2 Kings9chapter 9

2 Kings 9:1

“And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets,.... Who the Jews generally say (k) was Jonah the son of Amittai: and said, gird up thy loins; his loose and long garments about his loins, for quicker dispatch in travelling: and take this box of oil in thine hand; for an use after directed to: and go to Ramothgilead; where Joram had left his army with his captains, to keep the city from the Syrians. (k) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 18. p. 47.”

2 Kings 9:1

“Box - Rather, “flask,” or “vial” 1Sa 10:1. Oil and ointment were commonly kept in open-mouthed jars, vases, or bottles made of glass, alabaster, or earthen-ware. Many such vessels have been found both in Egypt and Assyria. The “oil” was the holy oil, compounded after the receipt given in Exodus Exo 30:23-25.”

2 Kings 9:1

“Ramoth-gilead--a city of great importance to the Hebrew people, east of Jordan, as a fortress of defense against the Syrians. Jehoram had regained it (2Ki 8:29). But the Israelitish army was still encamped there, under the command of Jehu.”

2 Kings 9:3

“Flee, and tarry not - The probable object of these directions was at once to prevent questioning, and to render the whole thing more striking.”

2 Kings 9:3

“I have anointed thee king over Israel--This was only a part of the message; the full announcement of which is given (2Ki 9:7-10). flee, and tarry not--for fear of being surprised and overtaken by the spies or servants of the court.”

2 Kings 9:4

“The young man the prophet - This should be translated, The servant of the prophet; that is, the servant which Elisha now had in place of Gehazi.”

2 Kings 9:5

“The chief officers - the generals - were assembled together in Jehu’s quarters, perhaps holding a council of war. The place of assembly seems to have been the great court. Hence, Jehu “went into the house” 2Ki 9:6 entered, that is, one of the rooms opening into the court.”

2 Kings 9:5

“Perhaps Jehu had some intimation of his business; and therefore, that he might not seem too forward to catch at the honour, he asked, To which of all us? that it might not be said afterwards he got it by speaking first, but they might all be satisfied he was indeed the person designed.”

2 Kings 9:6

“And he arose, and went into the house,.... Into the inner chamber in it: and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel; for though they were fallen into idolatry, and from the pure worship of God, yet the Lord had still a right unto them, and as yet he had not wrote a "Loammi" Hos 1:9 upon them; and there were many among them which had not bowed the knee to Baal.”

2 Kings 9:6

“King over the people of the Lord - This pointed out to Jehu that he was to rule that people according to God’s law; and consequently, that he was to restore the pure worship of the Most High in Israel.”

2 Kings 9:7

“Thou shalt smite the house of Ahab - For their most cruel murders they have forfeited their own lives, according to that immutable law, “He that sheddeth man’s blood by man shall his blood be shed.” This and the two following verses contain the commission which Jehu received from the Lord against the bloody house of Ahab.”

2 Kings 9:7

“That they were idolaters was bad enough, and merited all that was brought upon them; yet that is not mentioned here, but the controversy God has with them is for their being persecutors, not so much their throwing down God's altars as their slaying his prophets with the sword.”

2 Kings 9:10

“The whole stock of royal blood was little enough, and too little, to atone for the blood of the prophets, the saints and martyrs, which, in God's account, is of great price.”

2 Kings 9:11

This mad fellow - The captains, seeing his excited look, his strange action, and his extreme haste, call him (as soldiers would) “this wild fellow.”

2 Kings 9:12

“They said, It is false - Or, as the Chaldee has it, Thou liest. Or, perhaps, it might be thus understood, “We know he has said nothing but folly and lies, nevertheless, let us hear what he has said.”

2 Kings 9:12

“He knew not but some of them either out of loyalty to Joram or envy of him, might oppose him, and go near to crush his interest in its infancy; but he relied on the divine appointment, and was not afraid to own it, knowing whom he had trusted: he that raised him would stand by him.”

2 Kings 9:13

“Took every man his garment, and put it under him - The outer cloak of the Jews was a sort of large shawl or blanket, which might well serve for a carpet of state. Such a carpet is commonly represented on the seat of an Assyrian throne in the Nineveh sculptures. The stairs rose against the walI of the house from the pavement of the court to the level of the upper story, or of the roof.”

2 Kings 9:13

“The popularity of Jehu with the army thus favored the designs of Providence in procuring his immediate and enthusiastic proclamation as king, and the top of the stairs was taken as a most convenient substitute for a throne. Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead--rather, "was keeping," guarding, or besieging it, with the greater part of the military force of Israel.”

