Difference between revisions of "Jehu" - New World Encyclopedia

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===Background===
 
===Background===
Jehu's story is cast against the background of the reign of the Omride dynasy, consisting of Omri, [[Ahab]], and Ahab's two sons, Ahaziah and Joram/Jehoram. These kings were consisted evil by the biblical writers, especially Ahab, because of their tolerance of Baal worship. While each of these kings seems to have honored Yahweh personally, their allowed and even supported Baal worship in part because of the influence of Ahab's wife Jezebel. In Jehu's time, a adamant Yahweh-only faction led by the prophet Elisha, the successor of the mighty Elijah, had emerged as a significant political faction opposed to the Omrides. This faction also seems to have been critical of the kings of Judah during this period as well, beginning with Jehoshaphat, who allied himself with Ahab against the Syrians and allowed Ahab and Jezebel's daughter Athaliah to marry into the Davidic lineage.
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Jehu's story is cast against the background of the reign of the Omride dynasy, consisting of Omri, [[Ahab]], and Ahab's two sons, Ahaziah and Joram/Jehoram. These kings were consisted evil by the biblical writers, especially Ahab, because of their tolerance of [[Baal]] worship.<ref>Another issue the prophets had against Ahab was his mistreat of a man named Naboth, whose property Ahab usurped after having him killed. Naboth is mentioned several times in the Jehu narrative, and it is in Naboth's field that Jehu ends up assassinating Ahab's son Joram.</ref> While each of these kings seems to have honored [[Yahweh]] personally, they also allowed and even supported Baal worship, in part because of the influence of Ahab's wife Jezebel. In Jehu's time, a militant Yahweh-only faction led by the prophet [[Elisha]], the successor of the mighty [[Elijah]], had emerged as a significant political faction opposed to the Omrides. This faction also seems to have been critical of the kings of Judah during this period as well, beginning with [[Jehoshaphat]], who allied himself with Ahab against the Syrians and allowed Ahab and Jezebel's daughter [[Athaliah]] to marry into the Davidic lineage.
  
So strong was the opposition of this prophetic movement against Ahab's lineage that they resolved to inspire a violent coup against Ahab's descendants. In 1 Kings , God had commissioned Elijah to anoint Jehu as king of Israel and to anoint Hazael as king of Syria. Elijah, however, had left this task unfulfilled, and it was left to Elisha to accomplish it.
+
So strong was the opposition of this prophetic movement to Ahab's line that they resolved to inspire a violent coup against his descendants. In 1 Kings 19, God had commissioned Elijah to anoint Jehu as king of Israel and to anoint [[Hazael]] as king of Syria:
 +
 
 +
:Go to the Desert of [[Damascus]]. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram (Syria). Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. (1 Kings 19:15-17)
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Elijah, however, had left this task unfulfilled, and it was left to Elisha to accomplish it.
 
[[Image:Jehu-summoned.jpg|thumb|330px|Elisha's prophetic messenger prepares to anoint Jehu.]]
 
[[Image:Jehu-summoned.jpg|thumb|330px|Elisha's prophetic messenger prepares to anoint Jehu.]]
  
Jehu's story begins when he was serving as a commander of chariots under [[Jehoram of Israel|Jehoram]], after the [[Battle of Ramoth-Gilead]] against the army of the [[Arameans]], also called Syrians. There, Jehoram had been wounded and returned to [[Jezreel]] to recover. Jehoram's ally and nephew, King [[Ahaziah of Judah|Ahaziah]] of [[kingdom of Judah|Judah]], had also gone Jezreel to attend on Jehoram (''2 Kings'' 8:28f). While the commanders of the army were assembled and Ramoth-Gilead, the prophet [[Elisha]], who considered Jehoram too tolerant of [[Baal]]-worship, sent one of his disciples to anoint Jehu as the future king of Israel. The young man found Jehu meeting with other officers and him away from his peers. Pouring oil on Jehu's head, the young prophet declared God's words:
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===Jehu's call===
 +
 
