The History of Israel Series – Part 17

The Divided Kingdom - Jehu

Faith Hope Love

 Purpose
To stimulate the interest to press on in
research of the historical understanding of
King Jehu and his role in the Plan of God for
salvation.
 The Patriarchs

B.C.
1800
2092-
B.C.
Joseph 1877

Egypt and Sinai

B.C.
1447
1540

The Occupation Of The

B.C.
1200
1447-

Land
The Judges
B.C.
1043
930

The Monarchy
B.C.
1011-
536
The History of Israel

The Babylonian Exile

605-

B.C.
625

The Persian Hegemony

B.C.
700-

B.C.
167

Intertestimental Period
322-
 Jehu
Jehu (Hebrew: ,‫י ְהּוא‬Modern Yehu Tiberian Yəhû ; "Yahweh is
He").
Jehu was king of Israel, the grandson of Nimshi.
Jehu’s reign dated to 842 B.C. -815 B.C.
The principal source for the events of his reign comes from
2 Kings 9-10.
Jehu’s record is available:
1 Kings 19:16, 17;
2 Kings 9:1–10:36;
2 Chronicles 22;
Hosea 1:4.
 Jehu

Jehu = ‫ياهو‬
House of Jehoshaphat
Contemporary King of Judah: ‫أَ َخ ْز َيا‬Ahaziah, Athaliah,
Jehoash/Joash
Regnal titles
Preceded by
King of Israel Succeeded by
Jehoram ‫ُورا َم‬َ ‫ي‬
841 B.C. – 814 B.C. Jehoahaz.‫َيهُوأَ َحا ُز‬
‫ُورا ُم‬
َ ‫َيه‬
 Jehu
Jehu was the commander of Israel’s army, but the prophets
Elijah and Elisha anointed him king.
He proceeded to wipe out the remaining members of Ahab’s
family.
To further strengthen his position, Jehu also wiped out the
adherents of Baal worship, a faith that the house of Ahab had
aggressively promoted.
Jehu’s descendants ruled Israel for four generations.
 Jehu
The reign of Jehu's predecessor, Jehoram, was marked by the
Battle of Ramoth-Gilead against the army of the Arameans,
where Jehoram was wounded and afterwards returned to
Jezreel to recover. And where Ahaziah, the king of Judah and
his nephew, had also gone to attend on Jehoram (2 Kings
8:28).
While the commanders of the Israelite army were assembled
away from the eyes of the king, the prophet Elisha sent one of
his students to this meeting.
This student led Jehu away from his peers and anointed him
king in an inner chamber, then immediately departed (2 Kings
9:5,6).
2 Kings is silent about the exact identity of this student.
 Jehu
Jehu's companions, inquiring after the object of this
mysterious visit, were told and, immediately, with
enthusiasm, blew their trumpets and proclaimed him king (2
Kings 9:11-14).
With a chosen band, Jehu set forth with all speed to Jezreel,
where he slew Jehoram with his own hand, shooting him
through the heart with an arrow (9:24).
The king of Judah, when trying to escape, was fatally
wounded by one of Jehu's soldiers at Beth-gan.
The author of Kings describes how Jehu entered the city
without any resistance, and saw Jezebel, the mother of king
Jehoram, presenting herself from a window in the palace,
who received him with insolence.
 Jehu ends Ahab’s House
Jehu commanded the eunuchs of the royal palace to cast her
down into the street; the fall was fatal, and her mangled body
was devoured by the dogs (2 Kings 9:35)
Jehu wrote to the chief men in the capital Samaria, and
commanded them to send to him by the morning the heads
of all the royal princes of the kingdom.
Accordingly, seventy heads were brought to him, which he
had piled up in two heaps at his gate.
Shortly afterwards, Jehu encountered the "brethren of
Ahaziah" at "the shearing-house“ 2 Kings 10:12-14, and
slaughtered another forty-two people connected with the
Omrides 2 Kings 10:14.
Jehu Avenging The Blood Of Naboth
Jehu's quest was rooted in more than his quest for power and
the favor of the God of Israel. This account frequently invokes
the slogan of "avenging the blood of Naboth" (2 Kings 9:26),
whose vineyard Jehoram's father Ahab had taken by force (1
Kings 21:4).
This fact suggests that perhaps the burden of making the
northern kingdom a regional power had grown too heavy for
its citizens, and Jehoram's defeat at Ramoth-Gilead gave them
an opportunity to throw this burden off.
Following Jehu's slaughter of the Omrides, he met Jehonadab
the Rechabite, whom he took into his chariot, and they
entered the capital together.
This adds support to the inference that, at least at the
beginning of his reign, Jehu was supported by the pro-God of
Israel faction.
Jehu Slew The Baal Worshippers
Once in control of Samaria, he summoned all of the
worshippers of Baal to the capital, slew them (2 Kings 10:19-
25), and destroyed the temple of that deity (2 Kings 10:27).
Beyond his bloody coup d'etat, and his tolerance for the
golden calves at Dan and Bethel (which drew the disdain of
the author of Kings), little is known of the events of Jehu's
reign.
He was hard pressed by the predations of Hazael, king of the
Arameans, who is said to have defeated his army "throughout
all of the territories of Israel" beyond the Jordan river, in the
lands of Gilead, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh (10:32f).
Jehu offering tribute to Shalmaneser
This could explain why Jehu is offering tribute to Shalmaneser
III on his Black Obelisk (where his name appears as mIa-ú-a
mar mHu-um-ri-i or "Jehu son of Omri (Bit-Khumri");
Jehu was encouraging the enemy of the Arameans into being
his friend.
Strong international alliance would also have helped validate
his military coup that year over the Omride king, Joram.
It should be noted that Bit-Khumri was used by Tiglath-pileser
3 for non-Omride kings Pekah (733) & Hoshea (732), hence
House/Land/Kingdom of Omri could apply to later Israelite
kings not descended from Omri.
Jehu’s Historical Evidence
Aside from the Hebrew Bible, Jehu appears in Assyrian
documents, notably in the Black Obelisk where he is depicted
