IN THE FIFTH year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, when Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat began his reign as king of Judah. 17He was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. 18He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD. 19Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the LORD was not willing to destroy Judah. He had promised to maintain a lamp for David and his descendants forever.
20In the time of Jehoram, Edom rebelled against Judah and set up its own king. 21So Jehoram went to Zair with all his chariots. The Edomites surrounded him and his chariot commanders, but he rose up and broke through by night; his army, however, fled back home. 22To this day Edom has been in rebellion against Judah. Libnah revolted at the same time.
23As for the other events of Jehoram’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 24Jehoram rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the City of David. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.
25In the twelfth year of Joram son of Ahab king of Israel, Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. 26Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27He walked in the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was related by marriage to Ahab’s family.
28Ahaziah went with Joram son of Ahab to war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth Gilead. The Arameans wounded Joram; 29so King Joram returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramoth in his battle with Hazael king of Aram.
Then Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to Jezreel to see Joram son of Ahab, because he had been wounded.
9:1The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take this flask of oil with you and go to Ramoth Gilead. 2When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, get him away from his companions and take him into an inner room. 3Then take the flask and pour the oil on his head and declare, ‘This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run; don’t delay!”
4So the young man, the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead. 5When he arrived, he found the army officers sitting together. “I have a message for you, commander,” he said.
“For which of us?” asked Jehu.
“For you, commander,” he replied.
6Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the prophet poured the oil on Jehu’s head and declared, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anoint you king over the LORD’s people Israel. 7You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the LORD’s servants shed by Jezebel. 8The whole house of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. 9I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. 10As for Jezebel, dogs will devour her on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.’” Then he opened the door and ran.
11When Jehu went out to his fellow officers, one of them asked him, “Is everything all right? Why did this madman come to you?”
“You know the man and the sort of things he says,” Jehu replied.
12“That’s not true!” they said. “Tell us.”
Jehu said, “Here is what he told me: ‘This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.’”
13They hurried and took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, “Jehu is king!”
14So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramoth Gilead against Hazael king of Aram, 15but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him in the battle with Hazael king of Aram.) Jehu said, “If this is the way you feel, don’t let anyone slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.” 16Then he got into his chariot and rode to Jezreel, because Joram was resting there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to see him.
17When the lookout standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troops approaching, he called out, “I see some troops coming.”
“Get a horseman,” Joram ordered. “Send him to meet them and ask, ‘Do you come in peace?’”
18The horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king says: ‘Do you come in peace?’”
“What do you have to do with peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.”
The lookout reported, “The messenger has reached them, but he isn’t coming back.”
19So the king sent out a second horseman. When he came to them he said, “This is what the king says: ‘Do you come in peace?’”
Jehu replied, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”
20The lookout reported, “He has reached them, but he isn’t coming back either. The driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi—he drives like a madman.”
21“Hitch up my chariot,” Joram ordered. And when it was hitched up, Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah rode out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They met him at the plot of ground that had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. 22When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?”
“How can there be peace,” Jehu replied, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”
23Joram turned about and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!”
24Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart and he slumped down in his chariot. 25Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, “Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were riding together in chariots behind Ahab his father when the LORD made this prophecy about him: 26‘Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, declares the LORD, and I will surely make you pay for it on this plot of ground, declares the LORD.’ Now then, pick him up and throw him on that plot, in accordance with the word of the LORD.”
27When Ahaziah king of Judah saw what had happened, he fled up the road to Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him, shouting, “Kill him too!” They wounded him in his chariot on the way up to Gur near Ibleam, but he escaped to Megiddo and died there. 28His servants took him by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his fathers in his tomb in the City of David. 29(In the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king of Judah.)
30Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she painted her eyes, arranged her hair and looked out of a window. 31As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?”
32He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked down at him. 33“Throw her down!” Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot.
34Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of that cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was a king’s daughter.” 35But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands. 36They went back and told Jehu, who said, “This is the word of the LORD that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel’s flesh. 37Jezebel’s body will be like refuse on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, ‘This is Jezebel.’”
10:1Now there were in Samaria seventy sons of the house of Ahab. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria: to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders and to the guardians of Ahab’s children. He said, 2“As soon as this letter reaches you, since your master’s sons are with you and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city and weapons, 3choose the best and most worthy of your master’s sons and set him on his father’s throne. Then fight for your master’s house.”
4But they were terrified and said, “If two kings could not resist him, how can we?”
5So the palace administrator, the city governor, the elders and the guardians sent this message to Jehu: “We are your servants and we will do anything you say. We will not appoint anyone as king; you do whatever you think best.”
6Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side and will obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”
Now the royal princes, seventy of them, were with the leading men of the city, who were rearing them. 7When the letter arrived, these men took the princes and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel. 8When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, “They have brought the heads of the princes.”
Then Jehu ordered, “Put them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.”
9The next morning Jehu went out. He stood before all the people and said, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these? 10Know then, that not a word the LORD has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail. The LORD has done what he promised through his servant Elijah.” 11So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his chief men, his close friends and his priests, leaving him no survivor.
12Jehu then set out and went toward Samaria. At Beth Eked of the Shepherds, 13he met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, “Who are you?”
They said, “We are relatives of Ahaziah, and we have come down to greet the families of the king and of the queen mother.”
14“Take them alive!” he ordered. So they took them alive and slaughtered them by the well of Beth Eked—forty-two men. He left no survivor.
15After he left there, he came upon Jehonadab son of Recab, who was on his way to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, “Are you in accord with me, as I am with you?”
“I am,” Jehonadab answered.
“If so,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.” So he did, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot. 16Jehu said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD.” Then he had him ride along in his chariot.
17When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed all who were left there of Ahab’s family; he destroyed them, according to the word of the LORD spoken to Elijah.
18Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. 19Now summon all the prophets of Baal, all his ministers and all his priests. See that no one is missing, because I am going to hold a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who fails to come will no longer live.” But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the ministers of Baal.
20Jehu said, “Call an assembly in honor of Baal.” So they proclaimed it. 21Then he sent word throughout Israel, and all the ministers of Baal came; not one stayed away. They crowded into the temple of Baal until it was full from one end to the other. 22And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring robes for all the ministers of Baal.” So he brought out robes for them.
23Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Recab went into the temple of Baal. Jehu said to the ministers of Baal, “Look around and see that no servants of the LORD are here with you—only ministers of Baal.” 24So they went in to make sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had posted eighty men outside with this warning: “If one of you lets any of the men I am placing in your hands escape, it will be your life for his life.”
25As soon as Jehu had finished making the burnt offering, he ordered the guards and officers: “Go in and kill them; let no one escape.” So they cut them down with the sword. The guards and officers threw the bodies out and then entered the inner shrine of the temple of Baal. 26They brought the sacred stone out of the temple of Baal and burned it. 27They demolished the sacred stone of Baal and tore down the temple of Baal, and people have used it for a latrine to this day.
