2 Reis 9
Bob Utley · You Can Understand the Bible
2 Reis 9
NJB (MT versing) Jehu Reigns Over Israel Jehu Anointed King of Israel Elisha Foments the Revolution of Jehu Jehu Is Anointed King of Israel A Disciple of Elisha Anoints Jehu King 9:1-3 9:1-3 9:1-3 9:1-3 9:1-3 9:4-10 9:4-10 9:4-10 9:4-5a 9:4-10 9:5b-10 Jehu Proclaimed King 9:11-13 9:11-13 9:11-13 9:11a 9:11-13 9:11b 9:12 9:13 Jehoram (Joram) Is Assassinated Joram of Israel Killed Assassination of Joram King Joram of Israel Is Killed Jehu Prepares to Usurp Power 9:14-16 9:14-16 9:14-16 9:14-16 9:14-16 9:17-20 9:17-20 9:17-20 9:17a 9:17-21 9:17b 9:18a 9:18b 9:18c-19 9:20 The Assassination of Jehoram 9:21-26 9:21-26 9:21-26 9:21-22a 9:22-26 9:22b 9:23-26 Jehu Assassinates Ahaziah Ahaziah of Judah Killed Ahaziah and Jezebel King Ahaziah of Judah is Killed The Assassination of Ahaziah 9:27-28 9:27-29 9:27-28 9:27-28 9:27-29 9:29 Jezebel's Violent Death 9:29 9:29 Queen Jezebel Is Killed The Assassination of Jezebel 9:30-32 9:30-37 9:30-37 9:30-31 9:30-37 Jezebel Is Slain 9:32-37 9:33-37 Etc.
2 Reis 9:1-3
9:1 "the sons of the prophets" See full note at 2 Kings 2:3. SPECIAL TOPIC: PROPHECY (OT) ▣ "Gird up your loins" This is an idiom for preparations for action (cf. Exod. 12:11; 2 Kgs. 4:29; Prov. 31:17; Dan. 10:5). Literally it turned a robe into pants as one grabbed the back of one's robe through one's knees and tucked it into the belt in front, thus making the robe tight across the thighs (see note at 1 Kgs. 18:36 online. ▣ "this flask of oil" Olive oil was used for cooking and to rub on one's skin, but in a spiritual sense (i.e., special holy oil, cf. Exod. 30:23-25), it was used to anoint leaders (i.e., kings, priests, and prophets) as fuel for the lights in the temple SPECIAL TOPIC: "ANOINTING" IN THE BIBLE ▣ "Ramoth-gilead" This city is located on the border between Syria and Israel on the eastern side of the Jordan River. It was on the King's Highway, which was a major north-south trade route. It had been the site of a border feud for years (cf. v. 14). The nation that occupied this city held taxation rights. 9:2 "Jehu" The Hebrew spelling of Jehu (BDB 219) is similar to the Hebrew spelling of YHWH (BDB 217). Both come from the verb "to be." The name means "YHWH is the true one" or "YHWH is he." He was not of the royal family but of the military (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 749-750). A new dynasty begins with both Hazael and Jehu. Elisha is the divine instigator behind both rebellions. Jehu will bring about YHWH's judgment on the house of Omri. His father, Jehoshaphat, is not to be confused with the king of Judah by the same name. Possibly this is why both his father and grandfather are specified. This fulfills the instructions to Elijah in 1 Kgs. 19:15-16. Of the several tasks given to Elijah, Elisha does all but one of them. ▣ "to an inner room" This was a private anointing, like Saul's (cf. 1 Sam. 10:1), and a limited one, like David's family only in 1 Samuel 16. 9:3 "anointed" This was the only northern king who was anointed in Scripture. Jeroboam, Baasha, and Omri were acknowledge by prophet's announcement ▣ "open the door and flee and do not wait" The reason for this is not stated.
