Deeper Commentary
2Ki 10:1 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. Jehu wrote letters and
sent to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, even the elders, and to those who
brought up the sons of Ahab, saying-
As noted throughout 2 Kings 9, Jehu now had blood lust, and his huge
ego sought to fulfil it through the excuse that he was obeying God's word
against Ahab. He was indeed fulfilling that word, but he didn't respect
Yahweh's word in his heart (see on 2 Kings 9:11,35,37).
"Samaria" is used for the region, as some were killed in Jezreel (:11).
Although the rulers of Jezreel were apparently in Samaria at the time,
unless we read with LXX "the rulers of Samaria".
2Ki 10:2 Now as soon as this letter comes to you, since your master’s sons
are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fortified city
also, and armour-
This confirms that despite the unclarity of :1, the city of Samaria is
in view. For at this time, Jehu was in Jezreel, and also needing to take
care of the war in Ramoth Gilead.
2Ki 10:3 Select the best and fittest of your master’s sons, set him on his
father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house-
This shows again Jehu's self confidence and trust in human strength. He
was challenging any who supported the house of Ahab to set a descendant of
Ahab on the throne, and enter into a civil war with him and the Israelite
military, who were all under his control at Ramoth Gilead. We note that he
was thereby prepared to surrender control of Ramoth Gilead, to cease
fighting the Syrians, in order that he might fight his own brethren in
order to establish his own personal power base.
2Ki 10:4 But they were exceedingly afraid and said, Behold, the two kings
didn’t stand before him! How then shall we stand?-
It was known that he had recently murdered Ahaziah of Judah as well as
Joram of Israel. He had done this almost singlehanded. But see on :7.
2Ki 10:5 He who was over the household, and he who was over the city, the
elders also, and those who raised the children, sent to Jehu saying, We
are your servants, and will do all that you ask us. We will not make any
man king. You do that which is good in your eyes-
It was typical after a power grab to slay the entire family of the
ousted king. These men knew well enough what was required of them, and
they agree.
2Ki 10:6 Then he wrote a letter the second time to them saying, If you are
on my side, and if you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men
your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the
king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city who
brought them up-
The Philistines in 1 Sam. 29:4 recalled how David had carried the head
of Goliath to Saul (1 Sam. 17:57). To carry the heads of a king's enemies
was a way to get the king's favour, as in Jud. 7:25; 2 Sam. 4:8; 16:9;
20:21; 2 Kings 10:6-8. Again we see the inspired, historical record has
consistency. It would have required a clever editor to insert this theme
of beheading to curry a leader's favour throughout the entire Biblical
record. But the histories were clearly written at different times; a later
hand would not have thought of all these realistic touches to sprinkle so
consistently throughout it. The internal harmony of the Bible is to me the
greatest indication that it is what it claims to be, the Divinely inspired
word of God, evidencing His editing throughout.
2Ki 10:7 It happened, when the letter came to them, that they took the
king’s sons and killed them, all seventy persons, and put their heads in
baskets, and sent them to him to Jezreel-
It was only a few hours journey from Samaria to Jezreel. They did
this all on the basis of the fact he had killed two kings (:4). But they
likely imagined that had been on the basis of a battle, when in fact Jehu
had effectively assassinated unsuspecting men. The two kings had rushed
out to meet him without their body guards, assuming that he as their
inferior and army general was bringing news from the battle front. So all
on the basis of rumour and exaggerated impressions, the elders of Samaria
killed 70 children of Ahab. This is the kind of thing which goes on all
the time- people taking major decisions on the basis of fake news and
exaggerated impressions and fears.
2Ki 10:8 A messenger came and told him, They have brought the heads of the
king’s sons. He said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate
until the morning-
This was to display them openly, in order to make openly clear his
hold on power.
2Ki 10:9 It happened in the morning, that he went out and stood and said
to all the people, You are righteous. Behold, I conspired against my
master, and killed him; but who struck all these?-
Jehu consistently appears out of step with God's principles. It is
for God and not men like Jehu to pronounce His people as just / righteous.
The heaps of young heads would have been grotesque. Jehu's argument is
that he indeed has killed his master, but who killed these 70 young men
and boys? Not him, but the elders of Samaria who had raised them and now
supported him over Ahab. It was clever enough as a political statement,
but is very spiritually deficient. For the grosser sin of others doesn't
remove nor justify our sins. And Jehu ought to have reasoned that in
humility he had fulfilled God's word about Ahab's family, rather than
seeking to justify it by such mind games.