28So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel. 29However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
30The LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” 31Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit.
32In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory 33east of the Jordan in all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh), from Aroer by the Arnon Gorge through Gilead to Bashan.
34As for the other events of Jehu’s reign, all he did, and all his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
35Jehu rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son succeeded him as king. 36The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.
Original Meaning
THE ELISHA STORIES demonstrate the sovereignty of God during the tumultuous times of the Omride dynasty. Following these stories the prophetic historian returns to the political developments in Israel and Judah. After Jehoshaphat’s death the sins of Ahab come to dominate Judah just as they had Israel. The political influence of Israel over Judah comes through the marriage of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, to Athaliah, daughter of Ahab (8:18).
Jehoram is succeeded by Ahaziah his son, who follows in the ways of his mother, “a granddaughter of Omri” (8:26–27). Only through God’s grace in the promise to David can the “lamp” of David be saved from extinction (8:19); mercy prevents the complete collapse of the covenant. With that brief summary of Judah the historian turns to the fulfillment of the judgment pronounced by Elijah on the house of Omri (cf. 1 Kings 19:15–17). The story of Jehu’s overthrow is a sustained narrative told to grip the reader with the same intensity that motivated its protagonists. The Omride dynasty is brought to an end with the kind of violence that characterized its rule.
Apostasy of the Kings of Judah (8:16–29)
THE SYNCHRONISM OF Jehoram with the fifth year of Joram son of Ahab (8:16) marks the end of the twenty-five year reign of Jehoshaphat (cf. 1 Kings 22:42; 2 Kings 1:17).1 It is not quite correct to say that Jehoram begins to reign in the fifth year of Joram (NIV).2 Jehoram does become king in the fifth year of Joram, but he began to reign with his father two years before Joram. The summary of Jehoram’s reign states that the mercy of God preserves the dynasty of David in spite of the fact that Jehoram follows in the ways of the house of Ahab (2 Kings 8:18–19). The promise to David is a light that continues to shine (cf. 2 Sam. 21:17; 1 Kings 11:36; 15:4); the death of a last surviving heir can be described as extinguishing “the only surviving coal” (2 Sam. 14:7). Zion is the location where God has determined to perpetually keep the lamp of his anointed burning (Ps. 132:17). Though the dynasty is preserved, Judah suffers the loss of territory and influence.
Jehoram tries to bring Edom into submission, but without success (8:20–22). The sequence of events is not clear because of the faulty Hebrew text, which was apparently disturbed before the earliest translations. Jehoram crosses over to Zair, a name not otherwise known. The Greek form of the name suggests the location might be Zoar at the southern tip of the Dead Sea (cf. Gen. 13:10; 19:22).3 Judging from the context, Jehoram and all his chariot forces conduct a night raid on Edom, but the Edomites surround him and the chariot officers, and the army flees back to its tents (i.e., home).4 The note that the revolt of Edom continues “until this day” (2 Kings 8:22) occurs in other instances of Judah-Edom relations (14:7; 16:6) and shows a special interest in territorial claims when Judah regains its military strength.
Libnah was a Levitical city (Josh. 21:13), located in the southwestern foothills of Judah (the Shephelah) in the vicinity Lachish and Gezer (15:42). It came under attack when Sennacherib lay siege to Lachish (2 Kings 19:8). This is the only notice of a city breaking with the central rule in Jerusalem. The circumstances are not given; the Chronicler reports distant raids into Judah by Philistines and Arabs (2 Chron. 21:16–17), which may have been related to the revolt of Libnah “at that time” (2 Kings 8:22). Apparently the military weakness of Judah gives an important border fort opportunity to advance its own interests.
Ahaziah, son of Jehoram, begins to rule Israel in the twelfth year of Joram (8:25) and rules briefly until his death in Megiddo at the hands of Jehu (9:27). In 9:29 his reign is said to have been in the eleventh year of Joram. The difference may be a textual problem,5 but the number “twelve” may also belong to the original synchronistic data if Judah switched to the nonaccession year system used in Israel.6 Eleven years would be the synchronism with accession year reckoning. The alliance of Judah with Israel may have been the occasion for harmonizing the method of recording years of reign.
The mother of Ahaziah is Athaliah, here said to be a “daughter [i.e., descendant] of Omri” (8:26), while in verse 18 she is said to be “a daughter of Ahab.” This is the only reference to the ancestral father of the dynasty (Omri), which is otherwise remembered by the name and activities of Ahab.7 The queen mother could exercise considerable influence in affairs of the court, as we saw in the case of Maacah, who was removed by her son Asa from her position because of her devotion to Asherah (cf. 1 Kings 15:13). The influence of Jezebel in fostering foreign cults in Jerusalem continues through her daughter Athaliah. These are best described in terms of “the house of Ahab” (2 Kings 8:27), who was renowned for his support of the prophets of Baal against Elijah.
The end of Ahaziah’s reign does not have the usual burial formula. His death is recorded in the following narrative (9:27–28). A circumstantial statement is adopted from that story (9:14–15a) to provide a transition to that account. It explains the presence of Ahaziah in Jezreel where he is caught in the assassination of Joram.
The Revolt of Jehu (9:1–37)
JEHU IS OF the house of Nimshi (cf. 9:20); the use of the name of his ancestor may be because the latter is better known or because it assists in distinguishing Jehu’s father from King Jehoshaphat. The anointing takes place clandestinely and hastily, as is necessary if the revolt were to take place with the army leaders (the “brothers” of Jehu) while they are on active duty seeking to capture Ramoth Gilead from the Arameans. Ahab had failed in his attempt to capture the city (1 Kings 22:29–36).
The betrayal of Jehu enables Hazael to retain Ramoth Gilead and to capture other territories in the Transjordan (10:32–33). The brutality of Jehu’s revolt severely weakens Israel. In his first year he submits to Shalmaneser III of Assyria; the Black Obelisk states that he pays tribute with gold, silver, precious vessels, a royal scepter, and javelins. It will be two generations before Israel regains its former influence (under the rule of Jeroboam II, see 14:25–27).
Elisha plays a relatively minor role in the anointing of Jehu, especially given the prominence of the commission of Elijah (1 Kings 19:16). Anointing was a regular feature of coronation, but it is specially noted when a dynasty is founded or succession contested (e.g., 1 Sam. 9:16; 10:1; 2 Sam. 2:4; 5:3; 1 Kings 1:34, 39; 2 Kings 11:12; 23:30). Jehu evidently is known to the prophetic envoy; he identifies him among the officers gathered at Ramoth Gilead (2 Kings 9:5). The prophetic oracle has been regarded as an intruding prophetic speech (9:7–10),8 but the prophecy against the house of Ahab is certainly exploited by Jehu and his party.
The oracle has the two standard elements:9 There is a judgment relevant to the immediate situation (v. 7), followed by the stereotyped curse (vv. 8–9).10 The oracle against Jezebel (v. 10) is specifically a fulfillment of the prophetic word (1 Kings 21:23). The judgment speech brings to a climax the accumulated sins of Israel from Jeroboam to Joram.
