Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Kings 9:16
So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.
16. went to Jezreel ] After these words the LXX. has “for Joram king of Israel was being cured in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians gave him in Ramoth in the battle with Hazael king of Syria, for he was a mighty man and man of power”.
And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram ] This visit of Ahaziah to Joram and its fatal result is the only portion of the history alluded to by the Chronicler (2Ch 22:7-9). He tells how the visit was ordained by God for Ahaziah’s destruction. He gives however some variations in reference to the manner of Ahaziah’s death, on which see below, verse 27.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 16. Jehu – went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there.] From the preceding verse we learn, that Joram had been wounded in his attack on Ramoth-gilead, and had gone to Jezreel to be cured; and neither he nor Ahaziah knew any thing of the conspiracy in Ramoth-gilead, because Jehu and his captains took care to prevent any person from leaving the city; so that the two kings at Jezreel knew nothing of what had taken place.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Went to Jezreel, accompanied with the horsemen of his army.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
16. So Jehu rode in a chariot, andwent to JezreelFull of ambitious designs, he immediatelyproceeded to cross the Jordan to execute his commission on the houseof Ahab.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
So Jehu rode in a chariot,…. In great pomp and majesty as a king:
and went to Jezreel: set forward on a march thither with his captains, and part of his army at least, from Ramothgilead; which, according to Bunting n, was twenty four miles:
for Jordan lay there; to be cured of his wounds, as before observed:
and Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram; see 2Ki 8:29.
n Travels, &c. p. 166.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Slaying of the Two Kings, Joram of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah. – 2Ki 9:16. Jehu drove without delay to Jezreel, where Joram was lying sick, and Ahaziah had come upon a visit to him.
2Ki 9:17-21 As the horsemen, who were sent to meet him on the announcement of the watchman upon the tower at Jezreel that a troop was approaching, joined the followers of Jehu, and eventually the watchman, looking down from the tower, thought that he could discover the driving of Jehu in the approaching troop, Joram and Ahaziah mounted their chariots to drive and meet him, and came upon him by the portion of the ground of Naboth the Jezreelite. The second in 2Ki 9:17 is a rarer form of the absolute state (see Ges. 80, 2, Anm. 2, and Ewald, 173, d.). – : “what hast thou to do with peace?” i.e., to trouble thyself about it. : “turn behind me,” sc. to follow me. : “the driving is like the driving of Jehu; for he drives like a madman.” , in insania , i.e., in actual fact in praecipitatione (Vatabl.). “The portion of Naboth” is the vineyard of Naboth mentioned in 1 Kings 21, which formed only one portion of the gardens of the king’s palace.
2Ki 9:22 To Joram’s inquiry, “Is it peace, Jehu?” the latter replied, “What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her many witchcrafts continue?” The notion of continuance is implied in (see Ewald, 217, e.); is spiritual whoredom, i.e., idolatry. , incantationes magicae , then witchcrafts generally, which were usually associated with idolatry (cf. Deu 18:10.).
2Ki 9:23 Joram detecting the conspiracy from this reply, turned round ( as in 1Ki 22:34) and fled, calling out to Ahaziah , “deceit,” i.e., we are deceived, in actual fact betrayed.
2Ki 9:24 But Jehu seized the bow ( , lit., filled his hand with the bow), and shot Joram “between his arms,” i.e., in his back between the shoulders in an oblique direction, so that the arrow came out at his heart, and Joram sank down in his chariot.
2Ki 9:25-26 Jehu then commanded his aide-de-camp ( , see at 2Sa 23:8) Bidkar to cast the slain man into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite, and said, “For remember how we, I and thou, both rode (or drove) behind his father Ahab, and Jehovah pronounced this threat upon him.” are accusatives, written with a looser connection for , as the apposition shows: literally, think of me and thee, the riders. The olden translators were misled by , and therefore transposed into the first person, and Thenius naturally follows them. , riding in pairs. This is the rendering adopted by most of the commentators, although it might be taken, as it is by Kimchi and Bochart, as signifying the two persons who are carried in the same chariot. , a burden, then a prophetic utterance of a threatening nature (see the Comm. on Nah 1:1). For the connection of the clauses , see Ewald, 338, a. In 2Ki 9:26 Jehu quotes the word of God concerning Ahab in 1Ki 21:19 so far as the substance is concerned, to show that he is merely the agent employed in executing it. “Truly ( , a particle used in an oath) the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons have I seen yesterday, saith the Lord, and upon this field will I requite him.” The slaying of the sons of Naboth is not expressly mentioned in 1Ki 21:13, “because it was so usual a thing, that the historian might leave it out as a matter of course” (J. D. Mich., Ewald). It necessarily followed, however, from the fact that Naboth’s field was confiscated (see at 1Ki 21:14).
