2 Reis 10

ARC · Chapter 10/25

1E Achab tinha setenta filhos em Samaria: e Jehu escreveu cartas, e as enviou a Samaria, aos chefes de Jizreel, aos anciãos, e aos aios de Achab, dizendo:

2Logo, em chegando a vós esta carta, pois estão comvosco os filhos de vosso senhor, como tambem os carros, e os cavallos, e a cidade fortalecida, e as armas,

3Olhae pelo melhor e mais recto dos filhos de vosso senhor, o qual ponde sobre o throno de seu pae, e pelejae pela casa de vosso senhor.

4Porém elles temeram muitissimo, e disseram: Eis que dois reis não poderam parar diante d'elle: como pois poderemos nós resistir-lhe?

5Então o que tinha cargo da casa, e o que tinha cargo da cidade, e os anciãos, e os aios enviaram a Jehu, dizendo: Teus servos somos, e tudo quanto nos disseres faremos; a ninguem poremos rei: faze o que for bom aos teus olhos.

6Então segunda vez lhe escreveu outra carta, dizendo: Se sois meus, e ouvirdes a minha voz, tomae as cabeças dos homens, filhos de vosso senhor, e ámanhã, a este tempo vinde a mim a Jizreel (e os filhos do rei, setenta homens, estavam com os grandes da cidade, que os mantinham.)

7Succedeu pois que, chegada a elles a carta, tomaram os filhos do rei, e os mataram, setenta homens: e pozeram as suas cabeças n'uns cestos, e lh'as mandaram a Jizreel.

8E um mensageiro veiu, e lhe annunciou dizendo: Trouxeram as cabeças dos filhos do rei. E elle disse: Ponde-as em dois montões á entrada da porta, até ámanhã.

9E succedeu que pela manhã, saindo elle, parou, e disse a todo o povo: Vós sois justos: eis que eu conspirei contra o meu senhor, e o matei; mas quem feriu a todos estes?

10Sabei pois agora que, da palavra do Senhor, que o Senhor fallou contra a casa de Achab, nada cairá em terra, porque o Senhor tem feito o que fallou pelo ministerio de seu servo Elias.

11Tambem Jehu feriu a todos os restantes da casa de Achab em Jizreel, como tambem a todos os seus grandes, e os seus conhecidos, e seus sacerdotes, até que nenhum lhe deixou ficar de resto.

12Então se levantou e partiu, e foi a Samaria. E, estando no caminho, em Beth-eked dos pastores,

13Jehu achou os irmãos de Achazias, rei de Judah, e disse: Quem sois vós? E elles disseram: Os irmãos de Achazias somos; e descemos a saudar os filhos do rei e os filhos da rainha.

14Então disse elle: Apanhae-os vivos. E elles os apanharam vivos, e os mataram junto ao poço de Beth-eked, quarenta e dois homens; e a nenhum d'elles deixou de resto.

15E, partindo d'ali, encontrou a Jonadab, filho de Recab, que lhe vinha ao encontro, o qual saudou e lhe disse: Recto é o teu coração, como o meu coração é com o teu coração? E disse Jonadab: É. Então se é, dá-me a mão. E deu-lhe a mão, e fel-o subir comsigo ao carro.

16E disse: Vae comigo, e verás o meu zelo para com o Senhor. E o pozeram no seu carro.

17E, chegando a Samaria, feriu a todos os que ficaram de Achab em Samaria, até que o destruiu, conforme a palavra do Senhor, que dissera a Elias.

18E ajuntou Jehu a todo o povo, e disse-lhe: Pouco serviu Achab a Baal; Jehu porém muito o servirá.

19Pelo que chamae-me agora todos os prophetas de Baal, todos os seus servos e todos os seus sacerdotes; não falte nenhum, porque tenho um grande sacrificio a Baal; todo aquelle que faltar não viverá. Porém Jehu fazia isto com astucia, para destruir os servos de Baal.

20Disse mais Jehu: Consagrae a Baal uma assembléa solemne. E a apregoaram.

21Tambem Jehu enviou por todo o Israel: e vieram todos os servos de Baal, e nenhum homem d'elles ficou que não viesse: e entraram na casa de Baal, e encheu-se a casa de Baal, d'um lado ao outro.

22Então disse ao que tinha cargo das vestimentas: Tira as vestimentas para todos os servos de Baal. E elle lhes tirou para fóra as vestimentas.

23E entrou Jehu com Jonadab, filho de Recab, na casa de Baal, e disse aos servos de Baal: Examinae, e vede bem, que porventura nenhum dos servos do Senhor aqui haja comvosco, senão sómente os servos de Baal.