2Ki 10:10 Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of
Yahweh, which Yahweh spoke concerning the house of Ahab. For Yahweh has
done that which He spoke by His servant Elijah-
Time and again we are brought to realize that the same external action
can be judged by God quite differently, according to our motives. Uzziah
was condemned for acting as a priest; when David did the same, he was
reflecting his spirituality. God commanded Jehu to perform the massacre of
Ahab's family at Jezreel, and blessed him for it (2 Kings 10:10,29,30);
and yet Hos. 1:4 condemns the house of Jehu for doing that. Why?
Presumably because their later attitude to that act of obedience was
wrong, and the act therefore became judged as God as something which
brought just punishment on the house of Jehu many years later. Why?
Because even an outward act of obedience, when perceived through wrong
motives and feelings, becomes an act of sin and a basis even for
condemnation. All our works need careful analysis once we grasp this
point.
2Ki 10:11 So Jehu struck all that remained of the house of Ahab in
Jezreel, with all his great men, his familiar friends, and his priests,
until he left him none remaining-
The Divine commission was to destroy the male descendants of Ahab,
but Jehu excuses his blood lust in the name of serving God. And right wing
Christian extremists have and still do the same. Even though there is
actually a lack of understanding and respect for the Divine word they
claim to be fulfilling (see on 2 Kings 9:11,35,37). We note Jehu killed
Ahab's personal priests, which suggests Ahab's repentance was not very
thorough.
2Ki 10:12 He arose and departed, and went to Samaria. As he was at the
shearing house of the shepherds on the way-
This probably referred to some inn where the brothers of Ahaziah were
staying for the night. RV margin "‘house of gathering", where the
sheep were gathered before slaughter, and so Jehu likes to imagine this is
a providential hint that he should kill these people there. Such
imagination of 'the hand of providence' is common amongst those who set
themselves on a supposed path of fulfilling God's word, without really
doing so from the heart and with full understanding.
2Ki 10:13 Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah and said,
Who are you? They answered, We are the brothers of Ahaziah. We are going
down to greet the children of the king and the children of the queen-
Ahaziah was grandson of Ahab, so they were relatives of Ahab. But the
Divine commission had been to destroy his male descendants. Jehu is
seeking to justify his own blood lust by apparently generously
interpreting that commission. These men were obviously ignorant of the
putsch, and we have to remember that they were living in an age where
communication was difficult. The "queen" is better 'the queen mother' (as
1 Kings 15:13), referring to Jezebel.
2Ki 10:14 He said, Take them alive! They took them alive, and killed them
at the pit of the shearing house, even forty-two men. He didn’t leave any
of them-
This seems to suggest Jehu originally thought of taking them
captives, but then killed them in the cistern (RVmg.) where the sheep were
washed before shearing or slaughter. His change of plan shows that he was
far from clear in his understanding of the Divine commission.
2Ki 10:15 When he had departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of
Rechab coming to meet him. He greeted him and said to him, Is your heart
right, as my heart is with your heart? Jehonadab answered, It is. If it
is, give me your hand. He gave him his hand; and he took him up to him
into the chariot-
The Rechabites were part of the Kenites (1 Chron. 2:55), from where
Moses' wife came (Jud. 1:16). Jael was married to a Kenite (Jud. 4:17),
and they were not slain along with the Amalekites (1 Sam. 15:6). They were
clearly a nomadic, spiritually minded family (Jer. 35:6,7). It seems there
is a purposeful juxtaposition here, between the truly spiritual person and
Jehu, whose zeal for Yahweh was clearly only superficial, and was a
justification of his own pride and ego. Jehu asks Jehonadab to be of his
own "heart", because his heart is "right". Again we see the same spirit as
in 2 Kings 9:18,19. To follow God meant following Jehu personally, and we
sense his desire for power and leadership everywhere in this.
2Ki 10:16 He said, Come with me, and see my zeal for Yahweh. So they made
him ride in his chariot-
This so obviously smacks of pride, and exhibiting human pride and
strength under the cover of 'I am doing this for Yahweh'. And this is to
be seen so often in misguided religious attempts to serve self in the name
of serving God. I noted on :15 the intended contrast between Jehonadab and
Jehu; and Jehu makes him ride in his chariot, as if this was agreed to
reluctantly by Jehonadab.
