to the Rulers of Jezreel. master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fenced

flesh of Jezebel: (37) and the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

CHAPTER X.-(1) And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto

of.

B.C. 884.

the best and meetest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house. (4) But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand? (5) And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to

to them that brought up Ahab's children, saying, (2) Now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your

(37) And the carcase of Jezebel.-This continuation of the prophecy is not given in 1 Kings xxi. 23. It is probably original; not "a free expansion" by Jehu, as Keil asserts.

Shall be. It is questionable whether the Hebrew text is to be read as a rare ancient form (whāyāth), or simply as an instance of defective writing (whāy thā). We prefer the second view.

As dung.-Comp. Ps. lxxxiii. 10.

So that they shall not say.--Comp. Gen. xi. 7 for the construction. The sense is, So that men will no longer be able to recognise her mangled remains.

X.

JEHU MASSACRES THE FAMILY OF AHAB, THE KINSMEN OF AHAZIAH, AND THE BAAL-WOR

SHIPPERS.

(1) Ahab had seventy sons.-His posterity in general are meant. Ahab had been dead about fourteen years (chap. iii. 1; 1 Kings xxii. 51), and had had two successors on the throne. The name Ahab seems to be used here as equivalent to the house of Ahab. Many of the number might be strictly sons of Ahab, as he no doubt had a considerable harem.

Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria.— Jehu was crafty as well as fierce. He could not venture to the capital without first sounding the inclinations of the nobles of the city.

Unto the rulers of Jezreel.-" Jezreel" is an ancient error. The LXX. has "unto the rulers of Samaria." So Josephus. Thenius accordingly suggests that the original reading was, "and sent from Jezreel to the princes of Samaria." The Vulg. gives" ad optimates civitatis," which seems preferable. Before "the elders we must restore "and unto " with some MSS., the LXX., Syriac, and Vulg. The original text would then run: "and sent to the princes of the city and unto the elders," &c. Reuss, on the other hand, reads "Israel" for "Jezreel."

Them that brought up Ahab's children.Literally, them who brought up Ahab (i.e., the house of Ahab). The word occurs in Num. xi. 12; Isa. Ixix. 23 ("nursing father"). The nobles entrusted with this

will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes.

out (verse 3).-Rather, there are with you both your master's sons, and the chariots and the horses, and a fenced city, and the armoury: so look out the best, &c. A fenced city.-All the versions but the Arabic have "fenced cities; " and so Josephus. There is a tone of mocking irony in Jehu's challenge to the nobles of Samaria, who were probably as luxurious and cowardly now as in the days of Amos, a few years later (Amos iii. 12, vi. 3—6). (Comp. also Isa. xxviii. 1-10.) By his careful enumeration of their resources, he as good as says that his defiance is not the fruit of ignorance.

(3) The best and meetest-i.e., the one you think best qualified in every sense (not merely in the moral sense).

Your master's sons.- -"Your master" need not mean Jehoram. The story relates to Ahab (verse 1).

His father's throne-i.e., Ahab's throne. (Comp. 2 Chron. xvii. 3, xxi. 12, xxix. 2, where David is called the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Hezekiah in turn.)

Fight for your master's house. Jehu thus declares his own warlike intentions, leaving the nobles, whom his prompt and decisive action had taken by surprise, no choice between improvised resistance and instant submission. Knowing Jehu's character as a soldier, they chose the latter.

(4) But they were exceedingly afraid.-Lite. rally, And they feared mightily, mightily. (Comp. Gen. vii. 19.)

Two kings.-Rather, the two kings. The word kings is emphatic.

(5) He that was over the house. The prefect of the palace, or major-domo. A similar official is mentioned on the Egyptian monuments. His position and influence would resemble that of the great chamberlain of the Byzantine court.

He that was over the city. The prefect or governor of the city, called in 1 Kings xxii. 26 "the prince (sar) of the city." These two are the "rulers" (sārîm) of verse 1.

sons.

Ahab's Sons.

And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning. (9) And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these? (10) Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spake concerning the house of Ahab:

a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's

of.

(6) The second time.-Some MSS., the LXX., and the Arabic read "a second letter."

Take ye the heads.-Jehu knew his men. The cool cynicism of his savage order is worthy of a Sulla or a Marius.