24E, entrando elles a fazerem sacrificios e holocaustos, Jehu preparou da parte de fóra oitenta homens, e disse-lhes: Se escapar algum dos homens que eu entregar em vossas mãos, a vossa vida será pela vida d'elle.

25E succedeu que, acabando de fazer o holocausto, disse Jehu aos da sua guarda, e aos capitães: Entrae, feri-os, não escape nenhum. E os feriram ao fio da espada; e os da guarda e os capitães os lançaram fóra, e se foram á cidade, á casa de Baal.

26E tiraram as estatuas da casa de Baal, e as queimaram.

27Tambem quebraram a estatua de Baal: e derrubaram a casa de Baal, e fizeram d'ella latrinas, até ao dia d'hoje.

28E assim Jehu destruiu a Baal de Israel.

29Porém não se apartou Jehu de seguir os peccados de Jeroboão, filho de Nebat, que fez peccar a Israel, a saber: dos bezerros d'oiro, que estavam em Bethel e em Dan.

30Pelo que disse o Senhor a Jehu: Porquanto bem obraste em fazer o que é recto aos meus olhos e, conforme tudo quanto eu tinha no meu coração, se fizesse á casa de Achab, teus filhos até á quarta geração se assentarão no throno de Israel.

31Mas Jehu não teve cuidado de andar com todo o seu coração na lei do Senhor Deus de Israel, nem se apartou dos peccados de Jeroboão, que fez peccar a Israel.

32N'aquelles dias começou o Senhor a diminuir os termos d'Israel; porque Hazael os feriu em todas as fronteiras d'Israel,

33Desde o Jordão até ao nascente do sol, a toda a terra de Gilead; os gaditas, e os rubenitas, e os manassitas, desde Aroer, que está junto ao ribeiro d'Arnon, a saber, Gilead, e Basan.

34Ora o mais dos successos de Jehu, e tudo quanto fez, e todo o seu poder, porventura não está escripto no livro das chronicas d'Israel?

35E Jehu dormiu com seus paes, e o sepultaram em Samaria: e Joachaz, seu filho, reinou em seu logar.

36E os dias que Jehu reinou sobre Israel em Samaria foram vinte e oito annos.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Jehu exterminates all 70 sons of Ahab and all the other relatives and allies of the royal house, and also deceives and executes all the worshipers of Baal gathered supposedly for a sacrifice. Despite his zealous religious purge, Jehu does not abandon Jeroboam's golden calves.

Explanation

Jehu's systematic violence, while fulfilling the judgment prophesied against the house of Ahab, is described with a neutrality that does not necessarily endorse all the methods used — the prophet Hosea, centuries later (Hosea 1:4), will condemn the 'blood of Jezreel' shed by Jehu. This shows an interesting biblical tension: fulfilling a judgment announced by God does not automatically mean that all the methods used are morally approved. God's reward to Jehu (four generations on the throne) for his zealous destruction of Baal is combined with the criticism that he himself was not fully faithful, keeping the golden calves.

