2 Reis 10
Bob Utley · You Can Understand the Bible
2 Reis 10
NJB (MT versing) Judgment On Ahab's House Ahab's Seventy Sons Killed Continuation of the Purge The Descendants of Ahab Are Killed The Massacre of the Royal Family of Israel 10:1-11 10:1-8 10:1-11 10:1-3 10:1-5 10:4-5 10:6a 10:6-7 10:6b-7 10:8-11 10:8-11 10:9-11 Ahaziah's Forty-Two Brothers Killed The Relatives of King Ahaziah Are Killed The Massacre of the Princes of Judah 10:12-14 10:12-14 10:12-14 10:12-13a 10:12-14 10:13b-14 The Rest of Ahab's Family Killed All Remaining Relatives of Ahab Are Killed Jehu and Jehonadab 10:15-17 10:15-17 10:15-17 10:15a 10:15-17 10:15b-17 Jehu Destroys Baal Worshipers Worshipers of Baal Killed The Worshipers of Baal Are Killed The Destruction of Baal's Adherents and Temple 10:18-24 10:18-28 10:18-24a 10:18-24 10:18-24a 10:24b-27 10:24b-27 10:25-27 10:25-27 The Reign of Jehu in Israel (841-814) 10:28-31 10:28-31 10:28-31 10:28-31 10:29-31 Death of Jehu The Death of Jehu 10:32-33 10:32-33 10:32-36 10:32-33 10:32-33 Jehoahaz Succeeds Jehu 10:34-36 10:34-36 10:34-36 10:34-36 Etc. CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTS The military coup performed by Jehu was instigated and predicted by both the prophets, Elijah, 1 Kgs. 21:21,29; and Elisha, 2 Kings 9. The year of this revolt seems to be 842 B.C. The rabbis say that Jehu was of the tribe of Manesseh, fulfilling Gen. 48:19.
2 Reis 10:1-11
10:1 "Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria" This was a round number which would include all male descendants and relatives (i.e., Jdgs. 9:5; 12:14). SPECIAL TOPIC: SYMBOLIC NUMBERS IN SCRIPTURE, #4 ▣ "Jehu" This is a form of the sacred name YHWH (cf. Exod. 3:14). This particular form seems to mean "He is." SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, D. ▣ "wrote letters and sent them to. . ." Notice the different groups. the rulers (BDB 978) chieftain ruler official captain prince the elders (BDB 278, see SPECIAL TOPIC: ELDERS) the guardians (BDB 52, KB 63, Qal PARTICIPLEe, "those who nourish") this group of leaders is labeled in a different way in v. 5 ▣ "to the rulers of Jezreel" The Septuagint has "the rulers of Samaria." There is a problem in the Hebrew text because it is incongruent that Jehu, who was in Jezreel, would write to Jezreel. The JPSOA footnote suggests an emendation from "of Jezreel" to "of the city" (Vulgate). Another possibility is that the leaders of Jezreel fled to Samaria with the relatives of Ahab and Jezebel. 10:2 Jehu is attempting to have the male descendants of Ahab killed, but to do it in such a way as not to draw the displeasure of the populace to himself. 10:4 "the two kings did not stand before him" This is the rationalization of the leaders of Samaria in surrendering to Jehu. The two rulers referred to are Joram of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah (cf. chapter 9). 10:6 "take the heads of the men, your master's sons, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time" Beheading was a common practice of the day from the Assyrian documents. Jezreel was about 20 miles from Samaria, which meant that these guardians had to act immediately to fulfill Jehu's request, without time to think. 10:8 "Put them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning" Jehu wanted to make a public display of the prophetic fulfillment of the fall of Ahab's house this was an action known in the ANE to discourage treason ▣ "heap" The root (BDB 840) is usually used of gathering grain into bundles after cutting. Here, and only here, it is used of a pile of severed human heads. 10:9 "you are innocent" Jehu is trying to remove the guilt of bloodshed (cf. Deut. 21:1-9). There is some question whether the guardians themselves are later killed (v. 11). This is a specialized sense of the ADJECTIVE "righteous" (BDB 843) as innocent (i.e., Gen. 20:4; Deut. 25:1; 1 Kgs. 8:32; 2 Chr. 6:23; Prov. 17:15,26; 18:5). They (and he) are innocent because YHWH had ordered the death of Ahab's family. 10:10 "Know then that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord" This is an idiom (cf. Josh. 21:45; 23:14; 1 Sam. 3:19; 1 Kgs. 8:56) of the trustworthiness of YHWH's revelations (NIDOTTE, vol 3, p. 129, #3). SPECIAL TOPIC: INSPIRATION SPECIAL TOPIC: PROPHECY (OT) SPECIAL TOPIC: THE BIBLE (its uniqueness and inspiration) 10:11 Notice the different people connected to the house of Omri that Jehu killed. all his great men all his acquaintances all his priests from vv. 1-8, all the kings "sons," which included all relatives
2 Reis 10:12-14
10:12 "Beth-eked" The place name (BDB 112) means "the house of binding." This refers to the place where the sheep were sheared and during the process their feet were bound. 10:13 "Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah" King Ahaziah was a grandson of Jezebel and part of the prophet's prediction about the destruction of Ahab's entire house. We learn of the fate of most of his family from 2 Chr. 21:17; 22:1. Apparently these were 42 of his nephews (cf. 2 Chr. 22:8) who had not heard of the slaughter. ▣ "the queen mother" This refers to Jezebel.
