Ahaziah Unwittingly Becomes Involved With The Problems Of Jehoram, King of Israel And The Rebellion Of Jehu (2Ki 8:28; 2 Kings 9:14-15 a).
Once he had come to the throne Ahaziah and Judah joined in an alliance with Jehoram and Israel against Aram, and it was during one of the battles that ensued that Jehoram of Israel was wounded and returned to Jezreel, where he hoped to recuperate. As a result Ahaziah then went down to pay him a visit, because of the illness which resulted from his injuries. His visit would, however, prove to be ill-timed for meanwhile YHWH had arranged for Elisha to have Jehu, a prominent Israelite commander, anointed as king of Israel so as to remove Jehoram from the throne.
Analysis (note the inclusion of 2 Kings 8:28-29 and 2 Kings 9:14-15 a).
a And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and the Aramaeans wounded Joram, and king Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Aramaeans had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was ill (2 Kings 8:28-29).
b And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, “Gird up your loins (free your limbs by tucking your robe in your belt), and take this vial of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead, and when you come there, seek out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and bear him to an inner chamber” (2 Kings 9:1-2).
c “Then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, “Thus says YHWH, I have anointed you as king over Israel.” Then open the door, and flee, and do not linger” (2 Kings 9:3).
d So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. And when he came, behold, the commanders of the host were sitting, and he said, “I have an errand to you, O commander.” And Jehu said, “To which out of us all?” And he said, “To you, O commander” (2 Kings 9:4-5).
e And he arose, and went into the house, and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, “Thus says, YHWH, the God of Israel, I have anointed you as king over the people of YHWH, even over Israel. And you will smite the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of YHWH, at the hand of Jezebel” (2 Kings 9:6-7).
f “For the whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel” (2 Kings 9:8).
e “And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, and the dogs will eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there will be none to bury her” (2 Kings 9:9-10 a).
d And he opened the door, and fled. Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord, and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?” And he said to them, “You know the man and what his talk was” (2 Kings 9:10-11).
c And they said, “It is false, tell us now.” And he said, “Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus says YHWH, I have anointed you as king over Israel' ” (2 Kings 9:12).
b Then they acted quickly, and took every man his robe, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king.” So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram (2 Kings 2:13-14 a).
a (Now Joram was keeping Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Aram, but king Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Aramaeans had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Aram) (2 Kings 9:14-15 a).
Note that in ‘a' Jehoram of Israel was wounded fighting against Aram and returned to Jezreel in order to recover and in the parallel the same applies. In ‘b' Elisha commanded a son of the prophets to seek out Jehu (with a view to anointing him as king over Israel), and in the parallel, as a result, Jehu was declared king. In ‘c' the command was to anoint Jehu as king of Israel, and in the parallel he was anointed king of Israel. In ‘d' the young man came to Jehu, and in the parallel he was asked why the young man came to him. In ‘e' YHWH intended to revenge the behaviour of Jezebel and the house of Ahab through Jehu, and in the parallel we have an explanation of how this would be accomplished. Centrally in ‘f' the whole of the house of Ahab was to be destroyed.
‘And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead, and the Aramaeans wounded Joram.'
Ahaziah of Judah, the son-in-law of Ahab, and Jehoram (Joram) the son of Ahab, formed an alliance against Hazael the king of Aram. We are not told who the initial aggressor was, although it may well have been Hazael. One reason for his invasion may have been the unwillingness of Israel to join in an alliance with Aram against the renewed threatening menace of Assyria. Such an alliance, along with others, had previously rebuffed Assyria under Shalmaneser III in the last days of Ahab. Now Shalmaneser and Assyria were once again undoubtedly threatening the area, for one of Jehu's first acts on becoming king would be to submit to Shalmaneser and pay him tribute.
Ramoth-gilead was a border fortress in Transjordan, barring the way along which the Aramaeans would come to invade Israel.
In the course of the ensuing conflict Jehoram of Israel was wounded. Even though surrounded by a powerful bodyguard, and in a protected chariot with an experienced spear-man, it was always a possibility that this might happen when kings led their men into battle (compare 1 Kings 22:34).