2 Kings 9:14

“Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead - The confederate armies appear to have taken this city; but they were obliged to watch their conquests, as they perceived that Hazael was determined to retake it if possible.”

2 Kings 9:14

“There he was fighting for the king his master, but received orders from a higher king to fight against him. It does not appear that Jehu aimed at the government, or that he ever thought of it, but the commission given him was a perfect surprise to him.”

2 Kings 9:16

“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: 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 2Ki 8:29. (n) Travels, &c. p. 166.”

2 Kings 9:16

“Jehu - went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there - From the preceding verse we learn, that Joram had been wounded in his attack on Ramoth-gilead, and had gone to Jezreel to be cured; and neither he nor Ahaziah knew any thing of the conspiracy in Ramoth-gilead, because Jehu and his captains took care to prevent any person from leaving the city; so that the two kings at Jezreel knew nothing of what had taken place.”

2 Kings 9:17

“A watchman on the tower - These watchmen, fixed on elevated places and generally within hearing of each other, served as a kind of telegraphs, to communicate intelligence through the whole country. But, in some cases, it appears that the intelligence was conveyed by a horseman to the next stage, as in the case before us. At this time, when the armies were at Ramoth-gilead, they were, no doubt, doubly watchful to observe the state of the country, and to notice every movement. See on 2Sa 13:34 (note).”

2 Kings 9:17-24

“A report was made to Joram in his palace below. A messenger on horseback was quickly despatched down into the plain to meet the ambiguous host and to question the object of their approach. "Is it peace?" We may safely assume that this messenger would meet Jehu at the distance of three miles or more.”

2 Kings 9:18

What hast thou to do with peace? - “What is it to thee whether there be peace or war? Join my company, and fall into the rear.”

2 Kings 9:20

“He driveth furiously - Jehu was a bold, daring, prompt, and precipitate general. In his various military operations he had established his character; and now it was almost proverbial.”

2 Kings 9:21

“Make ready - literally, (as in margin) “Blind,” i. e., “Harness the horses to the chariot.” The king had no suspicion of Jehu’s treason. Probably he imagined that he was bringing him important news from the seat of war. Ahaziah’s accompanying him is significant of the close friendship which united the uncle and the nephew.”

2 Kings 9:21

“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.”

2 Kings 9:22

“What peace, so long as the whoredoms - Though the words whoredom, adultery, and fornication, are frequently used to express idolatry, and false religion, in general; yet here they may be safely taken in their common and most obvious sense, as there is much reason to 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.”

2 Kings 9:22

“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.”

2 Kings 9:23

“And Joram turned his hand, and fled,.... Taking hold of the horses' reins with it to turn them, or by the motion of it directing the charioteer to turn them back towards Jezreel, whither he fled: and said to Ahaziah, there is treachery, O Ahaziah; a conspiracy formed, and rebellion raised by the captains, at the head of which he supposed Jehu was.”

2 Kings 9:24

“Drew a bow with his full strength - The marginal reading is correct: He filled his hand with a bow. That is, “He immediately took up his bow, set his arrow, and let fly.” This is the only meaning of the passage. Between his arms - That is, between his shoulders; for he was now turned, and was flying from Jehu.”

2 Kings 9:25

“Rode together after Ahab - The Assyrian sculptures make it probable that Josephus was right in interpreting this “rode side by side behind Ahab in his chariot.” The Assyrian monarchs, when they go out to war, are frequently attended hy two guards, who stand behind them in the same chariot. Burden - Compare the use of the same word in Isaiah (Isa 13:1; Isa 15:1, etc.), and in Lamentations Lam 2:14, for a denunciation of woe.”

2 Kings 9:25-26

“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.”

2 Kings 9:26

“The blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons - We are not informed in 1 Kings 21 that any of Naboth’s family was slain but himself: but as the object both of Ahab and Jezebel was to have Naboth’s vineyard entirely, and for ever, it is not likely that they would leave any of his posterity, who might at a future time reclaim it as their inheritance. Again, to secure this point, Jezebel had Naboth convicted of treason and atheism; in order that his whole family might be involved in his ruin.”

2 Kings 9:27

“By the way of the garden-house - Or “by the way of Beth-Gan,” which has been conjectured to be another name for En-Gannim, “the spring of the gardens.” Both are considered identical with Ginaea, the modern Jenin, which lies due south of Jezreeh The road from Jezreel (Zerin) to Jenin passes at first along the plain of Esdraelon, but after a while begins to rise over the Samaritan hills. Here probably was “the ascent of Gur, by Ibleam,” which may have occupied the site of the modern Jelama. Whether the soldiers attacked him there or not is uncertain.”

