Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 10:18
And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; [but] Jehu shall serve him much.
18 31. Jehu by subtilty destroys the worshippers of Baal and the house of Baal. He walks in the ways of Jeroboam (Not in Chronicles)
18. Ahab served Baal a little ] Hitherto Jehu’s action had been directed only against the family of Ahab, and the people had no reason to suppose that a religious reform was in the new king’s thoughts. We may judge from the ready acceptance of the announcement in this verse, that Jehu had been no different from the rest, and had gone in the way where Ahab and Jezebel led. Josephus represents him as saying that he would have twice as many gods as Ahab had.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Though we cannot ascribe to Jehu a spirit of true piety (see 2Ki 10:29), we can well enough understand how the soldier, trained in the Syrian wars, revolted against the unmanly and voluptuous worship of the Dea Syra, and wished to go back to the simple solemn service of Yahweh. These views and feelings it would have been dangerous to declare during the lifetime of Jezebel. Even after her death it was prudent to temporise, to wait until the party of Ahab was crushed politically, before broaching tbe religious question. Having now slain all the issue of Ahab in the kingdom of Israel, and all the influential men of the party 2Ki 10:7, 2Ki 10:11, 2Ki 10:17, Jehu felt that he might begin his reformation of religion. But even now he uses subtilty rather than open violence. Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. Ahab served Baal a little] Jehu had determined to have no worship in Israel but that of the golden calves at Dan and Bethel; therefore he purposes to destroy all the worshippers of Baal: and that he may do it without suspicion, he proclaims a great sacrifice; and that he may do it the more easily, he gathers them all together into one place.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Jehu gathered all the people together; by their representatives, their elders or rulers, as was usual; to whom he imparts his mind; and they being generally corrupt, and timeservers, and such as had no sense of religion in them, durst not oppose his resolution, but seemed to comply with it.
Jehu shall serve him much: as if he had said, My quarrel is only with Ahabs family, and not with Baal; which my actions shall manifest; which words being manifestly false, and spoken with a design to deceive, cannot be excused from sin, though they were uttered with a pious intention; this being an unmovable principle, that we must not do the least evil of sin, that the greatest good may come, Rom 3:8. And if Jehonadab did concur with Jehu herein, it was a human infirmity.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Jehu gathered all the people together,…. The people of Samaria, at least the principal of them:
and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little, [but] Jehu shall serve him much; which some understand as spoken ironically; but the words seem to be spoken with a design to deceive the idolatrous inhabitants of Samaria, making them to believe that he was hearty in the worship of Baal, and should show a greater respect to it, and more constantly attend it, than Ahab had done; and this he said with a view to draw them to the temple of Baal, and there destroy them, as the sequel shows; and in which he is not to be justified, however good his intention was; for evil is not to be done that good may come.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Extermination of the Prophets and Priests of Baal and of the Baal-Worship. – 2Ki 10:28. Under the pretence of wishing to serve Baal even more than Ahab had done, Jehu appointed a great sacrificial festival for this idol, and had all the worshippers of Baal throughout all the land summoned to attend it; he then placed eighty of his guards around the temple of Baal in which they were assembled, and after the sacrifice was offered, had the priests and worshippers of Baal cut down by them with the sword. Objectively considered, the slaying of the worshippers of Baal was in accordance with the law, and, according to the theocratical principle, was perfectly right; but the subjective motives which impelled Jehu, apart from the artifice, were thoroughly selfish, as Seb. Schmidt has correctly observed. For since the priests and prophets of Baal throughout the Israelitish kingdom were bound up with the dynasty of Ahab, with all their interests and with their whole existence, they might be very dangerous to Jehu, if on any political grounds he should happen not to promote their objects, whereas by their extermination he might hope to draw to his side the whole of the very numerous supporters of the Jehovah-worship, which had formerly been legally established in Israel, and thereby establish his throne more firmly. The very fact that Jehu allowed the calf-worship to continue, is a proof that he simply used religion as the means of securing his own ends (2Ki 10:29). (2Ki 10:20), “sanctify a festal assembly,” i.e., proclaim in the land a festal assembly for Baal (compare Isa 1:13; and for = , see at Lev 23:36). , and they proclaimed, sc. the festal meeting.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Baal Worshippers Slain – Verses 18-28
Jehu continued his devious and deceitful ways, and the Lord allowed it, to bring His judgment on the wicked kingdom of Israel. With the connivance of Jehonadab they came before the people and proclaimed their intent to establish the worship of Baal more strongly than it had been practiced in the heyday of Jezebel and Ahab He called for all the prophets, servants, and priests of Baal to come to him. Jehu announced a great sacrifice to Baal, at which he required the presence of all his worshippers, on pain of death to any who neglected to attend. In this way he expected to destroy all the people who worshipped the false god.
A solemn assembly was proclaimed and the message was sent throughout Israel that all who worshipped must attend. With penalty of death prescribed for failure to present themselves all Baal’s worshippers came to the Baal temple in Samaria and packed the house. Jehu took precautions that there be no worshippers, of the Lord among them and required that the vestments of the Baal worship be put upon all those gathered. The people of the Lord had no business being there, and should there have been he might have expected to receive the judgment of the false worshippers at the hand of the new king (Eph 5:11).
Then Jehu and Jehonadab stationed eighty men around the false temple, with the charge to let none escape alive. If these should allow any of the Baal-worshippers to escape, he was to forfeit his own life by the act. Jehu went through the formality of making a burnt offering to Baal. Then on a given signal the eighty executioners were set to their work. So the Baal worshippers were slaughtered to a man. The Baal images were brought out, piled up, and burned. The great image of Baal was broken down along with his temple. The temple itself was reconstituted a draught house, or made a public latrine (Pro 11:19).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.
2Ki. 10:19. But Jehu did it in subtiltyHis subterfuge for the destruction of Baals priests and votaries must not be regarded as proof of Jehus attachment and loyalty to Jehovah, but because he knew these priests and prophets were adherents to Ahabs dynasty, and would be unfriendly to his own. He used religion for his own guilty ends, as 2Ki. 10:29 proves.
2Ki. 10:22. Vestments for all the worshippers of BaalThese priestly vestments were white robes, and kept within the temple by the master of the wardrobe; as, indeed, the holy garments of the priests of Israel were kept in the temple at Jerusalem.
2Ki. 10:26. Images out of the house of BaalSee Note on 1Ki. 14:23.
2Ki. 10:27. A draught-houseA sink or filth-closet, in order to cover the scene with infamy and detestation.
HOMILETICS OF 2Ki. 10:18-28
THE PUNISHMENT OF IDOLATRY
JEHUS thirst for blood is not yet satiated. There remains one more power that menaces his peaceful and safe possession of the throne. The Baal-idolatry was so closely interwoven with the fortunes and prestige of the dynasty of Ahab, that Jehu must feel his crown insecure while that cultus was allowed to predominate. He rapidly matures a scheme by which the priests and worshippers of Baal shall be utterly exterminated, and the very name of the great Phnician deity degraded and made an abomination for ever. It was a horrible conception. But Jehu was in the temper of mind, in the fever-flush of slaughter, when such conceptions had nothing revolting in them. He had shed too much blood already to shrink for a moment from shedding more. He was the more confirmed in his resolution, as he had the countenance and co-operation of the God-fearing Jehonadab, who saw in this subtle plan the necessary and deserved punishment of idolatry.
I. That the punishment of idolatry is in harmony with Divine law. Judged in the light of Mosaic ethics, the destruction of idolaters was a righteous and laudable work. The law commanded that the devotees of idolatry should be punished with death (Deu. 13:1-15; Deu. 17:2-4; Deu. 18:20). There is nothing clearer in the history before us than thisthat all the calamities that fell upon Ahab were in consequence of his idolatry. Two of the grandest prophets of Old Testament times were sent to instruct and warn him and his people. Their counsels and miracles were unheeded, and the chosen people of God were in danger of being irredeemably lost in idolatry, and His gracious purpose concerning the race of being frustrated or indefinitely postponed. As a just punishment for disobedience and rejection of Jehovah, and in the widen interests of the nation and of the world, the Baal-worship must be utterly destroyed. In this respect Jehu was the instrument of just and righteous vengeance.
