Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 10:9
And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye [be] righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?
9. he went out, and stood ] At the gate, the place of concourse, where the people usually gathered, and whither recent events would bring them in full number. Jehu in this way began to play the king.
Ye be righteous ] He is about to make an appeal to the people. He therefore puts them first of all in a good frame of mind towards himself, by acknowledging them to be fit to be arbiters in the case which he is going to put before them. He admits at once that he is as Jezebel had called him ‘the murderer of his master’ (2Ki 9:31), but before them they see the heads of the whole of Ahab’s sons, slain by the rulers of Samaria. ‘Who smote all these?’ he asks, feeling confident that his act will fade into insignificance before the enormity of their greater butchery. And he was not disappointed.
who slew [R.V. smote ] all these? ] The verb is not the same as in the previous clause, and the same change is needed in verses 11 and 17.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ye be righteous – i. e., Ye are just, and can judge aright. Jehu unfairly keeps back the fact that he had commanded the execution.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Ki 10:9
Who slew all these?
The wholesale slaughter
I see a long row of baskets coming up towards the palace of king Jehu. I am somewhat inquisitive to find out what is in the baskets. I look in and I find the gory heads of seventy slain princes. As the baskets arrive at the gate of the palace, the heads are thrown into two heaps, one on either side the gate. In the morning, the king comes out, and he looks upon the bleeding, ghastly heads of the massacred princes. Looking on either side the gate, he cries out with a ringing emphasis: Who slew all these? There is no use of my taking up your time in trying to give you statistics about the devastation, and the ruin, and the death which strong drink has wrought in this country. When I look upon the desolation I am almost frantic with the scene, while I cry out: Who slew all these? I can answer that question in half a minute. The ministers of Christ who have given no warning; the courts of law that have offered the licensure; the women who give strong drink on New Years Day; the fathers and mothers who have rum on the sideboard; the hundreds of thousands of Christian men and women in the land who are staled in their indifference on this subject–they slew all these! I am now going to tell you what I think are the sorrows and the doom of the drunkard, so that you to whom I speak may not come to the place of torment.
1. The first suffering of the drunkard is in the loss of his good name. God has so arranged it, that no man ever loses his good name except through his own act. All the hatred of men and all the assaults of devils cannot destroy a mans good name, if he really maintains his integrity. If a man is honest, and pure, and Christian, God looks after him.
2. Another loss which the inebriate suffers is that of self-respect. Just as soon as a man wakes up and finds that he is the captive of strong drink, he feels bemoaned.
3. I go further, and say that the inebriate suffers from the loss of his usefulness. Do you not recognise the fact that many of those who are now captives of strong drink, only a little while ago were foremost in the churches and in reformatory institutions?
4. I go on, and say that the inebriate suffers from the loss of physical health.
5. Again: the inebriate suffers through the loss of his home. I do not care how much he loves his wife and children, if this passion for strong drink has mastered him, he will do the most outrageous things, and if he could not get drink in any other way, he would sell his family into eternal bondage. How many homes in our city have been broken up in that way, no one but God knows.
6. But my subject takes a deeper tone, and that is, that the inebriate suffers from the loss of the soul. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. Ye be righteous] Another irony, intended partly to excuse himself, and to involve them in the odium of this massacre, and at the same time to justify the conduct of both, by showing that all was done according to the commandment of the Lord.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To all the people; either, first, To the promiscuous multitude met there to gaze upon this sad and strange spectacle. So the sense is, Be not ye troubled nor affrighted with these unusual and dismal occurrences: if any thing be amiss in these actions, I do here publicly and solemnly acquit you as righteous and innocent; do not you therefore fear any vengeance from God or men for it: if there be any guilt, it is in me, and in those who cut off these heads. Or, secondly, To those who cut off and brought the heads; for the same persons did both, and were here present, as Jehu commanded them, 2Ki 10:6; to them he speaks in the audience of all the people; or by all the people may be meant all those who brought the heads, and were there waiting for Jehu, according to his order. So the speech is in part ironical, to this purpose,
You are righteous in your own eves, and you look upon me as a traitor, and rebel, and murderer, because I have risen against and slain my master, which I acknowledge I have done. But if I am guilty, you are not innocent, and therefore cannot accuse me; for I have killed one, but you a great number. This explication seems probable; only the Hebrew word ham being generally used of the common people, may seem not so fitly to agree to these rulers and great men, who had brought the heads; and that expression, to all the people, implies that Jehu did not direct his speech to some particular persons, but to the whole body of the people then present, whom he clears from all blame, and to whom he appeals as witnesses between him and these persons.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9-11. said to all the people, Ye berighteous, c.A great concourse was assembled to gaze on thisnovel and ghastly spectacle. The speech which Jehu addressed to thespectators was artfully framed to impress their minds with the ideathat so wholesale a massacre was the result of the divine judgmentsdenounced on the house of Ahab and the effect of it was to preparethe public mind for hearing, without horror, of a similar revoltingtragedy which was soon after perpetrated, namely, the extinction ofall the influential friends and supporters of the dynasty of Ahab,including those of the royal house of Judah.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people,…. Who were gathered together to this shocking sight, or on the above accounts:
ye be righteous; having had no concern in taking off the heads of those men:
behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him; I own it, and some may blame me for it, and charge me with treason and murder:
but who slew all these? not he, but the chief men of Samaria, and therefore must be more guilty than he, having shed the blood of so many persons, who had not offended against God and man to so great a degree as Joram; this he said to lessen his own sin, and wipe off the reproach of it, that his character might appear fairer in the eyes of the people, concealing, at the same time, his orders for the slaying of them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(9) And stood.Or, took his placei.e. (according to Reuss), sat as judge in the palace gateway, according to royal custom, and gave audience to the people.