‘And king Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Aramaeans had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was ill.'
In consequence Jehoram returned to his summer (winter) palace at Jezreel, rather than to Samaria, in order to recuperate and be healed of his wounds. And while he was there recuperating Ahaziah his brother-in-law went down to Jezreel to see him ‘because he was ill'. It was an ill-fated place at which to be found for it was concerning Jezreel that YHWH had made His pronouncement about the judgment that was to come on Ahab's son there (1 Kings 21:19 with 29). As we are soon to learn, YHWH's hand was at work in history inevitably bringing about His judgments (compare the seven-sealed scroll in Revelation 6).
‘And Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, “Gird up your loins (free your limbs for fast walking by tucking your robe in your belt), and take this vial of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead.” '
Meanwhile YHWH had directed Elisha the prophet to send one of the sons of the prophets to where the battle was still raging against Aram, at Ramoth-gilead, with a vial of olive oil in his hands.
“And when you come there, seek out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and bear him to an inner chamber.”
Once he was in Ramoth-gilead he had to seek out Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, more popularly known as Jehu, the son of Nimshi, Nimshi being his tribal ancestor (2 Kings 9:20; 1 Kings 19:16). Jehu was clearly a man of great importance in Israel, connected with one of the great aristocratic families. Then having found him he was to take him alone into an inner chamber to speak with him privately. The minute detail given throughout the passage brings out the importance of the event in YHWH's eyes. Every act was seen as important. Jehu, whose name means ‘YHWH is' and whose father's name means ‘YHWH is judge' was seemingly a fanatical Yahwist, and was probably constantly seething within himself at the policies of Ahab's house. He was ripe for rebellion.
“Then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, “Thus says YHWH, I have anointed you as king over Israel.” Then open the door, and flee, and do not linger.”
And once he was alone with Jehu in the inner chamber he was to pour the oil over his head and declare that, “Thus says YHWH, I have anointed you as king over Israel.” Then he was to open the door and leave the place as quickly as possible. He was not to linger. No further questions must be answered. Jehu was to be left to absorb the significance of what he had done, and act accordingly. The prophets were not to be seen as actively involved in rebellion. The act of anointing was an indication that Jehu was now directly committed to YHWH's service, and had become His vassal.
As a very young man Jehu had been anointed by Elijah with a view to the kingship (1 Kings 19:16), something that he had no doubt often wondered about since, so that this would now be an indication to him that the time had arrived for his destiny to be fulfilled. (Some see this act of anointing as the fulfilment of what was required of Elijah, but 1 Kings 19 gives the definite impression that the three anointings mentioned there were to take place immediately, and it is common in Scripture for a command to be given with the assumption then being made that it was carried out without it actually being mentioned. Certainly Elisha is nowhere said to have anointed Hazael, and he did not anoint himself).
We are not told of the underlying currents in Israel at the time, the currents which made the anointing at this time especially significant, humanly speaking, but Elisha was presumably well aware that Israel as a whole were ripe for a coup. The country was seemingly seething with discontent. Ahab's extensive building plans (like Solomon's before him) would have brought grave disaffection among the thousands who were involved in the enforced levies, while his constant wars (such as those against Aram and Moab), failing more often than not, would have used up often unwilling manpower, keeping the people of the land from their agricultural pursuits, while his outright worship of a foreign version of Baal as a result of the influence of his hated wife Jezebel, something partially continued by his son, would have antagonised the ‘common people' (see 2 Kings 8:22) who, while not truly faithful to YHWH themselves, nevertheless paid Him lip-service and hated the foreign influence involved in Jezebel's version of Baalism. The house of Ahab was thus not popular, and Israel were seemingly ripe for revolt.
‘So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead.'
In obedience to the words of Elisha the young man, the prophet, went across the Jordan to Ramoth-gilead where the war with Aram was still progressing, and the host of Israel was accordingly gathered.
