788 B.C.

2 Kings )

1 And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria (= grandsons and great-grandsons). And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, and to the elders of Jezreel (doubtless they has fled to Samaria, being in great fear [v.4] from what Jehu had done in Jezreel), to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab's [children], saying,
2 “Now as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons [are] with you, and [there are] with you chariots and horses, a fenced city also, and armor;
3 Look even out the best and meetest of your master's sons, and set [him] on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.”
4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, “Behold, two kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand?”
5 And he that [was] over the house, and he that [was] over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up [of the children], sent to Jehu, saying, “We [are] your servants, and will do all that you shall bid us; we will not make any king: do you [that which is] good in your eyes.”
6 Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, “If you all [be] for me, and [if] you all will listen to my voice, take you all the heads of the men (Heb. enõsh, always used of men in a bad sense) your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time.” Now the king's sons, [being] seventy persons, [were] with the great men (Heb. ish, a great man compared to an ordinary man [not necessarily good]) of the city, which brought them up.
7 And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in the baskets (Heb. dud, for carrying fruit. Still used for this purpose. Not sal [bread-basket], which Gideon [Judg.6:19], and Pharaoh's baker [Gen. 40:17] used), and sent him [them] to Jezreel.
8 And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, “They have brought the heads of the king's sons.” And he said, “Lay you all them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning.”
9 And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, “You all [be] righteous (said by way of flattery and to ally disaffection): behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?
10 Know now that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord (Yahaveh. Cp. 1 Kings 21:19-29), which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab: for the Lord has done [that] which He spoke by the hand of His servant Elijah.”
11 So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintance, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

12 And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. [And] as he [was] at the shearing house in the way,
13 Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah (put for near relatives. Cp. 2 Chron. 22:8, where we have "sons of the brethren"), and said, “Who [are] you all?” And they answered, “We [are] the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the sons of the Joram and the sons of the Jezebel (the queen-mother).
14 And he said, “Take them alive.” And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, [even] two and forty men; neither left he any of them.

15 And when he was departed from that place, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab (He was a Kenite = sons of Cain [1 Cron. 2:55]. See Jer. 35) [coming] to meet him (typical of a Kenite, they try to work their way in with niceties and work on your ego and come in subtly): and he saluted him, and said to him, “Is your heart right, according as my heart [is] with your heart?” And Jehonadab answered, “It is.“ “If it be, give [me] your hand” (cp. the pledge [Ezra 10:19. Ezek. 18:18). And he gave [him] his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.
16 And he said, “Come with me, and be eyewitness of my zeal for the Lord(not pure. See vv.29-31). So they made him ride in his chariot. (Make sure you know who yo have in your chariot. Don't be Bibliclly illiterate and let the enemy come in your camp. It is foolish planning on a general by not knowing who your enemies are!)
17 And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the Lord, which he spoke to Elijah.

18-28. End of Baal-worship.

F³  d  18,19. Jehu's purpose formed.
     e  20,21. Baal-worshipers. Assembled.
      f  22. Vestments brought out.
       g  23. Search made.
      f  24. Offerings brought in.
     e  25. Baal-worshipers slain.
    d  26-28. Jehu's purpose effected.

18 And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; [but] Jehu shall serve him much.
19 Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice [to do] to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live.” But Jehu did [it] in subtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the servants of Baal.

20 And Jehu said, “Sanctify (Hallow, or Solomnise) a solemn assembly for Baal.” And they proclaimed [it].
21 And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the servants of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was so full that they stood mouth to mouth (Ellipsis to be thus supplied).

22 And he said to him that [was] over the vestry, “Bring forth vestments for all the servants of Baal.” And he brought them forth vestments.

23 And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and said to the servants of Baal, “Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the Lord, but the servants of Baal only.”

24 And when they went in to prepare sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed fourscore men outside, and said, “[If] any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, [he that lets him go], his soul [shall be] for the soul of him.”

25 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of preparing the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, “Go in, [and] slay them; let none come forth.” And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast [them] out, and went to the city of the house of Baal (= Heb. ‘îr, the innermost or most inaccessible part, whether of a city [=the citadel] or a house [as here]).

26 And they brought forth the images (or statues) out of the house of Baal, and burned each of them.
27 And they broke down the image of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a dunghill (middens, latrinæ) to this day.
28 Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.

29 However [from] the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin (see 1 Kings 14:16), Jehu departed not from after them, [namely], the golden calves that [were] in Beth-el, and that [were] in Dan (see 1 Kings 19:29,30, and cp. Gen. 49:17).
30 And the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing [that which is] right in My eyes, [and] have done to the house of Ahab according to all that [was] in My heart, your sons of the fourth [generation] shall sit on the throne of Israel.” (See 15:12.These were Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam II, and Zachariah. Jehu's dynasty was the longest in all Israel)
31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.

32 In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short (or, to cutt off the outskirts, or make inroads to): and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel;
33 From Jordan to the sun-rising, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which [is] by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.

34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? (An Assyrian inscription [now in the British Museum] records that Jehu paid tribute to Shalmaneser II, who in 842 B.C. defeated Hazael, king of Syria. Jehu bought Shalmaneser II off by giving him, as tribute, bars of silver and gold; a golden ladle and golden goblets and pitchers were among his gifts)
35 And Jehu slept with his fathers (see Deut.31:16): and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead.
36 And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria [was] twenty and eight years.

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