II. That the punishment of idolatry may be accomplished by false and unjustifiable methods. Here we cannot but blame Jehu, and here the Old Testament morality rebukes him. He interposed the cunning and plotting of the military stategist into the carrying out of a righteous work. His Divine commission doubtless authorised him to cut off the worshippers of Baal, but not by guile. God praised his zeal in rooting out idolatry, but not his subtlety. His craft and guile on this occasion were in fearfulness equal to the duplicity and baseness which prepared the way for the massacre of St. Bartholomew. Truth never requires a lie. The end does not justify the means. It is unjustifiable to do a right thing in a wrong way. And yet what a large class of people there is in the world who do this! There is an evil that is damaging society; the more licence it has, the more it grows; it must be put down; let all possible force be put into operation to crush it; irrespective of the rights and feelings and opinions of others, root it out. It is the right thing to do; but in the majority of instances it is done in the wrong way. Theres a friend yonder going wrong; he has no longer the humility and zeal and power he used to have; he must be remonstrated with. It is the right thing to do; but in nine cases out of ten it is done in the wrong way, and more harm is done than good. A rude, impulsive, unsympathetic spirit hurried Jehu into acts of unnecessary severity and cruelty while he was seeking to do what was right, and he has many imitators in that respect in modern times.
III. That the punishment of idolatry should nevertheless be thorough and final. Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel (2Ki. 10:28). In slaying the priests and worshippers of Baal, the sword of Jehu completed the work which Elijah began at the brook Kishon (1Ki. 18:40). The deep corruption into which this idolatry had sunk the nation is evident in the fact that there was not one man with spirit and bravery enough to dispute the usurpation of Jehu, and in the cowardice and cruelty with which men of the highest rank assisted in the murder of the kings sons. It was time that a system that could produce such utter moral degradation as this should be extinguished. Jehu was at home in such work; it was everyway congenial to his instincts. The images of Baal are shattered, the sacred citadel of Baal himself is invaded, his colossal figure is broken in pieces, the massive temple is pulled down in ruins, and the very site made a place of filtha degradation which would cover the name of Baal with everlasting infamy and reproach. Such must be the fate of all that seeks to oppose and substitute itself for God. Every age of shams and unrealities has its Iconoclast who will shatter them in pieces. The world should be wiser and better as it reads the history and fate of all false systems.
LESSONS:
1. Jehovah cannot tolerate a rival.
2. All idolatries must perish.
3. In the midst of the deepest degeneracy God is preparing the instrument of its punishment.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
2Ki. 10:18-28. Idolatry a national curse. I. Demoralizes the people. II. Is hateful to Jehovah. III. Not to be abolished by deceitful and unjust methods. IV. Witnesses in its destruction no greater enormities than it generates itself. V. Its complete uprooting essential to national growth and prosperity.
In an objective light the slaying of the servants of Baal was quite in harmony with the law, and quite legitimate on theocratic grounds; but the subjective motive which, irrespective of the artifice, influenced Jehu was thoroughly selfish. As the priests and prophets of Baal in the land of Israel, with all their interests and their whole existence, were bound up with the dynasty of Ahab, they might be dangerous to Jehu, if he did not, from political considerations, earnestly promote their objects; whereas by their extermination he might hope to bring to his side the whole of the certainly very numerous party of the earlier legally constituted worship of Jehovah in Israel, and thereby give stability to his throne. But that Jehu used religion only as a means to an end is proved by the circumstance that he continued the worship of the calves.Keil.
A work which is in itself pure and holy loses its value when it is accomplished by falsehood and dissimulation. One cannot battle for the truth with the weapons of falsehood. What things one may do by outward acts, and yet be internally a hypocrite! Jehu dissimulated in order to circumvent the hypocrites and idolaters in himself. Jehu destroys the worship of false gods by the sword, and by external violence. He had full justification for this in the law, for under the old covenant idolatry was the worm at the root of the Israelitish nationality; it was high treason to the Israelitish state. Under the new covenant, it is not permitted to make use of fire and sword against heresy and superstition. No other weapon may here be used than that of the Spiriti.e., the word of God. Christianity is not bound to any people; as it was not brought into the world by violence, so it cannot be extended and nourished by the sword. Even now, every evil power has the right and the duty to proceed to extreme measures against a cultus like that of Baal, which is interwoven with licentiousness and abominations.Lange.
2Ki. 10:18-21. What a dead paleness was there now in the faces of those few true-hearted Israelites that looked for a happy restoration of the religion of God! How could they choose but thinkAlas! how are we fallen from our hopes! Is this the change we looked for? Was it only ambition that hath set this edge upon the sword of Jehu? It was not the person of Ahab that we disliked, but the sins; if those must still succeed, what have we gained? Woe be to us, if only the author of our misery be changed, not the condition, not the cause of our misery. On the other side, what triumphs sounded everywhere of the joyful Baalites! What glorying of the truth of their profession, because of their success! What scorn of their dejected opposites! What promises to themselves of a perpetuity of Baalism! How did the dispersed priests of Baal now flock together, and applaud each others happiness, and magnify the devotion of their new sovereign? Never had that idol so glorious a day as this, for the pomp of his service. Before, he was adored singly in corners; now solemn sacrifices shall be offered to him by all his clients, in the great temple of the mother city of Israel. I can commend the zeal of Jehu; I cannot commend the fraud of Jehu. We may come to our end even by crooked ways. He that bade him to smite for Him, did not bid him to lie for Him. Falsehood, though it be but tentative, is neither needful nor approved by the God of truth. If policy have allowed officious untruths, religion never.Bp. Hall.
2Ki. 10:18-19. Duplicity.
1. Should be beneath the dignity of a king.
2. Not allowable, even in the execution of a righteous punishment.
3. All the more detestable when under the mask of religious zeal.
2Ki. 10:19. That it was possible for a large number of persons to be imposed upon by this pretence, after what Jehu had done, painfully evinces the extent of religious corruption in Israel. Something may, however, be allowed for the still imperfect knowledge of the transactions at Jezreel. News travelled but slowly in those days; and the men who had come over with the king to Samariahis personal followers and guardshad perhaps been instructed not yet to disclose the full particulars of the great tragedy at Jezreel.Kitto.
2Ki. 10:20-22. The popularity of religion no proof of its genuineness. I. The court set the fashion in religion, and the people followed. II. Whatever pleases the outer sensesin ceremony or vestmentsis sure to be popular. III. A national holiday soon gathers a crowd. IV. A crowd is little aware of the peril with which it is sometimes threatened.
2Ki. 10:23. Sincerity in worship. I. Should be encouraged by self-scrutiny. II. Essential to spiritual profit. III. Demanded by an all-seeing God.
2Ki. 10:25. How is the tune now changed! What shrieking was here! What outcries! What running from one sword to the edge of another! What scrambling up the walls and pillars! What climbing into the windows! What vain endeavours to escape that death which would not be shunned! Whether running, or kneeling, or prostrate, they must die. The first part of the sacrifice was Baals, the latter is Gods; the blood of beasts was offered in the one, of men in the other. The shedding of this was so much the more acceptable to God, by how much these men were more beasts than those they sacrificed. Bp. Hall.
2Ki. 10:26-28. The glory of Baal
1. Discovered to be empty and deceptive.
2. Powerless to resist the fury of righteous retribution.
3. Dragged down to the most loathsome degradation.
2Ki. 10:28. So ended this great revolution. The national worship of Baal was thus in the northern kingdom forever suppressed. For a short time, through the very circumstances which had destroyed it in Samaria, it shot up afresh in Jerusalem. But in Israel the whole kingdom and church returned to the condition in which it was before the accession of the house of Omri. The calf-worship of Jeroboam was once more revived, and in that imperfect form the true religion once more became established.Stanley.
