2 Reis 9

ARC · Chapter 9/25

1Então o propheta Eliseo chamou um dos filhos dos prophetas, e lhe disse: Cinge os teus lombos, e toma esta almotolia de azeite na tua mão, e vae-te a Ramoth de Gilead;

2E, chegando lá, vê onde está Jehu, filho de Josaphat, filho de Nimsi: e entra, e faze que elle se levante do meio de seus irmãos, e leva-o á camara interior.

3E toma a almotolia de azeite, e derrama-o sobre a sua cabeça, e dize: Assim diz o Senhor: Ungi-te rei sobre Israel. Então abre a porta, e foge, e não te detenhas.

4Foi pois o mancebo, o joven propheta, a Ramoth de Gilead.

5E, entrando elle, eis que os capitães do exercito estavam assentados ali; e disse: Capitão, tenho uma palavra que te dizer. E disse Jehu: A qual de todos nós? E disse: A ti, capitão!

6Então se levantou, e entrou na casa, e derramou o azeite sobre a sua cabeça, e lhe disse: Assim diz o Senhor Deus de Israel: Ungi-te rei sobre o povo do Senhor, sobre Israel.

7E ferirás a casa de Achab, teu senhor, para que eu vingue o sangue de meus servos, os prophetas, e o sangue de todos os servos do Senhor da mão de Jezabel.

8E toda a casa de Achab perecerá; e destruirei d'Achab todo o varão, tanto o encerrado como o desamparado em Israel.

9Porque á casa d'Achab hei de fazer como á casa de Jeroboão, filho de Nebat, e como á casa de Baása, filho d'Ahias.

10E os cães comerão a Jezabel no pedaço de campo de Jizreel; não haverá quem a enterre. Então abriu a porta, e fugiu

11E, saindo Jehu aos servos do seu senhor, disseram-lhe: Vae tudo bem? porque veiu a ti este louco? E elle lhes disse: Bem conheceis o homem e o seu fallar.

12Mas elles disseram: É mentira; agora faze-nol-o saber. E disse: Assim e assim me fallou, dizendo: Assim diz o Senhor: Ungi-te rei sobre Israel.

13Então se apressaram, e tomou cada um o seu vestido, e o poz debaixo d'elle, no mais alto degrau: e tocaram a buzina, e disseram: Jehu reina!

14Assim Jehu, filho de Josaphat, filho de Nimsi, conspirou contra Jorão. Tinha porém Jorão cercado a Ramoth de Gilead, elle e todo o Israel, por causa de Hazael, rei da Syria.

15Porém o rei Jorão voltou para se curar em Jizreel das feridas que os syros lhe fizeram, quando pelejou contra Hazael, rei da Syria. E disse Jehu: Se é da vossa vontade, ninguem saia da cidade, nem escape, para ir denunciar isto em Jizreel.

16Então Jehu subiu a um carro, e foi-se a Jizreel, porque Jorão estava deitado ali: e tambem Achazias, rei de Judah, descera para vêr a Jorão.

17E o atalaia estava na torre de Jizreel, e viu a tropa de Jehu, que vinha, e disse: Vejo uma tropa. Então disse Jorão: Toma um cavalleiro, e envia-lh'o ao encontro; e diga: Ha paz?

18E o cavalleiro lhe foi ao encontro, e disse: Assim diz o rei: Ha paz? E disse Jehu: Que tens tu que fazer com a paz? Vira-te para traz de mim. E o atalaia o fez saber, dizendo: Chegou a elles o mensageiro, porém não volta.

19Então enviou outro cavalleiro; e, chegando este a elles, disse: Assim diz o rei: Ha paz? E disse Jehu: Que tens tu que fazer com a paz? Vira-te para traz de mim.

20E o atalaia o fez saber, dizendo: Tambem este chegou a elles, porém não volta; e o andar parece como o andar de Jehu, filho de Nimsi, porque anda furiosamente.

21Então disse Jorão: Apparelha o carro. E apparelharam o seu carro. E saiu Jorão, rei de Israel, e Achazias, rei de Judah, cada um em seu carro, e sairam ao encontro a Jehu, e o acharam no pedaço de campo de Naboth, o jizreelita.

22E succedeu que, vendo Jorão a Jehu, disse: Ha paz, Jehu? E disse elle: Que paz, emquanto as fornicações da tua mãe Jezabel e as suas feitiçarias são tantas?

23Então Jorão voltou as mãos, e fugiu; e disse a Achazias: Traição ha, Achazias.

24Mas Jehu entesou o seu arco com toda a força, e feriu a Jorão entre os braços, e a frecha lhe saiu pelo coração; e se encurvou no seu carro.

