2 Kings Chapter 9 — Jehu's Anointing and the Fall of Jezebel
Elisha sends a young prophet to anoint Jehu as King of Israel, leading to a swift coup where Jehu executes King Joram, King Ahaziah, and Queen Jezebel.
1Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, “Put your belt on your waist, take this vial of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead.
2When you come there, find Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in and make him rise up from among his brothers, and take him to an inner room.
3Then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, ‘The LORD says, “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ Then open the door, flee, and don’t wait.”
4So the young man, the young prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead.
5When he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting. Then he said, “I have a message for you, captain.”
6He arose, and went into the house. Then he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel.
7You must strike your master Ahab’s house, 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.
8For the whole house of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab everyone who urinates against a wall,*or, male both him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel.
9I will make Ahab’s house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah.
10The dogs will eat Jezebel on the plot of ground of Jezreel, and there shall be no one to bury her.’ ” Then he opened the door and fled.
11When Jehu came out to the servants of his lord and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this madman come to you?”
12They said, “That is a lie. Tell us now.”
13Then they hurried, and each man took his cloak, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king.”
14So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was defending Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria;
15but 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.) Jehu said, “If this is your thinking, then let no one escape and go out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.”
16So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.
17Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a company.”
18So one went on horseback to meet him, and said, “the king says, ‘Is it peace?’ ”
19Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them and said, “The king says, ‘Is it peace?’ ”
20The watchman said, “He came to them, and isn’t coming back. The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”
21Joram said, “Get ready!”
22When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?”
23Joram turned his hands and fled, and said to Ahaziah, “This is treason, Ahaziah!”
24Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and struck Joram between his arms; and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.
25Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, “Pick him up, and throw him in the plot of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how, when you and I rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden on him:
26‘Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons,’ says the LORD; ‘and I will repay you in this plot of ground,’ says the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him onto the plot of ground, according to the LORD’s word.”
27But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. Jehu followed after him, and said, “Strike him also in the chariot!” They struck him at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. He fled to Megiddo, and died there.
28His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in David’s city.
29In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.
30When Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and adorned her head, and looked out at the window.
31As Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, “Do you come in peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?”
32He lifted up his face to the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?”
33He said, “Throw her down!”
34When he had come in, he ate and drank. Then he said, “See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter.”
35They went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull, the feet, and the palms of her hands.
36Therefore they came back, and told him.
37and the body of Jezebel will be as dung on the surface of the field on Jezreel’s land, so that they won’t say, “This is Jezebel.” ’ ”
WEB Translation
Notable Verses
2 Kings 9:7
“You must strike your master Ahab’s house, 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.”
This verse establishes the divine mandate for Jehu's actions as a form of judicial reckoning for past crimes.
2 Kings 9:25
“Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, 'Pick him up, and throw him in the plot of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite...'”
This highlights the poetic justice of Joram being killed on the very land his father Ahab had stolen.
2 Kings 9:36
“Therefore they came back, and told him. He said, 'This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite...'”
It confirms that the gruesome end of Jezebel was the direct fulfillment of earlier prophecy.
Chapter Summary
In 2 Kings 9, Elisha the prophet instructs a young prophet to travel to Ramoth Gilead to secretly anoint Jehu, an army commander, as the new King of Israel. Jehu is commissioned by God to destroy the house of Ahab and avenge the blood of the prophets shed by Jezebel. After his fellow officers pledge their loyalty, Jehu rides furiously to Jezreel to confront King Joram. He meets Joram and King Ahaziah of Judah at the field formerly belonging to Naboth. Jehu kills Joram with an arrow and orders his body to be thrown into Naboth’s field, fulfilling a specific prophecy of retribution. Ahaziah is also pursued and killed. Finally, Jehu enters Jezreel where Jezebel awaits him at a window. At Jehu's command, her own eunuchs throw her down to her death. Her body is consumed by dogs, leaving only fragments, exactly as Elijah had previously prophesied.
Frequently Asked Questions
Jehu was a commander in the Israelite army who was anointed by a young prophet under Elisha's direction. He was chosen to replace the house of Ahab as the king of Israel and to execute God's judgment against Ahab's descendants.
Jezebel was thrown from a high window in Jezreel by her own officials after Jehu called for those on his side to act. After her fall, she was trampled by horses and her remains were eaten by dogs, fulfilling Elijah's prophecy.
Naboth's field was the site of a great injustice where Ahab had Naboth killed to steal his vineyard. By casting King Joram's body into this specific plot of ground, Jehu demonstrated that God was finally settling the debt for Naboth's blood.
Study Note
The description of Jehu's 'furious' driving in verse 20 has become a lasting biblical idiom for someone who moves or acts with great speed and intensity.
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