2Ki 10:17 When he came to Samaria, he struck all who remained to Ahab in
Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Yahweh,
which He spoke to Elijah-
If he had been truly zealous for Yahweh, he would have removed the
calves in Dan and Bethel. But instead he seemed interested in murdering
people, on the mistaken basis of some kind of guilt by association ethic.
It could be that we are intended to read this as meaning 'according to his
interpretation of the word of Yahweh', because his massacre of anyone
remotely associated with Ahab was not what the Divine command had stated.
He was using God's word, as many do, to justify his own native desire for
power and abuse of others.
1 Kings 21 states that the death of Joram at Jehu's hand was "in accordance with the word of the LORD". Likewise the murder of Ahab's 70 sons is stated to be an explicit fulfilment of Yahweh's word here "through His servant Elijah" (2 Kings 10:10,17 cp. 1 Kings 21:21). But the "through" begs many questions. Elijah maybe repeated these words- but failed to anoint Jehu to do the job as requested. Or maybe the idea is that God's word still finally comes true despite human failure, as we have here on Elijah's part. See on 1 Kings 19:17.
So God's word through Elijah
was fulfilled, but not through the initially intended mechanism- that
Elijah would anoint Jehu. Actually he didn't, Elisha took on the job but
got his servant to do it- who nervously ran off after doing it. But still
God's word came true- although the path to fulfilment of it varied in
accordance with human weakness and, as it were, availability to God. This
explains why and how prophecies have varying fulfilments but always
somehow come true in the end.
2Ki 10:18 Jehu gathered all the people together and said to them, Ahab
served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much-
The gathering of all the Baal worshippers together was meant to
imitate Elijah on Carmel, whose words Jehu claimed to be fulfilling. But
Elijah was clear that he was not a Baal worshipper, and would never have
used this kind of deceit which Jehu did. His claim that he personally
wanted to hold a feast to Baal had credibility and people attended because
of it- because he was well known himself as a Baal worshipper. His
hypocrisy was awful.
2Ki 10:19 Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all of his
worshippers, and all of his priests. Let none be absent; for I have a
great sacrifice to Baal. Whoever is absent, he shall not live. But Jehu
did it in subtlety, intending that he might destroy the worshippers of
Baal-
As noted on :19, he had clearly been a Baal worshipper because his
invitation had credibility and was responded to. Threatening to murder any
who didn't attend again reflects the bloodlust with which Jehu appears to
now be drunk with. The word "subtlety" suggests he was as the serpent in
Eden and not acting as he ought to have done. LXX "Now, O ye prophets of
Baal, call ye unto me all his servants" would further underline that he
had absolutely solid credibility with them as a Baal worshipper, who had
only slain Ahab's personal prophets because he was destroying Ahab's inner
circle. We note that he proclaims he is doing this in accord with Yahweh's
word to Elijah (:17). And yet he can also credibly announce that he is a
Baal worshipper. This again shows how Baal worship was practiced as a form
of Yahweh worship. This has been the perennial problem for God's people;
to claim to serve God through serving the flesh, to mix Divine truth with
pagan error. See on :20,21.
2Ki 10:20 Jehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal! They proclaimed
it-
This is the very word used of proclaiming feasts and assemblies of
Yahweh (Joel 1:14; Lev. 23:36; Num. 29:35; Dt. 16:8; Neh. 8:18). As noted
on :19, he was mixing paganism with Yahweh worship. Feasts to Baal were
seen as fulfilling the commands to hold feasts to Yahweh.
2Ki 10:21 Jehu sent through all Israel; and all the worshippers of Baal
came, so that there was not a man left that didn’t come. They came into
the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the
other-
Again we note that the credibility of Jehu's appeal was only because
he must have been a known worshipper of Baal. This "house of Baal" must
have been huge, and was likely an imitation of the Jerusalem temple. For
the nature of Baal worship was that it was understood as a form of Yahweh
worship; see on :19.
2Ki 10:22 He said to him who was over the vestry, Bring out robes for all
the worshippers of Baal! He brought robes out to them-
As noted on :21, this house of Baal was an imitation of the Jerusalem
temple, which also had rooms where the priestly robes were kept (see on 2
Kings 22:14). See on :19.