The citizens would naturally be struck with consternation at the sight of the two ghastly pyramids in front of the palace, and would crowd together in expectancy at the gates. Jehu goes forth to justify himself, and calm their fears.
Ye be righteousi.e., guiltless in respect of the deaths of these men, and therefore have nothing to dread. Thenius explains: Ye are just, and therefore will judge justly. Others render: Are ye righteous? implying that Jehu wished to make the people guilty of the massacre of the princes, while owning his own murder of the king.
I.Emphatic: I on my part; or, I indeed.
But who slew all these?Slew should be smote. Jehu professes astonishment, by way of self-exculpation. He hints that as Jehovah had foretold the destruction of the house of Ahab, He must have brought it to pass; and therefore nobody is to blame. (See next verse.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. Ye be righteous That is, ye are not guilty of the blood of the house of Ahab. So far as these massacres have gone I know that ye are innocent.
I conspired I confess and cannot deny that I conspired against Joram, and slew him.
But who slew all these I did not, and I know that ye did not; who, then, is guilty in this case? He wished the people to understand that in this work of blood there were other ministers of Divine judgment besides himself. Most commentators explain these words, like the letter of Jehu above, as the language of sarcasm or irony, and suppose that Jehu either intended to involve them in the odium and guilt of this slaughter, or at least to keep them in ignorance of the fact that he had himself given orders for their slaughter. But this is altogether unnecessary, and unauthorized by any thing that appears in the text. Doubtless what Jehu had done towards this massacre was well known to all the people of Jezreel. He had, indeed, in a certain sense, ordered it, (2Ki 10:6,) but yet in such a way as to involve the nobles and elders and guardians in the guilt as much as himself. Their ready and prompt obedience, in beheading these seventy persons, was, perhaps, hardly expected by Jehu; and when he saw it, he at once began to feel that he was comparatively guiltless of their blood.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Continuing Purge Of The House Of Ahab ( 2Ki 10:9-17 ).
Had Jehu stopped there no blame would have been laid at his door. All would have recognised that he had done what was inevitable. But as can so often happen, having carried out YHWH’s wishes he went to excess and in the end earned the disapproval of the prophets (Hos 1:4). His first excess was to destroy the relatives of Ahaziah, king of Judah, who had unsuspectingly come visiting their royal relatives in Israel, presumably partly because they wanted to commiserate Jehoram for his wounds. As far as we know he had no grounds for knowing whether they were worshippers of Baal or YHWH. His second excess will later be to destroy all the worshippers of Baal without giving any opportunity for repentance. Thus he went far beyond his remit. Meanwhile he also finished off the purging of the house of Ahab, something which the prophetic author approved of as being in accordance with the prophecy of Elijah (2Ki 10:17).
Analysis.
a
b “Know now that there will fall to the earth nothing of the word of YHWH, which YHWH spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for YHWH has done what he spoke by his servant Elijah”. So Jehu smote all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left him none remaining (2Ki 10:10-11).
c And he arose and departed, and went to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing-house of the shepherds in the way, Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, “Who are you?” And they answered, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah, and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen” (2Ki 10:12-13).
d And he said, “Take them alive.” And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing-house, even forty two men, nor did he leave any of them (2Ki 10:14).
c And when he departed from there, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him, and he saluted him, and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?” And Jehonadab answered, “It is.” “If it is, give me your hand.” And he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot (2Ki 10:15).
b And he said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for YHWH.” So they made him ride in his chariot (2Ki 10:16).
a And when he came to Samaria, he smote all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of YHWH, which he spoke to Elijah (2Ki 10:17).