 +
Jehu's story begins when he was serving as a commander of chariots under [[Jehoram of Israel|Joram]] after the [[Battle of Ramoth-Gilead]] against the army of the Syrians. There, Jehoram had been wounded and returned to [[Jezreel]] to recover. Jehoram's ally and nephew, King [[Ahaziah of Judah|Ahaziah]] of [[kingdom of Judah|Judah]],<ref>Not to be confused with Ahaziah of Israel, who was Joram's brother and immediate successor.</ref> had also gone Jezreel to attend on Joram (''2 Kings'' 8:28). While the commanders of the army were assembled and Ramoth-Gilead, the prophet [[Elisha]] sent one of his disciples to anoint Jehu as the future king of Israel.<ref>A rabbinical tradition holds that this young nab was the future prophet Jonah. (See [[Book of Jonah]].)</ref> The messenger found Jehu meeting with other officers and him away from his peers. Pouring oil on Jehu's head, the young prophet declared God's words:
  
 
:You 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]]. The whole house of Ahab will perish. (2 Kings 9:1-10).
 
:You 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]]. The whole house of Ahab will perish. (2 Kings 9:1-10).
  
 
Jehu's companions, inquiring after the object of this mysterious visit, greated the news of prophetic support for Jehu with enthusiasm, blowing their trumpets and proclaiming him king (2 Kings 9:11-14).
 
Jehu's companions, inquiring after the object of this mysterious visit, greated the news of prophetic support for Jehu with enthusiasm, blowing their trumpets and proclaiming him king (2 Kings 9:11-14).
 +
 +
===Jehu's coup===
  
 
Jehu and his supporters promptly rode to [[Jezreel]], where Jehoram  was recovering from his wounds. "Do you come in peace, Jehu?" the king asked. Jehu replied: "How can there be peace, as long as all the [[idolatry]] and [[witchcraft]] of your mother [[Jezebel]] abound?" Jehu then shot Joram in the back with an arrow as he turned to flee. Jehu ordered the murder of [[Ahaziah]] in the coup.
 
Jehu and his supporters promptly rode to [[Jezreel]], where Jehoram  was recovering from his wounds. "Do you come in peace, Jehu?" the king asked. Jehu replied: "How can there be peace, as long as all the [[idolatry]] and [[witchcraft]] of your mother [[Jezebel]] abound?" Jehu then shot Joram in the back with an arrow as he turned to flee. Jehu ordered the murder of [[Ahaziah]] in the coup.
  
[[Image:The Death of Jezebel.jpg|thumb|At Jehu's command, Joram's mother Jezebel is cast down and trampled to death.]]
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[[Image:The Death of Jezebel.jpg|thumb|220px|At Jehu's command, Joram's mother Jezebel is cast down and trampled to death.]]
  
 
Seeing his duty to destroy the entire "house of Ahab," Jehu turned next to Joram's monther Jezebel, Ahab's widow. The queen-mother died after being thrown down from a high window by her own [[eunuchs]] at Jehu's command. Following this, Jehu engineered the killing of 70 of Ahab's male descendants, ordering their heads left in piles at the gates of Jezreel.
 
Seeing his duty to destroy the entire "house of Ahab," Jehu turned next to Joram's monther Jezebel, Ahab's widow. The queen-mother died after being thrown down from a high window by her own [[eunuchs]] at Jehu's command. Following this, Jehu engineered the killing of 70 of Ahab's male descendants, ordering their heads left in piles at the gates of Jezreel.
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Carrying Elisha's program to its logical conclusion, Jehu then summoned the priests of [[Baal]], whom Joram had tolerated, to a solemn assembly in the capital. His invitation declared: "Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much." Once they assembled in Baal's temple, Jehu—supported by the Yahwist partisan Jehonadab son of Recab—proceeded to order them all slaughtered, demolishing the temple, and turning it into a public latrine.
 
