2 Kings 9 Study Notes

9:1-15:12 The theological and moral reason for this coming period of weakness was the sin of the southern kings beginning with Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat (8:18). But the immediate, political cause was the violence and destructiveness of Jehu’s revolution against the dynasty of Omri. Decline began immediately with Jehu’s massacres and continued into the rule of Jehu’s son, Jehoahaz. This period of weakness was the most likely setting for several of the miracle events recorded in topical, non-chronological order in the general career of Elisha (see note at chaps. 4:1-7:20).

Then, after Elisha’s deathbed intervention in politics, Jehoash, grandson of Jehu, led the north in a new round of successful warfare. This culminated in the reign of Jeroboam II, during whose rule the wealth and power of the northern kingdom was greater than it had yet been. Both the Bible and archaeology bear witness to this. In God’s providence, this restoration of power came just in time to bring material blessing to the successors of Joash of Judah.

9:1-4 The second anointing of a ruler commanded of Elijah by the Lord occurred when Elisha sent a young prophet to anoint Jehu, an experienced chariot commander, to be king of Israel. At that time Jehu was a commander of the chariots struggling with Aram for control of Ramoth-gilead. The delicacy of the situation is shown by the command to the young prophet to escape immediately.

9:5-10 In the account of Elisha commissioning the young prophet, the message is summarized in six words (v. 3). Here in the account of delivering the message, the six words are expanded to more than a hundred words (in the CSB translation) followed by an urgent departure. This expanded statement repeated the accusation against the house of . . . Ahab and gave a detailed presentation of the penalty to be exacted.

9:11-13 The evaluation Jehu and his master’s servants gave about the prophet seems confused. At first the prophet was described as crazy and ranting, but as soon as the group realized that they actually liked the message he had brought, they allowed the prophet’s oracle and anointing of Jehu to instigate the revolution that destroyed the house of Ahab. Whatever Jehu’s servants may have initially thought of the messenger, they recognized that his actions implied the divine approval of Jehu as king—a conclusion they apparently reached before Jehu himself did.

9:14 The formula used here to designate Jehu could be understood as: “Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, of the clan of Nimshi.” All Israel should not be taken as referring literally to “all Israel” but to all Israel involved in conducting the war. This idiom is similar to the idiom involved in the sacrificial blood in which all (rightly translated “the rest” in the CSB) of the blood was poured out on the base of the altar (Lv 4:34). From context, “all of the blood” referred to all of the remainder after the other functions had used much of the blood.

9:15-16 Jehu plotted with his fellow officers to prevent anyone from going to Jezreel to warn the king. Then he took a group of soldiers with him to seize the throne.

9:17 The term mob used to describe the approach of Jehu’s group could refer to any rushing mass or torrent. No wonder Joram sent an officer to investigate. Although the term for rider could be used for either chariot drivers or horse riders, the chariot was more likely for this task (v. 21).

9:18 The quickness with which the messenger lined up behind Jehu, signaling a switch of allegiance, showed that personal loyalty to King Joram was as shallow in Jezreel as it had been in Ramoth-gilead and that Jehu was a persuasive leader.

9:19-20 After a second messenger defected to Jehu, the lookout thought he could identify the manner of chariot driving as distinctive of Jehu.

9:21 Joram behaved like a man of bravery and character in going to face the danger himself. King Ahaziah of Judah should also be given similar credit for going with him.

9:22 Taken in its literal meaning, the prostitution mentioned by Jehu probably referred to the temple prostitutes of Baalism associated with the local Baals of Palestine and Jezebel’s imported Baalism from Phoenicia. However, it could easily be stretched to apply to the metaphorical religious adultery of worshiping any god other than the Lord. Sorcery was also a routine part of pagan cults.

9:23-26 These events happened near the second royal palace, the summer palace, the place where Naboth and his sons were murdered through Jezebel’s scheming. Jehu, remembering the time when he and Bidkar, his aide, were witnesses to those murders, enabled the fulfillment of the prophecy by dumping Joram’s corpse on Naboth’s land (see notes at 1Kg 21:13-14; 21:19-24; and 22:37-38). The Hebrew word for “aide,” meaning “third,” indicates that Bidkar was a third person in addition to the chariot driver and Jehu.

9:27-29 Judah was a junior ally of the dynasty of Ahab and was also tied to Ahab by marriage and by the cult of Baal. Though he had not been commanded to do so, Jehu may have believed there was no reason to distinguish between purging the land of the house of Ahab and purging it of the related house of David in Jerusalem—so far had the house of David sunk. Jehu’s men pursued and wounded King Ahaziah at the ascent into the Gur Pass near Ibleam, although some locate this pass close to the pass that led from Taanach south. The wounded Ahaziah was permitted to flee to Megiddo where he died. Neither Joram nor Ahaziah are given formal closers to their records since Jehu’s massacres rendered such records superfluous.

9:30-37 This report, written by a follower of Yahweh who considered Jezebel the incarnation of evil, described the courage and resolve of this idolatress and murderess as she faced death. She tended to her appearance with black eye paint and then boldly faced her killer. Her fate again showed that the loyalty of the people to Ahab was quite shallow. Two or three of Jezebel’s eunuchized palace slaves, when challenged by Jehu, threw her to her death. Then, while Jehu ate and drank, the dogs destroyed the corpse of the Phoenician princess just as was prophesied (1Kg 21:23).