Fun facts

  • Jehu's dynasty was the longest and most stable of the Northern Kingdom, lasting about 90 years through five kings (Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, and Zechariah), fulfilling exactly the promise of 'four generations' made in this chapter.
  • Jehonadab, son of Rechab, who helps Jehu in the purge of Baal, founded a clan (the Rechabites) known for their ascetic, nomadic lifestyle, mentioned with approval centuries later in Jeremiah 35 as an example of faithfulness to ancestral principles.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Reis 10:1Wiping out the entire male line of a deposed king was a common practice for consolidating power in the ancient Near East, preventing future claims to the throne. The text interprets this specific violence as the fulfillment of the sentence already pronounced against the house of Ahab, without directly endorsing or condemning the method.
  2. 2 Reis 10:2Jehu sends a letter to Samaria reminding the local leaders that they have the king's sons, the chariots, horses, the fortified city, and the weapons — a challenge to see whether they will resist.
  3. 2 Reis 10:3He challenges them to choose the best of the late king's sons, set him on the throne, and fight for the royal house — a loyalty test he already expects them to fail.
  4. 2 Reis 10:4The leaders are terrified, thinking that if not even two kings could stand against Jehu, they would have even less of a chance.
  5. 2 Reis 10:5The officials surrender completely, declaring themselves Jehu's servants, promising to obey him in everything and to crown no one without his permission.
  6. 2 Reis 10:6In a second letter, Jehu demands the heads of the king's seventy sons by the next day at Jezreel — the princes were in the care of the city's great men.
  7. 2 Reis 10:7As soon as they receive the letter, the local leaders kill the king's seventy sons and send their heads to Jehu in baskets.
  8. 2 Reis 10:8Learning that the heads have arrived, Jehu has them piled into two heaps at the entrance of the city until morning, a deliberate public display.
  9. 2 Reis 10:9In the morning, Jehu addresses the people, admitting he conspired and killed the king himself, but asks who killed all these sons — shifting part of the blame onto the local leaders who carried out the order.
  10. 2 Reis 10:10Jehu declares that nothing the Lord spoke against the house of Ahab through the prophet Elijah will fail to come to pass — everything happened exactly as announced.
  11. 2 Reis 10:11Jehu wipes out everyone left of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, including nobles, close friends, and priests, leaving no survivor.
  12. 2 Reis 10:12Jehu sets out toward Samaria, and along the way passes through Beth-eked of the shepherds.
  13. 2 Reis 10:13There he finds the brothers of Ahaziah, king of Judah (south), who were traveling to visit the royal family, not yet knowing what had happened.
  14. 2 Reis 10:14Jehu orders them captured alive and then killed at the pit of Beth-eked, forty-two men in all, without exception.
  15. 2 Reis 10:15Jehu meets Jehonadab, son of Rechab, tests his loyalty with a direct question, and invites him into his own chariot as an ally.
  16. 2 Reis 10:16Jehu invites Jehonadab to see up close his zeal for the Lord, taking him along as a witness to what comes next.
  17. 2 Reis 10:17Arriving in Samaria, Jehu kills everyone left of the house of Ahab in the city, completing the destruction announced by Elijah.
  18. 2 Reis 10:18Jehu sets up an elaborate trap, summoning all the priests of Baal under the pretext of a great sacrifice, only to execute them all at once inside the temple itself. The text describes the scheme approvingly, bringing the official worship of Baal in Israel to an end.
  19. 2 Reis 10:19Jehu summons all the prophets, servants, and priests of Baal under the pretext of a great sacrifice, threatening death for anyone who failed to show up — the whole thing a calculated trap to destroy them for good.
  20. 2 Reis 10:20Jehu has a solemn assembly proclaimed in honor of Baal, reinforcing the sham display of devotion.
  21. 2 Reis 10:21The summons reaches all of Israel, and every worshiper of Baal shows up, packing the temple of Baal from end to end.
  22. 2 Reis 10:22Jehu has special garments given to all the servants of Baal, a way of identifying with certainty who worshiped the idol before the attack.
  23. 2 Reis 10:23Jehu goes in with Jehonadab and makes a point of checking that no servant of the Lord is mixed in among the worshipers of Baal, just so as not to kill the wrong people.
  24. 2 Reis 10:24While the sacrifices are taking place inside, Jehu positions eighty men outside, warning that their own lives will answer for anyone who escapes.
  25. 2 Reis 10:25As soon as the sacrifice is finished, Jehu orders the guard to go in and cut down everyone inside, letting no one escape.
  26. 2 Reis 10:26The soldiers bring the sacred images out of the temple of Baal and burn them.
  27. 2 Reis 10:27They also tear down Baal's main pillar and demolish the whole temple, turning the site into a latrine — a humiliation that lasted until the time the book was written.
  28. 2 Reis 10:28The final result: Jehu completely puts an end to the worship of Baal in Israel (northern kingdom).
  29. 2 Reis 10:29Despite wiping out Baal, Jehu keeps the alternative shrines at Bethel and Dan set up by Jeroboam. The text praises his action against Ahab, but already makes clear his reform was only partial, the same incomplete pattern that marks nearly every king of the north.
  30. 2 Reis 10:30Because of this action against the house of Ahab, the Lord promises Jehu that his descendants will occupy the throne of Israel (north) to the fourth generation — a concrete reward.
  31. 2 Reis 10:31Even so, Jehu does not follow the law of the Lord with his whole heart: he keeps up the worship of the golden calves set up by Jeroboam, the same sin repeated by almost every king of the north.
  32. 2 Reis 10:32In this period the Lord begins to cut down the territory of Israel (north), letting Hazael of Syria strike at its borders.
  33. 2 Reis 10:33The list details the territorial loss: the whole region east of the Jordan, the land of Gilead, including the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh.
  34. 2 Reis 10:34The closing formula points to the chronicles of the kings of Israel (northern kingdom) as the source for the rest of Jehu's deeds.
  35. 2 Reis 10:35Jehu dies and is buried in Samaria; his son Jehoahaz takes the throne of Israel (north) in his place.
  36. 2 Reis 10:36Jehu reigned twenty-eight years over Israel (northern kingdom), from the capital, Samaria.

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