Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 10:25
And it came to pass, 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] slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast [them] out, and went to the city of the house of Baal.
25. as soon as he had made an end of offering ] That is, when the priests had completed the offering. We are not to suppose that Jehu himself acted as priest on the occasion, only as he had been the convoker of the solemn assembly, the whole ceremony is referred to him.
Jehu said to the guard ] The ‘guard’ is that body of ‘runners’ which appears in the history as soon as a king was appointed, and which played a part in all state parade. Thus both Adonijah and Absalom provided them with ‘fifty men to run before them’ when they aspired to the throne (2Sa 15:1; 1Ki 1:5). They are first spoken of in 1Sa 22:17, where the text of A.V. gives ‘footmen’ (R.V. guard) with ‘runners’ or ‘guard’ in the margin. Such men must necessarily be of great physical strength, and so well suited to do Jehu’s work on this occasion:
cast them out ] There is no pronoun expressed in the Hebrew. And it is not easy to see why the dead bodies should have been cast out of a place which they wished to be thoroughly defiled. Hence it has been thought that the ‘casting’ here spoken of refers only to the throwing aside the dead to make their way through the courts towards the central portion of the building, where probably the more important sacrificing priests were stationed.
and went to the city of the house of Baal ] The word rendered ‘city’ is applied to smaller enclosures than we usually understand by it now, and seems here to indicate some principal part of the temple edifice. In illustration of the use of this word for some small place, see Num 13:19, ‘What cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents or in strongholds’. So too the desolate daughter of Zion is compared (Isa 1:8) to ‘a cottage in a vineyard, a lodge in a garden of cucumbers’, and then, in parallelism with these figures, to ‘a besieged city ’. In such passages also as Gen 4:17 city can only signify some solid substantial dwelling-place in distinction to the tents of the nomad population.
For a similar change of sense we may compare our English word ‘town’, which in the earliest English tn (and in Icelandic still) signifies an enclosure, generally a farm-stead with the necessary outbuildings surrounded by one fence.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As soon as he had made an end of offering – The actual sacrificers were no doubt the priests of Baal; but Jehu is considered to have made the offering, since he furnished the victims. Compare 1Ki 8:62-63.
The guard – literally, the runners. This name seems to have been given to the royal body-guard as early as the time of Saul (1Sa 22:17, margin). It was their duty to run by the side of the kings chariot as he moved from plaze to place.
Cast them out, and went – Rather, the captains hasted and went, or went hastily; which gives a satisfactory sense. That the soldiers should have troubled themselves to cast the bodies of the slain out of the temple enclosure is very unlikely.
The city of the house of Baal – i. e., the temple itself, as distinguished from the court in which it stood, is intended. The guard having slain all who were in the court, rushed on and entered the sanctuary, there no doubt completing the massacre, and further tearing down and bringing out the sacred objects mentioned in the next verse.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 25. As soon as he had made an end of offering] Had Jehu been a man of any conscientious principle in religion, he would have finished the tragedy before he offered the burnt-offering; but to a man of no religion, the worship of Jehovah and of Baal are alike. If he prefers either, it is merely as a statesman, for political purposes.
To the guard and to the captains] leratsim uleshalashim; to the couriers or runners, and the shalashim, the men of the third rank, those officers who were next to the nobles, the king and these being only their superiors. The runners were probably a sort of light infantry.
The city of the house of Baal.] Does not this mean a sort of holy of holies, where the most sacred images of Baal were kept? A place separated from the temple of Baal, as the holy of holies in the temple of Jehovah was separated from what was called the holy place.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
As soon as he, i.e. the chief priest of Baal: see 2Ch 23:17.
Made an end of offering the burnt-offerings; so far he suffered them to proceed; either because till then they were not all come into the house; or because having been taken in the very act of gross idolatry, their destruction was more just and reasonable.
To the guard, and to the captains, i.e. to the fourscore men and their officers.
Cast them out, i.e. cast their carcasses out of the city. But that was not proper work for the guard; nor could they so soon have done it; nor would they stay to do it, when they were going in haste to other work; nor indeed was it necessary to be done, because they intended to pull down the house, and bury them in its ruins, and turn it into a draught house, as it follows. This word therefore is and may be joined with the next, and both rendered, they went hastily and eagerly; properly, they flung themselves out, (hiphil for hithpahel, which is not unusual in the Hebrew language,) and went. The like expression is used Est 6:12, hasted, Heb. pushed himself on, or flung himself, i.e. went with great haste; and in the Greek text, Mar 14:72.