Calling the prophet a “madman” (9:11) is a derogatory reference to the eclectic nature of prophets.11 Prophets were those “crazy preachers”; the description does not refer to their activity in prophesying but to their manner of life and speech. But prophets did have influence, even when their ability to declare the divine will was disregarded. The officers know the prophetic emissary with Jehu, and his announcement is regarded as the occasion to act. The followers of Jehu immediately turn the bare steps into an ascent to a royal dais and declare Jehu as king. Blowing a trumpet was customary in installing a king (cf. 1 Kings 1:34, 39). It served as a public announcement to formally submit to the new monarch. Following the accession ceremony, a proclamation to announce the anointed as king was normal procedure (cf. 1:11, 13, 18). Though the prophetic herald is spoken of disparagingly, his word is effective.
The narrative moves to the scene at Jezreel where the coup actually transpires (9:14–15). Joram retreats from Ramoth Gilead to recover from injuries. Jezreel is a logical place, as it serves as the primary royal fortification protecting the capital and the major administrative centers.12 Jehu relies on the element of surprise in returning to Jezreel, demanding that no one betray a coronation that has just taken place. Joram will naturally expect that his chief officer is bringing him news from the battlefront when the watchmen see him approach.
The threefold repetition of the question asking whether all is well shifts attention to the actual disruption of peace (9:18, 19, 22). Though Joram may be worried about peace on the battlefront at Ramoth Gilead, the absence of peace is in his own country. In the first instance Joram still functions in the role of king, as the messenger is sent with an order: The king is asking, “Is all well?” (v. 18). Jehu knows Joram is no longer king, and his reply directs attention to the problem: What does the house of Ahab have to do with peace?13 King Joram may have been asking whether all is well at Ramoth Gilead, but the question is ambiguous. He may also have been asking about Jehu’s intent; there is something abnormal about his chief general speeding toward Jezreel with a whole troop of the army.
Jehu’s response brings his mission into focus. The rider is in the service of a king who represents the crime of Ahab against Naboth in spilling innocent blood; he has nothing whatever to do with peace. If the rider is asking about whether Jehu’s advance is war, the answer is the same: Jehu is bringing revolution to Jezreel. When the rider joins Jehu’s troop, a second messenger is sent with the same question.14
The narrative further joins Jehu with the prophetic message by describing his driving as “mad” (šiggāʿôn), the same description given to the crazy prophet who came to anoint Jehu (mešuggāʿ; cf. 9:11, 20). Joram by this time clearly knows something is amiss, but on an impulse rides out to meet Jehu without any supporting troops. He acts in naivety, denial, or desperation; the narrative is ambiguous regarding his state of mind. Joram finds Jehu at Naboth’s plot and asks whether the mission is one of peace (v. 22), with the hope that the answer may be positive. Perhaps he thinks his presence can change the course of Jehu’s action.
Joram is powerless before Jehu. The original formality and authority of “this is what the king says” (9:18) has dissipated entirely. Joram may have been asking about the Aramean front with his question, but only as a diversion from the issue at hand. Jehu has come unannounced, with a formidable force, and has not allowed the messengers to return. Joram is at the point of confrontation between justice and restitution. He is portrayed as a figure of great pathos; he is not himself responsible for the sins of his mother that robbed the land of justice (v. 22). He does not perceive the social unrest or the divine demand for justice. There can be no peace for Joram.
Joram wheels about in a desperate attempt to escape his fate (9:23). His cry of “treachery” (mirmâ) functions as the opposite of peace (šālôm). In poetic contexts it is the corresponding word in antithetic lines (e.g., Ps. 35:20; Prov. 11:1).15 The reign of Ahab was characterized by lies and deceit. His dynasty ends by means of the same treachery that characterized it. The mission to restore peace to Israel is itself one of violence and deceit.
The callous violence of Jehu is carried out in the sense of fulfilling divine judgment. As Joram slumps in the chariot, Jehu recalls how he and his commander Bidkar were riding side by side when the divine utterance was made against the house of Ahab (9:25–26). Jehu is determined to remove not only the ruling descendant of Ahab but also members of the royal family. Ahaziah was married to Athaliah, daughter of Ahab, and allied with Joram. Thus, Jehu pursues Ahaziah, giving orders to shoot him as well (9:27).
Ahaziah flees south toward Samaria but is overtaken at Beth Haggan (“house of the garden”).16 He is shot and wounded at Gur, a location known as Gina in the El-Amarna tablets,17 modern Jenin, just a mile north of Ibleam.18 Knowing that he cannot count on the speed of his chariot in the hills of Samaria, Ahaziah turns west towards Megiddo, perhaps in the hope that it is still loyal to Joram. He finds refuge but dies there from his wounds and is brought back to Jerusalem, where he receives a proper burial.19 The summary of the reign of Ahaziah is inserted as the conclusion to his burial (9:29).20
Jehu returns to Jezreel to deal with Jezebel; her attendants join the revolt and throw her down to be trampled on the ground.21 Though the versions say she is trampled by the horses, the Masoretic text is singular, indicating that she is trampled by Jehu (9:33). Jehu goes on to celebrate (v. 34), possibly a meal in which he secures the support of the leaders at Jezreel and assures them of his goodwill.
The abandonment of the cadaver of Jezebel to the scavenger animals (9:35–37) is a particularly disparaging insult against the woman who was queen. The fate of Jezebel emphasizes the fulfillment of the prophetic word (cf. 1 Kings 21:23). The proverb about her body being as dung (dōmen; NIV “refuse”) in the field is possibly a further insult to her name, calling attention to a second meaning for zebel as “manure.”22 Jezebel is not to have a memorial of any kind in Israel.
The Reign of Jehu (10:1–36)
THE DESTRUCTION OF Ahab’s house is described in two episodes. The first episode deals with the purging of the entire royal family while Jehu is still in Jezreel (10:1–11). The second describes two events on the road to Samaria (vv. 12–17); these serve as a literary transition to the elimination of the house of Baal in Samaria. The first event is an encounter with royal members of Judah (vv. 12–14) and provides an opportunity for Jehu to eliminate all opposition from the house of Ahaziah. Jehu then meets an enigmatic Jehonadab, described as a Recabite, who allies with him against Baalism (vv. 15–16). Upon his arrival in Samaria, Jehu executes all who remain of the house of Ahab in order to eliminate all sources of resistance to his rule (v. 17). Both massacres are justified with an appeal to the word of Elijah being fulfilled (vv. 10, 17).
Jehu begins his treacherous ways with letters calculated to inspire terror in any of the leaders that may still be loyal to Joram. His objective is to eliminate all the claimants to the throne, described as seventy sons of Ahab. The number seventy designates totality,23 and the house of Ahab includes all extended family members of Joram who may have a claim to the throne. It is not clear whether the letters go to the leaders of Jezreel (10:1); if the officials of Jezreel are meant, they must have fled to Samaria where the letters are sent. Other versions say the letters are sent to the governors of Samaria, which is likely.
