2 Kings 9
Jezebel goes to the dogs
Elisha orders Jehu anointed king
1Elisha told one of the men in the local community of prophets, “Pack a bag and put on your traveling clothes. I have a flask of olive oil I want you to take to Ramoth in Gilead.2When you get there, find Jehu. He’s the son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi. Meet with him privately in a room away from everyone else. 3Open the flask of oil and pour it on his head. Tell him, ‘The LORD says: I’m anointing you king of Israel.’ Then get out of there. Don’t hang around.”
4So, the young prophet went to Ramoth in Gilead. 5He walked in on a meeting of military officers. He said, “I have a message for you, commander.” Jehu said, “Which one?” The prophet answered, “You.”
6Jehu got up and walked with the prophet into a private room. The young man poured oil on Jehu’s head and said, “The LORD and God of Israel says this: I anoint you king over my people, over the nation of Israel. 7You are going to end the dynasty of your ruler, Ahab. This will be my way of holding his wife Jezebel accountable for killing my prophets, who were my servants. 8Ahab’s family is doomed. I will kill every male in his extended family whether they’re free or slave 9I’ll see to it that Ahab’s dynasty ends the way Jeroboam’s did, the son of Nebat—and the way Baasha’s did, the son of Ahijah. 10Jezebel will die and the dogs of Jezreel will eat her remains. No one will bury her.”
11When Jehu went back to the meeting, the officers said, “Is everything okay? The guy acted odd. What did he want with you?” Jehu said, “You know those people. They talk nonsense.” 12The officers said, “Just tell us what the guy had to say.” So Jehu said, “He told me, ‘This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king of Israel.’”
13The officers took off their cloaks and laid them on steps as a carpet for him to stand on. They blew a ram’s horn and shouted, “Jehu is king!”
Jehu launches a coup
14This is how Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi, began his coup against King Joram. At the time, Joram had set up defenses at Ramoth in Gilead to protect against attacks by Syria’s King Hazael.15Syrians under Hazael’s command wounded Joram in a battle at Ramoth. Joram went back to his getaway palace at Jezreel to recuperate. Jehu told the officers, “If you want me to become king, lock down this city so no one gets out to warn Jezreel.” 16Jehu climbed in his chariot and rode to Jezreel, where Joram lay recovering from his wounds. King Ahaziah from Judah had come to visit him.
17At Jezreel, a guard in the city tower saw a group of people coming. He said, “We’re about to get company.” King Joram said, “Send out a rider to ask if they come in peace.” 18The rider went out and told Jehu, “The king wants to know if you come in peace.” Jehu said, “Peace? What do you know about peace? Ride with us.” Jezreel’s guard in the tower sent word to the king: “The rider reached them, but he’s not coming back.”
19The king sent a second rider who asked Jehu the same question: “Do you come in peace?” Jehu said, “Peace? What do you know about peace? Ride with us.” 20Jezreel’s guard sent word to the king again: “The rider reached them, but he’s not coming back. I think it’s Jehu coming because this guy drives like he lost his mind.”
21Joram said, “Get my ride.” They brought his chariot and he rode out to meet Jehu. Judah’s King Ahaziah came, too, in his own chariot. The kings met Jehu on the property of Naboth, who lived in Greater Jezreel, outside the walls. 22Joram asked Jehu, “Is it going to be peace, Jehu?” And Jehu said, “Peace? How can there be peace when our people worship idols and practice sorcery, which your mother Jezebel [1] brought here?”
Israel’s king shot in the heart
23Joram turned his horses around and yelled, “Traitors, Ahaziah!” 24Jehu raised his bow and shot an arrow into Joram’s heart. The king collapsed in his chariot.25Jehu told an officer named Bidkar, “Dump his body here on Naboth’s land. Remember back when we rode with his father Ahab, and we heard that prophecy from the LORD against him? 26‘The LORD says that for the murder of Naboth and his sons, Ahab would pay for it on this plot of land.’ So, roll him out of the chariot and leave him here, since the LORD said it would happen this way.”
Judah’s king shot dead
27Judah’s King Ahaziah saw what Jehu did, and he raced away in the direction of Beth Haggan. [2] Jehu followed and told his men, “Shoot him, too!” They shot him as his chariot started to make the climb to Gur, [3] near the town of Ibleam. [4] Wounded, he rode to Megiddo [5] and died there. 28Some of his soldiers carried his body back to Jerusalem in a chariot. His people buried him in the City of David [6] among his ancestors.29Ahab’s son Joram was in the eleventh year of his reign in Israel when Ahaziah became king of Judah.
Jezebel, dead as a dog
30Jezebel got the news that Jehu had just arrived in Jezreel. She painted her eyelids, fixed her hair, and sat by the window, watching.31As Jehu came rolling through the city gateway, she called out to him: “Are you coming in peace, Zimri, [7] you murderer of your own master?” 32Jehu looked up at her in the window and said, “Hey up there, who’s on my side?” Two or three eunuchs who served Jezebel took a sly peek at Jehu, from the window above him.
33He said, “Toss her down here.” They threw her out the window and she splattered against the wall and onto the horses who trampled her.
34Jehu and his men went into the palace and had some food and something to drink. He told the servants, “Have someone bury that cursed excuse of a woman. She’s a king’s daughter.” 35They went to get her body, but it wasn’t there. All they found was her skull, feet, and the palms of her hands.
36When they told him what they found, he said, “Well, that’s what the LORD said would happen to her. Elijah of Tishbe said Jezreel dogs would eat her remains. 37They’ll spread her out like manure on a field. No one will recognize her anymore.”
Footnotes
Jezebel wasn’t Israelite. She was from the Lebanon city of Sidon. Her father, Ethbaal, was king of Sidon and the outlying area (1 Kings 16:31). She brought her religion with her, which included the worship of Baal, an ancient Canaanite god of rain, storms, and fertility in flocks, fields, and family.
Beth Haggan is often linked to the modern-day city of Jenin, south of Jezreel. That trail would have taken the king in the direction of his home in Jerusalem. But would also have taken him into the Judean hills where a light chariot would have had an advantage over a heavily armored war chariot built for flatland battles. But apparently the climb slowed the king down enough to allow the archers riding in the war chariots to get within range.
Gur’s location is unknown.
Ibleam is associated with Khirbet Bil ’ameh, a ruin a little more than a mile (2 km) south of Jenin, and about 10 miles (16 km) southeast of Megiddo.
Megiddo was an outpost overlooking the Jezreel Valley and defending a nearby pass. King Solomon built stables there for his horses and a chariot fortress. King Ahaziah probably had some of his men stationed there to help defend against Syrians and other invaders.
The City of David was the original part of town before Solomon expanded up the hill to add the Temple and palace complexes.
A little sarcasm for Jezebel’s final words. Zimri killed Israel’s King Elah and his family so he could become king. He lasted seven days. He died in a fire when Ahab’s father, Omri, came to claim the throne (1 Kings 16:8:20). Juhe would do the same to Ahab’s extended family.
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