‘And when he came, behold, the commanders of the host were sitting, and he said, “I have an errand to you, O commander.” And Jehu said, “To which out of us all?” And he said, “To you, O commander.” '
And when he arrived he found the army commanders in conference. But in Israel a prophet of YHWH could always gain entrance anywhere, and he approached Jehu, who may well have been in charge of the conference, and said, “I have an errand to you, O commander.” Recognising the precedence of a prophet of YHWH Jehu then asked him which commander he wished to speak with, and learned that it was himself.
‘And he arose, and went into the house, and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, “Thus says, YHWH, the God of Israel, I have anointed you as king over the people of YHWH, even over Israel.” '
So he accordingly rose and went with him into the house. And there the prophet poured oil on him and gave him a full explanation of its significance. He was being anointed by ‘YHWH the God of Israel' as king over His people, even over Israel. Note the emphasis on YHWH as the God of Israel. It was because Ahab and his family were seeking to oust YHWH as the God of Israel that this judgment was coming on them. YHWH was, as it were, fighting back. The prophet then explained what Jehu now had to do.
“And you will smite the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of YHWH, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every man-child, and him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel. And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. And the dogs will eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there will be none to bury her.” And he opened the door, and fled.'
The time had now come for YHWH to be avenged on Ahab and his house for the blood that they had spilled of YHWH's prophets, and YHWH's true worshippers. Many of YHWH's beloved people had been slain at the hands of the house of Ahab (including Naboth and the purge of the prophets of YHWH assumed in 1 Kings 18:4), and now it was to be the turn of the house of Ahab to be cut off. YHWH was using Jehu as His ‘avenger of blood'. Compare also Deuteronomy 32:43. Thus Jehu was to slaughter every male child of the house of Ahab, (‘every one who relieved himself against the wall'), whether they were in confinement (possibly under their tutors or nurses), or whether they were at large. Such slaughter was always necessary in a coup attempt, so as to prevent a member of the seed royal being able to arise later with royal authority and rally to him the people who were loyal to the royal house (compare 2 Kings 11:1).
Thus Ahab and his house were to suffer as Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had suffered, and as Baasha the son of Ahijah had suffered, just as Elijah had prophesied (compare 1 Kings 14:10; 1Ki 15:29; 1 Kings 16:3-4; 1 Kings 16:12-13; 1 Kings 21:21. Note especially the similarity with the wording of 1 Kings 14:10; 1 Kings 21:21). All who rebelled against YHWH must suffer the same consequences. Furthermore Jezebel was to be eaten by dogs in the portion of Jezreel and would be unburied, something seen as a great indignity (compare 1 Kings 21:23; and see 2 Kings 9:34-35).
Having delivered his message the young prophet then went to the door, opened it and disappeared as rapidly as he had come, just as Elisha had commanded him (2 Kings 8:3). The idea was that the young prophet should not to be directly involved in what followed. The prophets were to be seen as pronouncers of the word of YHWH, not as active rebels.
‘Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord, and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?” And he said to them, “You know the man and what his talk was.” '
Jehu subsequently came out of the inner room, somewhat pensively, and his fellow commanders (notice the emphasis on the fact that, as ‘servants of his lord', they owed feudal loyalty to the house of Ahab) who had seen the young prophet come out and speed away, then asked Jehu whether all was well and as to why this ‘mad-fellow' had come to him. The term is typical of how one might expect a hardened soldier to refer contemptuously to a religious messenger. Jehu's reply was noncommittal, seeking to make little of what had been said. This was either because he was trying to dismiss the incident as seemingly irrelevant (he could not be sure how they would react to it), reminding them that they had seen what the man was like for themselves, or, more likely, was because he was being deliberately vague and trying to avoid a come back.