Carrying Elisha's program to its logical conclusion, Jehu then summoned the priests of [[Baal]], whom Joram had tolerated, to a solemn assembly in the capital. His invitation declared: "Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much." Once they assembled in Baal's temple, Jehu—supported by the Yahwist partisan Jehonadab son of Recab—proceeded to order them all slaughtered, demolishing the temple, and turning it into a public latrine.
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 +
===Jehu as king===
  
 
Despite his uncompromising zeal for Yahweh, Jehu's reign does not receive the complete endorsement of the authors of the [[Books of Kings]]. He is particularly criticized for failing to destroy the shrines at Dan and [[Bethel]], which competed with Judah's central shrine at Jerusalem.<ref>Most scholars believe these shrines honored [[Yahweh]], although the biblical writers make much of the golden calf icons which these sites featured.</ref> Nevertheless, the biblical writers preserve a prophecy in which God tells Jehu:
 
Despite his uncompromising zeal for Yahweh, Jehu's reign does not receive the complete endorsement of the authors of the [[Books of Kings]]. He is particularly criticized for failing to destroy the shrines at Dan and [[Bethel]], which competed with Judah's central shrine at Jerusalem.<ref>Most scholars believe these shrines honored [[Yahweh]], although the biblical writers make much of the golden calf icons which these sites featured.</ref> Nevertheless, the biblical writers preserve a prophecy in which God tells Jehu:
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:So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. Then the Lord said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel." (Hosea 1:3-4)
 
:So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. Then the Lord said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel." (Hosea 1:3-4)
  
[[Image:Tel dan inscription.png|thumb|200px|The Tel Dan inscription gives credit to Hazael, not Jehu, for killing Joran and Ahaziah.]]
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Militarily, Jehu was hard pressed by Hazael of Syria. Paradoxically, this enemy of Israel hismelf had been anointed to his office by none other than the prophetic kingmaker [[Elisha]]. This leads some commentators suggest that Jehu may even have acted as Hazel's agent in the destruction of Ahab's dynasty.   The account in Kings clearly indicates that both Hazael and Jehu had the support of one prophetic faction, even though not of the later prophet Hosea. Adding to the complications in unraveling the mystery of the "historical" Jehu is the fact that the [[Tel Dan Stele]], discovered in 1993-94 gives the credit for killing Joram and Ahaziah to a Syrian king, apparently Hazael.
[[image:jehu-on-black-obelisk.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Jehu kneeling at the feet of Shalmaneser III on the Black Obelisk]].
 
  
Militarily, Jehu was hard pressed by Hazael of Syria. Paradoxically, this enemy of Israel hismelf had been anointed to his office by none other than the prophetic kingmaker [[Elisha]]. This leads some commentators suggest that Jehu may even have acted as Hazel's agent in the destruction of Ahab's dynasty. The account of Kings clearly indicates that both Hazael and Jehu had the support of one prophetic faction, even though not of the later prophet Hosea. Adding to the complications in unraveling the mystery of the "historical" Jehu is the fact that the Tel Dan Stele, discovered in..., gives the credit for killing Joram and Ahaziah to a Syrian king, apparently Hazael.
+
[[Image:Tel dan inscription.png|thumb|225px|The Tel Dan inscription credits Hazael, not Jehu, for killing Joram and Ahaziah.]]
 +
[[image:jehu-on-black-obelisk.jpg|thumb|left|225px|Jehu kneels before Shalmaneser III on the Black Obelisk.]]
  
 
In any case, the biblical account admits that Jehu's army was defeated by Hazael "throughout all of the territories of [[Israel]]" beyond the [[Jordan river]], in the lands of [[Gilead]], [[tribe of Gad|Gad]], [[tribe of Reuben|Reuben]], and [[tribe of Manasseh|Manasseh]] (10:32). This would explain why the one extra-biblical mention of Jehu, the the Black Obelisk of [[Shalmaneser III]], depicts him Jehu as offering tribute to the Syrian king.
 
In any case, the biblical account admits that Jehu's army was defeated by Hazael "throughout all of the territories of [[Israel]]" beyond the [[Jordan river]], in the lands of [[Gilead]], [[tribe of Gad|Gad]], [[tribe of Reuben|Reuben]], and [[tribe of Manasseh|Manasseh]] (10:32). This would explain why the one extra-biblical mention of Jehu, the the Black Obelisk of [[Shalmaneser III]], depicts him Jehu as offering tribute to the Syrian king.