The letters challenge the members of the former regime to contest the regency of Jehu if they are so inclined (10:2–3). The chief steward of the palace, the governor of the city, the officials, and the guardians of the royal sons concede immediately, refusing to install a rival king (v. 5). Jehu then asks that the heads of the royal descendants be brought to Jezreel. There appears to be a deliberate ambiguity in the request, since it is not clear if the chief leaders (heads) are to be brought or the decapitated skulls. This may have been the ruse Jehu uses to claim innocence in the whole affair (v. 9) and imply the massacre is the result of a popular rebellion against Joram. The officials take the corporeal meaning, dutifully bring the decapitated heads of all the members of Joram’s family and, on the orders of Jehu, heap them in two piles at the gates of Jezreel (v. 8). The bloody spectacle is an effective tactic of intimidation, used further as an object lesson for the fulfillment of the prophetic word. Jehu uses the opportunity to finish the job of killing all the remaining nobles, advisers, and priests of Joram’s reign still in Jezreel.
Once Jehu has the situation in Jezreel fully in his control, he proceeds to the capital Samaria (v. 12). He comes to an obscure place called Beth Eked, identified since Eusebius as the Arabic Beit Qad, a “shepherd’s shelter” (NEB), a few miles northeast of Jenin (Beth Haggan).24 The narrative does not explain the circumstances of this encounter with the brothers of Ahaziah. If the location is correct, it is not on the road from Jezreel to Samaria but high above it to the east. It is hardly possible that the associates of Ahaziah are unaware of the events in Jezreel, and this is not the road they would use if they are simply going there to greet him. It may be that this is a resistance movement intercepted by Jehu.25
The group has chosen an inconspicuous route to get to Jezreel, but Jehu discovers them while doing reconnaissance for such bands on his way to Samaria. The text may be read to say their intent is to avenge (šallēm) the deaths of the family members of Joram and Jezebel, the queen mother (10:13), rather than to seek their peace (šālôm).26 If this is the correct link to the narrative, it explains the presence of the force that Jehu has with him that enables him to kill forty-two of them.27 It is imperative for Jehu to control resistance movements in Judah, as there are undoubtedly loyalties to the house of Ahab there as well.
Jehonadab the Recabite seeks out Jehu on the way in order to join his campaign against the Baal cult. His motivations and the significance of his association with the Recabites are not explained. Jeremiah describes the Recabites as an itinerant group who refused wine and an agricultural way of life until the time of the Exile (Jer. 35:5–11). Jeremiah uses them as examples of fidelity to their word, in contrast to the infidelity of Judah in its covenant with Yahweh. Recabite austerity and rejection of sedentary life in Canaan are in themselves insufficient to explain Jehonadab’s resolution to join Jehu in the extermination of the Baal cult.
In genealogical lists, the Recabites seem to be associated with the Kenites (1 Chron. 2:55; 4:11–12).28 Another possibility is to associate the name (rēkāb) with the word for chariot (rekeb), making the Recabites a guild of chariot builders as Kenite metal workers or as charioteers in war.29 This would explain Jehu’s interest in Jehonadab, but it does not explain why Jehonadab would seek out Jehu, unless his interests are mercenary. Jehonadab joins Jehu in his chariot to Samaria, where Jehu immediately eliminates all the remnants of the house of Ahab.
The second objective of Jehu in Samaria is to purge the ministers of the Baal cult and raze its temple to the ground (10:18–28). This deed is carried out with the same characteristic violence and treachery. Jehu rallies the citizens of Samaria under the ruse that he will be a patron of their god and his temple. It may be that Jehu makes use of a partial aural homonym in making his proposition. Though Jehu says his intent was to “serve” (ʿābad) Baal as none before him (v. 18), his real objective is to “destroy” (ʾābad) all those who serve Baal (v. 19).
Jehu’s demand that all the prophets, ministers, and priests of Baal be present is carried out under threat of death (10:19). The call extends to the whole territory of Israel, so the entire temple is filled (vv. 20–21). Care is taken to be sure all the proper vestments are provided and that none but the Baal ministers are present (v. 23). Once the sacrifices are underway, Jehu assembles a force of eighty military officers, guards, and lieutenants outside the temple. Under pain of death they are to make sure no individual escapes (v. 24); their mission extends to the inmost shrine of the temple, to ensure their purge is thorough (v. 25).30
The sacred pillar is then burned and crushed (10:26–27). It is often assumed that two different objects must be meant or that this is a doublet (BHS), but the text may be only describing a sequence of events. When Josiah cleansed the temple, the sacred objects were both burned and crushed (23:6). The whole temple complex is torn to the ground; it is unlikely the whole complex is a latrine (NIV), but more likely a dung heap, a permanent public dump.
The summary of Jehu’s reign (10:29–36) gives Jehu credit for the change of religion he has brought about in Samaria. The reign of Ahab and its hated religion are ended, and the dynasty of Jehu continues for four generations (v. 30), enduring for almost a hundred years—by far the longest in Israel. This achievement is not without compromise or cost. It is twice noted that Jehu fails to rectify the fundamental problem of cultic worship at Dan and Bethel (vv. 29, 31). The military is so severely weakened that Israel is subjected to Hazael in the Transjordan (vv. 32–33). Aroer by the wadi Arnon is the southernmost city of Sihon, king of the Amorites (Deut. 2:36), the northern boundary of Moab. Gilead, roughly the entire mountainous region associated with the Jabbok, is mentioned twice (2 Kings 10:33); the second half of this verse expands the initial description to include the Bashan region north of the Yarmuk.
Bridging Contexts
FINDING ŠĀLOM. The outrageous confiscation of Naboth’s vineyard became representative of violence against the innocent during the Omride rule. Avenging Naboth’s blood becomes the clarion call of the revolt echoing throughout the narrative (9:10, 25–26, 30–37). This incident must have become a cause célèbre in Israel and a rallying point for widespread resentment against Ahab and Joram. Wars with Damascus and other neighboring states such as Moab, costly building projects, and an extravagant royal lifestyle (1 Kings 22:39) created a great burden on the people. The presence of Jezebel and her entourage was a constant reminder of these injustices.
The revolt of Jehu is a continuous narrative around the question of peace in Israel. Additions have been made to the narrative as it was integrated into the larger Deuteronomistic History, but they do not distract from the integrity of the account.31 The drama of Jehu’s massacre of the house of Omri moves in a series of scenes. Elisha commissions a servant to Ramoth Gilead to secretly anoint Jehu, the commander of Joram’s army, to be king over Israel (9:1–10). The actions of the prophet inspire a mutiny within the army ranks and an agreement that Jehu will be the next king (vv. 11–13).