The heads of the men your master's sons. -Literally, the heads of the men of the sons of your master. Some MSS., the Syriae, Arabic, and Vulg., as well as the MSS. mentioned by Origen, omit the word men. Thenius thinks that this word is used to indicate that only male descendants of Ahab were to be put to death (?). The Alexandrian LXX. omits sons; and four Hebrew MSS. read instead house. The Authorised Version, however, is a permissible interpretation of the Hebrew.

Come.-LXX., bring (them), which is a natural conjecture.

To Jezreel. A journey of more than twenty miles. By to morrow this time.-Jehu is urgent for despatch, because time is all-important. He wishes to convince the people of Jezreel as soon as possible that none of the royal princes were left to claim the crown, and that the nobles of Samaria have joined his

cause.

Now the king's sons ... brought them up. -This is a correct translation. According to the Masoretic punctuation, and supposing that the particle 'eth (rendered "with") might here be used merely to introduce the subject, we might render: "Now the king's sons were seventy persons; the great men of the city were bringing them up." But such a usage of 'eth is very doubtful. (Comp. chap. vi. 5.) The sentence, in any case, is only a parenthetic reminder of what was stated in verse 1. The total seventy is, perhaps, not to be taken as exact, seventy being a favourite round number. (See Note on 1 Chron. i. 42.)

(7) And slew.-Rather, butchered, or slaughtered. The way in which the writer speaks of this massacre"they took the king's sons, and butchered seventy persons"-shows that he did not sympathise with Jehu's deeds of blood. His interest rather centres in the fact that the predictions of Elijah were fulfilled by the wickedness of Jehu. (See verse 10.)

The word

In

In baskets.-Rather, in the baskets. (dûd) means a "pot" elsewhere (1 Sam. ii. 14). Ps. lxxxi. 6, the LXX. renders Kópivos; here it gives Káρтаλλo ("pointed baskets").

(8) There came a messenger.-Literally, and the messenger came in. Josephus says Jehu was giving a banquet.

spake 2 by his servant Elijah.

(11) So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all

Heaps.-The noun (çibbûr) occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament. In the Talmud it means 66 congregation," as we say colloquially "a heap of persons." The verb (çabar) means "to heap up." (See Exod. viii. 10.)

At the entering in of the gate. The place of public business, where all the citizens would see them. (Comp. chap. vii. 3; 1 Kings xxii. 10.) But perhaps not the city gate, but the gate of the palace is to be understood. Parallels to this deed of Jehu are not wanting in the history of modern Persia. (Comp. 1 Sam. xvii. 54; 2 Macc. xv. 30; and the comparatively recent custom in our own country of fixing up the heads of traitors on London Bridge.)

(9) And stood.-Or, took his place-i.e. (according to Reuss), sat as judge in the palace gateway, according to royal custom, and gave audience to the people.

The citizens would naturally be struck with consternation at the sight of the two ghastly pyramids in front of the palace, and would crowd together in expectancy at the gates. Jehu goes forth to justify himself, and calm their fears.

Ye be righteous-i.e., guiltless in respect of the deaths of these men, and therefore have nothing to dread. Thenius explains: "Ye are just, and therefore will judge justly." Others render: "Are ye righteous ?" implying that Jehu wished to make the people guilty of the massacre of the princes, while owning his own murder of the king.

I.-Emphatic: I on my part; or, I indeed.

But who slew all these ?-Slew should be smote. Jehu professes astonishment, by way of self-exculpation. He hints that as Jehovah had foretold the destruction of the house of Ahab, He must have brought it to pass; and therefore nobody is to blame. (See next verse.)

(10) Fall unto the earth.-As a dead thing; man, bird, or beast. (Comp. Matt. x. 29.)

Nothing of the word of the Lord.-No part of Elijah's prediction shall fail of accomplishment.

For the Lord hath done.-Rather, and Jehovah, He hath done; or, and Jehovah it is who hath done. (11) So.-Rather, And. The verse relates further

massacres.

In Jezreel.-The seat of the court.

His great men-i.e., high officials of his court; persons who owed their exaltation to him.

Kinsfolks. Rather, his friends (literally, his known ones; "familiares ejus ").

Priests. See Notes on 2 Sam. viii. 18; 1 Kings iv. 5; 1 Chron. xviii. 17.

Death of Ahaziah's brethren.

Jehu and Jehonadab.

None remaining.-No survivor.

(12) And he arose... and came. So the Syriac, rightly. The common Hebrew text has, " And he arose and came and departed."