2Ki 10:23 Jehu went with Jehonadab the son of Rechab into the house of
Baal. Then he said to the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there
are here with you none of the servants of Yahweh, but the worshippers of
Baal only-
We get the impression that the humble, spiritually minded Jehonadab
would not have approved of this deceit, and just as he had been "made" to
ride in Jehu's chariot, so he was being used here. The demand that any
worshipper of Yahweh should leave would mean that really Jehonadab and
Jehu ought to have themselves exited. The whole situation was unethical,
and Jehonadab, like many good men, was railroaded into it. I have shown on
:19-22 that Baal worship was seen as a form of Yahweh worship. So "the
servants of Yahweh" would be a technical term here for those known to
insist upon only worshipping Yahweh and who rejected Baal worship.
2Ki 10:24 They went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu
had appointed him eighty men outside and said, If any of the men whom I
bring into your hands escape, he who lets him go, his life shall be for
the life of him-
If the house of Baal was so packed, we wonder whether 80 men were
really enough to kill all the hundreds or thousands of Baal worshippers
inside it. But numbers in the Hebrew Bible are often not to be read
literally, especially when used in connection with numbers of soldiers.
This could refer to a group or division of soldiers called 'an eighty'.
2Ki 10:25 It happened, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt
offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and kill
them! Let none escape-
It seems Jehu himself offered the offering, as if he were the high
priest of Baal. As noted above, he could only have done this if he were
well known as a senior Baal worshipper.
They struck them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the
captains cast them out, and went into the inner room of the house of Baal-
The house of Baal appears to have been an imitation of the house of
Yahweh in Jerusalem. It also had an "inner room", corresponding to the
most holy place. See on :19.
2Ki 10:26 They brought out the pillars that were in the house of Baal, and
burned them-
As there were "pillars" associated with the Jerusalem temple, so
there were with this house of Baal. See on :19. However these pillars were
burned, meaning they were made of wood, which as a fertility symbol would
have been associated with the worship of the likes of Astarte and Baal.
2Ki 10:27 They broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of
Baal and made it a latrine, to this day-
The house of Baal was broken down, but soon afterwards, it was rebuilt and had to be destroyed yet again (2
Kings 11:18). There are examples galore of purges and re-purges in the
record of the Kings.
2Ki 10:28 Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel-
The next verse shows the hollowness of this. For other idols were
allowed to continue, such as the calves (:29) and Asherah (2 Kings 13:6),
and it is clear that Baal was replaced with Moloch worship (2 Kings
17:17). It's rather like the addict who quits one drug for another.
Destruction of one form of idolatry is in no way any guarantee that our
heart is therefore given over to Yahweh.
2Ki 10:29 However Jehu didn’t depart from following the sins of Jeroboam
the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin: the golden calves that
were in Bethel, and in Dan-
See on :28. The political motive for retaining them was so that
Israel would not reunite with Judah (1 Kings 12:26-30); and for Jehu, his
hold on personal power was of paramount importance to him, far more than
instituting worship of Yahweh and seeking His glory.
2Ki 10:30 Yahweh said to Jehu, Because you have done well in executing
that which is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab
according to all that was in My heart, your sons of the fourth generation
shall sit on the throne of Israel-
Hosea’s prophesied that the blood of Jezreel would be visited upon the
house of Jehu (Hos. 1:4). At Jezreel, Jehu had killed Ahab’s family in a
quite literal bloodbath. And God had commented that because Jehu had done
this and thus fulfilled His word, Jehu’s family would reign for the next
four generations. So why, then, does Hosea start talking
about punishing the house of Jehu for what they did to the house of Ahab?
Jehu became proud about the manner in which he had been the channel for
God’s purpose to be fulfilled, inviting others to come and behold his
“zeal for the Lord” (2 Kings 10:16). Jehu and his children showed
themselves to not really be spiritually minded, and yet they prided
themselves in having physically done God’s will. And because of this,
Hosea talks in such angry terms about retribution for what they had done;
the house of Jehu’s act of obedience to God actually became something his
family had to be punished for, because they had done it in a proud spirit.
We see this all the time around us. Men and women who clearly are
instruments in God’s hand, like the Assyrians were, doing His will… but
being proud about it and becoming exalted in their own eyes because of it.
And Hosea is so sensitive to the awfulness of this, he goes ballistic
about it.