25Então Jehu disse a Bidkar, seu capitão: Toma-o, lança-o no pedaço do campo de Naboth, o jizreelita; porque, lembra-te de que, indo eu e tu juntos a cavallo após seu pae, Achab, o Senhor poz sobre elle esta carga, dizendo:

26Por certo que se eu não visse hontem á tarde o sangue de Naboth e o sangue de seus filhos, diz o Senhor, tambem não t'o pagaria n'este pedaço de campo, diz o Senhor. Agora, pois, toma-o, e lança-o n'este pedaço de campo, conforme a palavra do Senhor.

27O que vendo Achazias, rei de Judah, fugiu pelo caminho da casa do jardim, porém Jehu seguiu após elle, e disse: Tambem feri a este no carro á subida de Gur, que está junto a Jibleam. E fugiu a Megiddo, e morreu ali

28E seus servos o levaram n'um carro a Jerusalem, e o sepultaram na sua sepultura junto a seus paes, na cidade de David.

29(E no anno undecimo de Jorão, filho d'Achab, começou Achazias a reinar sobre Judah.)

30E Jehu veiu a Jizreel, o que ouvindo Jezabel, se pintou em volta dos olhos, e enfeitou a sua cabeça, e olhou pela janella.

31E, entrando Jehu pelas portas, disse ella: Teve paz Zimri, que matou a seu senhor?

32E levantou elle o rosto para a janella e disse: Quem é comigo? quem? E dois ou tres eunuchos olharam para elle.

33Então disse elle: Lançae-a d'alto abaixo. E lançaram-a d'alto abaixo: e foram salpicados com o seu sangue a parede e os cavallos, e elle a atropellou.

34Entrando elle pois, e havendo comido e bebido, disse: Olhae por aquella maldita, e sepultae-a, porque é filha de rei.

35E foram para a sepultar; porém não acharam d'ella senão sómente a caveira, e os pés, e as palmas das mãos

36Então voltaram, e lh'o fizeram saber; e elle disse: Esta é a palavra do Senhor, a qual fallou pelo ministerio de Elias, o tesbita, seu servo, dizendo: No pedaço do campo de Jizreel os cães comerão a carne de Jezabel.

37E o cadaver de Jezabel será como esterco sobre o campo, no pedaço de Jizreel: que se não possa dizer: Esta é Jezabel.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Elisha sends a young prophet to secretly anoint Jehu as the new king of Israel, with the mission of destroying the house of Ahab. Jehu kills Jehoram (king of Israel) and Ahaziah (king of Judah), and then has Jezebel thrown out of a window, fulfilling the prophecy that dogs would devour her.

Explanation

This chapter marks the beginning of the violent purge prophesied against the house of Ahab since 1 Kings 21, showing the exact fulfillment of Elijah's words decades later. Jehu acts with relentless determination, typical of a violent political-religious revolution common in the ancient Near East. Jezebel's dramatic death, putting on makeup before facing her killer with defiance, shows her stubborn personality to the very end, but her fate literally fulfills the judgment announced years before, serving as a stern reminder that arrogance against God has consequences, even if delayed.