‘Mad-fellow.' This description was probably indicative of the contempt of the professional soldier for the mystic. The root behind the word may connect with an Arabic word for the ‘cooing of a pigeon', or an Assyrian word for ‘howling or raging', but may indicate here nothing more than the contempt of the soldier for the ‘pronouncer of the words of YHWH' who was seen by them as a religious fanatic. Compare how even Jesus' own family, viewing Him from afar off, would speak of Him as ‘beside himself' because He was in conflict with the Doctors of the Law and was surrounded by enthusiastic crowds (Matthew 3:21). Undoubtedly some prophets did express themselves in ecstasy, which may have helped towards the idea, (there are always such people around, and if they lacked the real Spirit they had to try and demonstrate that some spirit was at work), and even moreso among foreign prophets where drugs were involved, who often became very extreme, but we must not over-exaggerate this fact with regard to prophets of Israel and Judah. We are given no real grounds anywhere for seeing the sons of the prophets as ‘ecstatics'. Even the ‘band of prophets' under Samuel were only said to have ‘prophesied' with musical accompaniment (1 Samuel 10:5; 1 Samuel 10:10-11; 1 Samuel 19:20), while it was only the ‘possessed' Saul (1 Samuel 16:14) who behaved extravagantly (1 Samuel 19:24). No other description of them than as ‘prophesying' is applied to the band of prophets, in total contrast with the description of the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18:28. Even today unsympathetic people can describe those who become quite reasonably religiously enthusiastic (there is much to shout about) as ‘mad' and ‘ecstatic'. Thus we must beware of reading into terms like this anything more than is justified in terms of how the common man sees the religiously enthusiastic (compare Hosea 9:7; Jeremiah 29:26). ‘Genuine' prophets in Israel and Judah were very distinctive from, and their role very different from, prophets in other nations. Elisha, for example, expected on the whole to know what YHWH was thinking, without any openly ecstatic experience, except when it was deliberately hidden from him (2 Kings 4:27). And the independent prophets did not see themselves as servants of the king, but as servants of YHWH, whose purpose was to instruct the king in accordance with the word of YHWH.
‘And they said, “It is false, tell us now.” And he said, “Thus and thus he spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus says YHWH, I have anointed you as king over Israel.' ”
His fellow officers, however, discerned from his manner that something momentous had been said and simply told him to stop deceiving them and tell them the truth. At this Jehu, who would have been very much aware of the consensus of opinion at the time, informed them of what had been said, and of how he had been anointed by the prophet as king over Israel.
‘Then they acted quickly, and took every man his robe, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king.” '
The speed at which they responded to this news emphasises the disaffection that they, at least, felt for the current regime. The house of Ahab was clearly not popular among them, while their regard for Jehu was equally obviously high, and we may probably assume that Jehu, as well as being a notable chariot commander, was connected with one of the ancient Israelite aristocratic houses. The king's most fervent supporters and friends were presumably with the ailing king, while these who had been left behind would appear, at least nominally, to have been Yahwists. Thus a prophetic word coming from YHWH through one of Elisha's young prophets, combined with the general disaffection that they felt, 1). towards the worship of a foreign Baal, and 2). as a result of the extravagances of the king, (which may have in themselves have brought about a period of suppression of disaffected Israelites), caused them to respond to the suggestion with fervour. It was the moment that they had been waiting for (as Elisha presumably knew). Thus they ‘acted quickly'. Each of them took off his robe and placed it either ‘at the top of the stairs' or ‘on the bare steps' (the use of their robes in this way was a sign of submission and acknowledgement of his authority, compare Elijah's covering of Elisha with his robe, and the spreading of robes before Jesus on His entry into Jerusalem), and then as Jehu stood, or sat there on his provisional throne, they blew on a ram's horn (compare 1 Kings 1:34) and cried out, ‘Jehu is king, Jehu is king'.
‘So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram.'
And that was how the rebellion began and how Jehu rebelled against Jehoram. It was not initially of his doing, but was the result of prophetic activity and the acclamation and will of the people of the land, as represented by the commanders.
-15a (Now Joram was keeping Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Aram, but king Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Aramaeans had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Aram).
Meanwhile we are reminded that Ramoth-gilead was being guarded on behalf of Jehoram as a result of the aggressive activities of the king of Aram, while Jehoram himself was not present because he was recovering from his wounds in Jezreel, the wounds given to him by the Aramaeans, as he and all Israel fought against Hazael, king of Aram. All YHWH's arrangements were now in place.