the city, then the city is briefly and imper- and findeth Jehonadab, the father of the fectly described here, and the defects sup- Rechabites. Coming into Samaria, he plied there; (the Book of Chronicles being maketh search for Ahaziah: they find him in great part written for that end, to supply hid, bring him to Jehu, and he commands things omitted in the Book of Kings;) and to carry him up towards Gur, by Ibleam, out of both the history may be thus com- and there to slay him. It may be, his pleted: He fled first to Megiddo, and thence father Joram had slain his brethren there, to Samaria, where he was caught, and as Ahab had done Naboth, in Jezreel. They thence brought to Jehu, and by his sentence do so; smite him there in his chariot; and was put to death at Megiddo, either because his charioteer driveth away to Megiddo Jehu was there at that time upon some oc- before he dies. The story in the Book of casion, or for some other reason, which at Kings is short; but the Book of Chronicles this distance of time we cannot understand. shows the order." Lightfoot's Works, vol. Bp. Patrick.-To Megiddo.] He could i., p. 88. not get to his own country, and so sheltered himself at Megiddo, which was not far from Samaria, whither his servants carried him, as a safer place (for he was not mortally wounded), and there he hid himself for fear of Jehu, as we read 2 Chron. xxii. 9. Ver. 29. Au. Ver.-29 And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah [2 Chron. xxii. 9, about 886. Then he began to reign as viceroy to his father in his sickness, 2 Chr. xxi. 18, 19. But in Joram's 12th year he began to reign alone, ch. viii. 25, about 884.] See notes on viii. 25. And died there.] Not at Megiddo; but being searched for and taken in Samaria, he was brought to Jehu at Jezreel, where he commanded him to be slain. Which seems Dr. A. Clarke.—In the eleventh year of to be beyond his commission; but as he was Joram.] The note in our margin contains an idolater, so he was of the bloody house of as good an account of this chronological Ahab by his mother's side, who was Ahab's difficulty as can be reasonably required: daughter (viii. 18): and this destruction Then he began to reign as viceroy to his was of God (as the author of the second father in his sickness; 2 Chron. xxi. 18, 19. Book of Chronicles observes, xxii. 7), who But in Joram's twelfth year he began to prompted Jehu thus to understand his com- reign alone; chap. viii. 26. mand. Thus Abarbinel understands those words, he died there. Not in Megiddo, mentioned before, but in that execution of God's judgments on the house of Ahab. Ver. 30. καὶ ἐστιμμίσατο τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῆς, Au. Ver.-30 And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face [Heb., put her eyes in painting], and tired her head, and looked out at a window. Painted her face. Bp. Patrick. In the Hebrew it is, "she put her eyes in paint; " that is, in stibium, which made the eyes look black, and was accounted beautiful; and also dilated the eyebrows, and made the eyes appear big; which in some countries was also thought very amiable (see Grotius). Dr. A. Clarke.-27 Fled by the way of K.T.λ. the garden.] The account of the death of Ahaziah, as given in 2 Chron. xxii. 8, 9, is very different from that given here: When Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab - he sought Ahaziah; and they caught him (for he was hid in Samaria) and brought him to Jehu; and when they had slain him, they buried him. "The current of the story at large is this," says Dr. Lightfoot: "Jehu slayeth Joram in the field of Jezreel, as Ahaziah and Joram were together; Ahaziah, seeing this, flees, and gets into Samaria, and hides himself there. Jehu marcheth to Jezreel, and makes Jezebel dog's meat: from thence he sends to Samaria for the heads of Ahab's children and posterity; which are brought him by night, and showed to the people in the morning. Then he marcheth to Samaria, and by the way slayeth forty-two of Ahab's kinsmen ; Gesen. i. q., Gr. pukos, Lat. fucus, i. e., paint, dye, fucus, with which the Hebrew women tinged their eye-lashes, prepared from antimony (stibium) or minium; see in. Sept. σrupi, Vulg. stibium. 