2 Kings 9:27

“Ahaziah--was grandnephew to King Joram, and great-grandson to King Ahab. Ibleam--near Megiddo, in the tribe of Issachar (Jos 17:11; Jud 1:27); and Gur was an adjoining hill.”

2 Kings 9:27

“He died - The history is briefly and imperfectly described here, and the defects supplied in (the book of Chronicles, is great part written for that end, to supply things omitted in the book of Kings) out of both it may be thus compleated: he fled first to Megiddo, and thence to Samaria, where he was caught, and thence brought to Jehu, and by his sentence was put to death at Megiddo.”

2 Kings 9:28

“And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem,.... With the leave of Jehu, because he was the grandson of Jehoshaphat, a sincere worshipper of God, 2Ch 22:9, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David; see 1Ki 22:50.”

2 Kings 9:29

“In the eleventh year - The twelfth according to 2Ki 8:25. The discrepancy may be best explained from two ways of reckoning the accession of Ahaziah, who is likely to have been regent for his father during at least one year. See 2Ch 21:19.”

2 Kings 9:30

“She painted her face, and tired her head - She endeavored to improve the appearance of her complexion by paint, and the general effect of her countenance by a tiara or turban head-dress. Jonathan, the Chaldee Targumist, so often quoted, translates this וכחלת בצדידא עינהא vechachalath bitsdida eynaha: “She stained her eyes with stibium or antimony.” This is a custom in Astatic countries to the present day. From a late traveler in Persia, I borrow the following account: - “The Persians differ as much from us in their notions of beauty as they do in those of taste.”

2 Kings 9:30

“Jezebel painted her face--literally, "her eyes," according to a custom universal in the East among women, of staining the eyelids with a black powder made of pulverized antimony, or lead ore mixed with oil, and applied with a small brush on the border, so that by this dark ligament on the edge, the largeness as well as the luster of the eye itself was thought to be increased.”

2 Kings 9:31

“And as Jehu entered in at the gate,.... Either of the city of Jezreel, or of the king's palace: she said, had Zimri peace, who slew his master? Elah the son of Baasha king of Israel; no, he had not; he reigned but seven days, and, being besieged, burnt the king's house over him, and died, 1Ki 16:10, suggesting that the like would be his fate, who had slain his master Joram; or the words may be rendered, "O Zimri, the slayer of his master"; calling Jehu so, because of his likeness to Zimri.”

2 Kings 9:31

“Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? - Jarchi paraphrases this place thus: “If thou hast slain thy master, it is no new thing; for Zimri also slew Elah, the son of Baasha;” which words were rather intended to conciliate than to provoke. But the words are understood by most of the versions thus: Health to Zimri, the slayer of his master!”

2 Kings 9:33

“However it was, thus she was most shamefully put to death, dashed against the wall and the pavement, and then trodden on by the horses, which were all besmeared with her blood and brains. See the end of pride and cruelty, and say, The Lord is righteous. The very dogs completing her shame and ruin, according to the prophecy.”

2 Kings 9:34

“She is a king’s daughter - Jezebel was certainly a woman of a very high lineage. She was daughter of the king of Tyre; wife of Ahab, king of Israel; mother of Joram, king of Israel; mother-in-law of Joram, king of Judah; and grandmother of Ahaziah, king of Judah.”

2 Kings 9:35

“And they went to bury her,.... The servants of Jehu, according to his orders and instructions: but they found no more of her than the scull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands; the flesh, and even all the rest of her bones, being devoured by dogs, so that there was scarce anything of her to be buried, as in 2Ki 9:10, something similar to this happened to Ascletarion, a mathematician, as related by Suetonius (o). (o) In Vita Domitian. c. 15.”

2 Kings 9:35

“The skull - the feet, and the palms of her hands - The dogs did not eat those parts, say Jarchi and Kimchi, because in her festal dances she danced like a dog, on her hands and feet, wantonly moving her head. What other meaning these rabbins had, I do not inquire. She was, no doubt, guilty of the foulest actions, and was almost too bad to be belied. How literally was the prediction delivered in the preceding book, (1Ki 21:23, The dogs shall eat Jezebel, by the wall of Jezreel), fulfilled!”

2 Kings 9:36

“This is the word of the Lord--(See 1Ki 21:23). Jehu's statement, however, was not a literal but a paraphrased quotation of Elijah's prophecy.”

2 Kings 9:37

“And the carcass of Jezebel shall be as dung - As it was not buried under the earth, but was eaten by the dogs, this saying was also literally fulfilled. They shall not say, This is Jezebel - As she could not be buried, she could have no funeral monument. Though so great a woman by her birth, connections, and alliances, she had not the honor 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!”