The question “Is all well?” (hašālôm) is natural when an orderly meeting is interrupted by an erratic messenger. However in this narrative it takes on a greater significance, as it will be repeated to Jehu several times, with slightly different nuances (cf. 9:17–18, 22, 31). The word šālôm indicates prosperity, health, and wholeness. The purpose of government is to provide stability, order, and good community relations; the rule of the house of Ahab became characterized by injustice and chaos. The massive disruption of the revolt of Jehu violates the order of government but is to be the means of restoring integrity of rule (šālôm) within Israel.
Following the anointing of Jehu as king, events move to Jezreel (9:15–28). The threefold pattern of the approach of Jehu to the city is familiar (vv. 16–21). Ahaziah sent three contingents of soldiers to capture Elijah (1:9, 11, 13), and three times Elijah asked Elisha to leave him to go on alone (2:2–3, 4–5, 6). The climax is reached on the third approach and a decisive resolution of the confrontation.32 Each time Jehu is greeted with the same question: hašālôm (“Is all well?”). The oracle concerning Ahab is the critical aspect of Jehu’s wild ride to Jezreel (9:25–26). It brings the question into focus.33 Yahweh has sworn that he will restore well-being at Naboth’s vineyard, the very field where Ahab violated it. Peace (šālôm) is the result of paying back in full (šillam) that which was violated. The mission of Jehu is accomplished by ending the violence of the house of Ahab against the innocent, so that peace and order can again be restored to Israel.
From the assassination scene, Jehu goes to the palace in Jezreel. There Jezebel faces her final destiny. She prepared for the occasion, dressed in full royal regalia, as the queen mother she knows herself to be (9:30–37). She adorns her eyes with kohl, a black powder (usually antimony sulfide) used as makeup in Eastern countries, and she does up her hair. She takes her position in the window, no doubt knowing that Jehu will soon arrive. She is playing the role of the alluring woman, calling out to the foolish passerby, seeking to ensnare him (cf. Prov. 7:6–12).34
Jezebel poses the question about peace for the last time. Her disdain for Jehu is felt in her bitterly sarcastic words: “Is this peace [šālôm], Zimri, the one who killed his master?” (9:31, lit. trans.). The comparison to Zimri is the ultimate insult. Zimri not only failed in his attempted coup, but also died by his own hand when he set the citadel of Jezreel on fire in order to escape capture (1 Kings 16:15–18). Jezebel’s question about peace should be understood as antiphrasis for conspiracy (mirmâ). The word “peace” maintains the topos of the narrative. For the reader, the execution of Jezebel is a condition of peace.
The termination of the Omride dynasty and Baalism is a further prerequisite for šālôm in Israel. The seventy sons of Ahab (i.e., the whole royal house) are put to death by means of subterfuge (10:1–11). The scene then shifts to the temple of Baal in Samaria (vv. 12–28) and the eradication of the Baal cult. By means of a ruse, Jehu brings together all the prophets of Baal, secures their identification, and then has them all killed by his henchmen stationed outside. The sacred pillar is brought out and burned; the temple is torn down and turned into a latrine.
The end of the house of Ahab and the succession of Jehu is the inevitable outcome of divine purpose (9:1–10). The prophetic declaration of the end of a royal house is familiar (vv. 9–10): Ahijah announced the end of the house of Jeroboam (1 Kings 14:1–11), Jehu son of Hanani the end of the house of Baasha (16:1–4), and Elijah the end of the house of Ahab (21:17–24). The action of Elisha in instructing one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu at Ramoth Gilead completes the commission given to him by Elijah (cf. 19:16). The end of Ahab’s house has already been declared at the time of the contest with the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel.
Jehu also kills the royal family of Judah along with that of Israel (9:27–29). With the death of Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22:41–47), the political history of Judah temporarily merged with that of Israel. The alliance of Judah with Israel through the marriage of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, to Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (2 Kings 8:26), brought Judah to the same spiritual alienation from God as Israel. A summary of the reign of Jehoram (8:16–24) and the one-year reign of his son Ahaziah (vv. 25–29) conclude this phase of Judean history. Ahaziah is killed in the revolt of Jehu (cf. 9:27) as he attempts to flee the scene of Joram’s assassination at Naboth’s vineyard in Jezreel. Athaliah in turn will attempt to exterminate the house of David and take over the throne. Her plans are foiled by Jehosheba, sister of Ahaziah; she steals away the infant son of Ahaziah and hides him in the temple for six years (11:1–3). A conspiracy of Jehoiada the high priest ends the reign of Athaliah (11:4–21).
Assessment of Jehu. The account concludes with a prophetic assessment of the reign of Jehu (10:29–36). Approval is expressed for ending the rule of the Omrides and the purging of all the prophets of Baal. Jehu is promised four generations (v. 30); the blessing is depicted in a life long enough to see great great-grandchildren. However, Jehu does not change the practices of worship; the shrines established by Jeroboam son of Nebat at Bethel and Dan continued to be supported. Though he eradicates the Baal cult, Jehu is not absolved from the Deuteronomistic condemnation of following in the ways of Jeroboam. Jehu is also unsuccessful in protecting Israel from the attacks of the Arameans. The reduction of the state of Israel in the Transjordan is a sign of God’s continued judgment against Israel.
In Assyrian records, Jehu retains the distinction of being the son of Omri even though he is the usurper who violently ends the Omride dynasty. This can probably be explained by the events of the time. In the year Jehu begins his reign (841 B.C.), Shalmaneser III reappears in southern Syria and succeeds in confining Hazael to Damascus. He claims to have carried off much booty; among the kings who render tribute to Shalmaneser is Jehu, depicted in submissive posture on the famous Black Obelisk. The abolition of the house of Ahab is an act of appeasement from the Assyrian point of view, ridding them of a despised enemy. Jehu’s refusal to cooperate with Hazael facilitates the Assyrian advance; Jehu’s payment of tribute puts him in the favorable status of king. While the Assyrians called Hazael the “son of a nobody,” Jehu is given legitimate status.35 Shalmaneser returns a few years later (838 B.C.) to raid towns belonging to Hazael and to collect dues from his vassals.
The judgment against Israel does not end with the Omrides. The reality is that Jehu has no choice but to submit to the Assyrians. Gone are the days of Ahab when Israel could ally with the Aramean states against Assyria. Submission to Assyria grants only a temporary respite from the Arameans. Internal political struggles in Assyria lead to open rebellion against Shalmaneser so he can no longer retain control of the western territories. Assyrian expansion declines during the reign of Shamshi-Adad V (824–811 B.C.) and the opening years of Adad-Nirari III (811–783 B.C.). Throughout this period the Arameans continue their expansions in the territories of the eastern tribes of Israel. Jehu pays tribute to the Assyrians and continues to lose territory to the Arameans (13:1–7). His political fortunes are the converse of those of Omri.