2 Reis 10:15-17
10:15 "Jehonadab the son of Rechab" We learn more of this unique tribal group from 1 Chr. 2:55 and Jer. 35:1-19 (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 1126-1127). They are related to Moses' father-in-law, Jethro (cf. Genesis 18), apparently Kenites or Midianites. They were strict "YHWHists" and nomads. They are present in the northern ten tribes in Jdgs. 4:17-22. Josephus, Antiq. 9.6.6, says "Jehu and Jehonadab who had been his friend of old." However, this tradition was never mentioned in the Bible. See Roland deVaux, Ancient Israel, pp. 14-15. ▣ "If it is, give me your hand" This idiom is used in several senses (NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 210, #3, b). friendship ‒ Gen. 38:28 formal alliance ‒ Ezra 10:19; Lam. 5:6; Ezek. 17:18 denotes loyalty ‒ 1 Chr. 29:24 In this context any one of the above could fit. SPECIAL TOPIC: HAND ▣ "heart" See SPECIAL TOPIC: HEART. 10:16 "Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord" This shows the faith of Jehonadab and the stated purpose of Jehu's actions. ▣ "he" The MT has the PLURAL but the LXX, Peshitta, and Vulgate have the SINGULAR. 10:17 It is uncertain who of Ahab and Jezebel's family, friends, servants remained.
2 Reis 10:18-24
10:18-24 This was a calculated plot by Jehu to gather and destroy all the priests and followers of Ba'al. Ba'al was the male fertility god of Canaan and Phoenicia. SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANE 10:19 "all the prophets of Baal. . .all his priests" There was a role distinction made between priests and prophets both in Egypt and in Phoenicia. There seems to be a distinction made in the OT (cf. 1 Kgs. 18:19; 22:6). Ba'al and Asherah were worshiped in every locality, on every high hill, throughout Canaan. Ahab had constructed one large temple in Samaria. It was to this central shrine that all local priests and prophets were summoned to a special royal inauguration service where Ba'al was to be acknowledged as the god of Israel (i.e., vv. 18-19). This did not include local adherents to Ba'al and Asherah because no building was big enough for that. These were the leaders. 10:21 "the house of Baal" Ahab built this large temple in Samaria (cf. 1 Kgs. 16:32). ▣ "filled from one end to the other" The MT has the idiom "mouth to mouth" (BDB 805, #5) here, meaning "extremity" or "end-to-end." of a temple ‒ here of a city ‒ 2 Kgs. 21:16 of a land ‒ Ezra 9:11 10:22 "wardrobe" This term (BDB 547, KB 594) appears only here and possibly Jer. 38:11. Apparently there were special garments that signified a purification process. Their color is uncertain but in some cases, Ba'al priests wore black robes (cf. Zephaniah 1). The Tyndale Commentary (OT) suggests "red" or "white." This could refer to a robe a vestment (BDB 528) other special clerical garment 10:24 "shall give up his life in exchange" The Hebrew word for "life" is nephesh. If a guard lost his prisoner he must take the penalty himself. SPECIAL TOPIC: NEPHESH
2 Reis 10:25-27
10:25 "threw them out" This VERB (BDB 1020, KB 1527, Hiphil IMPERFECT with waw) is an idiom for the slain bodies of the Ba'al worshipers being taken outside the Ba'al temple and left unburied (cf. 1 Kgs. 13:25; Isa. 14:19). 10:26 "pillars of the house of Baal and burned them" We learn from archaeology that the Phoenician pantheon was represented by smooth conical stones with no carving. The phrase "and burned them" must relate to the Asherah which was next to the pillars of Ba'al, which was the female symbol, a carved wooden stake or possibly olive tree (i.e., Asherah). 10:27 NASB, NRSV, TEV, NJB, JPSOA "latrine" "a refuse dump" "a privy" "a public toilet-room" This root (BDB 351, KB 348) appears only here. It is the same consonants as "dung." It was a cultural way in the ANE to curse a place and make it unclean. See NIDOTTE, vol. 2, p. 257. ▣ "to this day" This is a recurrent textual marker of a later editor or scribe.
2 Reis 10:28-31
10:29 "the golden calves that were at Bethel and that were at Dan" All the prophets condemned the golden calf worship set up by Jeroboam I (1 Kgs. 12:25-33; NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 320). It was not that they were initially idolatrous (cf. 1 Kgs. 12:28-29) but they broke the commandment of no graven images of Deity split the worship of YHWH away from Jerusalem (i.e., the place YHWH caused His name to dwell) 10:30 "My eyes. . .My heart" This is anthropomorphic language to describe Israel's Deity. SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE GOD 10:31 Jehu, like many of the kings of Israel and Judah, started off well but did not follow YHWH with a whole heart follow YHWH all their lives
2 Reis 10:32-33
10:32 "Hazael" He is mentioned on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III as a very stubborn military adversary of Assyria. We learn of Shalmaneser III's advance even as far as the seacoast of Judah from 2 Kgs. 12:17-18. 10:33 Israel lost the entire trans-Jordan area by YHWH's direction (v. 32).
2 Reis 10:34-36
10:34 "all his might" This is a very unusual phrase to describe Israeli kings. It is unusual in that it is used of a man who had such major military losses. We learn from the Black Obelisk that tribute was paid by Jehu to Assyria. 10:36 "twenty-eight years" This was one of the longest, most stable reigns in Israel. The only longer reign was that of Jeroboam II that lasted 41 years. SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF THE DIVIDED MONARCHY