KING JEHU (II KINGS 9-10)

Jehu's reign over Israel lasted from 841-814 BC and overlapped with those of Athaliah and Joash in the Southern Kingdom. He was founder of the longest dynasty in Israel. There is also a brief parallel account found in Chronicles, but the Chronicler shows only minimal interest in what transpired in Israel in order to concentrate on events in Judah instead.

II Kings 9   In 1993-4 excavations at the site of Dan, portions of a stone monument were uncovered that confirm Jehu's rebellion described in this chapter. These fragments have been dated to the approximate start of Jehu's reign. (Gilmour)

9:1-10 “...here is violence that judges but does not heal. Only at Calvary did fierce judgment of sin bring restoration and health for sinners.” (Charles Martin)

9:1-3 “Elisha simply triggers the political action. He makes a gesture and speaks a word which sets things going with the inelucability of a machine. He is literally the finger that presses a button and the whole mechanism starts functioning. But then Elisha does not intervene again. He has no part at all in the political actions.” (Ellul)

9:3-6 Jehu is anointed king with a whole bottle of oil as Saul was earlier.

9:7-10 Note that the young man adds his own words to what Elisha had told him to speak. So we have a distancing from Elisha to the young man to Jehu. Each adds his own words. Ellul points out that this is typical of what happens in the church.

9:13 The “bare steps” (gerem) “may refer to some now lost architectural feature.” (Martin)

9:14 The famous Black Obelisk pictures Jehu submitting to Shalmaneser II of Assyria, probably in order to enlist his help against Hazael. (Waite)

9:17 “Is it peace?” is a question that will be repeated in vv. 18, 19, 22, and 31.

9:23 Joram's shout “treachery” is like Julius Caesar's “et tu, Brute?”

9:24 The word male' (“set”) only appears in relation to archery here and in Zechariah 9:13. Boda translates the verse as “he filled his hand with the bow.” Others say “he bent the bow” instead.

9:27 There are two different manuscript versions of this verse: (1) “Kill him also! They wounded him” and (2) "Him too! And they shot him.” (Martin)

9:29 appears to conflict with 8:25. Either the Syrian version is correct in reading “12” at 8:25 or perhaps the Aramaic form of “12” was there originally and misread as the similar appearing “11.” (Cogan and Tadmor)

9:30-37 Jezebel puts on her make-up either because she had no clue what was going to happen or, more likely, she wished to die looking her best. Her actions in sitting at the window that way are more fitting for a prostitute of the time rather than a queen (see Jeremiah 4:30; Ezekiel 23:40). She meets her fate exactly as predicted earlier by Elijah.

9:31 By calling him Zimri, she is comparing Jehu to another traitor who killed his master, the king (see I Kings 16:8-20) suggesting that his reign will be just as brief as his was (i.e. one week).

9:34 Jehu nonchalantly goes in to eat.

II Kings 10:1-11 Hosea 1:4 condemns Jehu for ending Ahab's line even though God had told him to do so. T. F. Williams suggests that either (1) it was only the severity of Jehu's massacre that God condemns or (2) it was a warning that Jehu's line was eventually going to be put to an end in the same manner because of Jehu's wicked behavior. “He [Jehu] fulfills prophecies, but he is condemned for doing so. He is a man of God, but he uses all the methods of the devil.” (Ellul)

Anderson and Freedman note that some scholars suggest “that this statement in Hosea represents a dramatic turnaround from the days of Elijah and Elisha, and reflects a more penetrating insight into the nature of God's dealing with people. Far from approving the bloodbath at Jezreel, Hosea establishes a higher and morally more sensitive standard of evaluation and judgment.” Anderson and Freedman reject this explanation.

10:6 Several commentators point to the purposeful ambiguity of Jehu's request since “take the heads of Ahab's sons and come to me” can simply be interpreted as a request to bring the sons before him so that he can choose which one will inherit the crown.”

10:8-11 Jehu admits to the people that he has been guilty of killing Ahab, but then turns all the guilt for the deaths of Ahab's sons on the elders and has them executed.

10:12-31 Waite summarizes these verses by saying that Jehu's actions “went beyond the terms of his commission and are difficult to justify...His true character showed itself in his toleration of the corrupt worship of Yahweh linked with the bull images of Dan and Bethel.”

“He is similarly clever and deceitful when he gathers the various followers of Baal together with the promise to make a great offering to Baal." Of course, they will be the human sacrifices he offers. This brings up “the question whether all means are good if used to do the will of God (or propagate the gospel).” (Ellul)   In that respect, we should remember the words of Jesus who said “I never knew you” to those who actually accomplished great deeds in his name (Matthew 7:21-23).

10:14 Ford notes that the number 42 also appears in II Kings 2:23-24 in the context of violent killing.

10:15-17 Jonadab ben Rechab was the founder of the Rechabite clan who vowed to live a simple semi-nomadic life much as the earlier patriarchs (see Jeremiah 35). Ellul suggests that “behind the cruelty of Jehu he discerns the inflexible justiciary of divine law, a man like himself, unyielding and ascetic. He also perceives the same concern for purity and singleness of heart in God's service.”

10:25 Jehu practices “terrifying single-minded fanaticism that keeps no faith with heretics.” (Martin) In other words he felt that there was nothing wrong with lying to them since they were the enemy.

10:26 II Kings 3:2 had described how this “pillar” had been previously removed. Some have a problem with the fact that a stone pillar cannot be burned, but (a) the word can apply to any standing object, including a wooden one and (2) you can destroy a stone object by heating it in a fire and then throwing water on it. (Wakely)

10:28 “Sinful men are intemperate agents of divine judgment.” (Martin)

10:30 God's approval of Jehu is quite limited compared to the promise given to David that his sons would reign forever.