Revision as of 23:17, 13 May 2007


Jehu (יְהוּא, Yehu—"The Lord is he") was king of Israel, 842–815 B.C.E. Our principal source for the events of his reign comes from 2 Kings 9-10.

the son of Jehoshaphat [1],


Biography

Background

Jehu's story is cast against the background of the reign of the Omride dynasy, consisting of Omri, Ahab, and Ahab's two sons, Ahaziah and Joram/Jehoram. These kings were consisted evil by the biblical writers, especially Ahab, because of their tolerance of Baal worship.[2] While each of these kings seems to have honored Yahweh personally, they also allowed and even supported Baal worship, in part because of the influence of Ahab's wife Jezebel. In Jehu's time, a militant Yahweh-only faction led by the prophet Elisha, the successor of the mighty Elijah, had emerged as a significant political faction opposed to the Omrides. This faction also seems to have been critical of the kings of Judah during this period as well, beginning with Jehoshaphat, who allied himself with Ahab against the Syrians and allowed Ahab and Jezebel's daughter Athaliah to marry into the Davidic lineage.

So strong was the opposition of this prophetic movement to Ahab's line that they resolved to inspire a violent coup against his descendants. In 1 Kings 19, God had commissioned Elijah to anoint Jehu as king of Israel and to anoint Hazael as king of Syria:

Go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram (Syria). Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. (1 Kings 19:15-17)

Elijah, however, had left this task unfulfilled, and it was left to Elisha to accomplish it.

File:Jehu-summoned.jpg
Elisha's prophetic messenger prepares to anoint Jehu.

Jehu's call

Jehu's story begins when he was serving as a commander of chariots under Joram after the Battle of Ramoth-Gilead against the army of the Syrians. There, Jehoram had been wounded and returned to Jezreel to recover. Jehoram's ally and nephew, King Ahaziah of Judah,[3] had also gone Jezreel to attend on Joram (2 Kings 8:28). While the commanders of the army were assembled and Ramoth-Gilead, the prophet Elisha sent one of his disciples to anoint Jehu as the future king of Israel.[4] The messenger found Jehu meeting with other officers and him away from his peers. Pouring oil on Jehu's head, the young prophet declared God's words:

You 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. The whole house of Ahab will perish. (2 Kings 9:1-10).

Jehu's companions, inquiring after the object of this mysterious visit, greated the news of prophetic support for Jehu with enthusiasm, blowing their trumpets and proclaiming him king (2 Kings 9:11-14).

Jehu's coup

Jehu and his supporters promptly rode to Jezreel, where Jehoram was recovering from his wounds. "Do you come in peace, Jehu?" the king asked. Jehu replied: "How can there be peace, as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?" Jehu then shot Joram in the back with an arrow as he turned to flee. Jehu ordered the murder of Ahaziah in the coup.

At Jehu's command, Joram's mother Jezebel is cast down and trampled to death.

Seeing his duty to destroy the entire "house of Ahab," Jehu turned next to Joram's monther Jezebel, Ahab's widow. The queen-mother died after being thrown down from a high window by her own eunuchs at Jehu's command. Following this, Jehu engineered the killing of 70 of Ahab's male descendants, ordering their heads left in piles at the gates of Jezreel.

Turning toward the northern capital of Samaria, Jehu encountered 42 relatives of Ahaziah coming from Judah to pay their respects to Joram and Jezebel. These too, he slaughtered. Arriving at Samaria, Jehu continued the bloodbath: "He killed all who were left there of Ahab's family." (2 Kings 10:17)

Carrying Elisha's program to its logical conclusion, Jehu then summoned the priests of Baal, whom Joram had tolerated, to a solemn assembly in the capital. His invitation declared: "Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much." Once they assembled in Baal's temple, Jehu—supported by the Yahwist partisan Jehonadab son of Recab—proceeded to order them all slaughtered, demolishing the temple, and turning it into a public latrine.