Note that in ‘a’ Jehu speaks of those of the house of Ahab who have been smitten by the people and in the parallel he himself smites all who remained of Ahab. In ‘b’ Jehu reveals his zeal for YHWH by smiting all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and in the parallel he tells Jehonadab that he will yet see his zeal for YHWH. In ‘c’ he departed and went to Samaria and on the way met the brothers of Ahaziah, and in the parallel he departed from where he was (still going to Samaria) and met Jehonadab. Centrally in ‘d’ the brothers (stepbrothers) of Ahaziah were slain.
2Ki 10:9-10
‘And it came about in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, “You are righteous. Behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him, but who smote all these?” Know now that there will fall to the earth nothing of the word of YHWH, which YHWH spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for YHWH has done what he spoke by his servant Elijah.”
Having allowed the heads of the king’s sons to convey their message all that day and night, he went out next morning, and taking up an official stance, presumably in the part of the gate house where judgments were regularly made, (the city gate was where much public business was done. Compare Rth 4:1 ff), he addressed the people. He was seeking to consolidate his position and win their approval. In the light of the final reference to the fulfilment of the word of YHWH we must probably see ‘You are righteous’ as an indication of his official approval of what ‘they’ had done. They had been even more righteous than he, for he had only slain two of those who were under YHWH’s curse whereas they had slain seventy. And he wanted them to see it all as demonstrating that what YHWH had declared He had brought about through the effectiveness of His word of power (compare Isa 55:10-13), and that they had had their full part in it along with him. By this he was uniting them with him in what had happened.
Others, however, see the words ‘you are righteous’ differently. They consider that we should see it as indicating a rarer meaning of the Hebrew word with the significance of ‘innocent’, indicating a negative innocence as against a positive righteousness. In other words they must not blame themselves, any more than he should be blamed. Even others see it as sarcastic, with the idea being that he was saying, “see how ‘righteous’ you are. You slew a lot more than I did.”
Whichever way we take it, it is clear that his main purpose was to vindicate his own actions, while seeking to maintain their (possibly reluctant) approval, in the light of what he was going to do next. For having dealt with all possible claimants to the throne in Samaria, he was now about to remove all supporters of Ahab’s house in Jezreel.
2Ki 10:11
‘So Jehu smote all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his familiar friends, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.’
Recognising that, next to Samaria, Jezreel was the place where Ahab’s family had had most support (it had long been the site of the summer/winter palace of the house of Ahab) Jehu now set about destroying that support by ‘smiting’ all the high officials, personal friends and idolatrous priests in Jezreel who owed loyalty to the house of Ahab and might seek to undermine his (Jehu’s) position, continuing the process until none were left.
2Ki 10:12-13
‘And he arose and departed, and went to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing-house of the shepherds in the way, Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, “Who are you?” And they answered, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah, and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen.” ’
Then he set out for Samaria in order to do the same in Samaria. To quite some extent this was a breach of the agreement which he had reached with Samaria, for Samaria had done all that he had asked, and had fulfilled the terms of the surrender. They therefore had a right not to be subjected to a purge. But he was a soldier and knew only one way to rule, and that was by force. Thus his aim was now to purge all support for the house of Ahab in Samaria regardless of how anyone saw it.
As he was on the road to Samaria with his forces he came to ‘the shearing house of the shepherds’, clearly a well known landmark, (or possibly Beth Eked of the shepherds, which some associate with Beit Qad, five kilometres (three miles) north of Jenin), and there he came across a group of obviously wealthy travellers. When he asked them who they were they replied in all innocence that they were brothers of Ahaziah of Judah on their way to visit the Israelite royal family, no doubt assuming that such a description would put them in good standing with this obviously Israelite commander. ‘Brothers’ must be taken in a wide sense to include step-brothers, for Ahaziah’s own brothers had been slaughtered by the Arabians (2Ch 22:1).
2Ki 10:14
‘And he said, “Take them alive.” And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing-house, even forty two men, nor did he leave any of them.’
There were ‘forty two’ of them, and they were to receive the shock of their lives. For instead of receiving the respect that they were anticipating they found themselves forcibly arrested, as Jehu turned to his men and said, ‘Take them alive.’ Then they were borne off to the pit at the shearing house (normally for use in shearing) where they themselves were put to death with not a single one being spared. They had been ‘sheared’ indeed.
The number forty two Isaiah 2 x 3 x 7 and may thus be intended to indicate a complete and perfect number (as with ‘seventy’), for three signifies completeness, x 2 signifies in depth completeness, and seven indicates divine perfection. Others argue for it to be taken literally. It is always a problem in ancient literature as to when to take numbers literally, for numbers were very much used in a symbolic fashion as adjectives in order to teach a lesson (compare the ‘forty two’ smitten by bears in 2Ki 2:24) as possibly here.
2Ki 10:15
‘And when he departed from there, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him, and he saluted him, and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?” And Jehonadab answered, “It is.” “If it is, give me your hand.” And he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot.’