2Ki 10:31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of Yahweh, the God of
Israel, with all his heart. He didn’t depart from the sins of Jeroboam,
with which he made Israel to sin-
Jeroboam was apparently a believer. He had his eyes
open. He was an apparent enthusiast in doing God's work, and working for the good
of His people Israel in strengthening their cities, fighting their enemies
etc.. He had some faith, for example that God would heal him. He knew the
real date of the feast of tabernacles; he knew his Bible, he had an
enthusiasm for studying the genealogies and some aspects of the Mosaic
Law. He seems to have taught the truth to his son. He understood a little
about the symbology of the ark and the cherubim. But he shut his eyes to
the real spirit of God's word. Now we can't say we have no similarity with
that man. 2 Kings 10:31 sums up his real failures. Jehu "took no heed to
walk in the law with all his heart, for (because)" he followed the sins of
Jeroboam. So this was his specific sin; not walking in God's law with
all his heart . It is stressed in the records that he was "the son
of Nebat". 'Nebat' means 'one who pays careful attention'; as if to
emphasize that Jeroboam was not that person; he was the son of that
person. Israel , Malachi says, were "partial" in God's law. Are we
partial? Are we just focusing on those parts of spiritual life which we
don't find difficult? Are we avoiding the real pain of spiritual growth? See on Hos. 1:4.
2Ki 10:32 In those days Yahweh began to weaken Israel; and Hazael struck
them in all the borders of Israel-
This was the fulfilment of Elisha's words to Hazael in
2 Kings 8:12: "I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel.
You will set their strongholds on fire, kill their young men with the
sword, dash in pieces their little ones and rip up their women with
child". The command to Elijah to anoint Hazael king over Syria (1 Kings
19:15), which Elisha fulfilled, was therefore part of God's intended
judgments upon Israel for their sins. There is no specific record of
Hazael doing this, but in the records of his attacks upon Israel we are
therefore to assume that he did so at those times (2 Kings 10:32;
13:3,22).
2Ki 10:33 from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites,
and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley
of the Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan-
This meant that about 25% of Israelite territory was taken from them,
and these areas were famed as good pasture land. Bashan was famed for the
"fat bulls of Bashan" and for "the oaks of Bashan".
2Ki 10:34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all
his might, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings
of Israel?-
This is the common rubric found in the histories of the kings (1
Kings 15:23; 16:5,27; 22:45; 2 Kings 10:34; 13:8,12; 14:15,28; 20:20).
"His might that he showed" uses a word for "might" which has the sense of
victory / achievement. But the contrast is marked with the way that David
so often uses this word for "might / victory / achievement" in the context
of God's "might"; notably in 1 Chron. 29:11, which the Lord Jesus
places in our mouths as part of His model prayer: "Yours is the power
[s.w. "might"], and the glory and the majesty". The kings about whom the
phrase is used were those who trusted in their own works. It therefore
reads as a rather pathetic memorial; that this man's might / achievement
was noted down. But the unspoken further comment is elicited in our own
minds, if we are in tune with the spirit of David: "But the only real
achievement is the Lord's and not man's". All human victory and
achievement must be seen in this context. The same word is used in Jer.
9:23,24: "Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the
mighty man glory in his might [s.w.]... but let him who glories glory in
this, that he has understanding, and knows Me, that I am Yahweh who
exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth". The
glorification of human "might" is often condemned. "Their might [s.w.] is
not right" (Jer. 23:10; also s.w. Jer. 51:30; Ez. 32:29; Mic. 7:16 and
often).
2Ki 10:35 Jehu slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria.
Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place-
The description of death as sleeping with fathers is clear evidence
that death is seen as a sleep, unconsciousness, and not as the start of an
immortal soul going to heaven or 'hell'. Good and bad, David and Solomon,
are gathered together in death. The division between them will only
therefore come at the resurrection of the dead, and the granting of
immortality at the judgment seat of the Lord Jesus.
2Ki 10:36 The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was
twenty-eight years-
This was the second longest reign of an Israelite king. The kings of
Israel lived and reigned far shorter than those of Judah. And yet in the
final analysis, Ezekiel says that Judah sinned more than Israel. But their
kings had greater signs of external blessing, and perhaps overall they
were generally more righteous than their people. Whereas the kings of
Israel were as wicked as their people.
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