2Ki 9:27-29 When Ahaziah saw this, he fled by the way to the garden-house, but was smitten, i.e., mortally wounded, by Jehu at the height of Gur near Jibleam, so that as he was flying still farther to Megiddo he died, and was carried as a corpse by his servants to Jerusalem, and buried there. After , “and him also, smite him,” we must supply , “and they smote him,” which has probably only dropped out through a copyist’s error. The way by which Ahaziah fled, and the place where he was mortally wounded, cannot be exactly determined, as the situation of the localities named has not yet been ascertained. The “garden-house” ( ) cannot have formed a portion of the royal gardens, but must have stood at some distance from the city of Jezreel, as Ahaziah went away by the road thither, and was not wounded till he reached the height of Gur near Jibleam. , the ascent or eminence of Gur, is defined by Jibleam. Now, as Ahaziah fled from Jezreel to Megiddo past Jibleam, Thenius thinks that Jibleam must have been situated between Jezreel and Megiddo. But between Jezreel and Megiddo there is only the plain of Jezreel or Esdrelom, in which we cannot suppose that there was any such eminence as that of Gur. Moreover Jibleam or Bileam (1Ch 6:55, see at Jos 17:11) was probably to the south of Jenin, where the old name has been preserved in the well of Arab. bl’mh, Belameh, near Beled Sheik Manssr, which is half an hour’s journey off. And it is quite possible to bring this situation of Jibleam into harmony with the account before us. For instance, it is a priori probable that Ahaziah would take the road to Samaria when he fled from Jezreel, not only because his father’s brothers were there (2Ki 10:13), but also because it was the most direct road to Jerusalem; and he might easily be pursued by Jehu and his company to the height of Gur near Jibleam before they overtook him, since the distance from Jezreel (Zern) to Jenin is only two hours and a half (Rob. Pal. iii. p. 828), and the height of Gur might very well be an eminence which he would pass on the road to Jibleam. But the wounded king may afterwards have altered the direction of his flight for the purpose of escaping to Megiddo, probably because he thought that he should be in greater safety there than he would be in Samaria.
(Note: In 2Ch 22:8-9, the account of the slaying of Ahaziah and his brethren (2Ki 10:12.) is condensed into one brief statement, and then afterwards it is stated with regard to Ahaziah, that “ Jehu sought him, and they seized him when he was hiding in Samaria, and brought him to Jehu and slew him, “ from which it appears that Ahaziah escaped to Samaria. From the brevity of these accounts it is impossible to reconcile the discrepancy with perfect certainty. On the one hand, our account, which is only limited to the main fact, does not preclude the possibility that Ahaziah really escaped to Samaria, and was there overtaken by Jehu ‘ s followers, and then brought back to Jehu, and wounded upon the height of Gur near Jibleam, whence he fled to Megiddo, where he breathed out his life. On the other hand, in the perfectly summary account in the Chronicles, may be understood as referring to the attempt to escape to Samaria and hide himself there, and may be reconciled with the assumption that he was seized upon the way to Samaria, and when overtaken by Jehu was mortally wounded.)
– In 2Ki 9:29 we are told once more in which year of Joram’s reign Ahaziah became king. The discrepancy between “the eleventh year” here and “the twelfth year” in 2Ki 8:25 may be most simply explained, on the supposition that there was a difference in the way of reckoning the commencement of the years of Joram’s reign.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Jehu’s Approach to Jezreel. | B. C. 884. |
16 So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram. 17 And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace? 18 So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again. 19 Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. 20 And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously. 21 And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many? 23 And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah. 24 And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. 25 Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden upon him; 26 Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD. 27 But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. 28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. 29 And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.
