2 Kings 9:30

30 venit Hieu Hiezrahel porro Hiezabel introitu eius audito depinxit oculos suos stibio et ornavit caput suum et respexit per fenestram

2 Kings 9:30 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 9:30

And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it
And of what he had done to Joram:

and she painted her face;
or put "stibium" on her eyes; a sort of paint, to make them look beautiful perhaps the same with powder of lead ore, the Moors now use to tinge their eyebrows with, and make them look black, which they reckon graceful, (See Gill on Ezekiel 23:40), this custom now obtains among the white Indians, who, to heighten the lustre of their complexion, and render their eyes more languishing, put a little black about them F14:

and tired her head;
dressed her head in the most elegant manner; not with a view to tempt Jehu, which she could not expect, being an aged woman; but for grandeur and majesty, and in the pride and haughtiness of her spirit, which she retained to the last, and resolved to keep up and show in her extremity and calamity:

and looked out at a window;
in a bravado, as fearless of Jehu, and to dash him out of countenance if she could; or she might hope, by such a graceful and majestic appearance she made, that he would be moved to spare her life; though this does not so well agree with what follows as the former.


FOOTNOTES:

F14 Agreement of Customs between East Indians and Jews, art. 15. p. 65.

2 Kings 9:30 In-Context

28 et inposuerunt eum servi eius super currum suum et tulerunt Hierusalem sepelieruntque in sepulchro cum patribus suis in civitate David
29 anno undecimo Ioram filii Ahab rege Ahazia super Iudam
30 venit Hieu Hiezrahel porro Hiezabel introitu eius audito depinxit oculos suos stibio et ornavit caput suum et respexit per fenestram
31 ingredientem Hieu per portam et ait numquid pax esse potest Zamri qui interfecit dominum suum
32 levavitque Hieu faciem suam ad fenestram et ait quae est ista et inclinaverunt se ad eum duo vel tres eunuchi
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.