UNROLL
Dawn on the high wheat plateau of Gilead: a small walled stone town on a low rise with army tents outside it, and far down a long dusty road one young man running west, under a wide, pale, empty sky.

The Book of

2 Kings 9

A flask of oil, a back room, an open door, and a young man running. By nightfall Israel has a new king, and the house of Ahab has run out of time.

37 verses≈ 9 min5 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–8ElishaThe prophet's double portion
  2. 9–12JehuThe house of Ahab fallsChapter 9
  3. 13–17Last kings of IsraelSamaria falls
  4. 18–20HezekiahTrust in the LORD
  5. 21–23JosiahThe Book found
  6. 24–25ExileJerusalem falls

Jehu Anointed King of Israel

In the doorway of a plain stone house, a gray-bearded, balding prophet in a dark goat-hair cloak places a small round clay juglet of oil in the hands of a young man who is tucking his cloak into his belt.

Now Elisha the prophet summoned one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak under your belt, take this flask of oil, and go to Ramoth-gilead. When you arrive, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go in, get him away from his companions, and take him to an inner room. Then take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and declare, ‘This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run. Do not delay!”

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Afternoon in a stone courtyard at Ramoth-gilead: army commanders in bronze scale coats sit on benches and mats, spears against the wall, as a dusty young man steps in at the gate and a hard-faced commander looks up.

So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead, and when he arrived, the army commanders were sitting there.

The young prophet

“I have a message for you, commander,” he said.

Jehu

“For which of us?” asked Jehu.

The young prophet

“For you, commander,” he replied.

The young prophet

I anoint you king over the LORD’s people Israel.

2 Kings 9:6

The commanders

When Jehu went out to the servants of his master, they asked, “Is everything all right? Why did this madman come to you?”

Jehu

“You know his kind and their babble,” he replied.

The commanders

“That is a lie!” they said. “Tell us now!”

Jehu

So Jehu answered, “He talked to me about this and that, saying, ‘This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.’”

On the bare stone outside stair of a house, commanders throw down cloaks of brown, red and blue wool step over step while a hard-faced commander stands at the top and a soldier lifts a curved ram's horn to blow.

Quickly, each man took his garment and put it under Jehu on the bare steps. Then they blew the ram’s horn and proclaimed, “Jehu is king!”

Reflect

Do not delay!

The young prophet carried a dangerous message into a camp full of soldiers, did exactly what he was told, and ran. Is there something God has made plain to you that you have been slow to do? What would it look like to do it this week, without delay?

Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah

Thus Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Aram,

but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he had suffered at the hands of the Arameans in the battle against Hazael their king.) So Jehu said, “If you commanders wish to make me king, then do not let anyone escape from the city to go and tell it in Jezreel.”

Then Jehu got into his chariot and went to Jezreel, because Joram was laid up there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to see him.

Jordan RiverRamoth in Gilead (site uncertain)JezreelIbleamMegiddoJerusalem

Stylised map · locations approximate

Where it happened

Jehu’s drive to Jezreel

From the army’s camp at Ramoth in Gilead, Jehu drove some forty miles west, down from the plateau, across the Jordan and up the Jezreel valley to the king’s town. Ahaziah of Judah fled south “toward Beth-haggan” (probably modern Jenin), was struck near Ibleam on the Ascent of Gur, and died at Megiddo; his servants carried him to Jerusalem. Ramoth’s exact site is uncertain.

The watchman

Now the watchman standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troops approaching, and he called out, “I see a company of troops!”

Joram

“Choose a rider,” Joram commanded. “Send him out to meet them and ask, ‘Have you come in peace?’”

So a horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Have you come in peace?’” “What do you know about peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.”

The watchman

And the watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.”

So the king sent out a second horseman, who went to them and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Have you come in peace?’” “What do you know about peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.”

Late afternoon over the broad green Jezreel valley, seen from a flat gatehouse roof: a watchman shades his eyes as a long plume of dust races up the valley road, one chariot at its head and troops strung out behind.

Again the watchman reported, “He reached them, but he is not coming back. And the charioteer is driving like Jehu son of Nimshi—he is driving like a madman!”

0:09

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Joram

“Harness!”

Joram shouted, and they harnessed his chariot. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his own chariot, and met Jehu on the property of Naboth the Jezreelite.

Joram

When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?”

Jehu

“How can there be peace,” he replied, “as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”

How can there be peace

2 Kings 9:22

Joram turned around and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!”

Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart, and he slumped down in his chariot.

Early evening at Jezreel: a terraced vineyard of low green vines held by dry-stone walls, a small round fieldstone watch hut, and right beside it the plain, high dressed-stone wall of the king's residence; the broad green valley falls away beyond, under a calm, clear evening sky.

And Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, “Pick him up and throw him into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember that when you and I were riding together behind his father Ahab, the LORD lifted up this burden against him: ‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday, declares the LORD, so will I repay you on this plot of ground, declares the LORD.’ Now then, according to the word of the LORD, pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground.”

according to the word of the LORD

2 Kings 9:26

When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!” So they shot Ahaziah in his chariot on the Ascent of Gur, near Ibleam, and he fled to Megiddo and died there.

Judah

Ahaziah’s end

  1. Buried in the City of David

    Then his servants carried him by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his fathers in his tomb in the City of David.

  2. Joram’s 11th year

    King in Joram’s eleventh year

    (In the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king over Judah.)

Question

Quick question

Again and again in this chapter, someone asks about peace.

When Joram asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?”, what did Jehu say stood in the way of peace?

Jezebel’s Violent Death

Seen from the empty street far below, late afternoon: a high, plain stone wall of a royal house with one cedar-framed lattice window half open, and in it, small and upright, a queen in Tyrian purple and a gold collar looking down toward the gate.

Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window.

And as Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, O Zimri, murderer of your master?”

2 Kings 9:31

He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three eunuchs looked down at him.

“Throw her down!” yelled Jehu. So they threw her down, and her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses as they trampled her underfoot.

Then Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of this cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was the daughter of a king.”

But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing but her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands.

Dusk at Jezreel: the same high cedar-framed window in a plain stone wall, now empty and dark, its lattice hanging open, above a bare, swept plot of earth by the wall.

So they went back and told Jehu, who replied, “This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour the flesh of Jezebel. And Jezebel’s body will lie like dung in the field on the plot of ground at Jezreel, so that no one can say: This is Jezebel.’”

Pray

Not one word falls

Jehu said, “This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite.” Thank God that not one of His words falls to the ground, in judgment or in mercy. Ask Him for a heart that takes His warnings seriously while there is time, as Jezebel never did. And ask for humility to see that His patience with evil is never His approval of it.

You’ve experienced

2 Kings 9

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A verse to carry with you

This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anoint you king over the LORD’s people Israel.

2 Kings 9:6

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