If we attempt with all this light given to us by the text to estimate Jehus personal feeling in regard to this revolution, we shall reach the following conclusionJehu was a military man to whom the crown presented itself as an object of earthly ambition worth some effort. Supposing him to have been by conviction an adherent of the religion of Jehovah, the call to him to put himself at the head of a reaction in favour of the Jehovah-religion, and the anointment to the royal office by a prophet of Jehovah, might move him to make the attempt. The adherence of the army determined him. When he had won his victory, he carried out faithfully the policy to which he was bound as leader of the Jehovah-party. He put an end to the worship of Baal. The crown, however, was his reward. It was a political reward, and he took political means to secure it. He slew all the possible pretenders to the crown from the house of Ahab, according to the oriental custom in such cases, as a means of securing himself on the throne. He stopped short with his religious reforms, and did not destroy the golden calves. He left them for the same political reasons for which Jeroboam erected themthat the northern kingdom might have its own religious centres outside of Jerusalem. He saw in the revolution principally a gratification of his own ambition. He was willing to be the instrument of the overthrow of a wicked dynasty and a corrupt religion, and he stopped just where his personal interests were in danger of being impaired. It is not strange that his contemporaries rejoiced so much at the rescue of their ancestral religion that they were indifferent to the excesses by which Jehu tried to establish his royal power, nor that later and calmer judges, on the contrary, raised his bloodshed into prominence in judging of his career.Editor of Lange.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
D. THE MASSACRE OF THE BAAL WORSHIPERS 10:1827
TRANSLATION
(18) And Jehu gathered all the people, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. (19) And now call all the prophets of Baal and all his servants and all his priests unto me; let no man be lacking, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Any who is lacking shall not live. But Jehu did this deceitfully in order to destroy the servants of Baal. (20) And Jehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it. (21) And Jehu sent throughout all Israel, and every servant of Baal came, so that there did not remain a man who did not come. And they came to the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to the other. (22) And he said to the one who was over the vestry, Bring out garments for all the servants of Baal. And he brought forth to them the vestments. (23) And Jehu came along with Jehonadab son of Rechab to the house of Baal; and he said unto the servants of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the LORD, but worshipers of Baal only. (24) When they had gone in to make sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed outside eighty men, and said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hand escapes, your life instead of his life. (25) And it came to pass when he had finished making the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guards and to the officers, Go in, smite them! Let not a man go out! And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the runners and the officers cast them out, and went unto the city of the house of Baal. (26) And they brought forth the pillars of the house of Baal, and burned them. (27) And they broke in pieces the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and they made it into a dung house unto this day.
COMMENTS
Up to this point, the revolution of 841 B.C. had appeared to be nothing more than a dynastic change such as had been forced upon the nation by Baasha (1Ki. 15:27-29), Zimri (1Ki. 16:9-12), and Omri (1Ki. 16:17-19). No one as yet suspected that deep religious motives were at the root of this revolution. Jehus remarks about the whoredoms and witchcrafts of Jezebel (2Ki. 9:22) were heard only by a few trusted conspirators. His zeal for Yahweh whispered in the ear of Jehonadab (2Ki. 10:16) had heretofore been kept secret. Thus when Jehu publicly boasted of his intention to serve Baal even more zealously than bad his predecessors, there was nothing to prevent the people from giving credence to his words (2Ki. 10:18). Consequently the prophets, priests, and worshipers of Baal were summoned to the great sacrifice with which, it was believed, Jehu would inaugurate his reign. The absence of any Baal worshiper would be interpreted as rebellion against the crown, deserving of capital punishment. All of this Jehu did deceitfully, for his intention was to utterly destroy the worshipers of this foreign god (2Ki. 10:19). Idolaters were liable to death under the Law of Moses, and Jehu would have had a perfect right to eradicate Baal worship throughout the land. However, the end does not justify the means. To draw several hundred of his subjects by false pretenses into a trap and then slay them for doing what he had himself invited them to do, is an act wholly unjustifiable.
Having stated in summary fashion how Jehu assembled the Baal worshipers, the author then proceeds to give the details. The king requested the Baal cult leaders to proclaim a solemn assembly, i.e., a day when worldly business was suspended for the sake of a religious gathering. The Baal officials were only too happy to comply with this order (2Ki. 10:20). An edict of the king went throughout the kingdom ordering all Baal worshipers to participate in the kings inaugural sacrifice. No doubt the Baal worshipers enthusiastically responded to the royal order. By the hundreds, perhaps thousands, they assembled in the courtyards of the house of Baal which Ahab had built in Samaria (2Ki. 10:21). It was customary when a king called for a great festival that those who assembled be supplied with appropriate garments so that the festivities might be as colorful as possible. So as not to arouse any suspicion, Jehu complied with this custom and ordered the keeper of the vestry to supply the worshipers with proper garb. Probably the robes were secured both from the wardrobe of the temple itself and from that of the royal palace (2Ki. 10:22).
Keeping up the pretense that he was a devotee of Baal, Jehu himself entered the house of Baal along with Jehonadab whom he wished to have as a witness to his zeal for the Lord. He then addressed the worshipers and urged that extreme vigilance be exercised to make sure that none but true worshipers of Baal were present. Of course the real object of the king was to spare the lives of any Yahweh worshipers who might have attended the festival out of curiosity, or to have their share in the revelry which attended the worship of Baal. Jehus request would not be thought suspicious in view of the general habit of restricting the more sacred rites of a religion to sincere devotees. The worship ceremonies would be profaned by the presence of scoffers or those not truly sincere (2Ki. 10:23).
When the whole multitude of Baal worshipers had entered the sacred precincts to make the appropriate animal sacrifices, Jehu stationed at the entrance eighty trusted soldiers who were known devotees of Yahweh. These executioners were warned that any man who allowed a Baal worshiper to escape would forfeit his own life (2Ki. 10:24). When the officiating priest[566] had finished offering the sacrifices, Jehu gave the order to his guards (lit., runners) and captains to enter the temple precincts and slay the helpless worshipers. Doubtlessly some of the soldiers guarded the exits while others waded into the unarmed multitude wielding their swords right and left and casting the bodies out of their way as they pressed forward to the slaughter.
[566] Some think that Jehu himself is the one who offered the sacrifices. However the Hebrew could equally well be translated, when one finished or when they finished. Still another possibility is that Jehu might be said to have offered, the sacrifice because he furnished the victims offered not because he immolated them with his own hand.
From the outer courts where the multitude had assembled, the soldiers entered the city of the house of Baal, i.e., the inner sanctuary where Baal was enthroned surrounded by the images of his fellow gods. This area was probably reserved for priests only, and no doubt many had taken refuge here when the slaughter had commenced (2Ki. 10:25). The wooden pillars or images representing either various aspects of Baal, or perhaps subordinate deities, were brought forth and burned (2Ki. 10:26). The stone pillar representing Baal himself was broken in pieces. The house of Baal was virtually torn down, and what ruins that remained were made a draught-house, i.e., a depository for all the filth of the city (2Ki. 10:27). Thus did Jehu eliminate the worship of the Tyrian Baal from Israel (2Ki. 10:28).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(18) Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much.Ahab had, as the people well knew, served Baal more than a little; but the antithesis was not too strong for Jehus hidden meaning. He was thinking of his intended holocaust of human victims (2Ki. 10:25).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
SLAUGHTER OF THE BAAL WORSHIPPERS, 2Ki 10:18-28.
There remains yet one more deed of blood to rid the kingdom of Israel from the curse of Ahab’s rule. The priests and worshippers of Baal were so involved in the fortunes of Ahab’s dynasty, that, with them living, Jehu must sit insecurely on the throne. He accordingly takes subtle measures to exterminate them all; and thus the sword of Jehu completes the work which Elijah began at the brook Kishon. 1Ki 18:40, note.
18. Ahab served Baal a little There were dark depths of fearful meaning underneath these words of treachery.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Slaughter Of All The Specific Worshippers of Baal In Samaria ( 2Ki 10:18-28 ).
That Jehu went far beyond what YHWH had required comes out here. Not satisfied with a thorough purge in Samaria, Jehu now turned his attention to the rest of the country. His purpose now was to root out all the foreign influence of Jezebel and her cult of the Phoenician Baal, and he performed his task meticulously and mercilessly, without giving any opportunity for repentance. This was not YHWH’s way. And by it he was unwittingly destroying Israel’s superstructure, for these Baal worshippers were a major part of the aristocracy which ruled the land. It cannot be denied that he had a ‘zeal for YHWH’, but as will be subsequently made clear it was not in accordance with righteousness (with living rightly by the covenant). For he was returning Israel, not to the true and pure worship of YHWH deserted by Jeroboam the son of Nebat and all the kings who had succeeded him, but to Jeroboam’s own syncretistic form of Yahwism, one that was abominated by YHWH Himself. YHWH’s final verdict on Jehu would not be one of approval. Instead of being seen as submitting to YHWH and His prophets, he was seen as having chosen the way of Jeroboam, a way that would lead to Israel’s final destruction.