The revulsion of war takes on distinct dimensions in the massacres of Jehu. In the war against Moab and the various wars against the Arameans, there were vestiges of God the divine warrior protecting his people.36 Though all of these wars were divine judgment against apostate Israel, the judgment was executed by an enemy nation, and God intervened to provide deliverance for the suffering citizens of Israel. The war of Jehu, by contrast, is divine judgment against the house of Ahab and the house of Baal, ruthlessly inflicted in a civil war. The assessment of the prophetic authors of the Deuteronomistic History is positive. The verdict on his horrific acts of vengeance, delivered through the voice of the prophetic narrator, is that Jehu is doing what was right according to the divine will (10:30). This civil war is interpreted as God acting as warrior against Israel for abandoning the covenant in order to worship Baal.
The approval given to Jehu stands emphatically as the strongest endorsement given to any monarch in the history of the northern kingdom. Jehu is the only king in Israel who is commended for doing what is right. Elsewhere the commendation of doing what is right according to Yahweh is used for David as the model king (1 Kings 11:33, 38; 14:8; 15:5; 2 Kings 16:2) or for the commendation of one of his successors: Asa (1 Kings 15:11; 22:43), Joash (2 Kings 12:3), Amaziah (14:3), Azariah (15:3), Jotham (15:34), Hezekiah (18:3), and Josiah (22:2). The phrase is used to condemn Jeroboam I (1 Kings 14:8), because a condition of his reign was to do right as David had done (11:38). The verdict on Jehu is not that he has done right as David, but it is clear that the deeds of purging the Baal cult can be compared to those of David. Jehu has fulfilled the prophetic word of Elijah (2 Kings 10:10, 17). His violent deeds achieve divine ends.
The evaluation of doing right in the eyes of Yahweh is more than just a comparison to David; it is used to justify the dynasty of Jehu. Mullen refers to this as a “royal grant” of the same unconditional type given to David and common in the Ancient Near East.37 Yahweh established an eternal house for David at the time when David determined to build a house for Yahweh (2 Sam. 7:1–17). The promise given to Jehu is limited to four generations, but it is based on obedience like that of David.
The subsequent rule of Jehu, however, cannot receive commendation. The positive word about the revolution is framed by the formulaic condemnation of his rule with the standard Deuteronomistic evaluation for all the kings of Israel: Jehu does not follow fully in God’s teaching for Israel; rather, he follows in the sins of Jeroboam in that he does not end the worship of the two golden calves in Dan and Bethel (10:29, 31). These two verses, however, are not equivalent. Verse 29 refers to the “golden calves,” a phrase that occurs elsewhere only at the initial establishment of the shrines (1 Kings 12:28). Verse 31 specifies his violation of the covenant in that he does not keep the “law of the LORD.” This phrase is unique in Kings, but it does have a parallel in the “law of Moses.” Solomon is admonished to keep all the regulations of the law (1 Kings 2:3); Amaziah is praised for keeping the law in the matter of revenge (2 Kings 14:6); Josiah is extolled as being incomparable in his devotion to the law of Moses (23:25). Though Jehu does what is right in his initial commission, he does not bring Israel to the acceptable standard of kingship under God.
Hosea, 2 Kings, and Jehu. Jehu also receives notice in the prophet Hosea. The story of Hosea’s marriage to Gomer is the story of the relationship of Israel with Yahweh. Hosea’s wife and children were Israelites; Gomer’s sin of infidelity was not just against Hosea, for her prostitution in the Baal cult symbolized Israel’s apostasy. Hosea was instructed to name the first son born to him “Jezreel,” for in a little while Yahweh would punish “the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel” (Hos. 1:3–5).
These words are striking, because they seem to be the opposite of the affirmation given by the prophetic writers of Kings. The reigning king during the days of Hosea was Jeroboam II, the great-grandson of Jehu. Though he is not mentioned by name, he seems to be the person meant, not Jehu himself. “House of Jehu” can also mean the country of Israel as a political entity, the whole realm of Jehu. The house of Jehu did come to a violent end in the reign of Zechariah, son of Jeroboam, who was summarily assassinated by his successor Shallum after six months on the throne. Shallum struck Zechariah in Ibleam (15:10), the same city where Ahaziah of Judah was killed by Jehu (9:27). There was an obvious correlation between the end of the dynasty of Jehu and that of Omri and Ahab.
Though judgment on the dynasty of Jehu is like what he inflicted on Joram and the house of Ahab, it is difficult to understand the statement that it is because of the blood that he shed in Jezreel (Hos. 1:4), when this very act is the occasion for highest praise in Kings.38 Some argue that Hosea represents a dramatic development in understanding how God deals with his people. Far from approving the bloodbath at Jezreel, Hosea establishes a higher and more sensitive standard of evaluation. Jehu was wrong and his dynasty will pay the price for his brutality.39
Generally, however, Hosea views Israel’s history in the same way as that of the other historians and prophets. It is hardly conceivable that the tradition of Jehu comes down to Hosea without an awareness of the key roles of Elijah and Elisha. Hosea would have condemned Ahab and his house and acknowledged the necessity for the violent overthrow of that infamous regime.40 Hosea could approve Jehu’s action in overthrowing the house of Ahab, but he could not approve his reign in other matters. The house of Jehu turned out to be no different from the previous kings of Israel.
The prophet Hosea turns the promise that Jehu’s dynasty will last for four generations into a threat: The reign of the house of Jehu will end in the fourth generation. Along with an approval of the cleansing effected by Jehu’s acts there is a misunderstanding of the anointing he was given. Israel conquered Canaan with God as her warrior, but when that purpose was misunderstood and Israelites assumed the land belonged to them to do as they pleased, the promise was forfeited. The Israelites suffered the same fate as the Canaanites before them. Jehu went beyond the call of his mandate and fell into arrogance and self-righteousness, which previously caused the demise of Ahab and his house. The result was the same judgment coming on the reign of Jeroboam as Jehu inflicted on Joram.
It should not be assumed that the sins of Jehu cause the doom of Zechariah, his great great-grandson. No one is condemned for the sins of their ancestors. The judgments against the later kings of the dynasty are brought on by their own behavior. It is the evil and greed of Jeroboam that bring matters to a conclusion. Judgment comes to those who merit it; that judgment has its beginnings with Jehu and the blood of Jezreel. The main charge of Hosea against the royal house of his day is identical to the sin of the Omrides. God will do to the house of Jehu exactly as he did through Jehu in the elimination of the Omrides—and for the same reasons. They are traitors to their own cause in not maintaining zeal for Yahweh.
For Hosea the name Jezreel contains two opposite ideas. Translated it means “May God sow!” Hosea’s son is named for the town Jezreel situated in a luscious valley that richly represented the beneficence of God in the fruitfulness of plants, animals, and people. The name suggests that it is Yahweh, not Baal, who gives seed for sustenance of all life. Yahweh is in no sense a competitor for Baal, for he reveals himself not only through fertility in nature but in his mighty deeds in relationship with his people, fulfilling his covenant promises.