Fun facts

  • Jehu's question 'who is on my side?' and the eunuchs' response of throwing Jezebel out the window show how quickly political loyalties can shift when power is clearly changing hands.
  • The fact that only Jezebel's skull, feet, and the palms of her hands remained, with the rest devoured by dogs, fulfills in an almost literal and disturbing way the specific prophecy made by Elijah decades earlier in 1 Kings 21:23.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. 2 Reis 9:1The anointing happens in secret, in an inner room, away from the other captains — coups depended on secrecy right up to the last moment to succeed. The young prophet sent by Elisha follows the instruction to the letter, fleeing right after anointing Jehu.
  2. 2 Reis 9:2Elisha instructs the young prophet to find Jehu among the other officers and call him aside privately into an inner room, away from the rest.
  3. 2 Reis 9:3The order is to anoint Jehu with the oil, declare that the Lord has made him king over Israel, and flee immediately without lingering — a coup needs secrecy right to the end.
  4. 2 Reis 9:4The young prophet obeys and goes to Ramoth-gilead, where the army of Israel was encamped.
  5. 2 Reis 9:5He finds the army captains gathered together and calls Jehu aside, saying he has a message just for him.
  6. 2 Reis 9:6In private, the young prophet anoints Jehu with the oil and repeats the word of the Lord: he is being made king over Israel, the people of God.
  7. 2 Reis 9:7Jehu receives the mission of wiping out the house of Ahab as vengeance for the blood of the prophets and servants of the Lord shed by Jezebel's order.
  8. 2 Reis 9:8The sentence is radical: the whole house of Ahab must perish, without exception, including every male in the line.
  9. 2 Reis 9:9The judgment against the house of Ahab follows the same pattern already applied before to the houses of Jeroboam and Baasha, other northern dynasties completely wiped out.
  10. 2 Reis 9:10Jezebel's death is also announced: dogs will eat her in the field of Jezreel, with no one to bury her. Having said this, the young prophet runs off.
  11. 2 Reis 9:11Jehu's fellow officers ask if all is well and why “this mad fellow” came to talk to him; Jehu avoids answering directly, saying they already know that sort of man.
  12. 2 Reis 9:12The officers insist on knowing the truth, and Jehu finally tells them: he has been anointed king over Israel by the Lord's order.
  13. 2 Reis 9:13The officers react on the spot, spreading their own cloaks on the steps for him to walk on, blowing the trumpet, and shouting: Jehu is king! A coup that turns into instant popular support.
  14. 2 Reis 9:14The text confirms that Jehu conspires against Joram while the army of Israel was still holding Ramoth-gilead in the war against Hazael of Syria.
  15. 2 Reis 9:15Joram had gone back to Jezreel to heal from his wounds; Jehu orders that no one leave the city to give warning of what is about to happen.
  16. 2 Reis 9:16Jehu rides in his chariot to Jezreel, where Joram of Israel (north) lies wounded and Ahaziah of Judah (south) had gone to visit him.
  17. 2 Reis 9:17The watchman on the tower spots Jehu's company approaching; Joram sends a horseman to ask if he comes in peace.
  18. 2 Reis 9:18The horseman delivers the question, but Jehu tells him to fall in behind him instead of answering — and the watchman reports that the messenger isn't coming back.
  19. 2 Reis 9:19A second horseman is sent with the same question, and the same thing happens: he too falls in behind Jehu instead of returning with an answer.
  20. 2 Reis 9:20The watchman recognizes the furious driving as Jehu's own style, and still no one comes back with news.
  21. 2 Reis 9:21Joram and Ahaziah each go out in his own chariot to meet Jehu, and the meeting happens right at the old field of Naboth.
  22. 2 Reis 9:22Joram asks if there is peace, and Jehu answers that there can be no peace as long as the idolatries and witchcrafts of the queen mother Jezebel continue.
  23. 2 Reis 9:23Joram turns his chariot to flee and shouts to Ahaziah that it is treachery.
  24. 2 Reis 9:24Jehu draws his bow with all his strength and strikes Joram in the back, the arrow going through to his heart; he falls dead inside his own chariot.
  25. 2 Reis 9:25Jehu tells his officer Bidkar to throw the body right in the field of Naboth, recalling that the two of them used to ride together behind Ahab when this sentence was first announced.
  26. 2 Reis 9:26Jehu quotes from memory the word of the Lord about avenging the blood of Naboth and his sons, fulfilling the sentence on that very piece of land.
  27. 2 Reis 9:27Ahaziah of Judah (south) tries to flee, but Jehu orders him pursued and wounded as well; he escapes as far as Megiddo, where he ends up dying.
  28. 2 Reis 9:28Ahaziah's servants carry his body to Jerusalem and bury him with his ancestors in the City of David.
  29. 2 Reis 9:29A parenthetical note records the exact year Ahaziah began to reign over Judah (south), synchronized with Joram's reign in Israel (north).
  30. 2 Reis 9:30Painting her eyes and fixing her hair before facing Jehu can be read as a gesture of royal defiance, dying as a queen rather than pleading. It is her own household eunuchs who throw her out the window at Jehu's command, showing just how empty her power had already become.
  31. 2 Reis 9:31Jezebel taunts Jehu by comparing him to Zimri, another officer who killed his own master and had a very short reign — a hint that his too won't last.
  32. 2 Reis 9:32Jehu looks up at the window and asks who is on his side; two or three eunuchs of the royal household answer by looking down at him.
  33. 2 Reis 9:33Jehu orders them to throw Jezebel down from the window, and the eunuchs themselves obey — her power had already emptied out to the point that they turn against her without hesitation.
  34. 2 Reis 9:34After calmly eating and drinking, Jehu gives orders to bury Jezebel, acknowledging that she was a king's daughter, a remnant of formal respect despite everything.
  35. 2 Reis 9:35When they go to bury her, the servants find only the skull, the feet, and the palms of her hands — the rest had already been consumed, confirming the prophecy against her.
  36. 2 Reis 9:36The text explicitly connects this end to the prophecy Elijah had given back in 1 Kings 21. Her body literally becomes dung in the field, a deliberately shocking image of total status collapse, from throne to trash.
  37. 2 Reis 9:37Jezebel's corpse literally becomes dung scattered across the field, a deliberately shocking image of total downfall, from the throne to something no one can even recognize anymore.

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