, “Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. Set two men, wicked fellows, before him, and let them testify against him, saying, ‘You cursed God and the king!’ Then carry him out, and stone him to death.”
- 1 Kings 21:25 But there was no one like Ahab, who sold himself to do that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
- Isaiah 57:19-21 I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace, to him who is far off and to him who is near,” says Yahweh; “and I will heal them.” But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can’t rest and its waters cast up mire and mud. “There is no peace”, says my God, “for the wicked.”
- Revelation 2:20-23 But I have this against you, that you tolerate your woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her into a bed, and those who commit adultery with her into great oppression, unless they repent of her works. I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.
- Revelation 18:3 For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from the abundance of her luxury.”
- Revelation 18:23 The light of a lamp will shine no more at all in you. The voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will be heard no more at all in you; for your merchants were the princes of the earth; for with your sorcery all the nations were deceived.
- 1 Kings 18:19 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel to Mount Carmel, and four hundred fifty of the prophets of Baal, and four hundred of the prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
- 2 Kings 9:18 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.”
- Revelation 17:4-5 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of the sexual immorality of the earth. And on her forehead a name was written, “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Meaning, that forasmuch as God is their enemy because…
Meaning, that forasmuch as God is their enemy because of their sins that he will ever stir up some to revenge his cause.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 2Ki 9:22 And it came to pass, when Joram…
2Ki 9:22 And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, [Is it] peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts [are so] many?
Ver. 22. So long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel.] That notorious idolatress and adulteress, who might truly say with that notable strumpet, Quartilla in Petronius, Iunonem meam iratam habeam, si unquam me meminerim virginem fuisse.
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 Is it peace? dost thou come to me with…
Is it peace? dost thou come to me with a peaceable mind, or in a way of hostility? For now, when it was too late, he began to suspect some treachery; which God hid from him before, to prepare him for destruction.
What peace? what cause hast thou to expect peace, when thou hast so long abetted, and dost still abet, and allow thy mother in her abominable practices?
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The whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel, and her witchcrafts; which are to be understood, either, literally; spiritual whoredom, which is idolatry, being oft punished with corporal; see 2Ki 9:30; and
witchcraft there was oft practised by idolaters. Or rather, mystically and spiritually of her idolatry, which is oft called whoredom, because it is a departing from God to whom we are all tied by many obligations; and witchcraft, either because it doth so powerfully bewitch and deceive men’s minds, or because it is a manifest entering into covenant with the devil. For idolatry being her chief sin, and the cause of all the rest, it seems improbable that Jehu would omit that in the indictment which he drew against her. He mentions not Joram’s, but his mother’s sins; partly, because they were more notorious and infamous; partly, because they were the principal cause why God inflicted, and he was come to execute, these judgments; partly, because by his connivance he had made them his own; and partly, because he could find no gross and odious matter wherewith to charge him, except about the worship of the calves; which he forbore to mention, both lest it should lose his interest amongst his officers and soldiers, who were devoted to that worship; and because he himself intended to keep it up.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain,.... Not Joram's,…
Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain,.... Not Joram's, but Jehu's captain, though he had been the former's, and his father Ahab's also:
take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; near to which they were:
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for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father; either in the same chariot, or on horseback side by side, his guards or retinue following him two and two:
the Lord laid this burden upon him; this heavy denunciation of vengeance by Elijah the prophet; and they being together, and pretty near, heard it, as he might remember, which follows.
