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2 Kings 9

KJV · Chapter 9/25

1And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramoth–gilead:

2And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber;

3Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not.

4So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth–gilead.

5And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O captain.

6And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel.

7And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, 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 shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:

9And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah:

10And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.

11Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication.

12And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel.

13Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.

14So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramoth–gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria.

15But king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your minds, then let none go forth nor escape 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. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.

17And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?

18So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again.

19Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.

20And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.

21And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.

22And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?

23And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah.

24And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.

25Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the Lord laid this burden upon him;

26Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the Lord; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the Lord. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the Lord.

27But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.

28And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.

29And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.

30And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.

31And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?

32And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.

33And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.

34And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter.

35And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.

36Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel:

37And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

📖 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 9:4The young prophet obeys and goes to Ramoth-gilead, where the army of Israel was encamped.
  5. 2 Kings 9:5He finds the army captains gathered together and calls Jehu aside, saying he has a message just for him.
  6. 2 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 9:8The sentence is radical: the whole house of Ahab must perish, without exception, including every male in the line.
  9. 2 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 9:17The watchman on the tower spots Jehu's company approaching; Joram sends a horseman to ask if he comes in peace.
  18. 2 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 9:20The watchman recognizes the furious driving as Jehu's own style, and still no one comes back with news.
  21. 2 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 9:23Joram turns his chariot to flee and shouts to Ahaziah that it is treachery.
  24. 2 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 9:28Ahaziah's servants carry his body to Jerusalem and bury him with his ancestors in the City of David.
  29. 2 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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 Kings 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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