Jehu as king

Despite his uncompromising zeal for Yahweh, Jehu's reign does not receive the complete endorsement of the authors of the Books of Kings. He is particularly criticized for failing to destroy the shrines at Dan and Bethel, which competed with Judah's central shrine at Jerusalem.[5] Nevertheless, the biblical writers preserve a prophecy in which God tells 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. (2 Kings 10:30)

The prophet Hosea, on the other hand, took the opposite view to that of the authors of Kings, indicating that God would not reward but would instead punish the House of Jehu for the slaughter of Ahab's family at Jezreel. Indeed, Hosea's prophecy seems to indicate that Jehu's actions there were responsible for the destruction of Israel as a kingdom:

So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. Then the Lord said to Hosea, "Call him Jezreel, because I will soon punish the house of Jehu for the massacre at Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel." (Hosea 1:3-4)

Militarily, Jehu was hard pressed by Hazael of Syria. Paradoxically, this enemy of Israel hismelf had been anointed to his office by none other than the prophetic kingmaker Elisha. This leads some commentators suggest that Jehu may even have acted as Hazel's agent in the destruction of Ahab's dynasty. The account in Kings clearly indicates that both Hazael and Jehu had the support of one prophetic faction, even though not of the later prophet Hosea. Adding to the complications in unraveling the mystery of the "historical" Jehu is the fact that the Tel Dan Stele, discovered in 1993-94 gives the credit for killing Joram and Ahaziah to a Syrian king, apparently Hazael.

The Tel Dan inscription credits Hazael, not Jehu, for killing Joram and Ahaziah.
Jehu kneels before Shalmaneser III on the Black Obelisk.

In any case, the biblical account admits that Jehu's army was defeated by Hazael "throughout all of the territories of Israel" beyond the Jordan river, in the lands of Gilead, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh (10:32). This would explain why the one extra-biblical mention of Jehu, the the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, depicts him Jehu as offering tribute to the Syrian king.

Who Jehu is not

It is easy to confuse Jehu with another, roughly contemporaneous biblical figure of the same name, and also to confuse his lineage with the royal lineage of Judah.

Jehu was the son of a man named Jehosophat, but this was not the Jehoshaphat who reigned as King of Judah one generation earlier. The royal Jehoshaphat of Judah was the father of King Ahaziah of Judah, whom Jehu order slain during his coup against Joram of Israel. To make matters even more confusing, both Judah and Israel had kings named Ahaziah, and both Judah and Israel had kings name Joram/Jehoram, all within a few decades of each other.

Jehu should also not be confused the Jehu the son of Hanani, a prophet active both before and during the reign Jehoshaphat of Judah and who criticized Jehosphat for his alliance with Ahab (2 Chron. 19: 2-3).


Notes

  1. Jehu’s father was not the roughly contemporaneous King Jehoshaphat of Judah, whose own father was King Asa of Judah. “Generally Jehu is described as the son only of Nimshi, possibly because Nimshi was more prominent or to avoid confusing him with the King of Judah (R’Wolf)”. Scherman, Nosson, ed., “I-II Kings”, The Prophets, 297, 2006. See (2 Kings 9:2)
  2. Another issue the prophets had against Ahab was his mistreat of a man named Naboth, whose property Ahab usurped after having him killed. Naboth is mentioned several times in the Jehu narrative, and it is in Naboth's field that Jehu ends up assassinating Ahab's son Joram.
  3. Not to be confused with Ahaziah of Israel, who was Joram's brother and immediate successor.
  4. A rabbinical tradition holds that this young nab was the future prophet Jonah. (See Book of Jonah.)
  5. Most scholars believe these shrines honored Yahweh, although the biblical writers make much of the golden calf icons which these sites featured.


Preceded by:
Jehoram (Joram)
Jehu, King of Israel
Albright: 842 B.C.E. – 815 B.C.E.
Thiele: 841 B.C.E. – 814 B.C.E.
Galil: 842 B.C.E. – 815 B.C.E.
Succeeded by: Jehoahaz


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