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 Whoredoms, &c. - This may be understood, either literally;…
Whoredoms, &c. - This may be understood, either literally; spiritual whoredom, which is idolatry, being often punished with corporal: and witchcraft was often practiced by idolaters: or spiritually, of her idolatry, which is often called whoredom, because it is a departing from God, to whom we are tied by many obligations; and witchcraft, because it doth so powerfully bewitch men's minds; and because it is a manifest entering into covenant with the devil. He mentions not Joram's, but his mother's sins; because they were more notorious and infamous: and because they were the principal cause why God inflicted, and he was come to execute these judgments. The way of sin can never be the way of peace.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 22. What peace, so long as the whoredoms]…
Verse 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 believe that Jezebel was the patroness and supporter of a very impure system of religion; and to this Jehu might refer, rather than to the calf-worship, to which himself was most favourably disposed.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain 2Ki 9:22. Is it peace, Jehu? — Dost thou…
2Ki 9:22. Is it peace, Jehu? — Dost thou come to me with a peaceable mind, or in a way of hostility? For now, when it was too late, he began to suspect some treachery, God hiding it from him before, in order to his destruction. And he answered, What peace, &c.? — What cause hast thou to expect peace, when thou hast so long abetted, and dost still abet, thy mother in her abominable practices? So long as the whoredoms, &c. — This may be understood, either literally or spiritually; spiritual whoredom, which is idolatry, being often punished with corporal, and witchcraft being often practised by idolaters; or rather, spiritually, of her idolatry, which is often called whoredom, because it is a departing from God, to whom we are tied by many obligations; and witchcraft, because it doth so powerfully bewitch men’s minds; and because it is a manifest entering into covenant with the devil. He mentions not Joram’s, but his mother’s sins, because they were more notorious and infamous; and because they were the principal cause why God inflicted, and he was come to execute these judgments. The way of sin can never be the way of peace.
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 Joram had asked the usual question, “Is it peace?”…
Joram had asked the usual question, “Is it peace?” - meaning simply, “Is all well?” In Jehu’s reply, by “whoredoms” we are probably to understand “idolatries,” acts of spiritual unfaithfulness; by “witchcrafts,” dealings with the Baal prophets and oracles. Compare 2Ki 1:2 note.
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 Jehu? The king supposed that he had meet with…
Jehu? The king supposed that he had meet with some defeat, (Calmet) of that he wished to announce the good tidings in person. (Menochius) (Salien, the year before Christ 902.) --- Vigour? How can Israel prosper? (Haydock)
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).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 22. The whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel — Her…
22. The whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel — Her idolatry, both spiritual and carnal. She was in fact the impersonation of many forms of wickedness. Idolatry and witchcraft naturally go together, and in the worship of the female deity Asherah, to which Jezebel was particularly attached, (1Ki_18:19,) there were the most impure practices and licentious rites, which might well be called whoredoms.
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 22. What peace] i.e. How can there be any…
22. What peace] i.e. How can there be any peace, while the evil doings of Jezebel continue as great as before. By ‘whoredoms’ the Scripture writers continually signify ‘the practice of idolatry’ and that is probably the sense here. Cf. Exo_34:15-16; Deu_31:6 : Jdg_8:27; Jer_3:6 &c. ‘The witchcrafts’ probably allude to the incantations and charms employed to obtain responses from the heathen gods. In Isa_47:9; Isa_47:12, where the word is rendered ‘sorceries’, this is clearly the sense, and cf. also Mic_5:12 ‘I will cut off witchcraft’, and in Nah_3:4 Nineveh is called ‘the mistress of witchcrafts … that selleth families through her witchcrafts’.
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 (22) Is it peace, Jehu?—Joram meant, “Is all well…
(22) 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. 2Ki_9:25-26.)
What peace . . . are so many?—Rather, What is the peace during the whoredoms of thy mother, and her many witchcrafts—i.e., so long as they continue?
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Whoredoms.—In the spiritual sense, i.e., idolatries. (See Note on 1Ch_5:25.)
Witchcrafts.—Sorceries; the use of spells and charms, common among Semitic idolaters. (Comp. the prohibitions in the Law (Exo_22:18; Deu_18:10-11.) A great number of the Assyrian tablets contain magical formulas, incantations, and exorcisms. Babylonia was the home of the pseudo-science of magic; and the oldest collection of such formulas is that of Sargina king of Agadê (Accad), compiled in seventy tablets, about 2200 B.C.
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 And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu,…
And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? Still the same question is asked; but we cannot be sure that it is asked in exactly the same sense. Something in the aspect of Jehu, and in his furious haste, may by this time have alarmed the king. Or possibly he maybe merely repeating the question put through his messengers, and still unanswered, Is all well with the army or no? Has there been any disaster?" Jehu, at any rate, chooses to understand his vague phrase in the former sense, as if he had asked, "Is it peace between thee and me?" and answers in the negative. And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witch-crafts are so many? literally, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and those many witchcrafts of hers continue. By "whoredoms" are meant idolatries, as so frequently in Scripture (Lev_19:29 Lev_20:5; Jer_3:2, 9 13:17; Eze_16:17 Eze_20:30 Eze_23:11, etc.; Hos_2:2 Hos_4:12 Hos_5:4; Nah_3:4, etc.) by "witchcrafts" all those magical practices which were so common at the time in Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia, and no doubt also in Phoenicia, and which were so strictly forbidden by the Mosaic Law. (Exo_22:18; Deu_18:10) Besides the Baal-worship, Jezebel had introduced these unhallowed practices into the kingdom of Israel. Jehu reproaches Joram with allowing them, and declares that there can be no peace between him and his master under ouch circumstances. Having gained his object and got within bowshot of the unsuspecting monarch, he throws off the mask and declares uncompromising hostility. "No man could use such terms of the queen-mother who was willing any longer to be a subject."
