By the hand of the prophet Jehu came the word of the Lord: the meaning is, the message which came from the Lord to Jehu, 1 Kings 16:1, &c., was here delivered by the hand, i.e. the ministry, of Jehu, unto Baasha. Jehu did what God commanded him in this matter, though it was not without apparent hazard to himself. And because he killed him, i.e. Nadab; who, though he be not expressed, yet is sufficiently understood:
1. By the manifest reference which these words have to the murder committed by Baasha, which was done upon Nadab only, 1 Kings 15:28.
2. By the foregoing words, the house of Jeroboam, i.e. his posterity, which was Nadab. Quest. Why doth God punish him for doing God's work? Answ.
1. Though God appointed that Jeroboam's family should be cut off, yet he did not give Baasha commission to do it, nor had declared how or by whom he would do it.
2. Baasha did this not to fulfil God's will, but his own lusts. See Poole on "1 Kings 16:2".