To the city of the house of Baal; either,
1. To some city near to Samaria, where another eminent temple of Baal was erected. But this seems not to agree with the context, there being but one house or temple of Baal mentioned, both in the foregoing and following verses. Or rather,
2. To some buildings belonging to this house of Baal, which may be here called the city, either for some particular reason now unknown, or because they were very numerous and capacious. For as there were divers chambers and rooms built without the temple, belonging to it, for the use of the priests and Levites, &c.; so it may properly be conceived that this famous temple of Baal had many such buildings, in some of which the priests of Baal, or of the groves, (whereof there were great numbers belonging to the kings court, 1Ki 18:19) peradventure might dwell; and others of them might be for divers uses belonging to the house and service of Baal. And into these buildings the guard might go, and that hastily, to surprise and kill those inferior ministers of Baal, who were there employed in preparing things for the sacrifices which were to be offered, or in other services belonging to that house, or that solemnity.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering,…. The chief of the priests of Baal, whose office it was to do this service:
that Jehu said to the guard, and to the captains, go in and slay them, let none come forth; this he said to the eighty men set to guard the temple, and the officers over them; and perhaps they might also have a reinforcement, since such a number seems scarcely sufficient to destroy so many as were here; though indeed it must be considered they were armed men:
and they smote them with the edge of the sword; put them all to death:
and the guard and the captains cast them out; those that were slain, as the Targum, their dead bodies; but it can hardly be thought they would be at the trouble of casting them out, when the house was to be pulled down, and made a jakes (a common sewer or dung house) of, as follows; rather therefore it should be rendered, “they cast” or “flung themselves” u with great force, and in great haste, as Kimchi, and rushed out of the temple, being eager to do as follows:
and went to the city of the house of Baal; to pull it down; to some city near Samaria where was a temple of Baal; or rather this may design the buildings about the temple of Baal, in which the priests and their families lived, and were so large that they might be called a city of themselves.
u “et proripuerunt se”, De Dicu.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
: when he (the sacrificing priest, not Jehu) had finished the burnt-offering (the singular suffix may also be taken as indefinite, when one had finished, vid., Ewald, 294, b.), Jehu commanded the runners and aides-de-camp: Come and smite them (the worshippers of Baal), without one coming out (escaping); whereupon they smote them with the edge of the sword, i.e., slew them unsparingly. : and the runners and aides-de-camp threw (those who had been slain) away, and went into the citadel of the temple of Baal. cannot be the city of the temple of Baal, i.e., that part of the city in which the temple of Baal stood, for the runners were already in the court of the temple of Baal; but it is no doubt the temple-citadel, the true temple-house ( from , locus circumseptus ) – templum Baalis magnifice exstructum instar arcis alicujus (Seb. Schm.).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
(25) As soon as he had made an end.The Syriac has, when they (i.e., the Baal priests) had made an end. This is probably right. (Comp. the beginning of 2Ki. 10:24). We can hardly suppose with Ewald that Jehu personally offered sacrifices in the character of an ardent Baal-worshipper. For the massacre Jehu chose the moment when all the assembly was absorbed in worship.
To the guard and to the captains.Literally, to the runners (or couriers) and to the adjutants (or squires; 2Ki. 9:25). (Comp. 1Ki. 9:22.) The royal guardsmen and their officers are meant.
Cast them out.That is, threw the dead bodies out of the temple. This is the explanation of the Targum and the other versions. Thenius asks why this should be specially mentioned, and proposes to understand the verb intransitively, rushed out, which suits very well with what follows.
And went to the city of the house of Baal.The word city has here its original meaning, which is also that of the Greek viz., citadel, stronghold; properly, a place surrounded by a ring-fence or rampart. Jehus guards, after the completion of their bloody work in the court of the temple, rushed up the steps into the sanctuary itself, which, like the temple of Solomon, resembled a fortress. (Ex atrio irruperunt satellites Jehu in ipsam arcem templi.Sebastian Schmidt.) Gesenius explains the word as meaning the temenos or sacred enclosure of the temple, but that does not suit the context. (The origin of the word r, city, obscure in Hebrew, is revealed by the cuneiform inscriptions in the Accadian word erim or eri, meaning foundation, and Urui.e., Ur, a proper name, meaning the city.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
25. He had made an end of offering Here Jehu himself is said to do what in fact others did at his command. According to 2Ki 10:24 the worshippers of Baal offered the sacrifices, but here the act is attributed to Jehu. So in the popular language of all times and of all nations, what one does by the agency of others he does himself.
The guard and the captains Literally, the runners and the third men; that is, the the immediate satellites of Jehu, composed of a distinguished and trusty class of warriors.
Cast them out Cast them out of the temple in which they had been slain the dead bodies of the Baal worshippers.
