17 And there stood H5975 a watchman H6822 on the tower H4026 in Jezreel, H3157 and he spied H7200 the company H8229 of Jehu H3058 as he came, H935 and said, H559 I see H7200 a company. H8229 And Joram H3088 said, H559 Take H3947 an horseman, H7395 and send H7971 to meet H7125 them, and let him say, H559 Is it peace? H7965
18 So there went H3212 one on horseback H7392 H5483 to meet H7125 him, and said, H559 Thus saith H559 the king, H4428 Is it peace? H7965 And Jehu H3058 said, H559 What hast thou to do with peace? H7965 turn H5437 thee behind H310 me. And the watchman H6822 told, H5046 saying, H559 The messenger H4397 came H935 to them, but he cometh not again. H7725
19 Then he sent out H7971 a second H8145 on horseback, H7392 H5483 which came H935 to them, and said, H559 Thus saith H559 the king, H4428 Is it peace? H7965 And Jehu H3058 answered, H559 What hast thou to do with peace? H7965 turn H5437 thee behind H310 me.
20 And the watchman H6822 told, H5046 saying, H559 He came H935 even unto them, and cometh not again: H7725 and the driving H4491 is like the driving H4491 of Jehu H3058 the son H1121 of Nimshi; H5250 for he driveth H5090 furiously. H7697
21 And Joram H3088 said, H559 Make ready. H631 And his chariot H7393 was made ready. H631 And Joram H3088 king H4428 of Israel H3478 and Ahaziah H274 king H4428 of Judah H3063 went out, H3318 each H376 in his chariot, H7393 and they went out H3318 against H7125 Jehu, H3058 and met H4672 him in the portion H2513 of Naboth H5022 the Jezreelite. H3158
22 And it came to pass, when Joram H3088 saw H7200 Jehu, H3058 that he said, H559 Is it peace, H7965 Jehu? H3058 And he answered, H559 What peace, H7965 so long as H5704 the whoredoms H2183 of thy mother H517 Jezebel H348 and her witchcrafts H3785 are so many? H7227
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on 2 Kings 9
Commentary on 2 Kings 9 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 9
Hazael and Jehu were the men that were designed to be the instruments of God's justice in punishing and destroying the house of Ahab. Elijah was told to appoint them to this service; but, upon Ahab's humiliation, a reprieve was granted, and so it was left to Elisha to appoint them. Hazael's elevation to the throne of Syria we read of in the foregoing chapter; and we must now attend Jehu to the throne of Israel; for him that escapeth the sword of Hazael, as Joram and Ahaziah did, Jehu must slay, of which this chapter gives us an account.
2Ki 9:1-10
We have here the anointing of Jehu to be king, who was, at this time, a commander (probably commander-in-chief) of the forces employed at Ramoth-Gilead, v. 14. There he was fighting for the king his master, but received orders from a higher king to fight against him. It does not appear that Jehu aimed at the government, or that he ever thought of it, but the commission given him was a perfect surprise to him. Some think that he had been anointed before by Elijah, whom God ordered to do it, but privately, and with an intimation that he must not act till further orders, as Samuel anointed David long before he was to come to the throne: but that it not at all probable, for then we must suppose Elijah had anointed Hazael too. No, when God bade him do these things he bade him anoint Elisha to be prophet in his room, to do them when he was gone, as God should direct him. Here is,
The prophet, having done this errand, made the best of his way home again, and left Jehu alone to consider what he had to do and beg direction from God.
2Ki 9:11-15
Jehu, after some pause, returned to his place at the board, taking no notice of what had passed, but, as it should seem, designing, for the present, to keep it to himself, if they had not urged him to disclose it. Let us therefore see what passed between him and the captains.
2Ki 9:16-29
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.
2Ki 9:30-37
The greatest delinquent in the house of Ahab was Jezebel: it was she that introduced Baal, slew the Lord's prophets, contrived the murder of Naboth, stirred up her husband first, and then her sons, to do wickedly; a cursed woman she is here called (v. 34), a curse to the country, and whom all that wished well to their country had a curse for. Three reigns her reign had lasted, but now, at length, her day had come to fall. We read of a false prophetess in the church of Thyatira that is compared to Jezebel, and called by her name (Rev. 2:20), her wickedness the same, seducing God's servants to idolatry, a long space given her to repent (v. 21) as to Jezebel, and a fearful ruin brought upon her at last (v. 22, 23), as here upon Jezebel. So that Jezebel's destruction may be looked upon as typical of the destruction of idolaters and persecutors, especially that great whore, that mother of harlots, that hath made herself drunk with the blood of saints and the nations drunk with the wine of her fornications, when God shall put it into the heart of the kings of the earth to hate her, Rev. 17:5, 6, 16. Now here we have,