Analysis.
a
b But Jehu did it in subtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal (2Ki 10:19 b).
c And Jehu said, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.” And they proclaimed it (2Ki 10:20).
d And Jehu sent through all Israel, and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they came into the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to another (2Ki 10:21).
e And he said to him who was over the wardrobe, “Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal.” And he brought forth vestments for them (2Ki 10:22).
f And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and he said to the worshippers of Baal, “Search, and see that there are here with you none of the servants of YHWH, but the worshippers of Baal only” (2Ki 10:23).
e And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Now Jehu had appointed for himself fourscore men outside, and said, “If any of the men whom I bring into your hands escape, he who lets him go, his life will be for the life of him” (2Ki 10:24).
d And it came about, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt-offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the commanders, “Go in, and slay them. Let none come forth.” And they smote them with the edge of the sword, and the guard and the commanders cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal (2Ki 10:25).
c And they brought forth the pillars which were in the house of Baal, and burned them (2Ki 10:26).
b And they broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a draught-house, to this day (2Ki 10:27).
a Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel (2Ki 10:28).
Note that in ‘a’ Jehu set about gathering all the worshippers of Baal, and in the parallel he fulfilled his purpose, which was to destroy them. In ‘b’ his purpose of destroying the worshippers of Baal was made patent, and in the parallel it resulted also in the destruction of the pillar and temple of Baal. (While Jehoram had destroyed the pillar of Baal that belonged to his father (2Ki 3:2), he had left Jezebel’s pillar and temple in place, presumably out of respect for his mother, demonstrating that his actions were not wholehearted. It is probable that political necessity, arising out of the strength of feeling in Israel, had brought about his own withdrawal from active Baal worship, without it indicating a real change of heart, for he had still continued the worship of the golden calves). In ‘c’ they sanctified a solemn assembly for Baal, and in the parallel they used it to bring forth the pillars in the house of Baal and burned them. In ‘d’ Jehu called for all the worshippers of Baal to come to the house of Baal, and in the parallel he commands that all be destroyed. In ‘e’ the vestments for the worshippers of Baal were brought out, and in the parallel they went on to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings to Baal. Centrally in ‘f’ great effort was put in to ensuring that only dedicated worshippers of Baal were present.
2Ki 10:18-19
‘And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much. Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshippers, and all his priests. Let none be wanting. For I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal. Whoever shall be wanting, he will not live.”
Jehu had by now determined that he would destroy all the worshippers of the foreign Baal, introduced by Jezebel, out of the land, and in order to do this, and to identify them accurately, he pretended that he himself was a zealous worshipper of the Phoenician Baal. The idea that Ahab had only served Baal a little was certainly true. All his children had names which included the name of YHWH, and, as we know, he repented as a result of the prophesying of Elijah. Thus while he had had a personal pillar of Baal for his own use in worship in the temple of Baal (which Jehoram had removed) it had been mainly in order to please his fanatical wife. He, meanwhile, had been more involved in the worship of YHWH, although still in the syncretistic way introduced by Jeroboam I, the son of Nebat. Now, however, Jehu was giving the impression that for him Baal was to be central. Accordingly he called for all the prophets of Baal, and all those who worshipped Baal in the manner of Jezebel (rather than syncretistically along with YHWH worship in which the two were religiously confused), and all the priests of Baal, to gather for a solemn feast. And he enforced it by threatening the death penalty for any recognised worshippers of Baal who did not attend. We can imagine with what joy the worshippers of Baal received this news. They would have been wondering which way the new regime would turn, and few if any would have had any knowledge of the beliefs of a professional army commander who had been on continuing active service and subject to the king’s command.
While it was, of course, true that he had driven into Samaria with Jehonadab, the Baal worshippers may well have seen that as simply a wise political move (which of course it was, but for reasons other than they suspected). They may have seen Jehu’s policy as intended to be one of appeasement, with the fanaticism of Jezebel being replaced with a more open regime, which would make it all the more a matter of thanksgiving that he had thrown his lot in on their side, emphatically demonstrating (from their viewpoint) that there was to be no persecution of Baalists (you could never tell with a new regime). They may even have hoped that he was influencing Jehonadab, a man of extreme views and not involved in mainstream YHWH worship at Bethel and Dan, ‘in the right direction’.
2Ki 10:19
‘But Jehu did it in subtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.’
While they rejoiced, however, it was to be a foolish hope, for Jehu was behaving like this in order to deceive them. His aim was in fact to gather them together in order to destroy them all. This undoubtedly represents Jehu as without inhibitions. Many of those who were deceived would have seen his actions as, in accordance with the customs of the time, guaranteeing that he would treat them in honest friendship, for he was inviting them to feast with them, and by the ancient laws of hospitality that was similar to offering them an oath of friendship. But it would turn out not to be so, for Jehu did things by his own rules.
2Ki 10:20
‘And Jehu said, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.” And they proclaimed it.’
The proclaiming of ‘the sanctifying of a solemn assembly’ was a method of gathering the people together as a result of ‘setting apart to a holy purpose’ (sanctifying) a period which was wholly for the worship of a divinity (sanctifying it), a period for which special preparations had to be made. (Compare Exo 19:14 for the general idea). In this case that god was Baal, and thus the requirement was that all Baal worshippers were to thoroughly prepare themselves in order to come to play their part in it.
2Ki 10:21
‘And Jehu sent through all Israel, and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they came into the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to another (literally ‘from one mouth to another’).’
Jehu was taking no chances, and he sent messengers throughout Israel so as to ensure that all pure Baal worshippers attended, which they did en masse. They all gathered for the festival in the very temple of Baal in Samaria, with the result that it was filled to overflowing.
2Ki 10:22
‘And he said to him who was over the wardrobe, “Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal.” And he brought forth vestments for them.’
Then he called for all the vestments worn by Baal worshippers on special occasions to be brought out. These would be worn for worship and would in this case clearly identify all worshippers of Baal. This wearing of special garments for worship is testified to elsewhere. Compare Gen 35:2; Exo 19:10 (where the garments were washed rather than being changed); Mat 22:11; and King Dan’el at Ugarit.
2Ki 10:23
‘And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and he said to the worshippers of Baal, “Search, and see that there are here with you none of the servants of YHWH, but the worshippers of Baal only.” ’
In order to make doubly sure that no worshippers of YHWH were present he entered the temple of Baal with Jehonadab, and called on the worshippers of Baal to search and ensure that no worshippers of YHWH were present. It may well be that this was a regular feature of their worship (compare the search for leaven at the Passover). A solemn assembly may well have been seen as totally exclusive, with such a search ritually necessary.
2Ki 10:24
‘And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Now Jehu had appointed for himself fourscore men outside, and said, “If any of the men whom I bring into your hands escape, he who lets him go, his life will be for the life of him.” ’
Then when all were present at the feast the people went in along with Jehu. He himself may have gone in as the king-priest to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings (2Ki 10:25), something which Ahab and Ahaziah (1Ki 22:52) had no doubt done before him (although possibly not Jehoram of Israel). On the other hand it may simply be saying that he, Jehonadab and the people went in so as to offer their sacrifices and offerings through the priests.
What the worshippers did not know was that Jehu had lined up fourscore of his best troops outside in order to ensure that none escaped death. Indeed the men were warned that if they let any escape, their own lives would be forfeit. Theirs too was a ‘sacred’ task.
2Ki 10:25
‘And it came about, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt-offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the commanders, “Go in, and slay them. Let none come forth.” And they smote them with the edge of the sword, and the guard and the commanders cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal.’
Taken literally the verb indicates that Jehu himself offered the offering, which might in fact have been expected of him as king-priest of Samaria, although, for example, when Solomon ‘offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar’ he is hardly intended to be seen as offering them himself (1Ki 3:4). Thus the burnt offering may have been offered by the priests on his behalf. But whoever offered them, as soon as the offerings were over Jehu gave a command to his bodyguard and to his commanders that they go in and kill all the worshippers of Baal, and let none survive. The consequence was that they went in and smote them with their swords, and then flung their bodies out of the building like so much refuse.
‘And went to the city of the house of Baal.’ This was possibly a technical name for the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal (a possible parallel has been found at Ugarit). If so such detail makes clear that we have information gained from a contemporary source. Others see it as meaning the part of the city surrounding the temple of Baal, possibly having in mind relatives of those who had already been slain.
2Ki 10:26
‘And they brought forth the pillars which were in the house of Baal, and burned them.’
