9:1 Now Elisha the prophet summoned a member of the prophetic guild and told him, “Tuck your robes into your belt, take this container of olive oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead.
Elisha ordered one of his students from the school of prophets to tuck in his robe, meaning that he was to run at a very fast pace. He was to take a container of olive oil to Ramoth Gilead. Olive oil was used by prophets to anoint kings. Elisha was not going to perform this anointing, because he would be recognized and crowds would flock to him.
9:2 When you arrive there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi and take him aside into an inner room.
In 1 Kings 19, Jehovah told Elijah that Jehu would become king over Israel and he would eliminate Baal worship. The young prophet was sent to anoint Jehu behind closed doors so that King Jehoram would not suspect a coup. This anointing ended the Omri dynasty, just as Jehovah predicted.
9:3 Take the container of olive oil, pour it over his head, and say, ‘This is what the Lord says, “I have designated you as king over Israel.” ’ Then open the door and run away quickly!”
Israel's army scouts would alert the king, so the young prophet was to escape quickly from detection. Jehu is portrayed in the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, which was dated at 841 B.C. In this obelisk, he is pictured as bringing tribute to the Assyrian monarch.
9:4 So the young prophet went to Ramoth Gilead.
Remote Gilead was Israelite territory. Baal worship was rampant.
9:5 When he arrived, the officers of the army were sitting there. So he said, “I have a message for you, O officer.” Jehu asked, “For which one of us?” He replied, “For you, O officer.”
Jehu was one of the military officers of Israel. The young prophet had a very important message for him.
9:6 So Jehu got up and went inside. Then the prophet 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.
The young prophet took him in private behind closed doors and anointed him as king. Jehu was God’s choice as King of Israel.
9:7 You will destroy the family of your master Ahab. I will get revenge against Jezebel for the shed blood of my servants the prophets and for the shed blood of all the Lord’s servants.
Jehu was to be the Lord’s avenger of blood. He would exterminate the house of Ahab, because they had murdered the Lord’s prophets and killed innocent people (such as Naboth who had served the Lord).
9:8 Ahab’s entire family will die. I will cut off every last male belonging to Ahab in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated.
Jehu was to exterminate every last male of Ahab, so that none survived. Baalism was evil and contagious. It was entrenched in the souls of the people.
The Hebrew actually says that Jehu would kill everyone who pissed against the wall. This language sounds vulgar to modern ears. Many modern translations soften up the translation as not to offend anyone. The Holy Spirit chose to provide the crudeness of the language so that the people involved at this time in history could be studied and understood more closely.
9:9 I will make Ahab’s dynasty like those of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah.
Jeroboam and Baasha’s dynasties were exterminated by God because of their idolatry.
9:10 Dogs will devour Jezebel on the plot of ground in Jezreel; she will not be buried.’ ” Then he opened the door and ran away.
Jezebel was not to receive a national queen’s burial. She was to die violently in disgrace and be eaten by dogs.
9:11 When Jehu rejoined his master’s servants, they asked him, “Is everything all right? 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.”
The servants of Jehu were very curious as to why a member of the prophetic guild would visit their master in secret.
9:12 But they said, “You’re lying! Tell us what he said.” So he told them what he had said. He also related how he had said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘I have designated you as king over Israel.’ ”
Jehu’s servants did not believe him, so Jehu revealed the truth to them.
9:13 Each of them quickly took off his cloak and they spread them out at Jehu’s feet on the steps. The trumpet was blown and they shouted, “Jehu is king!”
The servants proclaimed Jehu as the new King of Israel.
9:14 Then Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. Now Joram had been in Ramoth Gilead with the whole Israelite army, guarding against an invasion by King Hazael of Syria.
Jehu began to plan the assassination of King Joram of Israel. At this time, Joran was preparing for an attack from Syria.
9:15 But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he received from the Syrians when he fought against King Hazael of Syria. Jehu told his supporters, “If you really want me to be king, then don’t let anyone escape from the city to go and warn Jezreel.”
The city of Ramoth Gilead closed their gates and sealed the city so that no one could escape and warn King Joram of what was to come.
9:16 Jehu drove his chariot to Jezreel, for Joram was recuperating there. (Now King Ahaziah of Judah had come down to visit Joram.)
Ramoth-Gilead was about forty miles east of Jezreel.
9:17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and saw Jehu’s troops approaching. He said, “I see troops!” Jehoram ordered, “Send a rider out to meet them and have him ask, ‘Is everything all right?’”
The watchman alerted King Jehoram that troops were approaching.
9:18 So the horseman went to meet him and said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’ ” Jehu replied, “None of your business! Follow me.” The watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, but hasn’t started back.”
Jehu did not allow the rider to return to the king.
9:19 So he sent a second horseman out to them and he said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’ ” Jehu replied, “None of your business! Follow me.”