The city of the house of Baal Not that quarter of the city of Samaria where the temple of Baal was located, as many of the older interpreters explain; but the citadel, the enclosed inner sanctuary of the temple. The multitude of Baal worshippers assembled, and the sacrifices were offered in the atrium or fore-court of the temple, and there the slaughter took place; after which the victors went into the inner apartment or citadel of the house of Baal, and brought forth the images of the idol.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Ki 10:25. And the captains cast them out And the captains were dismissed. Houbigant.
REFLECTIONS.Jehu with indefatigable diligence pursues his blow; and as he drives to Samaria,
1. He meets Jehonadab the son of Rechab, a man of eminent piety, coming to congratulate him on his accession, and to encourage him to perfect what he had begun. Jehu with all respect salutes him, and inquires if Jehonadab as heartily espoused his cause, as he reverenced and respected him. On receiving the warmest assurances of his good wishes, Jehu invites him into his chariot, that he may be convinced of his zeal in the Lord’s cause; and by the presence of so good a man, no doubt, concludes to gain the greater reputation to himself. Note; (1.) It is a question that we need often put to ourselves and each other, Is thine heart right? upright and sincere in God’s service. All profession of zeal without that, is but hypocrisy and design. (2.) Whenever there appears an outward fair profession of zeal for God, a good man cannot but charitably wish success, and countenance the work. Hearts must be left to God’s searching. (3.) They who boast much of their zeal give cause to suspect their sincerity. (4.) Many will appear to serve God, as long as their own interest is advanced thereby, whose zeal quickly cools when they can no longer serve themselves.
2. Having destroyed at Samaria all Ahab’s friends and family, as he had done at Jezreel, he contrives how at a stroke to cut off the worshippers of Baal from the land. The design was good, but the lie which paved the way was evil. Professing an uncommon zeal for the worship of Baal, which during Joram’s reign; who had removed the image of Baal, might have been less public and solemn, he convokes all the priests, and perhaps also all the zealous worshippers of Baal, to Samaria, to partake of a great sacrifice which he intends to their God, threatening death to the man who should be found wanting. This collected a vast concourse, the gates of Baal’s temple are open, the house thronged, and all the worshippers dressed for the solemn service: and now pretending zeal for the purity of the sacrifice, lest any servants of Jehovah should have mingled with them, he orders strict search to be made. All things being ready, guards are placed at the avenues, that not a man may escape: every soul is massacred in the temple, the building laid in ruins, the images burnt, and the worship of Baal for the time utterly exterminated. Note; (1.) The wisdom of the serpent may be lawfully used in the cause of God, provided none of the poison of the serpent mingles therewith. (2.) The executioners of God’s vengeance, more terrible than Jehu’s guards, will shortly without mercy execute their commission on every servant of iniquity. (3.) God’s curse, though long oppressed, will rise victorious at the last; and when Jesus shall have cast the wicked into hell, then shall he reign over his saints gloriously.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
2Ki 10:25 And it came to pass, 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] slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast [them] out, and went to the city of the house of Baal.
Ver. 25. Go in, and slay them. ] This was lawful and warrantable; for idolaters were to die by the law. But the poor Protestants in France have been oft served in like sort by the Guises and other bloody persecutors, against all right and reason.
And went to the city of the house of Baal.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
the city = Hebrew. ‘lr, the innermost or most inaccessible part, whether of a city (= the citadel) or a house (as here).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jehus Own Failure
2Ki 10:25-36
Jehu was earnest enough in uprooting all traces of Baal-worship, but he permitted the worship of the calves and was careless in the matter of personal religion, 2Ki 10:31. How much easier it is to see and rebuke the sins of others, than to take heed to our own ways! It is comparatively easy to detect and destroy the sinner, without personally yielding to the claims of God ourselves. The judge who administers the law may be a transgressor of it, and all the more keen in inflicting penalty as if to satisfy his own uneasy conscience. And we who utter Gods solemn warnings against sin must not yield in thought to the sins that we denounce in act.
The Israelites were short in their duty to God, and God cut them short in territory, in wealth, and in power. Hazael thus fulfilled Elishas anticipations, 2Ki 8:12. Those eastern tribes that were attracted by the fatness of the land and settled there first, were the first to suffer. Those who choose for this life only, are the first to deteriorate and perish. It was so with Lot!
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Go in: Exo 32:27, Deu 13:6-11, Eze 9:5-7
let: Eze 22:21, Eze 22:22, Rev 16:6, Rev 16:7
edge: Heb. mouth
Reciprocal: 1Ki 18:40 – Take 2Ki 23:20 – he slew 2Ch 23:14 – whoso followeth her 2Ch 23:17 – the house of Baal
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
10:25 And it came to pass, 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] slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast [them] out, and went to the {k} city of the house of Baal.
(k) Which was near Samaria.