2 Reis 9:4-10
9:5 Apparently Joram's military leaders were having a meeting before the walls of Ramoth-gilead. This prophetic emissary broke into that meeting and asked to see Jehu in private. Josephus, Antiq. 9.6.1, assumes Jehu was the main captain of Israel's forces that had captured Ramoth-gilead. 9:6 " the Lord, the God of Israel" This was a full title for Israel's covenant Deity. It includes the covenant name, YHWH the general name for Deity, Eloah the name of Abraham's descendant, Jacob (YHWH's promises to Abraham still applied to the northern kingdom.) SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, C. and D. SPECIAL TOPIC: ISRAEL (THE NAME) SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT PROMISES TO THE PATRIARCHS 9:7 "that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets" This refers to the task of the Go'el (cf. Num. 35:19,21; Deut. 32:43). The background for this statement is found in 1 Kgs. 19:14,18. SPECIAL TOPIC: RANSOM/REDEEM, I. A. 1. SPECIAL TOPIC: MY SERVANT 9:8 "For the whole house of Ahab shall perish" This refers to all of his descendants (cf. 1 Kgs. 21:21). ▣ "both bond and free" See note at 1 Kgs. 14:10 online (www.freebiblecommentary.org) . 9:9 For Jeroboam I see 1 Kgs. 14:10,11; 15:29. For Baasha see 1 Kgs. 16:3-5,11,12. This was a total judgment on these men and their descendants! 9:10 This comes to pass in vv. 35,36 (cf. 1 Kgs. 21:23). As Jezebel had faithful Naboth killed, so now she is killed with no royal funeral or burial. SPECIAL TOPIC: BURIAL RITES
2 Reis 9:11-13
9:11 "Is all well" The term shalom (BDB 1022) is translated two different ways in this chapter (cf. v. 7). SPECIAL TOPIC: PEACE (OT) ▣ "this mad fellow" This is not used in a normal English sense of someone who has lost control of their mental abilities, but is used in the Hebrew OT in the sense of the prophetic spirit that sometimes causes one to appear abnormal to others (cf. 1 Sam. 21:14-15; Jer. 29:26; Hos. 9:7; NIDOTTE, vol. 4, p. 46). ▣ "You know very well the man and his talk" This particular son of the prophets must have been well known. It is possibly a collective slur on all the prophets. It is also possible that by depreciating the prophet's message Jehu was testing his officers to see their reaction to it. 9:13 Jehu's fellow military officers immediately acknowledged the prophetic emissary's message. Place their clothes before him (cf. Matt. 21:7,8; Mark 11:7,8). Blow the trumpet (cf. 2 Sam. 15:10; 1 Kgs. 1:34,39). Shout royal affirmation (i.e., "Jehu is King!"; cf. 1 Kgs. 1:34,39; 2 Kgs. 11:12,14). SPECIAL TOPIC: HORNS USED BY ISRAEL, #2 ▣ NASB, NRSV, NJB, Peshitta "the bare steps" NKJV, TEV, REB, JPSOA, LXX "on the top of the steps" "stairs of the sundial" The MT has the NOUN (BDB 175, KB 203) "bone." The suggestions are top bare unknown architectural term
2 Reis 9:14-16
9:14 The IVP Bible Background Commentary (OT), p. 396, has a good summary of the proposed coordination of ANE history with this chapter. "9:14 battle at Ramoth Gilead. The sequence of events is very complex here, because this is 841, the same year that Shalmaneser III of Assyria invaded Aram and engaged in a series of military encounters with Hazael. According to Shalmaneser's records, Hazael met him in pitched battle at Mount Hermon and was defeated. Hazael then safely retreated to Damascus, which was unsuccessfully besieged. Upon failing to overthrow Damascus, Shalmaneser vented this fury on the area of Hauran, just east of Ramoth Gilead, from where he marched to Mount Carmel and received tribute from Jehu. The march from Hauran to Carmel must have gone through the Jezreel Valley. If these events are all to fit together one would have to suppose that Aram had moved against Ramoth Gilead in the early spring and was met by the combined forces of Judah and Israel. Shalmaneser typically left for his campaigns about May first, and it is about 550 miles from Assyria to Damascus, so he would not be arriving until maybe mid-June. As soon as Hazael received word that Shalmaneser was coming, he rushed north and met the Assyrian army at Mount Hermon. Jehu, still at Ramoth Gilead, likewise got the news of the Assyrian advance and was faced with the question of what Israel's position would be. Gathering the support of the pro-Assyrian party and strengthened by the prophetic anointing, he proceeded with the coup. During the period that Shalmaneser was failing in his siege of Damascus and laying waste the area of Hauran, Jehu was exterminating the house of Ahab and the followers of Baal. Once he established his control, he willingly gave Shalmaneser access across Jezreel and paid tribute at Carmel." 9:15 Jehu knew that Joram (Jehoram) was wounded and had returned to Jezreel, his winter palace, to heal. His first act of rebellion was to ask his leaders (i.e., "if this is your mind, [v. 13], then act"). Leave Ramoth-gilead immediately and secure the city of Jezreel. 9:16 Ahaziah, the king of Judah, had come to Jezreel to visit his ally Joram.
