2 Kings 9:6

9:6 So Jehu¹ got up and went inside. Then the prophet² poured the olive oil on his head and said to him, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says, ‘I have designated you as king over the Lord’s people Israel.

2 Kings 9:11

9:11 When Jehu rejoined³ his master’s servants, they⁴ asked him, “Is everything all right?⁵ Why did this madman visit you?” He replied, “Ah, it’s not important. You know what kind of man he is and the kinds of things he says.”⁶

2 Kings 9:15

9:15 But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians⁷ when he fought against King Hazael of Syria.⁸ Jehu told his supporters,⁹ “If you really want me to be king,¹⁰ then don’t let anyone escape from the city to go and warn Jezreel.”

2 Kings 9:21

9:21 Jehoram ordered, “Hitch up my chariot.”¹¹ When his chariot had been hitched up,¹² King Jehoram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah went out in their respective chariots¹³ to meet Jehu. They met up with him¹⁴ in the plot of land that had once belonged to Naboth of Jezreel.

2 Kings 9:25

9:25 Jehu ordered¹⁵ his officer Bidkar, “Pick him up and throw him into the part of the field that once belonged to Naboth of Jezreel. Remember, you and I were riding together behind his father Ahab, when the Lord pronounced this judgment on him,

2 Kings 9:27

9:27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what happened, he took off¹⁶ up the road to Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him and ordered, “Shoot him too.” They shot him while he was driving his chariot up the ascent of Gur near Ibleam.¹⁷ He fled to Megiddo¹⁸ and died there.

2 Kings 10:13

10:13 Jehu encountered¹⁹ the relatives²⁰ of King Ahaziah of Judah. He asked, “Who are you?” They replied, “We are Ahaziah’s relatives. We have come down to see how²¹ the king’s sons and the queen mother’s sons are doing.”

2 Kings 10:19

10:19 So now, bring to me all the prophets of Baal, as well as all his servants and priests.²² None of them must be absent, for I am offering a great sacrifice to Baal. Any of them who fail to appear will lose their lives.” But Jehu was tricking them²³ so he could destroy the servants of Baal.

2 Kings 10:25

10:25 When he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Jehu ordered the royal guard²⁴ and officers, “Come in and strike them down! Don’t let any escape!” So the royal guard and officers struck them down with the sword and left their bodies lying there.²⁵ Then they entered the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal.²⁶

¹tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²tn Heb “he”; the referent (the prophet) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³tn Heb “went out to.”

⁴tc The MT has the singular, “he said,” but many witnesses correctly read the plural.

⁵tn Heb “Is there peace?”

⁶tn Heb “He said, ‘You, you know the man and his thoughts.’” Jehu tries to deflect their question by reminding them that the man is an eccentric individual who says strange things. His reply suggests that the man said nothing of importance. The translation seeks to bring out the tone and intent of Jehu’s reply.

⁷tn Heb “which the Syrians inflicted [on] him.”

⁸sn See 2 Kgs 8:28-29a.

⁹tn The words “his supporters” are added for clarification.

¹⁰tn Heb “If this is your desire.” נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) refers here to the seat of the emotions and will. For other examples of this use of the word, see BDB 660-61 s.v.

¹¹tn The words “my chariot” are added for clarification.

¹²tn Heb “and he hitched up his chariot.”

¹³tn Heb “each in his chariot and they went out.”

¹⁴tn Heb “they found him.”

¹⁵tn Heb “said to.”

¹⁶tn Heb “and Ahaziah king of Judah saw and fled.”

¹⁷tn After Jehu’s order (“kill him too”), the MT has simply, “to the chariot in the ascent of Gur which is near Ibleam.” The main verb in the clause, “they shot him” (וַיִּכְהוּ, vayyikhhu), has been accidentally omitted by virtual haplography/homoioteleuton. Note that the immediately preceding form הַכֻּהוּ (hakkuhu), “shoot him,” ends with the same suffix.

¹⁸map For location see Map1-D4; Map2-C1; Map4-C2; Map5-F2; Map7-B1.

¹⁹tn Heb “found.”

²⁰tn Or “brothers.”

²¹tn Heb “for the peace of.”

²²tn Heb “and now, all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests summon to me.”

²³tn Heb “acted with deception [or, ‘trickery’].”

²⁴tn Heb “runners.”

²⁵tn Heb “and they threw.” No object appears. According to M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 116), this is an idiom for leaving a corpse unburied.

²⁶tn Heb “and they came to the city of the house of Baal.” It seems unlikely that a literal city is meant. Some emend עִיר (’ir), “city,” to דְּבִיר (dÿvir) “holy place,” or suggest that עִיר is due to dittography of the immediately preceding עַד (’ad) “to.” Perhaps עִיר is here a technical term meaning “fortress” or, more likely, “inner room.”