2 Kings 9:14-15

9:14 Then Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi conspired against Joram.

Jehu the Assassin

Now Joram had been in Ramoth Gilead with the whole Israelite army, ¹  guarding against an invasion by King Hazael of Syria. 9:15 But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians ²  when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. ³  Jehu told his supporters, ⁴  “If you really want me to be king, ⁵  then don’t let anyone escape from the city to go and warn Jezreel.”

2 Kings 9:17-19

9:17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and saw Jehu’s troops approaching. ⁶  He said, “I see troops!” ⁷  Jehoram ordered, ⁸  “Send a rider out to meet them and have him ask, ‘Is everything all right?’” ⁹  9:18 So the horseman ¹⁰  went to meet him and said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’” ¹¹  Jehu replied, “None of your business! ¹²  Follow me.” The watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, but hasn’t started back.” 9:19 So he sent a second horseman out to them ¹³  and he said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’” ¹⁴  Jehu replied, “None of your business! Follow me.”

2 Kings 9:21

9:21 Jehoram ordered, “Hitch up my chariot.” ¹⁵  When his chariot had been hitched up, ¹⁶  King Jehoram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah went out in their respective chariots ¹⁷  to meet Jehu. They met up with him ¹⁸  in the plot of land that had once belonged to Naboth of Jezreel.

2 Kings 9:27

9:27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what happened, he took off ¹⁹  up the road to Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him and ordered, “Shoot him too.” They shot him while he was driving his chariot up the ascent of Gur near Ibleam. ²⁰  He fled to Megiddo ²¹  and died there.

2 Kings 10:5

10:5 So the palace supervisor, ²²  the city commissioner, ²³  the leaders, ²⁴  and the guardians sent this message to Jehu, “We are your subjects! ²⁵  Whatever you say, we will do. We will not make anyone king. Do what you consider proper.” ²⁶ 

2 Kings 10:21

10:21 Jehu sent invitations throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one was absent. They arrived at the temple of Baal and filled it up from end to end. ²⁷ 

2 Kings 10:23

10:23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rekab went to the temple of Baal. Jehu ²⁸  said to the servants of Baal, “Make sure there are no servants of the Lord here with you; there must be only servants of Baal.” ²⁹ 

2 Kings 10:25

10:25 When he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Jehu ordered the royal guard ³⁰  and officers, “Come in and strike them down! Don’t let any escape!” So the royal guard and officers struck them down with the sword and left their bodies lying there. ³¹  Then they entered the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal. ³² 

2 Kings 10:29-30

A Summary of Jehu’s Reign

10:29 However, Jehu did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat had encouraged Israel to commit; the golden calves remained in Bethel ³³  and Dan. ³⁴  10:30 The Lord said to Jehu, “You have done well. You have accomplished my will and carried out my wishes with regard to Ahab’s dynasty. Therefore four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel.” ³⁵ 

2 Kings 13:1

Jehoahaz’s Reign over Israel

13:1 In the twenty-third year of the reign of Judah’s King Joash son of Ahaziah, Jehu’s son Jehoahaz became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria ³⁶  for seventeen years.

[9:14]  ¹ tn Heb “he and all Israel.”

[9:15]  ² tn Heb “which the Syrians inflicted [on] him.”

[9:15]  ³ sn See 2 Kgs 8:28-29a.

[9:15]  ⁴ tn The words “his supporters” are added for clarification.

[9:15]  ⁵ tn Heb “If this is your desire.” נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) refers here to the seat of the emotions and will. For other examples of this use of the word, see BDB 660-61 s.v.

[9:17]  ³ tn Heb “the quantity [of the men] of Jehu, when he approached.” Elsewhere שִׁפְעַה (shif’ah), “quantity,” is used of a quantity of camels (Isa 60:6) or horses (Ezek 26:10) and of an abundance of water (Job 22:11; 38:34).

[9:17]  ⁴ tn The term שִׁפְעַת (shifat) appears to be a construct form of the noun, but no genitive follows.

[9:17]  ⁵ tn Heb “said.”

[9:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “Get a rider and send [him] to meet him and let him ask, ‘Is there peace?’”

[9:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “the rider of the horse.”

[9:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “Is there peace?”

[9:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “What concerning you and concerning peace?” That is, “What concern is that to you?”

[9:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he came to them.”

[9:19]  ⁶ tc The MT has simply “peace,” omitting the prefixed interrogative particle. It is likely that the particle has been accidentally omitted; several ancient witnesses include it or assume its presence.

[9:21]  ⁶ tn The words “my chariot” are added for clarification.

[9:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “and he hitched up his chariot.”

[9:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “each in his chariot and they went out.”

[9:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “they found him.”

[9:27]  ⁷ tn Heb “and Ahaziah king of Judah saw and fled.”

[9:27]  ⁸ tn After Jehu’s order (“kill him too”), the MT has simply, “to the chariot in the ascent of Gur which is near Ibleam.” The main verb in the clause, “they shot him” (וַיִּכְהוּ, vayyikhhu), has been accidentally omitted by virtual haplography/homoioteleuton. Note that the immediately preceding form הַכֻּהוּ (hakkuhu), “shoot him,” ends with the same suffix.

[9:27]  ⁹ map For location see Map1 D4; Map2 C1; Map4 C2; Map5 F2; Map7 B1.

[10:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “the one who was over the house.”

[10:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “the one who was over the city.”

[10:5]  ¹⁰ tn Or “elders.”

[10:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “servants.”

[10:5]  ¹² tn Heb “Do what is good in your eyes.”

[10:21]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the house of Baal was filled mouth to mouth.”

[10:23]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:23]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Search carefully and observe so that there are not here with you any servants of the Lord, only the servants of Baal.”

[10:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “runners.”

[10:25]  ¹² tn Heb “and they threw.” No object appears. According to M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 116), this is an idiom for leaving a corpse unburied.

[10:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “and they came to the city of the house of Baal.” It seems unlikely that a literal city is meant. Some emend עִיר (’ir), “city,” to דְּבִיר (dÿvir) “holy place,” or suggest that עִיר is due to dittography of the immediately preceding עַד (’ad) “to.” Perhaps עִיר is here a technical term meaning “fortress” or, more likely, “inner room.”

[10:29]  ¹² map For location see Map4 G4; Map5 C1; Map6 E3; Map7 D1; Map8 G3.

[10:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “Except the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat which he caused Israel to commit, Jehu did not turn aside from after them – the golden calves which [were in] Bethel and which [were] in Dan.”

[10:30]  ¹³ tn Heb “Because you have done well by doing what is proper in my eyes – according to all which was in my heart you have done to the house of Ahab – sons of four generations will sit for you on the throne of Israel.” In the Hebrew text the Lord’s statement is one long sentence (with a parenthesis). The translation above divides it into shorter sentences for stylistic reasons.

[13:1]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.