The name of the child is a mystery; it can portend both threat and promise. Though it conveys threat in the demise of the kingdom of Jeroboam, it does not lose the sense of promise. Where it is said “not my people,” it will yet be said “people of the living God” (Hos. 2:1). The Israelites will yet come up from the land, as at the first exodus (cf. Ex. 1:10), and be gathered together in the future great day of Jezreel (Hos. 2:2–3). The name Jezreel signifies a time of revival in which the land will yet be sown with people and animals. God’s purpose for his people, which is not accomplished in the zeal of Jehu, will yet be realized for Jezreel.
Contemporary Significance
RESPONDING TO INJUSTICE. The contemporary world has many examples of a cause célèbre equivalent to that of Naboth’s vineyard. These can range from local issues, such as the plight of the homeless in any major city, to national issues, such as the loss of land by aboriginals, or to international issues, such as disruptions caused by the phenomena known as “globalization”—labor issues, free trade, debt, and emerging markets. Governments at various levels share culpability and responsibility in these matters and must be accountable. Injustice must be addressed, but not in a manner that creates an equal evil in turn.
Although the necessary changes instituted by Jehu are commended for the necessary change they effect, Hosea condemns Jehu’s methods as bringing inevitable judgment. His brutal actions are designed to achieve his personal ambitions as a military leader, under the guise of terminating the injustices of the Omride dynasty. Often attempts to deal with evident injustice are so governed by passion, haste, and personal ambition that other victimization occurs in the process.
As Aquinas observed, the passion most immediately associated with injustice is anger. Anger is often justified, inspired by love and respect for those persons whose rights are perceived as being violated. Anger recoils at injustice; it strikes out at what is wrong. It strains to change unjust structures that deprive the vulnerable of political, social, economic, or personal rights that human dignity demands. A good dose of anger can be helpful; anger is creative energy that can be used for positive action. It is like a fire; in a controlled environment, it is a powerful force for good, but out of control it can do irreparable damage. Anger can lash out in harsh words, biting insults, violence, riots, and even war.
Responses to injustice must be gentle and firm. Robert Maloney reminds the church that the gentle find creative ways to express anger in action on behalf of justice and participation in transformation.41 The prophets address injustice with their words and declare that the promised descendant of David will do the same. The root of Jesse will “strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked” (Isa. 11:4); the servant will be a light to the nations; his words are as a sharpened sword or a polished arrow (49:2). The fullness of the kingdom of God is to bring about peace through the teaching of the covenant, turning the weapons of war into agricultural tools (Isa. 2:3–4; Mic. 5:2–4). Peacemaking and reconciliation are the goals of the gentle.
Christians must learn more of the power of the gospel in the midst of the great injustices of this world. The Community of Sant’Egidio is a movement of laypeople dedicated to evangelization and charity in more than seventy countries. They began by visiting the slums of Rome, providing education for the poor. They show their solidarity with the poor by living with them in a free and voluntary spirit. Maloney reminds us of the role that the Community of Sant’Egidio played in mediating peace in Mozambique.
After fifteen years of civil war, “human wisdom” would surely have doubted the ability of a “powerless” Italian lay community to accomplish what other much more powerful groups like the United Nations and the Vatican had failed to bring about. Yet negotiations were successfully completed in 1992, with the community’s help, and peace continues to reign in that country. Andrea Riccardi, one of the founders of the Community of Sant’Egidio, describes the means used during the peacemaking process as “the ‘weak strength’ of the Gospel.” Could other “powerless” groups show similar courage in offering their services as ministers of reconciliation in other perennially troubled spots of the world?42
Gentleness and suffering love. Conversation and dialogue, accompanied by suffering love, will always be among the principal means for settling conflict in the lives of the gentle. Paul tells the Ephesians that Christ is our peace, the one who has broken down the walls of partition (Eph. 2:14). Peter calls on the followers of Christ to be subject to rulers and to follow his example, being patient in suffering even when doing good (1 Peter 2:20–21). If the community of disciples has a genuine passion for the pursuit of justice and peace, it is a clear sign that the kingdom of God is at hand.
Gentleness cannot be passive; passionate gentleness knows how to direct anger, channeling it so that “justice rolls on like a river and righteousness like a never-failing stream” (Amos 5:24). The work and words of the gentle bring about justice that is like a wadi with a perpetual flow of water that erodes oppressive social structures and restores the weary. The prayer of W. E. B. DuBois sums up this gentle but firm passion:
Give us grace, O God, to dare to do the deed, which we well know cries to be done. Let us not hesitate because of ease, or the words of men’s mouths, or our own lives. Mighty causes are calling us—the freeing of women, the training of children, the putting down of hate and murder and poverty—all these and more. But they call with voices that mean work and sacrifice and death. Mercifully, grant us, O God, the spirit of Esther, that we may say: I will go unto the king and if I perish, I perish.43
In the New Testament, the divine warrior metaphor shifts to warfare conducted against rulers, authorities, powers, and dominions beyond the temporal sphere (Eph. 1:21). Warfare against these forces is no less real than the war of Jehu against Joram and his promotion of the Baal cult. However, the warfare of the Christian against the greed and materialism of the world is of an entirely different order. In Christian eschatology, wars among nations are only a symptom of a much larger cosmic war played out between Christ and the “powers and principalities.” In this war, Christ has triumphed not by amassing a greater arsenal and using it more efficiently with the consequences of “collateral damage,” as the modern military calls dead people. Christ triumphs by dying ignominiously, tortured to death on a cross, then peaceably rising again to new life. The kingdom of God is thus already “at hand” (Mark 1:15), but is not yet fully consummated until Christ comes again.
In the meantime, the powers of darkness still stalk the earth and still deal in death.44 It is not the usual role of Christians to take up armed forces against the society in which they live, however oppressive and intolerant such regimes may be. If the powers of evil extend beyond the political powers that promote it, the defense against such forces must be other than military. Paul urges Christians to take on the armor of faith in order to stand against the wiles of the devil (Eph. 6:10–20). The most important weapon for the apostle in prison is prayer; his greatest concern in battling the forces that imprison him is that he will have the courage to bear witness to his faith.
Christian victory and human government. Though governments imprisoned the apostle Paul, he regarded their function as positive and their purpose to be a benefit to every law-abiding citizen (Rom. 13:1–7). It is the responsibility of the Christian to be subject to such powers because God has ordained them for the good of society (v. 4). Law-abiding citizens should have nothing to fear from such an authority; temporal authorities have a fearful power, to be directed against those who do what is wrong. Obedience to temporal authorities is thus necessary not only because of the power they possess but because of conscience (v. 5). Every obligation to civil government ought to be fulfilled, every respect shown (vv. 6–7), because these servants of God are continuously dedicated to the task of the control of evil.
Peter in the same way urges exemplary conduct on behalf of all Christians, urging them to be careful not to be controlled by greed, even if their good conduct is derided (1 Peter 2:11–12). Such conduct will eventually come to the praise of God. The duty of Christians is to be subject to all levels of government, whose responsibility it is to avenge wrongdoing (2:13–17).