As he proceeded on his way he met up with Jehonadab the son of Rechab who was coming to meet him, having no doubt heard about his activities and being desirous of influencing the future return (he hoped) to full Yahwism. Jehu then asked him if he was one with him in his reforms and his anti-Baalism, and Jehonadab assured him that he certainly was, at which Jehu took him up into his chariot. This act would put Jehu in well with discontented Yahwists who admired the conservatism and fervency of the Rechabites. This incident is mentioned in order to demonstrate that Jehu was not simply seen in Israel as being out for personal gain in all that had happened but was genuinely concerned for the honour of YHWH. Jehonadab was a fervent, primitive Yahwist, and much admired, and would have approved of his treatment of the idolatrous house of Ahab. He would want to join in with any revival of Yahwism. Elsewhere Jonadab was described as a faithful follower of YHWH who observed the Mosaic Law more strictly than most (see Jer 35:6-7). Indeed it appears that his aim was to take Israel back to its wilderness days, and he encouraged his followers (the Rechabites) to abstain from strong liquor, to live in tents, to refuse to be involved in settled agriculture and to avoid city living, because, from his idealistic viewpoint, when Israel had lived like that they had been faithful to YHWH. To be associated with him was thus to be seen as a firm Yahwist.
Rechab, from whom the descendants of Jehonadab derived their tribal name, was the son of Hammath, and was descended from the Kenites (1Ch 2:55), the tribe to which Hobab the father-in-law of Moses had also belonged (Num 10:29). Thus the Rechabites may even have been descendants of Hobab, since the Kenites, the sons of Hobab, had gone with the Israelites from the Sinai desert to Canaan, and had there carried on their nomadic life (Jdg 1:16; Jdg 4:11; 1Sa 15:6).
2Ki 10:16
‘And he said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for YHWH.” So they made him ride in his chariot.’
Jehu then called on Jehonadab to come to Samaria with him and see how zealous he was for YHWH, as a result of which Jehonadab was assisted up into Jehu’s chariot. Being seen as on such terms with Jehonadab would undoubtedly have increased Jehu’s reputation for ‘godliness’.
2Ki 10:17
‘And when he came to Samaria, he smote all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of YHWH, which he spoke to Elijah.’
On arrival in Samaria Jehu carried out a purge of ‘all who remained to ‘Ahab’ in Samaria. It cannot be denied that in doing so he went against the spirit of his earlier agreement with the people of Samaria. But he was now mopping up Ahab’s supporters and close friends, and thereby seeking to destroy all the deep rooted influence of the house of Ahab in Samaria, fulfilling the word of YHWH spoken to Elijah. This indeed was the prophetic author’s main aim, to demonstrate that through it all YHWH’s purpose was being carried out. He was not, however, necessarily approving of the way in which Jehu was doing it.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Ki 10:9 And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye [be] righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?
Ver. 9. And said to all the people. ] Who were got together to see this rueful spectacle; he therefore taketh that opportunity to make his apology; alleging for his defenee the prophecy of Elijah, which he had now fulfilled, and God’s decree, which he had executed. He justifieth also hereby those that had slain the seventy young princes at his command, upon the same account; and freeth the rest of the people from their fears, when he saith, Ye be righteous; that is, I pronounce you innocent; think not that I intend any harm to you, &c., for they, seeing his severity against Ahab’s family and familiars, might fear, as the Romans did concerning Sulla, that there would be , ; no end or measure of his bloodshed. a
a Plutarch.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Ye be righteous. Said by way of flattery and to allay disaffection.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Ye be righteous: 1Sa 12:3, Isa 5:3
I conspired: 2Ki 9:14-24, Hos 1:4
Reciprocal: 2Ki 10:7 – slew seventy
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
2Ki 10:9-10. He said to all the people, Ye be righteous This is spoken ironically: as much as to say, You may look upon me as a very wicked man, for rebelling against my master and killing him: but look here; see, your chief men, the confidants and favourites of Joram, have slain seventy of his sons committed to their custody! Know now, &c. As if he had said, The truth is, neither I nor they are to be blamed, nor you, that assisted and encouraged me herein; for this is not mans work, but Gods, and done at his command. The Lord hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah Whom he mentions rather than Elisha; partly because Elijah was now dead, and therefore his name and memory were more sacred than Elishas, who was yet alive; it being the general practice and folly of mankind, to value and honour, after their death, those whom they contemned while they lived; and partly because Elijahs prophecy was known and famous, while Elishas was delivered in a corner, and that not from his own mouth, but by one of the sons of the prophets.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
10:9 And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye [be] {d} righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?
(d) You cannot justly condemn me for the king’s death, seeing as you have done the same to his posterity: for the Lord commanded me, and moved you to carry out his judgment.