2 Kings 9

Elisha the prophet called for one of the men in the group of prophets and said to him, "Tuck your robe into your belt so you can move fast. Take this small jar of olive oil in your hand and go to Ramoth-gilead.

1And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead:

Note"Sons of the prophets" (the group of prophets) were bands of men attached to a senior prophet such as Elisha, living and traveling together. Ramoth-gilead was a fortified town east of the Jordan River, on the frontier with Aram (Syria), and changed hands repeatedly in the wars between Israel and Damascus.

2When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go in, get him up from among the men he is sitting with, and take him into an inside room.

2And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber;

3Then take the jar of oil, pour it on his head, and say, 'This is what the LORD says: I have anointed you king over Israel.' Then open the door and run. Do not wait."

3Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not.

NotePouring olive oil over a man's head was the ceremony that made him king; "anointed" simply means "had oil poured on him." Israel's kings were normally anointed by a priest or prophet, so a prophet's messenger doing it here amounts to declaring the reigning king illegitimate, which is why the young man is told to run.

4So the young man, the young prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead.

4So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramothgilead.

5When he arrived, the army commanders were sitting together. He said, "I have a message for you, commander." Jehu asked, "For which one of us?" He answered, "For you, commander."

5And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O captain.

6Jehu got up and went into the house. There the young prophet poured the oil on his head and said to him, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have anointed you king over the LORD's people, over Israel.

6And he arose, and went into the house; 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.

7You are to strike down the family of Ahab your master. In this way I will pay back the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the LORD's servants, killed at Jezebel's hand.

7And 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 LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.

NoteAhab had been king of Israel a few years earlier; his sons Ahaziah and then Joram succeeded him, so his "house" (family, dynasty) still holds the throne. Jezebel, his widow and Joram's mother, was a Phoenician princess who promoted the worship of Baal in Israel and, according to 1 Kings 18, had prophets of the LORD hunted down and killed.

8The whole family of Ahab will die. I will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both slave and free.

8For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:

NoteThe King James "him that pisseth against the wall" is a blunt Hebrew idiom for males. "Him that is shut up and left" is a stock legal phrase whose exact sense is disputed, traditionally "bond and free," i.e. everyone without exception. The point is that no male of the family is to survive to claim the throne.

9I will make Ahab's family like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the family of Baasha son of Ahijah.

9And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah:

NoteJeroboam and Baasha were earlier kings of Israel whose whole families were killed off when the next man seized power (1 Kings 15–16). Naming them is a way of saying this dynasty will end the same way: wiped out, with no heirs left.

10And the dogs will eat Jezebel on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and no one will bury her." Then he opened the door and ran.

10And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.

NoteDogs in ancient towns were half-wild scavengers, not pets. To be eaten by them and left unburied was the worst end imaginable, since a proper burial in the family tomb was what every person expected as their due.

11Jehu went back out to the officers of his master, and one of them asked him, "Is everything all right? Why did this crazy man come to you?" Jehu said, "You know the man and the kind of talk he makes."

11Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication.

NoteProphets were known for trance-like behavior and strange speech, so "crazy man" was a common half-contemptuous nickname for them among soldiers and officials. Jehu's reply, "you know the man and the kind of talk he makes", is a brush-off playing on that reputation.

12They said, "That is not true. Tell us." So he said, "He said this and that to me. He said, 'This is what the LORD says: I have anointed you king over Israel.'"

12And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel.

13Right away each man took his cloak and spread it under Jehu on the bare steps. They blew the ram's horn and shouted, "Jehu is king!"

13Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.

NoteSpreading cloaks under a man's feet was an on-the-spot act of homage, making a walkway fit for royalty out of what the soldiers had to hand. The ram's horn (shofar) was the instrument sounded to announce a new king. The Hebrew phrase rendered "the bare steps" is obscure; it may mean the steps themselves, or a raised platform.

14So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, made a plot against Joram. (Joram and all Israel had been holding Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Syria,

14So 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.

Note"Syria" here translates Aram, the kingdom centered on Damascus, not the modern country of the same borders. Joram (also spelled Jehoram) was king of Israel, the northern kingdom; the army was holding Ramoth-gilead as a border fortress against Aramean attack.

15but King Joram had gone back to Jezreel to heal from the wounds the Syrians gave him when he fought Hazael king of Syria.) Jehu said, "If this is what you want, then let no one slip out of the city to carry the news to Jezreel."

15But king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your minds, then let none go forth nor escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.

16So Jehu got into his chariot and rode to Jezreel, because Joram was laid up there. Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.

16So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.

NoteAhaziah king of Judah, the southern kingdom, was Joram's nephew: Ahaziah's mother Athaliah belonged to Ahab's family, so the two royal houses were joined by marriage. That kinship explains both the friendly visit and why Jehu treats him as part of the house of Ahab.

17A watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel. He saw Jehu's troops coming and called out, "I see a company of men." Joram said, "Pick a horseman and send him out to meet them. Have him ask, 'Do you come in peace?'"

17And 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?

Note"Do you come in peace?" translates a question built on the word shalom. It asks both "are your intentions friendly?" and "is the news good?", a natural thing to ask of riders coming from the front line.

18So a man rode out on horseback to meet Jehu and said, "The king asks: Do you come in peace?" Jehu said, "What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me." The watchman reported, "The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back."

18So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again.

19So the king sent out a second horseman. He came to them and said, "The king asks: Do you come in peace?" Jehu answered, "What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me."

19Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.

20The watchman reported, "He reached them, but he is not coming back either. And the driving looks like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi, because he drives like a wild man."

20And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.

21Joram said, "Hitch up my chariot." So they hitched it up. Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah drove out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They met him on the land that had belonged to Naboth of Jezreel.

21And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.

NoteNaboth owned a vineyard next to the royal property at Jezreel. According to 1 Kings 21, Jezebel had him falsely accused and stoned so that Ahab could take the land, and the prophet Elijah met Ahab there and announced the ruin of his family. Everything that happens on this ground in the rest of the chapter is meant to be read against that story.

22When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, "Do you come in peace, Jehu?" Jehu answered, "How can there be peace, when your mother Jezebel keeps up so much idol worship and witchcraft?"

22And 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?

NoteThe King James "whoredoms" translates a Hebrew word the prophets regularly used for worshiping other gods: the relationship between Israel and the LORD was pictured as a marriage, so serving other gods was described as adultery. "Witchcraft" covers divination and sorcery, the arts used to read or manipulate the future.

23Joram turned his chariot around and fled, calling to Ahaziah, "It is a trap, Ahaziah!"

23And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah.

24Then Jehu pulled his bow with all his strength and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow went through his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot.

24And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.

Note"Between his arms" in the King James means between the shoulders, from behind, as Joram turns his chariot to flee. "Jehoram" is a longer form of the same name as "Joram", one man, two spellings.

25Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, "Pick him up and throw him into the field of Naboth of Jezreel. Remember when you and I rode side by side behind his father Ahab, and the LORD spoke this sentence against him:

25Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden upon him;

NoteJehu and Bidkar had been junior officers riding in the escort behind King Ahab when Elijah delivered his sentence. The King James "laid this burden upon him" uses "burden" in its old prophetic sense: a solemn pronouncement of doom, something loaded onto its target.

26'I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday, says the LORD, and I will pay you back on this very piece of ground, says the LORD.' So now pick him up and throw him on that piece of ground, just as the LORD said."

26Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD.

Note"Yesterday" is idiomatic, the LORD saw the killing and has not forgotten it, not that it happened the previous day. The mention of Naboth's sons is not in the account in 1 Kings 21, but the family would have had to be wiped out for the crown to take the land, since it would otherwise pass to Naboth's heirs.

27When Ahaziah king of Judah saw this, he fled up the road toward the garden house. Jehu chased him and shouted, "Shoot him too, there in his chariot." They shot him on the hill road to Gur, near Ibleam. He got as far as Megiddo and died there.

27But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.

NoteThe "garden house" translates Beth-haggan, which may be a place name rather than a building. Megiddo was a fortified city guarding the main pass through the Carmel ridge. 2 Chronicles 22 tells the story of Ahaziah's death differently, with him captured in Samaria and executed.

28His servants carried him by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his own tomb with his ancestors, in the City of David.

28And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.

NoteThe City of David is the oldest part of Jerusalem, the ridge David captured; the kings of Judah were buried there in the royal tombs. Being carried home and laid "with his ancestors" is a mark of honor, the opposite of what happens to Joram and Jezebel.

29(Ahaziah had become king over Judah in the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab.)

29And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.

NoteThis dating note does not match 2 Kings 8:25, which puts Ahaziah's accession in Joram's twelfth year. Ancient systems counted a king's years in more than one way, and the two figures were evidently drawn from different sources.

30When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it. She painted her eyes, arranged her hair, and looked down out of a window.

30And 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.

NotePainting the eyes meant outlining them with kohl, a black powder; "arranged her hair" translates a word for dressing the head, probably with an ornate headdress. This is a queen presenting herself in full state at the palace window, not a woman trying to seduce Jehu, though the scene has often been read that way.

31As Jehu came in through the gate, she said, "Did it go well for Zimri, who murdered his master?"

31And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?

NoteZimri was a chariot commander who murdered King Elah of Israel, seized the throne, and held it for seven days before the army besieged him and he burned the palace down over himself (1 Kings 16). Calling Jehu "Zimri" means: assassins who take thrones do not keep them long.

32He looked up at the window and called out, "Who is on my side? Who?" Two or three palace officials looked down at him.

32And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.

NoteThe Hebrew word can mean a castrated man or simply a high court official; in a royal household such men typically served in the women's quarters and had direct access to the queen. Their instant obedience to Jehu shows the palace staff switching sides.

33He said, "Throw her down." So they threw her down. Some of her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses, and she was trampled underfoot.

33And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.

34Jehu went inside and ate and drank. Then he said, "See to this cursed woman and bury her, for she was a king's daughter."

34And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter.

NoteJezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Phoenician city of Sidon. Even after ordering her death, Jehu observes the convention that royalty is buried rather than left out, a courtesy owed to her rank and to her father's house.

35But when they went out to bury her, all they found was her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands.

35And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.

36They came back and told Jehu. He said, "This is the word the LORD spoke through his servant Elijah from Tishbe: 'On the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will eat Jezebel's flesh.

36Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel:

37Jezebel's body will lie like manure on the open field on the plot of ground at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, This is Jezebel.'"

37And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

NoteManure was carted out and spread over ploughland, so "like manure on the open field" means scattered, worthless, and impossible to gather up. Without a grave there is no marked spot and no name attached to it, which is the force of "no one will be able to say, This is Jezebel."