2 Kings 9

Jehu's Revolution and Purge

¹Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, “Put your belt on your waist, take this vial of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead.

²When you come there, find Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in and make him rise up from among his brothers, and take him to an inner room.

³Then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, ‘The LORD says, “I have anointed you king over Israel.”’ Then open the door, flee, and don’t wait.”

⁴So the young man, the young prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead.

⁵When he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting. Then he said, “I have a message for you, captain.” Jehu said, “To which one of us?” He said, “To you, O captain.”

⁶He arose, and went into the house. Then he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel.

⁷You must strike your master Ahab’s house, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.

⁸For the whole house of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab everyone who urinates against a wall, both him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel.

⁹I will make Ahab’s house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah.

¹⁰The dogs will eat Jezebel on the plot of ground of Jezreel, and there shall be no one to bury her.’” Then he opened the door and fled.

¹¹When Jehu came out to the servants of his lord and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this madman come to you?” He said to them, “You know the man and how he talks.”

¹²They said, “That is a lie. Tell us now.” He said, “He said to me, ‘The LORD says, I have anointed you king over Israel.’”

¹³Then they hurried, and each man took his cloak, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king.”

¹⁴So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was defending Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria;

¹⁵but King Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) Jehu said, “If this is your thinking, then let no one escape and go out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.”

¹⁶So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.

¹⁷Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a company.” Joram said, “Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’”

¹⁸So one went on horseback to meet him, and said, “the king says, ‘Is it peace?’” Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me!” The watchman said, “The messenger came to them, but he isn’t coming back.”

¹⁹Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them and said, “The king says, ‘Is it peace?’” Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me!”

²⁰The watchman said, “He came to them, and isn’t coming back. The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”

²¹Joram said, “Get ready!” They got his chariot ready. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot; and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him on Naboth the Jezreelite’s land.

²²When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace, so long as the prostitution of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft abound?”

²³Joram turned his hands and fled, and said to Ahaziah, “This is treason, Ahaziah!”

²⁴Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and struck Joram between his arms; and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.

²⁵Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, “Pick him up, and throw him in the plot of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how, when you and I rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden on him:

²⁶‘Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons,’ says the LORD; ‘and I will repay you in this plot of ground,’ says the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him onto the plot of ground, according to the LORD’s word.”

²⁷But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. Jehu followed after him, and said, “Strike him also in the chariot!” They struck him at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. He fled to Megiddo, and died there.

²⁸His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in David’s city.

²⁹In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.

³⁰When Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and adorned her head, and looked out at the window.

³¹As Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, “Do you come in peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?”

³²He lifted up his face to the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked out at him.

³³He said, “Throw her down!” So they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses. Then he trampled her under foot.

³⁴When he had come in, he ate and drank. Then he said, “See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter.”

³⁵They went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull, the feet, and the palms of her hands.

³⁶Therefore they came back, and told him. He said, “This is the LORD’s word, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘The dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel on the plot of Jezreel,

³⁷and the body of Jezebel will be as dung on the surface of the field on Jezreel’s land, so that they won’t say, “This is Jezebel.”’”

Previous 2 Kings 8

Next 2 Kings 10

Elisha initiates a divinely commanded revolution by sending a prophet to secretly anoint Jehu as king of Israel at Ramoth Gilead. When Jehu's fellow officers learn of his anointing, they immediately proclaim him king and support his conspiracy against the house of Ahab. Jehu then races to Jezreel where he systematically executes God's judgment, killing both King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah, fulfilling Elijah's earlier prophecy about the destruction of Ahab's dynasty.

Context

This chapter marks the violent fulfillment of Elijah's prophecies from 1 Kings 21, transitioning from Ahab's dynasty to Jehu's reign that will dominate the following chapters.

Key Themes

Outline

1-3
Elisha's Secret Commission Elisha sends a young prophet to anoint Jehu as king and deliver God's judgment against Ahab's house.
4-10
Jehu's Anointing and Divine Mandate The prophet anoints Jehu in private and declares God's command to destroy Ahab's dynasty and avenge the prophets' blood.
11-13
Military Proclamation of Jehu as King Jehu reveals his anointing to his fellow officers, who immediately acclaim him king with ceremonial honors.
14-16
Jehu's March to Jezreel Jehu secures his conspiracy and rides swiftly to Jezreel where the wounded King Joram is recovering.
17-26
Confrontation and Death of Joram Jehu meets King Joram in Naboth's field and kills him, fulfilling Elijah's prophecy about divine retribution.
27-29
Death of King Ahaziah Jehu pursues and mortally wounds Ahaziah of Judah, who dies fleeing to Megiddo.
30-37
Jezebel's Defiant End Jezebel meets her prophesied death as palace officials throw her from a window and dogs devour her body.

Jehu's Revolution and Purge

9:1–10:36

narrative narration wrathful

Elisha sends a prophet to anoint Jehu as king of Israel with a divine mandate to destroy Ahab's house and avenge the blood of the Lord's servants. This begins Jehu's violent revolution against the house of Ahab.

person_contrast

Elisha, who typically performs miracles of provision and healing, here orchestrates Israel's bloodiest political revolution by anointing Jehu to execute divine vengeance.

Insight Character Study

Elisha, who typically performs miracles of provision and healing, here orchestrates Israel's bloodiest political revolution by anointing Jehu to execute divine vengeance.

Cross-References

Connected passages across Scripture

2 Kings 9:1 4 references

Lexicals 4

1 Kings 22:6 Lexical

Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Should I go against R…

2 Kings 9

Jehu's Revolution and Purge

Jehu's Revolution and Purge

Insights

Cross-References

2 Kings 9:1 4 references

2 Kings 9:3 4 references

2 Kings 9:4 4 references

2 Kings 9:6 3 references

2 Kings 9:7 2 references

2 Kings 9:8 2 references

2 Kings 9:9 5 references

2 Kings 9:10 1 reference

2 Kings 9:14 5 references

2 Kings 9:15 4 references

2 Kings 9:16 4 references

2 Kings 9:18 1 reference

2 Kings 9:21 5 references

2 Kings 9:22 1 reference

2 Kings 9:25 5 references

2 Kings 9:27 2 references

2 Kings 9:28 1 reference

2 Kings 9:29 5 references

2 Kings 9:30 5 references

2 Kings 9:33 1 reference

2 Kings 9:36 2 references

2 Kings 9:37 1 reference

Interlinear

Historical Context