2 Kings ix. 30: Jer. iv. 30. Comp. pr. n. T. Is. liv. 11 with eye-paint (stibium) will I lay thy stones, i. e., I will litteræ defectum circulo intermedio casuse it as cement in laying thy walls. tigant. СНАР. Х. 1. — Ἡ εἰρήνη Ζαμβρὶ ὁ φονευτὴς τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ. Au. Ver.-And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? [So Pool, Patrick, Dathe.] Dr. A. Clarke.—Had Zimri peace who slew his master ? ] Jarchi paraphrases this place thus: “ If thou hast slain thy master, it is no new thing; for Zimri also slew Elah, the son of Baasha;" which words were rather intended to conciliate than to provoke. But the words are understood by most of the versions thus: "Health to Zimri, the slayer of his master!" Maurer. An incolumis fuit Simri (cf. Gen. xliii. 27, al.), interfector domini sui (1 Reg. xvi. 18)?! De Wettius: "Ist es Heil (cf. vs. 22), du (zweiter) Simri, Mörder seines Herrn?" Sed quis credat, Isabelam regem interrogasse: num pacalo, benevolo animo venisset, eodemque temporis momento regis interfectorem appellasse? - καὶ ἐῤῥαντίσθη τοῦ αἵματος αὐτῆς πρὸς τὸν τοῖχον καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἵππους, καὶ συνεπάτησαν αὐτήν. Au. Ver.-33 And 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 Under foot. Some of her blood, &c. Houb., Ged., Booth. blood was sprinkled on the horses, which trod upon her. 33, et conculcavit eam. Lege, 1210011, vel moo, et conculcaverunt eam, de equis dictum. Legunt numero plurali omnes Veteres.-Houb. καὶ τῷ ̓Αχαάβ ἑβδομήκοντα υἱοὶ ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ· καὶ ἔγραψεν Ἰοὺ βιβλίον, καὶ ἀπέστ τειλεν ἐν Σαμαρείᾳ πρὸς τοὺς ἄρχοντας Σαμαρείας, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς τιθηνοὺς ̓Αχαὰβ, λέγων, Au. Ver.-1 And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up [Heb., nourishers] Ahab's children, saying. Ahab had seventy sons. Pool.-Ahab had seventy sons; either, first, properly sons by several wives; or rather, secondly, grandsons are comprehended [so Patrick], who are oft called sons, and grandfathers fathers, in Scripture. Unto the rulers of Jezreel. Pool.-Heb., the princes of Jezreel, i. e., the great persons and officers of the court, which then was and had been for some time at Jezreel, who either had fled thither with Ahab's sons [so Patrick], upon the news of Jehu's actions and successes; or rather, had been sent by Joram with his sons to Samaria, to take care of them there. Clarke, Ged.-To the rulers and elders of Samaria. So LXX, and equivalently Vulg., the rest Jezreel, a manifest error [so Horsley, Maurer].—Ged. Houb., Dathe, Booth.-To the rulers and elders of the city [Vulg.]. Dathe. In textu est, sed οἱ ὁ habent : πρὸς τοὺς ἄρχοντας Σαμαρείας, et Vulgatus: ad optimates civitatis. Quæ lectio verior videtur. Nam qui h. 1. vocantur principes Jesreelis, versu 5, dicuntur præpositi domus et urbis, ad quos Jehu litteras miserat, qui et filios Ahabi Samariæ in urbe regia educaverant. Codex Kennicotti 174 habet etiam . Ver. 2. Au. Ver.-2 Now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fenced city also, and armour. A fenced city. Ged.-" Fenced cities," so LXX, Syr., Pool.-To all the people; either, first, To the promiscuous multitude met there to gaze upon this sad and strange spectacle. So the sense is, Be not ye troubled nor affrighted: if anything be amiss in these actions, I do here publicly and solemnly acquit you as righteous and innocent; do not you therefore fear any vengeance from God or men for it: if there be any guilt, it is in me, and in those who cut off these heads. Or, secondly, To those who cut off and brought the heads; for the same persons did both, and were here present, as Jehu commanded them, ver. 6: to them he speaks in the audience of all the people; or by all the people may be meant all those who brought the heads, and were there waiting for Jehu, according to his order. So the speech is in part ironical, to this purpose, You are righteous in your own eyes, and you look upon me as a traitor, and rebel, and murderer, because I have risen against and slain my master, which I גְּדֹלִי הָעִיר מְגַדְּלִים אוֹתָם: καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ τοῦ βασιλέως ἦσαν ἑβδομήκοντα ἄνδρες, οὗτοι ἁδροὶ τῆς πόλεως ἐξέτρε φον αὐτούς. Au. Ver.