And from the inner sanctuary some of Jehu’s men brought out the steles/pillars which were in the house of Baal, each probably having personal connections with prominent worshippers of Baal (Ahab’s had been removed by Jehoram – 2Ki 3:2). And these were burned in order to cause them to break up, or possibly even in order to ‘devote them to YHWH’ (compare 2Ki 19:18; Deu 7:5; Deu 7:25-26; Deu 13:16-17; Jos 6:17; Jos 6:24).
2Ki 10:27
‘And they broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a dumping place (possibly a draught-house), to this day.’
Then they broke down the main pillar of Baal, and destroyed the house around it, turning it into refuse dump (or a public lavatory), which it still was in the original source’s time.
2Ki 10:28
‘Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.’
And that was how Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. In other words it was how he got rid of the foreign Baal introduced by Jezebel, which was so hated in Israel, and with it all those who had become involved in its worship. But his zeal did not go as far as purifying the worship of YHWH. That was still left to be infected throughout out by local Baalism.
What he had done, however, had gone considerably beyond YHWH’s remit to him, and it will be noted that no opportunity had been given for any to return to YHWH. That was not YHWH’s way. Furthermore by his action Jehu had undoubtedly destroyed the very foundations of Israel’s bureaucracy, and decimated its leadership, undermining the strength and stability of the country. It was no wonder that as a result he had to yield fealty to, and pay tribute to, Shalmaneser III of Assyria, something which we learn from Assyrian inscriptions. Another alternative open to him would have been total commitment to YHWH. Then Elisha would have been with him and things would have been very different. But such a commitment he was not willing to make, as we will now learn. And had he genuinely been walking closely with YHWH he would undoubtedly not have slaughtered so many.
Jehu is an example to all who, having been guided in a particular direction, go over the top and thereby turn their blessing into a curse to others by leading them in false paths.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
XIII
FROM THE RISE OF JEHU TO THE REIGN OF JEHOASH AND THE CORRESPONDING HISTORY OF JUDAH
2Ki 10:18-13:9
Israel is now on a rapid decline, while Judah is under the sway of a wicked woman. There are some antecedent facts which relate to the Southern Kingdom, Judah, and the story of her fortunes which we need to review here. In previous chapters we have considered the character and reign of Jehoshaphat. He is described as a good man, a great king, an eminently righteous and successful king, one of the best kings that Judah ever had, and the record tells of the various reforms which he instituted, the cities which he built, the new system of judiciary which he established and the various other great improvements in his kingdom. But Jehoshaphat made three mistakes in his reign:
First, he married his son to the daughter of Jezebel. It was the cause of great disaster to his realm, almost to the extinction of his dynasty and the wrecking of his kingdom. Second, he made an alliance with Ahab to reconquer Ramothgilead, and take it from Syria. The 400 false prophets all promised him victory, but Micaiah prophesied failure, and that prophecy came true as they failed to take Ramothgilead and Ahab was slain, and Jehoshaphat returned home to Jerusalem in partial disgrace. There is no question but that Jehoshaphat lost a great deal of popularity by that mistake and failure.
Third, he made an alliance with Jehoram, son of Ahab, in an attempt to reconquer and subject Moab to the northern realm. But for Elisha who told them to make the valley full of trenches and thus make room for water to flow down that their hosts might have drink he would there have suffered probably an ignominious defeat. Through Elisha and the providence of God he was saved but the expedition proved fruitless. The king of Moab sacrificed his first-born son and great wrath came upon Israel and they retired from the siege and went home and left King Mesha still master of his own country. Shortly before his death we find Jehoshaphat appoints his son Jehoram as king with him and they are joint kings over southern Israel. Jehoram becomes co-regent with Jehoshaphat when thirty-two years of age. Very soon we find the influence of Athaliah his wife. She had him under her control even more than Jezebel had Ahab under her control. She was a vicious, strong-minded, self-willed, determined, and depraved woman. Here is Athaliah’s influence. We can almost see Jezebel herself here. Under the influence of this northern woman Jehoram begins his murderous work by shedding the blood of six of his brothers. We find his character described thus: “He had the daughter of Ahab to wife, and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.” Notice further: “Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, and led Judah astray.” That is, he attempted to lead all southern Israel after the worship of Baal, just as Jezebel had tried to lead all northern Israel after the worship of Baal. Athaliah is her mother’s daughter.
All this leads to great troubles. His dynasty is in danger. The first thing we read is that disaster befalls the kingdom. In the same account we have the story of the revolt of Edom, one of his provinces which paid him heavy tribute. He undertakes to put down the rebellion, and, in a desperate conflict the Edomites with their chariots and horsemen having surrounded him, he rises up at night and breaks through the rank of the enemy and saves himself, but Edom passes out of his hands and is lost to his realm, and a large revenue is, of course, lost with it. This is the first stage of the downfall of himself and kingdom.
The next stage is the revolt of Libnah. This Philistine city had been paying tribute no doubt and now revolts against him and secures its freedom and thus another stronghold is cut off from his kingdom. This added to his unpopularity still more.
Shortly after this we have the story of the posthumous message from Elijah the prophet written before the going away of the great servant of God, doubtless preserved by Elisha and now sent to Jehoram. It is the prophet Elijah’s message of doom to this wicked king: “Behold, the Lord will smite with a great plague thy people, and thy children and thy wives, and all thy substance,” and Jehoram is to be smitten with a horrible and loathsome disease, too loathsome to be mentioned. We don’t know what that plague was nor how many people perished because of it. These things would add greatly to the unpopularity of Jehoram throughout his realm.
Another invasion takes place: “And the Lord stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, which are beside the Ethiopians: and they came up against Judah, and brake into it, and carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, and his sons also, and his wives; so that there was never a son left him, save Jehoahaz, the youngest of the sons.” They invaded his capital, took his treasures, and his harem, and carried them away, only one son left, Jehoahaz, known more correctly as Ahaziah.
Shortly after this Jehoram falls a prey to his sickness or disease and dies, unlamented, undesired. In some respects a blessed death, that is, to those who were left. He is refused burial in the sepulchers of the kings. They buried him in the City of David but not in the sepulchers of the kings. He is too loathsome to be buried in the sacred burying grounds of the kings of Israel where David was buried. This reign is one of the first fruitages of that ill-fated alliance of Jehoshaphat with the house of Ahab.
Then follows the reign of Ahaziah his son, which lasts about one year. He is a worthy son of his unspeakable mother. We find his record very short and is all a failure and ends in disgrace and murder. The record says that he entered into an alliance with Jehoram, his uncle, of northern Israel to fight against Ramothgilead, and bring it back into subjection out of the hands of Syria. Evidently their onslaught is successful. Ramothgilead is captured and Jehu left in charge of it. Jehoram is wounded and has to return to Jezreel in order that he might be healed, and while he is recovering Ahaziah goes back to Jerusalem, then pays a visit to Jehoram at Jezreel, and while they are at Jezreel we have enacted a scene which we discussed in a previous chapter. Jehoram is slain by an arrow shot from the bow of Jehu. Ahaziah flees for his life and is pursued by Jehu’s men, wounded in his chariot, escapes to Megiddo, and there dies. This is the end of the second of the kings of Judah that came under the influence of this unholy alliance of northern Israel.
Now we take up the reign of Athaliah. As soon as Athaliah heard of the death of Ahaziah her son, and knowing that all of Ahaziah’s brothers had been captured and taken away by the Arabians and Philistines, and there was no proper heir to the throne excepting her grandsons, the narrative says that she arose and destroyed all the seed royal, that is, all her own grandsons. A woman that would do that is a monster rather than a woman. Fortunately, however, providence interposes. The chief priest of the nation, Jehoiada, a man of great influence and power, had married a sister of Ahaziah, and daughter of Athaliah, and by means of intimacy which this relationship permitted, took the only son of Ahaziah, just one year old, and hid him. Thus the dynasty is preserved.
