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2 Kings 9:30

in 2 Kings 9

Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window.

KJV

And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.

This verse in 2 Kings 9

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

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.

This site's exposition

she painted her face

on 2 Kings 9:30-31

Jezebel meets her death exactly as report reaches her, taking time to paint her eyes and dress her hair before she looks out the window, a queen staging her last appearance on her own terms. Her taunt reaches for the one precedent that fits, had Zimri peace, who slew his master, naming the captain who took Elah's throne by murder and burned in it seven days later. Gill reads the question as daring Jehu to remember how briefly a usurper's crown lasts.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Ephrem the Syrian

ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 9:30 · Written before 373.

proposed

They thought that she would have wept over her dead son, but in the very hour in which she heard that the king had come, she painted her eyes, a raving old woman, adorned her head with a miter and looked from her window so …

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

7 And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the L ORD , at the hand of Jezebel.

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:95%@v7

And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

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.
Painted her face - literally, “put her eyes in antimony “ - i. e., dyed the upper and under eyelids, a common practice in the East, even at the present day. The effect is at once to increase the apparent size of the eye, and to give it unnatural brilliancy. Representations of eyes thus embellished occur on the Assyrian sculptures, and the practice existed among the Jews (marginal reference; and Jer 4:30). Tired her head - Dressed (attired) her head, and no doubt put on her royal robes, that she might die as became a queen, in true royal array. A window - Rather, “the window.” The gate-tower had probably, as many of those in the Assyrian sculptures, one window only.

The words behind it

14 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וַיָּב֥וֹאand he went

    vaiyavo'H9352568 times

  • יֵה֖וּאJehu

    yehu'H305858 times

  • יִזְרְעֶ֑אלָהJezreel towards

    yizreelahH315736 times

  • וְאִיזֶ֣בֶלand Jezebel

    veizevelH34822 times

  • שָׁמְעָ֗הshe heard

    shameahH80851159 times

  • וַתָּ֨שֶׂםand she set

    vatasemH7760584 times

  • בַּפּ֤וּךְwith <the> eye-paint

    bapukhH6320

  • עֵינֶ֙יהָ֙eyes her

    ʾeineihaH5869887 times

  • וַתֵּ֣יטֶבand she made good

    vateitevH3190117 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H85310935 times

  • רֹאשָׁ֔הּhead her

    roshahH7218599 times

  • וַתַּשְׁקֵ֖ףand she looked down

    vatashkefH8259

  • בְּעַ֥דthrough

    beadH1157105 times

  • הַחַלּֽוֹן׃the window

    hachalonH247431 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Jeremiah 4:30

    And you, O devastated one, what will you do, though you dress yourself in scarlet, though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry, though you enlarge your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain;…

    it leads to

    • Lamentations 1:19

      I called out to my lovers, but they have betrayed me. My priests and elders perished in the city while they searched for food to keep themselves alive.

    • Lamentations 1:2

      She weeps aloud in the night, with tears upon her cheeks. Among all her lovers there is no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her; they have become her enemies.

    • Ezekiel 23:9–10

      Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, the Assyrians for whom she lusted.

    • Ezekiel 16:36–41

      This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood…

    • Isaiah 10:3

      What will you do on the day of reckoning when devastation comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

  • Through

    Ezekiel 23:40

    Furthermore, you sisters sent messengers for men who came from afar; and behold, when they arrived, you bathed for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 4:30

      And you, O devastated one, what will you do, though you dress yourself in scarlet, though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry, though you enlarge your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain;…

    • Ezekiel 16:13–16

      So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful and rose to…

  • Through

    Ezekiel 24:17

    Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your lips or eat the bread of mourners.”

    it leads to

    • Hosea 9:4

      They will not pour out wine offerings to the LORD, and their sacrifices will not please Him, but will be to them like the bread of mourners; all who eat will be defiled. For…

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Kings

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 9:30; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.