66

And as he was at the shearing house in the way. Rather, He was at Beth-eqed-haroim on the way. The Targum renders: "He was at the shepherds' meeting-house on the way." The place was probably a soli. tary building, which served as a rendezvous for the shepherds of the neighbourhood. (The root 'aqad means "to bind," or knot together; " hence the common explanation of the name is "the shepherds' binding house," i.e., the place where they bound their sheep for the shearing. But the idea of binding is easily connected with that of meeting, gathering together: comp. our words band, knot.) The LXX. has: "He was at Baithakad (or Baithakath) of the shepherds." Eusebius mentions a place called Beithakad, fifteen Roman miles from Legio (Lejjûn), identical with the present Beitkad, six miles east of Jenin, in the plain of Esdraelon; but this seems too far off the route from Jezreel to Samaria, which passes Jenîn.

(13) Jehu met with.-Literally, And Jehu found. The brethren of Ahaziah king of Judahi.e., Ahaziah's kinsmen. His brothers, in the strict sense of the word, were slain by a troop of Arabs, in the lifetime of his father Jehoram (2 Chron. xxi. 17, xxii. 1). (See the Notes on 2 Chron. xxii. 8.)

We go down.-Rather, we have come down. To salute-i.e., to inquire after their health, to visit them.

The children of the king-i.e., the sons of Joram. The children of the queen.-Literally, the sons of the mistress (gebîrah)-i.e., the sons of the queenmother, Jezebel, and so Joram's brothers. Both these and the former are included in the "sons of Ahab " whom Jehu slew.

The news of the taking of Ramoth, and of Joram's convalescence, may have reached Jerusalem, and induced these princes to make a visit of pleasure to the court of Jezreel, not suspecting the events which had meanwhile happened with the headlong rapidity characteristic of Jehu's action.

(14) Take them alive.-Perhaps they made some show of resistance. Jehu slew them because of their connection with the doomed house of Ahab. Keil thinks he dreaded their conspiring with the partisans of the fallen dynasty in Samaria.

Slew them at the pit of the shearing house. -Literally, slaughtered them into the cistern of Beth

(17) And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, ac

eked. Either they cut their throats over the cistern, or threw the corpses into it.

Two and forty.-Curiously parallel with chap. ii. 24; and perhaps a definite for an indefinite number.

(15) Jehonadab the son of Rechab.-Comp. Jer. xxxv. 6-11; and 1 Chron. ii. 55. Ewald supposes that the Rechabites were one of the new societies formed after the departure of Elijah for the active support of the true religion. Their founder in this sense was Jonadab, who, despairing of being able to practise the legitimate worship in the bosom of the community, retired into the desert with his followers, and, like Israel of old, preferred the rough life of tents to all the allurements of city life. Only unusual circumstances could induce them (like their founder, in the present instance) to re-enter the circle of common life. "The son of Rechab" means the Rechabite.

And he saluted him.-It was important to Jehu to be seen acting in concert with a man revered for sanctity, and powerful as a leader of the orthodox party.

Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart ?-The Hebrew is: Is there with thy heart right (sincerity)? but this does not agree with the rest of the question. Some MSS. omit the particle 'eth ("with"); but the original reading is probably preserved in the Vatican LXX: "Is thy heart right [i.e., sincere, honest] with my heart, as my heart with thy heart ?" This secures a parallelism of expression. (Syriac: "Is there in thy heart sincerity, like that of my heart with thy heart?")

If it be.-Literally, An it be (the old English idiom, i.e., and it be). Jehu makes this reply. The LXX. (Alex.) has: " And Jehu said;" Vulg., saith he; Syriac, "It is, and it is; and he said to him" (perhaps an accidental transposition).

Give me thine hand.-As a pledge of good faith and token of amity. Striking hands sealed a compact. (Comp. Isa. ii. 6; and Cheyne's Note.)

(16) See.-Rather, look on at.

My zeal for the Lord.-Jehu addresses Jehonadab as a notoriously staunch adherent of the old faith. They made him ride. The Syriac, LXX., and Arabic read, "he made him ride; "the Vulg. is ambiguous; the Targum agrees with the Hebrew text, which may mean that Jehu's followers assisted Jehonadab (who was probably an aged sheikh) to mount the chariot.

(17) And when he came... he slew.-Literally, And he entered Samaria, and smote.

whom I have brought into your hands escape, he that letteth him go, his life shall be for the life of him. (25) And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal. (26) And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them. (27) And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day.

sense is clear. Thenius, however, suggests that the verb "escapeth" should be pointed as a transitive form (pihel instead of niphal). This gives: "The man that letteth escape any of the men," &c., an improvement that may be right, although the old versions agree with the present Hebrew pointing of the word.