Now let us look at Jehu’s reign. The first great act which he performs is the destruction of Baal and Baal -worshipers, and he does it under false pretense. He does it in a most treacherous manner under the guise of zeal for their religion and he deceives them. He says, “Ahab served Baal little, Jehu shall serve him much,” and in that way gains the popularity of all those in favor of Baal worship. In that way he manages to secure the presence of a great host of Baal worshipers, but took pains to see that none of the Jehovah worshipers were there. All the priests of Baal are butchered. That is different from the death of the 450 prophets of Baal and the 450 prophets of Asherah by Elijah at Mount Carmel. That was a fair teat by Elijah, but they failed, and therefore deserved death. This was treachery on the part of Jehu, treachery that was inexcusable, and having done that, he breaks down the altars of Baal, destroys all the Baal worshipers in the capital of Samaria. But that does not imply that there were no Baal worshipers anywhere else in the kingdom for there were Baal cults in various sections still. Although Jehu had destroyed Baal worship as a state religion he institutes one very little better. He is a worshiper of Jehovah but it is a corrupt worship of the calves of Dan and Bethel and he follows in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin. It is awful how all of these men are said to have followed Jeroboam the son of Nebat in that he made Israel to sin. Every one of them does the same thing. There is a sermon on that statement entitled, “The Monotony of Sin.” All for generations doing the same thing and they are doing the same thing now; they have been doing the same thing for thousands of years. Jehu’s reign is on the whole an evil reign. The religion of Jehovah made little progress under his rule.
Now Athaliah reigns and we have the strange spectacle of a woman on the throne of Judah, the daughter of Jezebel with Phoenician blood in her veins. We would expect that she would try to do what Jezebel did, viz: install, as the state religion of Judah, the worship of Baal, and so she did. There was no persecution of the prophets in southern Israel. She evidently could not do that, but she partly destroyed the Temple, took the sacred vessels out of it, established priests in her own temple of Baal and set up Baal worship, using the vessels that had been dedicated to Jehovah. Shrines were built throughout the whole kingdom, and now southern Judah is in danger of being brought under the sway of Baal as northern Israel was before Elijah appeared upon the scene. But there was one man in the realm raised up by divine providence to save the situation. Jehoiada is the son-in-law of Athaliah, a -man of influence and power, and evidently a man of great wisdom and piety, the foremost counsellor in the realm, the wisest and best man in the kingdom, the high priest. Six years of silence passes, and Jehoiada is wise enough to know how to hold his tongue and hold his wife’s tongue all that time. It is something for a man to be able to hold his tongue on such a great secret as he possessed, for six years. When little Joash had grown to be seven years old we find that Jehoiada began to strengthen himself in the kingdom and to mature his plans to set Joash upon the throne and destroy his mother-in-law, Athaliah. The time is ripe for action, the people are evidently dissatisfied with the reign of Athaliah, and are ready for the change. Jehoiada matures his plans with great deliberation, extreme caution and great shrewdness. We can’t understand all the details of the situation, the exact relation of the house and the Temple, but we find that he divides the Temple guards and palace guards into three companies, and stations them in separate places surrounding the king, so that he is perfectly safe, and no enemies can get to him. A way is left open by which Athaliah may come into the Temple and any who may follow her, but they will at once be slain as they attempt to pass through. At a given time and a given signal, all the soldiers in their places, the people throng around and raise the shout, Joash is set upon the throne; he is handed the testimony of the law according to the command of Moses, the crown is placed upon his head, and Joash is proclaimed king. Athaliah does not know what is taking place, she hears the noise, rushes forth and pretends to be horrified, tears her clothes and shouts, “Treason! Treason!” Was it treason? How many people there are who know they are in the wrong, and yet when the people turn against them, are ready to cry out like that. They put on an air of injured innocence. Hypocrites! This avails her nothing. She is in the Temple courts and they will not spill Phoenician blood there. “Have her forth between the ranks,” says Jehoiada, and as they made way for her she went to the entry of the horse gate and there she is slain. Jehoiada matured his plans as perfectly as Jehu and carried them out almost as quickly and successfully. That ends the reign of Phoenician blood upon the throne of Israel. There is no doubt that most of the people of Israel felt that a great crisis had passed.
Now let us look at the reign of Joash. He reigned for forty years beginning when a boy only seven. Joash was a grandson of Athaliah on his father’s side, so there was a little of the Phoenician blood in his veins. It is not all pure Hebrew blood, and as blood will tell sooner or later, we find that his Phoenician, corrupt, heathen blood manifests itself in the life of Joash afterward.
His great religious revolutions and reforms were instituted by Jehoiada. As soon as Joash is made king, Jehoiada renews the covenant thus: “And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people, and the king, that they should be the Lord’s people.” That covenant had been broken through Athaliah’s introduction of Baal worship, through the breaking up of the Temple services and the defection of the people to Baal. Now Jehoiada must renew the covenant between God and Judah. The covenant made at Sinai had been broken more than once, and had been renewed. He establishes a covenant between the king and the people, and between the king and Jehovah on the basis of the law of Moses. The king is to be representative of Jehovah and must rule as Jehovah directs through his prophets. Now there is a revival of true religion and a reformation is begun. The first thing to be done is to destroy Baal: “And all the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord.” They carried out a work in southern Israel almost similar to what Jehu did-in northern Israel: the priests of Baal are slain, the temple of Baal is broken down, and the shrines of Baal destroyed, and Baal worship is given a severe blow in southern Israel, but it is not extinguished; there are still Baal worshipers in high places, shrines here and there throughout the country where they carry on this vile and licentious worship of their deity.
The next thing was to reorganize the Temple service: “And Jehoiada appointed the officers of the house of the Lord under the hand of the priests and Levites whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt sacrifices of the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David.” The reorganization of the Temple service, a reinstitution of the sacrifices of the burnt offerings and thus once more the nation is brought back to the worship of the true God, Jehovah. Again, it is said, “So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet.” A brief pointed statement, but there is a history behind it. There must have been turmoil, strife, confusion, bloodshed, and unrest in the city of Jerusalem as this revolution in religion was going on, but Jehoiada’s hands have hold of the reigns of power and the city calms down and is quiet. Joash is a good and faithful king so long as he is under the influence of Jehoiada, who did the strange thing to take two wives for Joash, which is very hard to account for.
There were great reforms instituted by Joash. Notice what the king himself institutes. He begins first to repair the Temple that had been broken down during the reign of Athaliah and Jehoram, and in order to do that he must raise money, and to raise money he commands the priests to bring in the revenue which they receive from the people. Under the law of Moses every man of Israel had to pay a shekel or a half-shekel every year. Now the priests or Levites were to receive that money and bring it to the king to be utilized in repairing the Temple. Joash depends upon the honesty of the priests. We see here a very inefficient organization, and it doesn’t work. “Howbeit the Levites hastened it not.” They pocketed the money. It didn’t go into the treasury and therefore the house of the Lord could not be repaired. That scheme failed because the priests lacked honesty and integrity.
Now let us look at Jehu’s political relations. We find by consulting Price’s The Monuments and the Old Testament, that Jehu was forced to pay heavy tribute to Shalmaneser, king of Assyria. Shalmaneser says himself at that time, “I received tribute of the Tyreans and the Sidonians and of Jehu the son of Omri,” in one of his inscriptions and on the back of an obelisk left by Shalmaneser we have pictures of Jehu bringing to him presents of gold, basins of gold, bowls of gold, cups of gold, lead, a royal scepter and staves. Thus we see that Jehu had to pay heavy tribute in order to maintain the integrity of his kingdom after thus securing it. We have no record that Jehu ever fought against Shalmaneser or that Shalmaneser ever fought against Jehu; but Shalmaneser had gained a great victory over Damascus and Syria, and Jehu had to pay him this heavy tribute to keep him away from Israel. Thus Jehu’s reign was not all peace and prosperity. He is in a sense under the iron heel of Assyria. We also see from 2Ki 10:32-33 that Jehu lost all eastern Palestine, which was smitten by Hazael, king of Syria, and thus his kingdom was stripped and there was left to him only a small portion of western Palestine: “In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short; and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel; from Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the valley of Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.” Thus Jehu is stripped of all of his possessions east of the Jordan. Though one of the ablest of the monarchs of northern Israel, Jehu was also the one that led Israel into sin, and his kingdom was in worse condition at the end than it was at the beginning.
Now let us take up the reign of Jehoahaz. Jehu reigned twenty-eight years, and was succeeded by Jehoahaz his son, who reigned only seventeen years, and followed in the footsteps of his father and Jeroboam the son of Nebat which made Israel to sin. In the reign of Jehoahaz we read: “And Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, continually “That means that they were compelled to pay tribute, heavy tribute to their conquerors, which drained them of all their resources and left them little better than slaves.