Christians have a higher allegiance to the kingdom of God, but such freedom is not a license to disregard government regulation; it is imperative to have exemplary conduct as servants of God. At the same time, these directives of Christian responsibility to be subject to governments that may be hostile to citizens of Christian faith should not be understood as condoning tyranny in the interests of being a good citizen. Totalitarianism that denies justice and morality in the interests of the state must be actively resisted. It is sometimes necessary to obey God rather than human beings.
Such resistance is both necessary and costly, as seen in the extraordinary life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. “Bonhoeffer was firmly and rightly convinced that it is not only a Christian right but a Christian duty towards God to oppose tyranny, that is, a government which is no longer based on natural law and the law of God.”45 Bonhoeffer’s resistance to Hitler became political after 1938, when his brother-in-law, the jurist Hans von Dohnanyi, introduced him to the group seeking Hitler’s overthrow. Bonhoeffer continued his work for the resistance movement under cover of employment in the Military Intelligence Department, which was a center of resistance. He was arrested on April 5, 1943, and imprisoned in Berlin. Following the failure of the attempt on Hitler’s life on July 20, 1944, the discovery of documents linking Bonhoeffer directly with the conspiracy led to his further interrogation and eventual execution at Flössenberg (Bavaria) on April 9, 1945.46 He died just a few days before the Allies liberated the city.
Ultimately, it was the allegiance owed to God that forced on Bonhoeffer the terrible decision not merely to take a stand against National Socialism, but to work for the defeat of his own country.47 Nationalism stands under God, and it is a sin against him and his call for fellowship with other nations if it degenerates into national egoism and greed. The guiding force in Bonhoeffer’s life, all he worked and suffered for, was his faith and love of God, in whom he found peace and happiness. Freedom belongs to humankind as divine grace, but it is a freedom for the divine ordering of life. If this does not guide human freedom, then sacred responsibilities are denied. A Christian then has no other choice but to act, to suffer, and if need be, to die. Bonhoeffer expressed this thought in “Stations on the Road to Freedom,” written when he knew his death was certain. The last verse runs as follows:48
Come now, solemnest feast on the road to eternal freedom,
Death, and destroy those fetters that bow, those walls that imprison
this our transient life, these souls that linger in darkness,
so that at last we see what is here withheld from our vision.
Long did we seek you, freedom, in discipline, action and suffering.
Now that we die, in the face of God himself we behold you.
Violence has frequently been directed against Christians who work for peace, sometimes in misguided zeal and sometimes in malevolence. In the early 1980s Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador was celebrating mass when he was assassinated. Just as he finished his homily and was about to turn to the liturgy of the Eucharist, a single shot pierced his chest, and he bled to death within a matter of minutes. His blood-soaked vestments are now on display in San Salvador for pilgrims and tourists to see. His killer has remained free. Cavanaugh interprets his death in terms of a theology of the Eucharist. Witness to the death of Christ gives testimony to the body of Christ entering into his suffering in this world.
Oscar Romero stands now as a link in the long chain of martyrs whose blood has contributed to the fertility of the Christian church through the two thousand years of its earthly pilgrimage. It was no accident that he was killed while celebrating mass … the eucharist is inextricably linked with martyrdom in the life of the church, as exemplified by the life of Oscar Romero. It is not simply that the eucharist is a commemoration of a past dying, the dying of Christ at the hands of the principalities and powers; it is more radical: the eucharist makes present that dying, incorporating the communicants into a body marked with the signs of death, such that Christians, as Paul says, are “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies” (2 Cor 4:10). The eucharist, in other words, creates a body of people who by definition stand in the line of fire.49
The English word “martyr” derives from the Greek word for “witness”; Antipas gave his life as a faithful witness (martyr) to Jesus Christ at Pergamum, where the throne of Satan resided (Rev. 2:13). A martyr makes the truth public by the sacrifice of his body. The powers of darkness obscure the truth; martyrs make it shine through the darkness of violence and death. In El Salvador, the people commonly say that Romero died por decir la verdad (“for telling the truth”).50 The life and death of the martyr reveals the truth of Christ’s triumph and the transitory nature of the powers and principalities. As the apostle John assured the seven churches of Asia, the hour of trial will soon pass and the kingdom of God will arrive triumphant.
The apostle Paul makes clear that Jesus died at the hands of the principalities and powers. Those who sacrifice themselves in pursuit of the kingdom of God are joined in time to the passion of Jesus. The Eucharist is their confession of being one with Christ in confrontation with the powers of darkness. This is the confession of their power; the death of Jesus is followed by the resurrection. Archbishop Romero made this declaration the day before he was killed:
Easter is itself now the cry of victory. No one can quench that life that Christ has resurrected. Neither death nor all the banners of death and hatred raised against him and against his church can prevail. He is the victorious one! Just as he will thrive in an unending Easter, so we must accompany him in a Lent and a Holy Week of cross, sacrifice, and martyrdom. As he said, blessed are they who are not scandalized by his cross.51
The Christian church is to be characterized by victory as it was achieved by Christ and not by the political force of violence. Archbishop Romero is an example of conquering powers of darkness with the victory of faith.
The kingdom of Jehu will endure four generations as a tribute to his eradicating worship at the Baal temple (2 Kings 10:30). Hosea uses this as a threat to northern Israel; the dynasty of Jehu will not last beyond four generations. Kingdoms built on violence survive by violence and end in violence. The kingdom of Jehu was immediately reduced because of his massacre of all the leaders of the former regime (10:32–33). The Arameans under Hazael immediately limited the domain of Jehu to the west side of the Jordan. The peacemaker that takes a stand against violence belongs to the kingdom of God, and the gates of hell will never prevail against that kingdom (Matt. 16:18). The cost of discipleship expressed by Bonhoeffer in his writings and in his life continues to inspire a firm and gentle response to injustice. This represents the kingdom of God rather than the violent tactics of force.
The kings of the Deuteronomistic History represent the failure of the covenant and the kingdom, even in those instances when they act in zeal for God. This is universally stated to be the case for the northern kingdom, and Jehu is no exception (2 Kings 10:31). It is also the case for the kings of Judah; all of them fail in terms of the kingdom of God. Though Hezekiah successfully resists the Assyrians in faith, in the end his compromise with the Babylonian Merodach-Baladan brings about the judgment that his descendants will go into exile in Babylon (20:17–18). Though Josiah renews the covenant in a great national ceremony, he dies ignominiously in an intervention against the Egyptian king (23:29–30), and the land he has led in revival shortly devolves into oblivion.
The Deuteronomistic History is not an account of victory over evil but one of being caught in a cycle of evil. The old covenant fails; Jehu is further testimony to its failure. The prophet Jeremiah declares that the failure of the old covenant will inaugurate the new covenant (Jer. 31:31). Under this new covenant, victory over evil and the powers of darkness will be achieved by God’s power in ways most unlike the motives and tactics of Jehu.