2 Kings 9:17
in 2 Kings 9Now the watchman standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troops approaching, and he called out, “I see a company of troops!” “Choose a rider,” Joram commanded. “Send him out to meet them and ask, ‘Have you come in peace?’”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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. And Joram said, Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?
KJV
And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?
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This verse in 2 Kings 9
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA 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).
This site's exposition
a watchman on the tower
on 2 Kings 9:17-20
A watchman posted on the tower reads the approach and sends first one horseman, then a second, and Jehu answers each the same way, what hast thou to do with peace, turn thee behind me, folding the king's own messengers into his advancing company. The watchman's final report turns on one detail rather than any message, the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he driveth furiously, a description Clarke calls almost proverbial for the man. The reader learns Jehu's identity from his chariot before Joram does.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
So he went out with a group of select men. But he met Joram, king of Israel, in the course of his journey, and little later Ahaziah, king of Judah. He was able to defeat them after the first attack and killed them both.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
And there stood a watchman on the tower of Jezreel,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
The words behind it
22 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהַצֹּפֶה֩ | vehatzopeh | and the watchman | H6822 → | 36 times |
| עֹמֵ֨ד | ʾomed | [was] standing | H5975 → | 521 times |
| עַֽל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הַמִּגְדָּ֜ל | hamigdal | the tower | H4026 → | 48 times |
| בְּיִזְרְעֶ֗אל | beyizreel | in Jezreel | H3157 → | 36 times |
| וַיַּ֞רְא | vaiyar' | and he saw | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שִׁפְעַ֤ת | shifat | [the] crowd of | H8229 → | |
| יֵהוּא֙ | yehu' | Jehu | H3058 → | 58 times |
| בְּבֹא֔וֹ | bevoo | when came he | H935 → | 2568 times |
| וַיֹּ֕אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| שִׁפְעַ֖ת | shifat | a crowd | H8229 → | |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| רֹאֶ֑ה | roeh | [am] seeing | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְהוֹרָ֗ם | yehoram | Jehoram | H3088 → | 29 times |
| קַ֥ח | kach | take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| רַכָּ֛ב | rakav | a horseman | H7395 → | |
| וּֽשְׁלַ֥ח | ushelach | and send [him] | H7971 → | 845 times |
| לִקְרָאתָ֖ם | likratam | to meet them | H7122 → | 139 times |
| וְיֹאמַ֥ר | veyomar | and he may say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הֲשָׁלֽוֹם׃ | hashalom | ¿ peace | H7965 → | 236 times |
וְהַצֹּפֶה֩and the watchman
vehatzopehH6822 →36 times
עֹמֵ֨ד[was] standing
ʾomedH5975 →521 times
עַֽל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הַמִּגְדָּ֜לthe tower
hamigdalH4026 →48 times
בְּיִזְרְעֶ֗אלin Jezreel
beyizreelH3157 →36 times
וַיַּ֞רְאand he saw
vaiyar'H7200 →1300 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שִׁפְעַ֤ת[the] crowd of
shifatH8229 →
יֵהוּא֙Jehu
yehu'H3058 →58 times
בְּבֹא֔וֹwhen came he
bevooH935 →2568 times
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
שִׁפְעַ֖תa crowd
shifatH8229 →
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
רֹאֶ֑ה[am] seeing
roehH7200 →1300 times
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
יְהוֹרָ֗םJehoram
yehoramH3088 →29 times
קַ֥חtake
kachH3947 →966 times
רַכָּ֛בa horseman
rakavH7395 →
וּֽשְׁלַ֥חand send [him]
ushelachH7971 →845 times
לִקְרָאתָ֖םto meet them
likratamH7122 →139 times
וְיֹאמַ֥רand he may say
veyomarH559 →5305 times
הֲשָׁלֽוֹם׃¿ peace
hashalomH7965 →236 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 56:10Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber.
it leads to
- Isaiah 29:10
For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.
- Ezekiel 33:6
But if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the horn to warn the people, and the sword comes and takes away a life, then that one will be taken away…
- Philippians 3:2
Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!
- Isaiah 58:1
“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- Matthew 15:14
Disregard them! They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
- Isaiah 29:10
Through
1 Samuel 16:4So Samuel did what the LORD had said and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace?”
it leads to
- 1 Kings 2:13
Now Adonijah son of Haggith went to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, and she asked, “Do you come in peace?” “Yes, in peace,” he replied.
- 1 Samuel 21:1
Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And when Ahimelech met David, he trembled and asked him, “Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”
- Luke 5:8
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”
- 1 Kings 2:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 9:1-24; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.