Jehoiada brings forth a new scheme. He is a wise man, and when he finds this other plan of Joash will not work, he suggests that they make a great chest, or box, and bore a hole in the top of it so that no man can get his hand into it, and place this box beside the altar near the entrance to the house of the Lord where the people come and go so that every man could put his tax into the box. It is not long before they find a large amount of money in it, and they are very careful how it should be counted and paid out, and very careful about the men who are to count it and hand it over to the workmen. We see how they go on with the details of the work, and they found enough money to repair the breaches of the Temple that had been broken down, and to provide the various vessels, the cups of silver, snuffers, basins, trumpets, vessels of gold, or vessels of silver. Then we find that the Temple worship is resumed, and the burnt offerings were offered continually as it had been for several years previous. Then follows an account of the death of Jehoiada, an old man, 130 years old. They buried him in the city of David among the kings as he was a king’s son-in-law, and was honored as few other Israelites have been who were not of the royal family.
After his death the bad blood flowing in the veins of Joash is manifest. A change comes; the pressure is off; the wise counsellor is gone, and Joash now begins to show what is his true nature and character. He comes under the influence of the princes of Judah, the upper ten or the upper 400, who secretly or openly preferred the worship of Baal to the worship of Jehovah, possibly because of its licentiousness. Joash is foolish enough to listen to them, sanctions the worship of Baal and of Asherah, turns his back upon the worship of Jehovah. Worse than that, Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, a prophet of God, is raised up to rebuke and reprove Joash for his sin, but Joash commands that Zechariah be stoned to death in the Temple area because he has dared to warn and admonish the king. Base ingratitude. “O, what a falling off was this!” Zechariah’s last words, “The Lord look upon it and require it,” were remembered and recorded, as was the dying statement of Jesus Christ and of Stephen, the martyr. Some scholars think that when Jesus Christ was speaking to the Pharisees about the blood of Zechariah, which should be required of their generation, that he referred to this same Zechariah. Joash has incurred the hostility of the prophets and the worshipers of Jehovah in his realm. The best people of his country conspired against him, and very soon he is put to death. Israel is in a desperate condition during the reign of Jehoahaz. Hazael and Benhadad have assaulted him and-defeated him to such an extent that only fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen are left. For the king of Syria destroyed them and made them like the dust in the threshing. The kingdom could hardly be lower and exist at all. It is at its lowest ebb. Joash’s reign ends in misery and defeat. Hazael whom Elijah had anointed in Damascus, that ruthless monarch of Syria, who has crushed northern Israel under his feet and ground it to dust, advances as far south as Judah and Jerusalem and meets a large army of Joash and defeats it utterly, kills the princes of the people, and sends all the spoil that he captures back to Damascus. Then Hazael goes down to Philistia and takes the strong city of Gath, then he turns his eye upon Jerusalem with its vast treasures and is intending to advance up one of those mountain defiles to the hilltop whereon Jerusalem is situated and conquer the capital and take all its treasures. The only thing Joash can do, is to buy Hazael off. Then Joash strips the Temple of all the hallowed things, takes the gold and the treasure and hands it over to Hazael. Hazael is satisfied, as all he wants is the plunder and the treasure of the Temple, and in this way he got it without fighting for it.
Joash perishes by the hands of his own servants who had become disgusted with him because of his apostasy and evil reign. They buried him with the family in the City of David, but it does not say in the sepulchers of the kings.
QUESTIONS
1. What was the condition of Israel at this time?
2. What were the antecedent facts in the history of Judah bearing on this period?
3. After the death of Ahaziah who reigned in his stead, how did she get the throne, and how was God’s promise to David made sure?
4. What was Jehu’s policy and what was his scheme to destroy Baal?
5. What right had Jehu to destroy so many people?
6. What do you think of his method and what did God command in Jehu?
7. How did the Lord reward Jehu for his service and wherein did Jehu fail?
8. Recite the story of how the royal line of David was restored.
9. How did Athaliah meet with her deserts?
10. Who was Joash’s mother and what was the bearing on the life of Joash?
11. What was the character of Jehoiada and what were his works?
12. What was Jehoiada’s influence over Joash, what was the spiritual condition of the kingdom of Judah at this time, what strange thing did Jehoiada do and how do you account for it?
13. What command did Joash give and what was his plan for carrying it out?
14. What happened to Israel during the reign of Joash and what was the character of the Syrians.
15. Who succeeded Jehu, what was his character, who oppressed Israel during this time and what were the events in his reign?
16. How did Joash’s plan for repairing the Temple work, what was the fault with the plans and what was the lesson?
17. What new plan did they adopt and what custom perhaps originated here?
18. What order did he here reset?
19. What was the lesson here of the value of the preacher to the world?
20. What prophetic book has its setting here?
21. What distinction in Jehoiada’s burial?
22. What was his sin of omission; his sin of commission?
23. What indicates Joash’s weakness, what were his sins, what was the origin of the high places and groves, and what was the paliation for the sins of Joash?
24. How did the Lord try to bring them back, how did they receive the Lord’s prophet’s what special case cited, how did Joash show his ingratitude in his case, and what New Testament use of this incident?
25. What was the judgment executed on Joash and how did he escape?
26. Rewrite the story of Joash’s death and contrast this death with that of Jehoiada.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
2Ki 10:18 And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; [but] Jehu shall serve him much.
Ver. 18. But Jehu shall serve him much. ] This he spake, that he might the better get together all Baal’s priests and worshippers. When a man for a little space only seemeth to allow a fault, that shortly after he may the better manifest his dislike by effecting some good, this is not to do evil that good may come thereof; but to do good in a prudent manner. Thus Solomon seemed to intend the dividing of the child, for the finding out of the true mother. And thus Constantius, father of Constantine the Great, that he might discern which of his courtiers were true and hearty Christians, proclaimed, that such as would not sacrifice to the heathen idols should be turned out of their offices, and those that would do so, should still enjoy them. This he pretended, but did the clean contrary; and gave this for a reason, How can any be faithful to me that, for preferment’s sake, turn from the living God to worship dumb idols? a
a Euseb., De Vit. Const., lib. i. cap. 9, 10.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2 Kings
IMPURE ZEAL
2Ki 10:18 – 2Ki 10:31
The details of this story of bloodshed need little elucidation. Jehu had ‘driven furiously’ to some purpose. Secrecy and swiftness joined to unhesitating severity had crushed the dynasty of Ahab, which fell unlamented and unsupported, as if lightning-struck. The nobler elements had gathered to Jehu, as represented by the Rechabite, Jehonadab, evidently a Jehovah worshipper, and closely associated with the fierce soldier in this chapter. Jehu first secured his position, and then smote the Baal worship as heavily and conclusively as he had done the royal family. He struck once, and struck no more; for the single blow pulverised.
The audacious pretext of an intention to outdo the fallen dynasty in Baal worship must have sounded strange to those who knew how his massacre of Ahab’s house had been represented by him as fulfilling Jehovah’s purpose, but it was not too gross to be believed. So we can fancy the joyous revival of hope with which from every corner of the land the Baal priests, prophets, and worshippers, recovered from their fright, came flocking to the great temple in Samaria, till it was like a cup filled with wine from brim to brim. The worship cannot have numbered many adherents if one temple could hold the bulk of them. Probably it had never been more than a court fashion, and, now that Jezebel was dead, had lost ground. A token of royal favour was given to each of the crowd, in the gift of a vestment from the royal wardrobe. Then Jehu himself, accompanied by the ascetic Jehonadab, entered the court of the temple, a strangely assorted pair, and a couple of very ‘distinguished’ converts. The Baal priests would thrill with gratified pride when these two came to worship. The usual precautions against the intrusion of non-worshippers were taken at Jehu’s command, but with a sinister meaning, undreamed of by the eager searchers. That was a sifting for destruction, not for preservation. So they all passed into the inner court to offer sacrifice.
The story gives a double picture in 2Ki 10:24 . Within are the jubilant worshippers; without, the grim company of their executioners, waiting the signal to draw their swords and burst in on the unarmed mob. Jehu carried his deception so far that he himself offered the burnt offering, with Jehonadab standing by, and then withdrew, followed, no doubt, by grateful acclamations. A step or two brought him to the ‘eighty men without.’ Two stern words, ‘Go, smite them,’ are enough. They storm in, and ‘the songs of the temple’ are turned to ‘howlings in that day.’ The defenceless, surprised crowd, huddled together in the dimly lighted shrine, were massacred to a man. The innermost sanctuary was then wrecked, corpses and statues thrown pell-mell into the outer courts or beyond the precincts, fires lit to burn the abominations, and busy hands, always more ready for pillage and destruction than for good work, pulled down the temple, the ruins of which were turned to base uses. The writer, picturing the wild scene, sums up with a touch of exultation: ‘Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel’-where note the emphatic prominence of the three names of the king, the god, and the nation. That is the vindication of the terrible deed.