Jehu did not allow the second rider to return.
9:20 The watchman reported, “He reached them, but hasn’t started back. The one who drives the lead chariot drives like Jehu son of Nimshi; he drives recklessly.”
The watchman reported that neither of the two messengers were returning and Jehu was riding on a chariot very quickly towards the city.
9:21 Jehoram ordered, “Hitch up my chariot.” When his chariot had been hitched up, King Jehoram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah went out in their respective chariots to meet Jehu. They met up with him in the plot of land that had once belonged to Naboth of Jezreel.
By providence, the kings of Israel and Judah met Jehu at the very place where Ahab and Jezebel had killed Naboth. They suspected nothing, so the two kings met Jehu without their armor.
9:22 When Jehoram saw Jehu, he asked, “Is everything all right, Jehu?” He replied, “How can everything be all right as long as your mother Jezebel promotes idolatry and pagan practices?”
The Hebrew word for “pagan practices” was כְּשָׁפִים (kishpim), meaning sorceries, witchcraft, and the occult. Jehu informed the kings of Israel and Judah that everything in Israel could not be right as long as Jezebel was living and involving the nation in the occult with demonic forces. Jezebel was basically getting all of her information from demons.
9:23 Jehoram turned his chariot around and took off. He said to Ahaziah, “It’s a trap, Ahaziah!”
King Jehoram of Israel informed King Ahaziah that they had stepped into a trap. Jehu had the opportunity to kill two evil kings at one time.
9:24 Jehu aimed his bow and shot an arrow right between Jehoram’s shoulders. The arrow went through his heart and he fell to his knees in his chariot.
In 1 Kings 21:17-24, Elijah predicted that the house of Ahab would be exterminated.
9:25 Jehu ordered 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,
Bidkar was the third man in the chariot. He rode besides the driver and the warrior. His job was to hold the shield and the arms of the warrior. Jehu saw himself as God’s avenger to perform the execution of the Ahab's family line. He saw himself as fulfilling Elijah’s prophecy.
9:26 ‘ “Know for sure that I saw the shed blood of Naboth and his sons yesterday,” says the Lord, “and that I will give you what you deserve right here in this plot of land,” says the Lord.’ So now pick him up and throw him into this plot of land, just as the Lord said.”
Jehu repeated the prophecy verbatim. He was there where it was uttered. When he first heard it, he had no idea that he was the one who was to fulfill it.
9:27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what happened, he took off 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. He fled to Megiddo and died there.
Jehu killed King Ahaziah from Judah as well. Ahaziah had allowed Baal worship in Judah just as Jehoram had allowed Baal worship in Israel.
9:28 His servants took his body back to Jerusalem and buried him in his tomb with his ancestors in the city of David.
King Ahaziah was from the family line of David. He was buried in Jerusalem with his royal family members.
9:29 Ahaziah had become king over Judah in the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab.
There seems to be a discrepancy in the dates, but there is not. In 8:25, a different dating system was used.
9:30 Jehu approached Jezbel. When Jezebel heard the news, she put on some eye liner, fixed up her hair, and leaned out the window.
Jezebel put on makeup to dazzle the men in whom she wished to seduce. Jezebel was arrogant even in her old age.
9:31 When Jehu came through the gate, she said, “Is everything all right, Zimri, murderer of his master?”
Jezebel was using sarcasm. Zimri killed and replaced an Israelite king, but then he died seven days later. Jezebel was insinuating that history was about to be repeated.
9:32 He looked up at the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked down at him.
Jezebel had many enemies inside her own court. Some of the eunuchs turned against their own queen mother.
9:33 He said, “Throw her down!” So they threw her down, and when she hit the ground, her blood splattered against the wall and the horses, and Jehu drove his chariot over her.
The eunuchs threw her down and Jehu drove his chariot over her.
9:34 He went inside and had a meal. Then he said, “Dispose of this accursed woman’s corpse. Bury her, for after all, she was a king’s daughter.”
Jehu accepted her royal birth, but he did not think that she was fit to be the queen mother of Israel. Jehu wanted to bury her, but Elijah predicted that she would not be buried.
9:35 But when they went to bury her, they found nothing left but the skull, feet, and palms of the hands.
Dogs had eaten the remains of Jezebel, just as Elijah had predicted.
9:36 When they went back and told him, he said, “The Lord’s word through his servant, Elijah the Tishbite, has come to pass. He warned, ‘In the plot of land at Jezreel, dogs will devour Jezebel’s flesh.
This was the fulfillment of Elijah’s prophecy in 1 Kings 21:23.
9:37 Jezebel’s corpse will be like manure on the surface of the ground in the plot of land at Jezreel. People will not be able to even recognize her.’ ”
The wicked witch was dead.