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 Is it peace?
2Ki_9:22
Is it peace?
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No peace out of Christ
The sovereignty of God is apparent in all His dealings with the children of men. He putteth down one and setteth up another. He killeth and maketh alive. He doeth what He pleases in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. He giveth no account of any of His ways, nor may any one inquire, What doest thou? Still, justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne, and we are sure that in all His dispensations, however mysterious to us, the Judge of all the earth will do right. It is by Him kings reign and princes decree justice. All this is evidenced in the case of Jehu, whose exaltation to the throne of Israel is described in the former part of this interesting chapter (2Ki_9:1-10).
I. That there is no peace to be found in the ways of sin. In prosecution of the inquiry in our text, ask--
1. The open sinner. Sinner, hast thou peace? Ask Adam and Eve, when they had eaten of the forbidden fruit. Look at Achan who saw among the spoils of the enemy a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, and coveted them, and took them, and hid them in the earth in the midst of his tent and the silver under it. Is it peace, Achan? When Zimri slew Elah the son of Baasha, King of Israel, and usurped his throne, had Zimri peace who slew this master? (1Ki_15:10). Look at Belshazzar at his impious feast (Dan_5:9); here was the very height of human enjoyment; but a guilty conscience spoiled all. Look at aul, King of Israel; hear his bitter cry, I am sore distresed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more (1Sa_28:15). Had he peace? Peace had fled from him.
2. Ask the formalist--resting in a round of duties, having the form of godliness, but destitute of its power. There may be a pharisaical spirit--a self-satisfaction God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men (Luk_18:11), but is it peace?
3. Ask the unconverted, under his most favourable circumstances; and though we do not deny that there may be a momentary gratification,--what are termed by the apostle, The pleasures of sin for a season, Is there peace? Some, indeed, have a false peace, are at ease in their sins--but this is carelessness and indifference rather than peace.
4. But this question may be asked of many, who have even sought peace for their souls, but sought it in the wrong way, by unhallowed means. Many are the ingenious devices of Satan, for blinding the minds of his captives, and keeping his goods in peace. Hence his ministers are said to daub with untempered mortar, and to cry, Peace, peace; when there is no peace (Jer_6:14; Eze_13:10). Is peace then banished from the earth? far from it; the Holy Scriptures make known unto us the way of peace, which unconverted men have never known (Rom_8:17). Christ is our peace (Mic_5:5; Eph_2:1-22; Isa_9:6). And though peace is only to be found in Him, here is solid, abiding, soul-satisfying peace. And this leads me to
II. Show that true, permanent peace is to be obtained only through an experimental knowledge of God in Christ Jesus, through the Spirit, Preaching peace by Jesus Christ, who is described in the Word of inspiration as the Prince of Peace (Isa_9:6). And here we may remark, that the believer has--
1. Peace with God.
2. The believer has peace of conscience--peace of mind,--rest for his soul.
3. He enjoys peace with others, for when a mans ways please the Lord, He maketh even His enemies to be at peace with Him. And what are the properties of this peace? Let the Scriptures declare (Rom_14:17-18). A peace of God, which passeth all understanding, which the world can neither give, nor take away; which is perfectly independent of all the vicissitudes of this changing world. And this peace is enjoyed through faith in the Redeemer. It is peace and joy in believing. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee (Isa_26:3). Peace under all circumstances;--Say ye to the righteous it shall be well with him (Isa_3:16), in sickness and health; in prosperity and adversity; in poverty and riches; in life, in death, and through all eternity. (R. Simpson, M. A.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 9:22-24 The charges against Joram echoed those against his…
9:22-24 The charges against Joram echoed those against his father Ahab and his mother Jezebel (1 Kgs 16:30-33; 21:25-26).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.