Now the main interest of this passage lies in its disclosure of the strangely mingled character of Jehu, and in the fact that his bloody severity was approved by God, and rewarded by the continuance of his dynasty for a longer time than any other on the throne of Israel.
Jehu was influenced by ‘zeal for the Lord,’ however much smoke mingled with the flame. He acted under the conviction that he was God’s instrument, and at each new deed of blood asserted his fulfilment of prophecy. His profession to Jehonadab 2Ki 10:16 was not hypocrisy nor ostentation. The Rechabite sheikh was evidently a man of mark, and apparently one of the leaders of those who had not ‘bowed the knee to Baal’; and Jehu’s disclosure of his animating motive was meant to secure the alliance of that party through one of its chiefs. No doubt many elements of selfishness and many stains mingled with Jehu’s zeal. It was much on the same level as the fanaticism of the immediate successors of Mohammed; but, low as it was, look at its power. Jehu swept like a whirlwind, or like leaping fire among stubble, from Ramoth to Jezreel, from Jezreel to Samaria, and nothing stood before his fierce onset. Promptitude, decision, secrecy,-the qualities which carry enterprises to success-marked his character; partly, no doubt, from natural temperament, for God chooses right instruments, but from temperament heightened and invigorated by the conviction of being the instrument whom God had chosen. We may learn how even a very imperfect form of this conviction gives irresistible force to a man, annihilates fear, draws the teeth of danger, and gathers up all one’s faculties to a point which can pierce any opposition. We may all recognise that God has sent us on His errands; and if we cherish that conviction, we shall put away from us slothfulness and fear, and out of weakness shall be made strong.
But Jehu sets forth the possible imperfections of ‘zeal for the Lord.’ We may defer for a moment the consideration of the morality of his slaughter of the royal house and the Baal worshippers, and point to the taint of selfishness and to the leaven of deceit in his enthusiasm. We have not to analyse it. That is God’s work. But clearly the object which he had in view was not merely fulfilment of prophecy, but securing the throne; and there was more passion, as well as selfish policy, in his massacres, than befitted a minister of the divine justice, who should let no anger disturb the solemnity of his terrible task. Such dangers ever attend the path of the great men who feel themselves to be sent by God. In our humbler lives they dog our steps, and religious fervour needs ever to keep careful watch on itself, lest it should degenerate unconsciously into self-will, and should allow the muddy stream of earth-born passion to darken its crystal waters.
Many a great name in the annals of the Church has fallen before that temptation. We all need to remember that ‘the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God,’ and to take heed lest we should be guided by our own stormy impatience of contradiction, and by a determination to have our own way, while we think ourselves the humble instruments of a divine purpose. There was a ‘Zelotes’ in the Apostolate; but the coarse, sanguinary ‘zeal’ of his party must have needed much purifying before it learned what manner of spirit the zeal of a true disciple was of.
Another point of interest is the divine emphatic approval of Jehu’s bloody acts 2Ki 10:30. The massacre of the Baal worshippers is not included in the acts which God declares to have been ‘according to all that was in Mine heart,’ and it may be argued that it was not part of Jehu’s commission. Certainly the accompanying deceit was not ‘right in God’s eyes,’ but the slaughter in Baal’s temple was the natural sequel of the civil revolution, and is most probably included in the deeds approved.
Perhaps Elisha brought Jehu the message in 2Ki 10:30 . If so, what a contrast between the two instruments of God’s purposes! At all events, Jehovah’s approval was distinctly given. What then? There need be no hesitation in recognising the progressive character of Scripture morality, as well as the growth of the revelation of the divine character, of which the morality of each epoch is the reflection. The full revelation of the God of love had to be preceded by the clear revelation of the God of righteousness; and whilst the Old Testament does make known the love of God in many a gracious act and word, it especially teaches His righteous condemnation of sin, without which His love were mere facile indulgence and impunity. The slaughter of that wicked house of Ahab and of the Baal priests was the act of divine justice, and the question is simply whether that justice was entitled to slay them. To that question believers in a divine providence can give but one answer. The destruction of Baal worship and the annihilation of its stronghold in Ahab’s family were sufficient reasons, as even we can see, for such a deed. To bring in Jehu into the problem is unnecessary. He was the sword, but God’s was the hand that struck. It is not for men to arraign the Lord of life and death for His methods and times of sending death to evil-doers. Granted that the ‘long-suffering’ which is ‘not willing that any should perish’ speaks more powerfully to our hearts than the justice which smites with death, the later and more blessed revelation is possible and precious only on the foundation of the former. Nor will a loose-braced generation like ours, which affects to be horrified at the thought of the ‘wrath of God,’ and recoils from the contemplation of His judgments, ever reach the innermost secrets of the tenderness of His love.
From the merely human point of view, we may say that revolutions are not made with rose-water, and that, at all crises in a nation’s history, when some ancient evil is to be thrown off, and some powerful system is to be crushed, there will be violence, at which easy-going people, who have never passed through like times, will hold up their hands in horror and with cheap censure. No doubt we have a higher law than Jehu knew, and Christ has put His own gentle commandment of love in the place of what was ‘said to them of old time.’ But let us, while we obey it for ourselves, and abjure violence and blood, judge the men of old ‘according to that which they had, and not according to that which they had not.’ Jehu’s bloody deeds are not held up for admiration. His obedience is what is praised and rewarded. Well for us if we obey our better law as faithfully!
The last point in the story is the imperfection of the obedience of Jehu. He contented himself with rooting out Baal, but left the calves. That shows the impurity of his ‘zeal,’ which flamed only against what it was for his advantage to destroy, and left the more popular and older idolatry undisturbed. Obedience has to be ‘all in all, or not at all.’ We may not ‘compound for sins we are inclined to, by’ zeal against those ‘we have no mind to.’ Our consciences are apt to have insensitive spots in them, like witch-marks. We often think it enough to remove the grosser evils, and leave the less, but white ants will eat up a carcass faster than a lion. Putting away Baal is of little use if we keep the calves at Dan and Beth-el. Nothing but walking in the law of the Lord ‘with all the heart’ will secure our walking safely. ‘Unite my heart to fear Thy name’ needs to be our daily prayer. ‘One foot on sea and one on shore’ is not the attitude in which steadfastness or progress is possible.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Ahab served Baal: 2Ki 3:2, 1Ki 16:31, 1Ki 16:32, 1Ki 18:19, 1Ki 18:22, 1Ki 18:40
Jehu: Job 13:7, Rom 3:8, Phi 4:8
Reciprocal: 2Ki 10:19 – But Jehu 2Ki 17:16 – Baal 2Ki 21:3 – he reared Mat 2:8 – that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 10:18. Jehu gathered all the people together By their representatives, their elders, or rulers, as was usual, to whom he imparts his mind, and who, being generally corrupt, and mere time-servers, and such as had no sense of religion, made no opposition to his resolution, but seemed to comply with it. Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu shall serve him much As if he had said, My quarrel is only with Ahabs family, and not with Baal, which my actions shall show: which words, being manifestly false, and spoken with a design to deceive, cannot be excused from sin; this being an immoveable principle, that we must not do the least evil, that the greatest good may come. Though it was lawful, and even commendable, to slay the worshippers of Baal, Gods law having enjoined that idolaters should be put to death, yet it was by no means lawful to use treachery, and to deceive them to their destruction, on the faith of false pretences. These were actions no way suitable or agreeable to the God of truth, and such as ought never to have been practised by any that desired to please him.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
10:18 And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served {h} Baal a little; [but] Jehu shall serve him much.
(h) Here Baal is taken for Ashtaroth the idol of the Zidonians, who Jezebel caused to be worshipped, as it is also so used in 1Ki 22:53.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jehu’s purge of Baalism 10:18-28
This purge evidently took place in Samaria (1Ki 16:32). Jehu’s true religious preferences had not yet become known publicly. The various Hebrew words translated "pillar" in 2Ki 10:26-27 indicate that Jehu desecrated two or more kinds of objects, probably flammable wooden and non-flammable stone idols. Jehu also converted the temple of Baal into a public latrine, the greatest possible insult to Baal, the god of fertility. His act made Baal’s temple an unclean place as well. Jehu thus effectively eradicated the Baal worship that Ahab and Jezebel had officially established as Israel’s religion.