2 Kings 9:5

9:5 When he arrived, the officers of the army were sitting there.¹ So he said, “I have a message for you, O officer.”² Jehu asked, “For which one of us?”³ He replied, “For you, O officer.”

2 Kings 9:14

9:14 Then Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi conspired against Joram.

Jehu the Assassin

Now Joram had been in Ramoth Gilead with the whole Israelite army,⁴ guarding against an invasion by King Hazael of Syria.

2 Kings 9:17-19

9:17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and saw Jehu’s troops approaching.⁵ He said, “I see troops!”⁶ Jehoram ordered,⁷ “Send a rider out to meet them and have him ask, ‘Is everything all right?’”⁸ 9:18 So the horseman⁹ went to meet him and said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’”¹⁰ Jehu replied, “None of your business!¹¹ Follow me.” The watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, but hasn’t started back.” 9:19 So he sent a second horseman out to them¹² and he said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’”¹³ Jehu replied, “None of your business! Follow me.”

2 Kings 9:24

9:24 Jehu aimed his bow and shot an arrow right between Jehoram’s shoulders.¹⁴ The arrow went through¹⁵ his heart and he fell to his knees in his chariot.

2 Kings 9:33

9:33 He said, “Throw her down!” So they threw her down, and when she hit the ground,¹⁶ her blood splattered against the wall and the horses, and Jehu drove his chariot over her.¹⁷

2 Kings 10:1

Jehu Wipes Out Ahab’s Family

10:1 Ahab had seventy sons living in Samaria.¹⁸ So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the leading officials of Jezreel and to the guardians of Ahab’s dynasty. This is what the letters said,¹⁹

2 Kings 10:5

10:5 So the palace supervisor,²⁰ the city commissioner,²¹ the leaders,²² and the guardians sent this message to Jehu, “We are your subjects!²³ Whatever you say, we will do. We will not make anyone king. Do what you consider proper.”²⁴

2 Kings 10:21

10:21 Jehu sent invitations throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one was absent. They arrived at the temple of Baal and filled it up from end to end.²⁵

2 Kings 10:24

10:24 They went inside to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside. He had told them, “If any of the men inside get away, you will pay with your lives!”²⁶

2 Kings 10:30-31

10:30 The Lord said to Jehu, “You have done well. You have accomplished my will and carried out my wishes with regard to Ahab’s dynasty. Therefore four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel.”²⁷ 10:31 But Jehu did not carefully and wholeheartedly obey the law of the Lord God of Israel.²⁸ He did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam had encouraged Israel to commit.²⁹

2 Kings 10:34

10:34 The rest of the events of Jehu’s reign, including all his accomplishments and successes, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.³⁰

2 Kings 13:1

Jehoahaz’s Reign over Israel

13:1 In the twenty-third year of the reign of Judah’s King Joash son of Ahaziah, Jehu’s son Jehoahaz became king over Israel. He reigned in Samaria³¹ for seventeen years.

¹tn Heb “and he arrived and look, the officers of the army were sitting.”

²tn Heb “[there is] a word for me to you, O officer.”

³tn Heb “To whom from all of us?”

⁴tn Heb “he and all Israel.”

⁵tn Heb “the quantity [of the men] of Jehu, when he approached.” Elsewhere שִׁפְעַה (shif’ah), “quantity,” is used of a quantity of camels (Isa 60:6) or horses (Ezek 26:10) and of an abundance of water (Job 22:11; 38:34).

⁶tn The term שִׁפְעַת (shifat) appears to be a construct form of the noun, but no genitive follows.

⁷tn Heb “said.”

⁸tn Heb “Get a rider and send [him] to meet him and let him ask, ‘Is there peace?’”

⁹tn Heb “the rider of the horse.”

¹⁰tn Heb “Is there peace?”

¹¹tn Heb “What concerning you and concerning peace?” That is, “What concern is that to you?”

¹²tn Heb “and he came to them.”

¹³tc The MT has simply “peace,” omitting the prefixed interrogative particle. It is likely that the particle has been accidentally omitted; several ancient witnesses include it or assume its presence.

¹⁴tn Heb “and Jehu filled his hand with the bow and he struck Jehoram between his shoulders.”

¹⁵tn Heb “went out from.”

¹⁶tn The words “when she hit the ground” are added for stylistic reasons.

¹⁷tn Heb “and he trampled her.”

¹⁸map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.

¹⁹tn Heb “to the officers of Jezreel, the elders, and to the guardians of Ahab, saying.” It is not certain why the officials of Jezreel would be in Samaria. They may have fled there after they heard what happened to Joram and before Jehu entered the city. They would have had time to flee while Jehu was pursuing Ahaziah.

²⁰tn Heb “the one who was over the house.”

²¹tn Heb “the one who was over the city.”

²²tn Or “elders.”

²³tn Heb “servants.”

²⁴tn Heb “Do what is good in your eyes.”

²⁵tn Heb “and the house of Baal was filled mouth to mouth.”

²⁶tn Heb “The man who escapes from the men whom I am bringing into your hands, [it will be] his life in place of his life.”

²⁷tn Heb “Because you have done well by doing what is proper in my eyes – according to all which was in my heart you have done to the house of Ahab – sons of four generations will sit for you on the throne of Israel.” In the Hebrew text the Lord’s statement is one long sentence (with a parenthesis). The translation above divides it into shorter sentences for stylistic reasons.

sn Jehu ruled over Israel from approximately 841-814 b.c. Four of his descendants (Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, and Zechariah) ruled from approximately 814-753 b.c. The dynasty came to an end when Shallum assassinated Zechariah in 753 b.c. See 2 Kgs 15:8-12.

²⁸tn Heb “But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart.”

²⁹tn Heb “He did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam which he caused Israel to commit.”

³⁰tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehu, and all which he did and all his strength, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”

³¹map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.