Elisha sends a young prophet with instructions to anoint Jehu at Ramoth-gilead, 1-3. The prophet, having done his errand, flees, 4-10. Jehu, being made king by the soldiers, kills Joram in the field of Naboth, 11-26. Ahaziah is slain at Gur and buried at Jerusalem, 27-29. Proud Jezebel is thrown down out of a window and eaten by dogs, 30-37.
1 And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets and said to him, "Gird up your loins, take this box of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. 2 And when you come there, look for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, and go in, make him rise up from among his brothers, and carry him to an inner chamber. 3 Then take the box of oil and pour it on his head and say, 'Thus says the LORD: "I have anointed you king over Israel."' Then open the door and flee, and do not wait."
4 So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. 5 And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting, and he said, "I have an errand to you, O captain." And Jehu said, "To which of us all?" And he said, "To you, O captain." 6 And he arose, went into the house, and he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel. 7 And you shall smite the house of Ahab your master so that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the servants of the LORD at the hand of Jezebel. 8 For the whole house of Ahab shall perish. And I will cut off from Ahab the males and him who is shut up and left in Israel. 9 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. 10 And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be no one to bury her.'" And he opened the door and fled.
11 Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord. And one of them said to him, "Is all well? Why did this mad man come to you?" And he said to them, "You know the man and his communication." 12 And they said, "It is false. Tell us now." And he said, "In this manner he spoke to me, saying, 'Thus says the LORD: "I have anointed you king over Israel."'" 13 Then they hastened, and every man took his garment, put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, "Jehu is king."
14 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead—he and all Israel—because of Hazael king of Syria. 15 But king Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, "If this is how you would have it, then let no one go forth nor escape from the city to go to tell it in Jezreel." 16 So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.
17 And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came and said, "I see a company." And Joram said, "Take a horseman and send to meet them, and let him say, 'Is it peace?'" 18 So a horseman went to meet him and said, "Thus says the king: 'Is it peace?'" And Jehu said, "What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me." And the watchman told, saying, "The messenger came to them, but he does not return." 19 Then he sent out a second horseman, who came to them and said, "Thus says the king: 'Is it peace?'" And Jehu answered, "What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me." 20 And the watchman told, saying, "He came even to them and does not return. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously."
21 And Joram said, "Make ready." And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, "Is it peace, Jehu?" And he answered, "What peace, so long as the lewd acts of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?" 23 And Joram turned his hands and fled and said to Ahaziah, "There is treachery, O Ahaziah." 24 And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength and smote Jehoram between his arms. The arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. 25 Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, "Take up and cast him into the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember how, when I and you rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden upon him: 26 'Surely I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,' says the LORD, 'and I will requite you in this plat,' says the LORD. Now therefore, take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD."
27 But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed him and said, "Smite him also in the chariot." And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo and died there. 28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his sepulcher with his fathers in the city of David.
29 And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.
30 And when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her face, adorned her head, and looked out a window. 31 And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, "Did Zimri have peace, who slew his master?" 32 And he lifted up his face to the window and said, "Who is on my side? Who?" And two or three eunuchs looked out to him.
33 And he said, "Throw her down." So they threw her down. And some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses. And he trod her under foot. 34 And when he had come in, he ate and drank, and said, "Go, see now this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king's daughter." 35 And they went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull, the feet, and the palms of her hands. 36 Therefore, they came back and told him. And he said, "This is the word of the LORD which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'In the portion of Jezreel, dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel. 37 And the carcass 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."'"
Matthew Henry Commentary - 2nd Kings, Chapter 9[➚]
[v.7] - Quoted in Revelation 19:2.