-6 Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be mine [Heb., for me], and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to-morrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up. Houb.-, ad vocem meam. Codex Orat. 42,, plene manu priori, quomodo et alia multa vocabula ejusdem Codicis, nec non aliorum quorumdam, qui postquam fuerant ad meliores Codices descripti, fuerunt deinde ad deteriores emendati, aut potius vitiati. Were with the great men of the city. Vulgo vertunt: proceres civitatis eos educaverant. Ita ex sequiore Hebraismo nominativo præpositum est, ut vi. 5, al. Fortasse tamen verti potest: cum proceribus civitatis, h. e., ita ut horum consuetudine uterentur, eos educaverant (hatte man sie erz., cf. ad Ex. v. 16.). acknowledge I have done. But if I am guilty, you are not innocent, and therefore cannot accuse me; for I have killed one, but you a great number. This explication seems probable; only the Hebrew word ham being generally used of the common people, may seem not so fitly to agree to these rulers and great men, who had brought the heads; and that expression, to all the people, implies that Jehu did not direct his speech to some particular persons, but to the whole body of the people then present, whom he clears from all blame, and to whom he appeals as witnesses between him and these persons. Ver. 11. Au. Ver.-11 So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks [or, him none remaining. acquaintance], and his priests, until he left His priests. See notes on 2 Sam. viii. 17, pp. 559-566. Pool. His priests; his domestic priests, which had waited upon Ahab and Jezebel in their idolatrous services, and were fed at the king's table. Compare 1 Kings xviii. 19. Or, his chief officers of state, as that word is sometimes used; of which see 2 Sam. viii. 18, compared with 1 Chron. xviii. 17. Object. These were included in his great men mentioned before. Answ. Yet may they well be mentioned apart, as a distinct and the most eminent sort of them. He left him 12 kaì ảvéσtŋ kaì éñopeúðŋ eis Zaμápetav, avròs év Baiðakào tôv toiμévwv ev Tŷ ód. 13 καὶ Ἰοὺ εὗρε τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς Οχοζίου βασιλέως Ιούδα, καὶ εἶπε, τίνες ὑμεῖς; καὶ εἶπον, ἀδελφοὶ Οχοζίου ἡμεῖς, καὶ κατέβημεν εἰς εἰρήνην τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ βασιλέως, κ.τ.λ. Au. Ver.-12 And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing house [Heb., house of shepherds binding sheep] in the way, 13 Jehu met [Heb., found] with the buisse videntur, quemadmodum similiter Ver. 15. See יָשָׁר כַּאֲשֶׁר לְבָבִי עִם־לְבָבֶךָ וַיֹּאמֶר brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute [Heb., to the peace of, &c.] the children of the king and the children of the queen. 12 Came. Ged., Booth.-Was going. Pool. Where they used to shear sheep, and then to feast, after their manner, 1 Sam. xxv. 36; 2 Sam. xiii. 23. Or this may be the name of a place, Beth-heked of the shepherds; or, Beth-heked-rohim. TT · καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτὸν Ἰού, εἰ ἔστι καρδία σου μετὰ καρδίας μου εὐθεῖα, καθὼς ἡ καρδία μου μετὰ τῆς καρδίας σου; καὶ εἶπεν Ιωναδάβ. ἔστι· καὶ εἶπεν Ιού, καὶ εἰ ἔστι, δὸς τήν χεῖρά σου κ.τ.λ. Au. Ver.-15 And when he was departed thence, he lighted on [Heb., found] Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him and he saluted him [Heb., blessed], and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand, &c. Bp. Patrick. At the shearing house in the way.] In the Hebrew the words are, "in the house of the shepherds' binding [so Bp. Horsley.-Is thine heart right? liteDathe]." For they bound the feet of their rally, is right with thy heart; i. e., Art sheep when they sheared them; and this thou a warm friend to justice? But I would was the place where the shepherds of Sa- read the whole passage thus, maria were wont to do it. היש את לבבך ישר כאשר את לבבי: ויאמר יהונדב יש לבבי עם house of the farm) בֵּית עֵקֶר הָרֹעִים-.Gesen לבבך: ויש תנה .c& or encampment of shepherds, comp. Arab. Je hamlet, farm) a place near Samaria, 2 Kings x. 12; without D v. 14. And Jonadab said, It is; my heart is with Houb.