From Ramoth-Gilead to Jezreel was more than one day’s march; about the mid-way between them the river Jordan must be crossed. We may suppose Jehu to have marched with all possible expedition, and to have taken the utmost precaution to prevent the tidings from getting to Jezreel before him; and, at length, we have him within sight first, and then within reach, of the devoted king.
I. Joram’s watchman discovers him first at a distance, him and his retinue, and gives notice to the king of the approach of a company, whether of friends or foes he cannot tell. But the king (impatient to know what is the matter, and perhaps jealous that the Syrians, who had wounded him, had traced him by the blood to his own palace, and were coming to seize him) sent first one messenger, and then another, to bring him intelligence, v. 17-19. He had scarcely recovered from the fright he was put into in the battle, and his guilty conscience put him into a continual terror. Each messenger asked the same question: “Is it peace? are you for us or for our adversaries? Do you bring good tidings or bad?” Each had the same answer: What hast thou to do with peace? Turn thee behind me,2Ki 9:18; 2Ki 9:19. As if he had said, “It is not to thee, but to him that sent thee, that I will give answer; for thy part, if thou consult thy own safety, turn thee behind me, and enlist thyself among my followers.” The watchman gave notice that the messengers were taken prisoners, and at length observed that the leader of this troop drove like Jehu, who it seems was noted for driving furiously, thereby discovering himself to be a man of a hot eager spirit, intent upon his business, and pushing forward with all his might. A man of such a violent temper was fittest for the service to which Jehu was designated. The wisdom of God is seen in the choice of proper instruments to be employed in his work. But it is not much for any man’s reputation to be known by his fury. He that has rule over his own spirit is better than the mighty. The Chaldee paraphrase gives this a contrary sense: The leading is like that of Jehu, for he leads quietly. And, it should seem, he did not come up very fast, for then there would not have been time for all this that passed. And some think he chose to march slowly, that he might give Joram time to come out to him, and so dispatch him before he entered the city.
II. Joram himself goes out to meet him, and takes Ahaziah king of Judah along with him, neither of them equipped for war, as not expecting an enemy, but in haste to have their curiosity satisfied. How strangely has Providence sometimes ordered it, that men have been in haste to meet their ruin when their day has come to fall.
1. The place where Joram met Jehu was ominous: In the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite, v. 21. The very sight of that ground was enough to make Joram tremble and Jehu triumph; for Joram had the guilt of Naboth’s blood fighting against him and Jehu had the force of Elijah’s curse fighting for him. The circumstances of events are sometimes so ordered by divine Providence as to make the punishment answer to the sin as face answers to face in a glass.
2. Joram’s demand was still the same: “Is it peace, Jehu? Is all well? Dost thou come home thus flying from the Syrians or more than a conqueror over them?” It seems, he looked for peace, and could not entertain any other thought. Note, It is very common for great sinners, even when they are upon the brink of ruin, to flatter themselves with an opinion that all is well with them, and to cry peace to themselves.
3. Jehu’s reply was very startling. He answered him with a question: What peace canst thou expect, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel (who, though queen dowager, was in effect queen regent) and her witchcrafts are so many? See how plainly Jehu deals with him. Formerly he durst not do so, but now he had another spirit. Note, Sinners will not always be flattered; one time or other, they will have their own given them, Ps. xxxvi. 2. Observe, (1.) He charges upon him his mother’s wickedness, because he had at first learned it and then with his kingly power protected it. She stands impeached for whoredom, corporal and spiritual (serving idols and serving them with the very acts of lewdness), for witchcraft likewise, enchantments and divinations, used in honour of her idols; and these multiplied, the whoredoms and the witchcrafts many; for those that abandon themselves to wicked courses know not where they will stop. One sin begets another. (2.) Upon that account he throws him off from all pretensions to peace: “What peace can come to that house in which there is so much wickedness unrepented of?” Note, The way of sin can never be the way of peace, Isa. lvii. 21. What peace can sinners have with God, what peace with their own consciences, what good, what comfort, can they expect in life, in death, or after death, who go on still in their trespasses? No peace so long as sin is persisted in; but, as soon as it is repented of and forsaken, there is peace.