2 Reis 9:17-20
9:17-20 This describes Jehu's mad dash to Jezreel. The repeated refrain was "Is it peace?" However, each messenger becomes a part of Jehu's force. 9:20 NASB, NKJV, REB, Peshitta "for he drives furiously" "drives like a maniac" TEV, NJB "like a madman" "drives wildly" "drives recklessly" This NOUN (BDB 993) is from the same root as "madman" of v. 11. There was a divine purpose in Jehu's urgency! Exactly what the NOUN implies is uncertain. Some assume a back and forth zigzag pattern, LXX he drives calmly or quietly, Targums slowly or steadily, Josephus, Antiq. 9.6.3-8
2 Reis 9:21-26
9:21 Jehu had gone, not to the city of Jezreel, but to the place of Naboth's vineyard, which Ahab and Jezebel had wrongly taken as their own. 9:22 "the harlotries of your mother Jezebel" This refers to Jezebel's attempt to destroy the YHWHistic faith by establishing the worship of Ba'al-Melqart, the Tyrian fertility god. The harlotries could be both literal (i.e., fertility worship practices) or spiritual (i.e., going after other gods (cf. Exod. 34:16; Lev. 17:7; Deut. 31:16). SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANE SPECIAL TOPIC: MONOTHEISM ▣ "witchcrafts" The etymology of this Hebrew term (BDB 506; NIDOTTE, vol. 2, pp. 735-738) is uncertain but it seems to be related to the use of drugs to attempt to foretell and control events. See detailed notes at Deut. 18:9-12 online. 9:25 "take him up and cast him into the property of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite" To see the full prophetic impact of this statement, read 1 Kings 21. The son apparently had to pay the price for the father's curse. Ahab himself repented and humbled himself in 1 Kgs. 21:27-29. 9:26 Jehu must have been at the called festival where Naboth was condemned and stoned (cf. 1 Kgs. 21:19,24-29). ▣ "according to the word of the Lord" This is a recurrent and significant phrase. Obedience to the Mosaic covenant (i.e., Deut. 6:4-9) the word of prophets (i.e., Elijah and Elisha) was crucial in a faithful relationship with YHWH.
2 Reis 9:27-28
9:27 NASB, Peshitta "the garden house" NKJV, NRSV, TEV, REB, JPSOA "Beth-Haggan" "Beth-ha-Gan" "Baithaggan" The MT has "Beth-haggan" (BDB 111, KB 126) but it may refer to a garden house (at Jezreel) a city (En-Gannim, cf. Josh. 19:21; 21:29) another unknown locale It probably referred to the south, as Ahaziah was trying to return to Judah (i.e., v. 28). There is an alternate account in 2 Chr. 22:8-9. ▣ "in the chariot" Jehu orders Bidkar (v. 25) or another soldier to shoot Ahaziah (this was not a specific part of Jehu's prophetic mandate, cf. Hosea 1:4, unless Ahaziah being Jezebel's grandson), but apparently a second use of this VERB has dropped out of the text (see NET Bible, p. 607, #4). There is some confusion as to were Joram and Ahaziah in the same chariot was Bidkar in Jehu's or Ahaziah's chariot SPECIAL TOPIC: TEXTUAL CRITICISM
2 Reis 9:29
9:29 This is different from 2 Kgs. 8:25. The dates for the reign of kings in Judah and Israel are complicated by co-reigns with their fathers two different systems of counting the coronation year of the king different sources (written or oral) See Edwin R. Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings and John Walton, D. Brent Sandy, The Lost World of Scripture.
2 Reis 9:30-32
9:30 Why did Jezebel dress up? trying to seduce Jehu (but she was old by this time and v. 31 does not fit) preparing herself for a court visit burial typical makeup of a prostitute an alliance to consolidate his power 9:31 "Zimri" Zimri also killed the reigning king in 1 Kgs. 16:8-10, but he only reigned a short time. This was Jezebel's way of asserting that Jehu was an illegitimate usurper who would not last. 9:32-33 Some of Jezebel's close servants cast her out the window. Verses 33 and 35 are eyewitness details. 9:32 "officials" This is literally "eunuchs" (BDB 710, NIDOTTE, vol. 3, pp. 288-294). If these two were harem servants, they probably were castrated (i.e., Dan. 1:3,7-11,18). However, often the term simply means "official" or "servant" (i.e., Potiphar in Genesis 37).
2 Reis 9:33-37
9:34 "she is a king's daughter" Jezebel was the daughter of a king of Tyre and Jehu did not want a conflict with Phoenicia (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 776-777). 9:36 This fulfills the prophecy of 1 Kgs. 21:23.