(25) As soon as he had made an end.-The Syriac has, when they (i.e., the Baal priests) had made an end. This is probably right. (Comp. the beginning of verse 24). We can hardly suppose with Ewald that Jehu personally offered sacrifices in the character of an ardent Baal-worshipper. For the massacre Jehu chose the moment when all the assembly was absorbed in worship.

To the guard and to the captains.-Literally, to the runners (or couriers) and to the adjutants (or squires; chap. ix. 25). (Comp. 1 Kings ix. 22.) The royal guardsmen and their officers are meant.

Cast them out.-That is, threw the dead bodies out of the temple. This is the explanation of the Targum and the other versions. Thenius asks why this should be specially mentioned, and proposes to understand the verb intransitively, "rushed out," which suits very well with what follows.

And went to the city of the house of Baal.The word city has here its original meaning, which is also that of the Greek wóλis-viz., citadel, stronghold; properly, a place surrounded by a ring-fence or rampart. Jehu's guards, after the completion of their bloody work in the court of the temple, rushed up the steps into the sanctuary itself, which, like the temple of Solomon, resembled a fortress. ("Ex atrio irruperunt satellites Jehu in ipsam arcem templi."-Sebastian Schmidt.) Gesenius explains the word as meaning the temenos or sacred enclosure of the temple, but that does not suit the context. (The origin of the word "îr, "city," obscure in Hebrew, is revealed by the cuneiform inscriptions in the Accadian word erim or eri, meaning "foundation," and Uru-i.e., Ur, a proper name, meaning "the city.")

(26) The images.-Rather, the pillars; which were of wood, and had a sacred significance. (Comp. Hosea iii. 4.) In primitive times a pillar was the distinguishing mark of a holy place. Idolatrous pillars were commanded to be destroyed (Exod. xxiii. 24), but most critics think that pillars to Jehovah were quite allowable till the time of Hezekiah or Josiah, to which they assign the Book of Deuteronomy. (Comp. Deut. xvi. 21, 22.) At any rate, the prophet (Isaiah) gives

Prophets of Baal.

(28) Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. (29) Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that were in Dan.

(30) And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation. shall sit on the throne of Israel. (31) But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law

3

of the LORD God of Israel with all his

an implicit sanction to the erection of a sacred pillar in Egypt" (Cheyne's Note on Isaiah xix. 19). The LXX. has the singular here (τǹν στýλny) and the plural in the next verse. The Syriac has the singular" statue” in

both.

(27) The image of Baal.-Again the word is pillar, which in this case is the conical pillar of stone representing the Baal himself. The wooden pillars of verse 26 probably symbolised companion deities (rapédpoi ovußuo) of the principal idol.

Made it a draught house.-By way of utter desecration. (Comp. Ezek. vi. 11; Dan. ii. 5.)

Unto this day. On the bearing of this phrase, see the Introduction to the Books of Kings.

(28) Thus Jehu destroyed Baal.-Objectively considered, the slaughter of the servants of Baal was in perfect harmony with the Law; but, subjectively, the motive which influenced Jehu was thoroughly selfish. The priests and prophets of Baal in Israel, as depending entirely on the dynasty of Ahab, the king who had originally introduced the Baal-worship, might prove dangerous to Jehu. By exterminating them he might hope to secure the whole-hearted allegiance of the party that stood by the legitimate worship. His maintenance of the cultus established by Jeroboam (verse 29) proves that he acted from policy rather than religious zeal.

(29-36) Jehu's reign and death.

(29) Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam.— Comp. 1 Kings xii. 28, seq., xv. 26, 30, 34. Jehu maintained the worship at Bethel and Dan on the same grounds of state policy as the kings who preceded him.

Howbeit.-Only; the word constantly used by the redactor to qualify his estimate of the conduct of the kings. (Comp. chap. xii, 3, xiv. 4, xv. 4.) The verse is, therefore, a parenthetic qualification of the approval implied in verse 28.

(30) And the Lord said.-Perhaps through Elisha. And hast done.-So the Syriac and Arabic versions. The Hebrew wants the and.

Thy children of the fourth generation.-The fulfilment of this oracle is noticed in chap. xv. 12. (Comp. the words of the commandment, "visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation; " Exod. xx. 5.)

(31) But Jehu took no heed.-Or, Now Jehu had not been careful. This verse, rather than the next, begins a new paragraph.