2 Kings 9
2 Kings 9 is the ninth chapter of the second part of the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible or the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of various annals recording the acts of the kings of Israel and Judah by a Deuteronomic compiler in the seventh century BCE, with a supplement added in the sixth century BCE. This chapter records Jehu's anointing as the next king of Israel and his assassinations of Jehoram of Israel, Ahaziah of Judah and Jezebel, the queen mother of Israel. The narrative is a part of a major section 2 Kings 9:1–15:12 covering the period of Jehu's dynasty.
Text
This chapter was originally written in the Hebrew language and since the 16th century is divided into 37 verses.Textual witnesses
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text tradition, which includes the Codex Cairensis, Aleppo Codex, and Codex Leningradensis. Fragments containing parts of this chapter in Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, that is, 6Q4 with extant verses 1–2.There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus and Codex Alexandrinus.
Locations
This chapter mentions or alludes to the following places :Analysis
This chapter and the next one contain one continuous narrative of Jehu's overthrow of the Omride dynasty and destruction of the Baal worship in Israel, reopening the battle against apostasy which was started by Elijah. Fulfilling the divine commission given to Elijah, Elisha arranged the anointing of Jehu who then executed a total revolution in Israel and Judah, by killing the reigning kings of both kingdoms. The narrative may be divided into two parallel sections, the first one about the assassination of the leaders in chapter 9 and the second about the killing of their kinsmen, ending with a summary of Jehu's reign and the consequences of his action in relation to his faithfulness to YHWH in chapter 10. The structure can be as follows:The anointing of Jehu (9:1–15)
The inverted subject-verb order in verse 1 indicates the shift to another story line. The political influence of prophets is shown here as in the previous chapter when Elisha played a role in Hazael's coup d'étatagainst Ben-hadad in Aram-Damascus. In this part Elisha uses a military crisis to fulfill the last divine commission in to support Jehu's ousting of the Omrides. The long oracle in verses 7–10 stems from Elijah's prophecy to Ahab at Naboth's vineyard in Jezreel.
Verses 1–3
- "Get yourself ready": lit. in Hebrew "Gird up your loins". Elisha gave specific instructions to his disciples, detailing what to bring, what to do, what to say, with the emphasis to separate Jehu from his fellow soldiers outside and to take him to 'an inside room' for the anointing and commissioning, then charging the disciple upon the completion of the tasks to "open the door and flee and don't wait around".
Jehu kills King Jehoram of Israel (9:16–26)
The narrative follows an impressive scene from the sentinel's viewpoint, detailing how Jehu steers his chariot in verses 17–20. Since no messengers he sent to Jehu came back, King Joram decides to investigate the matter himself and meet Jehu halfway. Jehu's reply with sharp criticism of the Omrides' religious policy alerts Joram of Jehu's aggressive intentions, but it is too late to flee. With only enough time to warn Ahaziah to run, Joram is killed by Jehu's arrow because, according to Jehu's reason, "Joram had to suffer for a sin committed by his father Ahab". The discrepancies with and the addition of religious dimension in verse 22 suggest the originality of the passage in the context.Verse 20
The man's "crazy" driving style as the chariot was approaching identifies the driver as Jehu. The Hebrew word for "crazy" here is of the same root word as the nickname "crazy man" associated to the disciple who anointed Jehu in verse 11.Verse 23
- "Turned his hands": refers to how someone would have pulled on the reins in order to make the horses turn around. The switch to inverted subject-verb order emphasizes the simultaneity of Jehoram's attempt to flee and Jehu's taking aim to shoot him with an arrow as the forensic-style report also points the exact path the arrow took to hit Joram.
Verse 26
- "In this plot": or "on this property".
he had heard it before, thus fueling his conspiracy by the
doubled divine word and justifying the slaying of the son of Ahab as recompense for the murder of the sons of Naboth. The pronouncement is framed by his order to Bidkar to throw Joram into the field of Naboth, fulfilling the prophecy.
Jehu kills King Ahaziah of Judah (9:27–29)
Ahaziah the king of Judah initially managed toflee to the south, but was overtaken after about 10 km on the ascent to the mountains and fatally shot. He managed to reach Megiddo, and died there, then was taken to Jerusalem by his followers.
Verse 29
- "In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab": Thiele calculates that Ahaziah the son of Jehoram of Judah 'began to reign' as "co-regent" with his father in the month of Tishri 842 BCE, and later became a sole king of Judah after his father's death between April and September 841 BCE. The mention of "11th year" and "12th year" gives the initial clue to Thiele on how to unravel the chronology of the Hebrew kings.