as kissing the ground in front of Shalmaneser III.
In the Assyrian documents he is simply referred to as "Jehu
son of Omri," that is, Jehu of the House of Omri, an Assyrian
name for the Kingdom of Israel.
This tribute is dated 841 B.C.
 The Speed Of Jehu
"The speed of Jehu" was once a common idiom in America.
 Jehu’s Summary
Jehu’s incomplete obedience and reward (2 Kings 10:29–33).
Despite Jehu’s habit of quoting the Lord and his zealous attack
on Ahab’s royal house and the worshipers of Baal, Jehu “took
no heed to walk in the law of the Lord” (10:31). Instead, he
followed the politically motivated religious practices
established by Jeroboam (see page 121).
God then spoke to Jehu and told him that “because you have
done well in doing what is right in My sight” in carrying out
God’s judgment on the house of Ahab, “your sons shall sit on
the throne of Israel to the fourth generation” (10:30).
However, Jehu’s failure to completely commit himself and his
people to the Lord resulted in the loss of territory to Syria.
Lessons Learnt From Jehu
Jehu alerts us to the danger of self-centered obedience. We
are to do God’s will not because it conforms to what we want,
but because we trust God and are committed to obey him.
Jehu warns us not to take everyone who quotes Scripture at
face value. We are to judge people by the way they live, not
simply by what they say.
Jehu confirms the importance of complete obedience. We are
not to pick and choose between Bible teachings we like and
those we do not.
Jehu’s defeats after he gained his kingdom and refused to
walk with the Lord remind us that continued blessings are
possible only as we remain close to the Lord.
Archaeology Evidence Of Jehu
Ancient Assyrian records from the time of Shalmaneser
III last campaign 838 B.C. verify events and kings
mentioned in the Bible during the time of the prophets
Elijah and Elisha..
The first Assyrian record mentions how Hazael, the king
of Syria, seized the throne from Hadadezer. The anceint
text reads:
“I was victorious over Hadadezer of Damascus along
with his allies which numbered twelve kings. His
warriors, numbering 20,900, laid slain upon the
ground, while his remaining army was forced to
withdraw to the Orontes river. There they retreated
in order to spare their lives.
Archaeology Evidence Of Jehu
So Hazael went to meet him and took a present with him, of
every good thing of Damascus, forty camel-loads; and he
came and stood before him, and said, "Your son Ben-Hadad
king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, 'Shall I recover from
this disease?' "
And Elisha said to him, "Go, say to him, 'You shall certainly
recover.' However the LORD has shown me that he will really
die"
Then he set his countenance in a stare until he was ashamed;
and the man of God wept.
And Hazael said, "Why is my lord weeping?" He answered,
"Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of
Israel: Their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young
men you will kill with the sword; and you will dash their
children, and rip open their women with child.”
Archaeology Evidence Of Jehu
So Hazael said, "But what is your servant; a dog, that he
should do this gross thing?" And Elisha answered, "The LORD
has shown me that you will become king over Syria."
Then he departed from Elisha, and came to his master, who
said to him, "What did Elisha say to you?" And he answered,
"He told me you would surely recover." But it happened on
the next day that he took a thick cloth and dipped it in water,
and spread it over his face so that he died; and Hazael reigned
in his place.
 Black Obelisk
Another inscription from
Shalmaneser III found on the Black
Obelisk mentions the king of Israel,
Jehu, who ruled during the time of
Hazael. The 6 ½ Foot high Obelisk is
in the British Museum.
The Obelisk also shows a depiction of
Jehu bowing down before the
Assyrian king offering his tribute. The
inscription reads:
“I received tribute from Jehu,
from the house of Omri; I
received from him silver, gold, a
golden bowl, a golden vase . . .
and a staff for a king.”
Shalmaneser III
 Remah Stela
Discovered in Tel el Rimnah in Iraq 1967.
The Assyrian Monarch claimed he received tribute from the
rulers of Tyre, Sydon, Mari of Damuscus and Ia’asu (Jehu) of
Samaria.
 Melqart Stela
Discovered north of Aleppo 1939.
The inscription speaks of Ben-Haddad son of king of Aram.
Aramaic
Language:

basalt stele
Medium:

4 lines
Length:

9th-8th cent. BCE

Approximate Date:

votive
Genre:

Place of Discovery: Bredsh, a village north of Aleppo, Syria

1939
Date of Discovery:

Current Location: National Museum, Aleppo, Syria

Inscription number: KAI 201
 Zakir Inscription
Zakir inscription found southwest of Allepo 1904.
The inscription identifies Ben-Haddad as son of Hazael.
 Samaria Ostraca
Few inscriptions came from the Palestenian excavations.
Sixty inscribed potsherds called Samaria Ostraca.
These however were mosltly records of shipments of oil and
wine.
These are written in early Hebrew characters, which very
closely resemble those of the Siloam Inscription, but show a
slight development of the cursive script.
These ostraca were found in the treasury of the palace of
Ahab, and probably date about his period, 850 B.C.
At least they must all date prior to 750 B.C., when the palace
was destroyed.
 Seal Impressions
Many seals and seal impressions.
The most famous one is called “Shema the servant of
Jeroboam”.
Servant in this context means a royal official who served
under Jeroboam II.
Questions
 Thanks
See you in The
History of Israel
Part 18 - The Divided
Kingdom