4. The execution was done immediately. When Joram heard of his mother’s crimes his heart failed him; he presently concluded the long-threatened day of reckoning had now come, and cried out, “There is treachery, O Ahaziah! Jehu is our enemy, and it is time for us to shift for our safety.” Both fled, and, (1.) Joram king of Israel was slain presently, v. 24. Jehu dispatched him with his own hands. The bow was not drawn at a venture, as that which sent the fatal arrow through the joints of his father’s harness, but Jehu directed the arrow between his shoulders as he fled (it was one of God’s arrows which he has ordained against the persecutor, Ps. vii. 13), and it reached to his heart, so that he died upon the spot. He was now the top branch of Ahab’s house, and therefore was first cut off. He died a criminal, under the sentence of the law, which Jehu, the executioner, pursues in the disposal of the dead body. Naboth’s vineyard was hard by, which put him in mind of that circumstance of the doom Elijah passed upon Ahab, “I will requite thee in this plat, said the Lord (2Ki 9:25; 2Ki 9:26), for the blood of Naboth himself, and for the blood of his sons,” who were either put to death with him as partners in his crime, or secretly murdered afterwards, lest they should bring an appeal, or find some way to avenge their father’s death, or break their hearts for the loss of him, or (his whole estate being confiscated, as well as his vineyard) lose their livelihoods, which was in effect to lose their lives. For this the house of Ahab must be reckoned with; and that very piece of ground which he, with so much pride and pleasure, had made himself master of at the expense of the guilt of innocent blood, now became the theatre on which his son’s dead body lay exposed a spectacle to the world. Thus the Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth. Higgaion. Selah. (2.) Ahaziah king of Judah was pursued, and slain in a little time, and not far off, 2Ki 9:27; 2Ki 9:28. [1.] Though he was now in Joram’s company, he would not have been slain but that he was joined with the house of Ahab both in affinity and in iniquity. He was one of them (so he had made himself by his sins) and therefore he must fare as they fared. Jehu justly construed his commission as extending to them. Yet, [2.] Perhaps he would not at this time have fallen with them if he had not been found in company with them. It is a dangerous thing to associate with evil-doers; we may be entangled both in guilt and misery by it.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
(16) Lay.Was lying. His wounds were not yet quite healed.
Ahaziah king of Judah was come down.See 2Ki. 8:29. After relating what had meanwhile occurred with the army at Ramoth, the narrative returns to that point. Instead of Joram was lying there, the LXX. has, Joram king of Israel was being healed in Jezreel of the shots wherewith the Arameans shot him in Ramoth, in the war with Hazael king of Syria, because he was mighty and a man of might. The first sentence, Joram king of Israel . . . king of Syria, was probably a marginal note of a different reading of the first half of 2Ki. 9:15. This was inadvertently inserted by some transcriber in connection with Joram in the present verse. The sentence, Because he was mighty and a man of might, was originally a marginal note on the words Hazael king of Syria (2Ki. 9:14), but in like manner came to be erroneously connected with the same words in the various reading of 2Ki. 9:15 (Thenius).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2Ki 9:16 So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.
Ver. 16. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down. ] But to an ill bargain, as we say; to be “taken in an evil net,” as Solomon hath it. As he had joined with Joram in sin, so he was to be joined with him in destruction, and all this by the will and appointment of God, as it is in 2Ch 22:7 , at a time of great joy and jollity for the recovery of Ramothgilead, and for the entertainment of the king of Judah, and forty princes of his blood, who were expected at court. 2Ki 10:13 Wicked men are taken at the worst.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
And Ahaziah: 2Ki 8:28, 2Ki 8:29, 2Ch 22:6, 2Ch 22:7
Reciprocal: 1Ki 18:45 – Ahab
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
9:16 So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And {e} Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.
(e) God had thus ordained as in 2Ch 12:7 , that this wicked and idolatrous king, who was more ready to please wicked Joram than to obey the will of God, would perish with him, by whose means he thought to have been stronger.