-12 et 13, ille in Beth- Houb.-15: Clerici conAchod. Diligenter attendenti videbitur le- jectura bona est, legendum 7 5 8 w gendum, Jehu autem, non, ille:, num est cum corde meo cor tuum deinde initio versûs 13. m, ille autem, rectum? Omissum fuit ex similitudine non NT, Jehu: nec non post 7, ponen- ejus cum ; neque id omittunt Græci dum fuisse punctum minus, non punctum Intt. qui, kapdía σov μeтà kapdías μov, cor majus. tuum cum corde meo. Manifestum est, quo הָרָצִים וְהַשָּׁלִשִׂים וַיִּלְכְוּ עַד־עִיר בֵּית-,niam cor in posteriori membro bis legitur , ויש .. similiter id bis legendum in priori. est igitur, idem ac, quoniam est. Hæc loquitur Jehu, Jonadabo respondens. Dathe.—15 Hinc progressus occurrit Jonadabo, Rechabi filio, quem, ubi salutavit, interrogat, num animo a) sit tam benevolo in se, quam ipse in eum? a) Clericus conjectat, approbante Hubigantio, post excidisseny. Sic sequenti membro melius respondet, et sic oi ó habent: Sed defendi potest lectio vulgaris, cum constet, quoque nominativo præponi, et sic Vulgatus: numquid est cor tuum rectum? Item reliqui. Maurer.-15 Præter necessitatem post Cler. Hubig. legi jussit (D) It is. . LXX, liberius verterunt. Bp. Patrick. It is.] The expression is double in the Hebrew Yes, yes; to signify a vehement affection. Or, as a late learned writer (Gousset, in his Comment. Hebr. Linguæ) will have it, the former is spoken by Jehonadab, who said It is: and the other by Jehu, who answered, "Is it? then give me thy hand," &c. Pool.-Give me thine hand, These may be the words, either, 1. Of Jehu; and so here is an ellipsis, If it be, for And Jehu said, If it be. Compare 1 Kings xx. 34. Or, 2. Of Jehonadab, who having said, It is, adds, If it be, i. e., if thine heart be with mine, as thou sayest it is, give me thine hand. But this the ellipsis is larger than the former. And it seems not so decent and proper for Jehonadab, a stranger and subject, to speak thus to the king, as for the king to say so to him. αὐτοῦ. Ver. 16. : byen καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς συνετέλεσε ποιῶν τὴν ὁλοκαύτωσιν, καὶ εἶπεν Ἰοὺ τοῖς παρατρέχουσι kaì Tois TpiσTáTais, elσeλbóνTES TATάEATE αὐτοὺς, μὴ ἐξελθάτω ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀνήρ. καὶ ἐπάταξαν αὐτοὺς ἐν στόματι ῥομφαίας, καὶ ἔῤῥιψαν οἱ παρατρέχοντες καὶ οἱ τριστάται. καὶ éπopeúlŋσav ews tóλews oïkov toû Báaλ. Au. Ver.-25 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge [Heb., the mouth] of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal. Captains. See notes on Exod. xiv. 7, vol. i., p. 267. Dr. A. Clarke.-To the guard and to the captains.] To the couriers or runners, and the shalashim, the men of the third rank; those officers who were next to the nobles, the king and these being only their superiors. The runners were probably a sort of light infantry. Gesen.-PART. 7 a runner, courier, Jer. li. 31; Job ix. 25. Plur. 7 and 2 Kings xi. 13, runners, couriers, i. e. a) The servants who ran before the chariot of a prince, q. d. running footmen, 2 Sam. xv. 1; 1 Kings i. 5. So Lat. cursores Suet. Ner. 30. b) The body-guard and royal messengers of the Hebrews in the time of Saul 1 Sam. xxii. 17; and of the kings after David 2 Kings x. 25; xi. 6 sq. 2 Chron. xii. 10, 11; xxiii. 12, 30; vi. 10. Prob. the same who under David are called ' q. v. Comp. 1 Kings i. 5; xiv. 27; 2 Sam. xv. 1. c) The mounted couriers of the Persians, καὶ ἐπεκάθισεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ ἅρματι who carried the royal edicts to the provinces, Au. Ver.-16 And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD. So they made him ride in his chariot. So they made him ride. Esth. iii. 13, 15; viii. 14. Pool. As soon as he, i. e., the chief priest Houb., Ged., Booth.-So he made him nor could they so soon have done it; nor ride. Ver. 25. would they stay to do it, when they were -them in its ruins, and turn it into a draught יֵהוּא לָרָעִים וְלַשָׁלִשִׁים בָּאוּ הַכּוּם and may be joined with the next, and both אִישׁ אַל־יֵצֵא וַיַּכּוּם לְפִי־חָרֶב וַיַּשְׁלִכוּ house, as it follows. This word therefore is |