2 Kings 10:18–36

Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal--The priests of Baal were clad, probably, in robes of white byssus while they were engaged in the functions of their office, and these were kept under the care of an officer in a particular wardrobe of Baal's temple. This treacherous massacre, and the means taken to accomplish it, are paralleled by the slaughter of the Janissaries and other terrible tragedies in the modern history of the East.

And Jehu gathered all the people together,.... The people of Samaria, at least the principal of them: and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu shall serve him much; which some understand as spoken ironically; but the words seem to be spoken with a design to deceive the idolatrous inhabitants of Samaria, making them to believe that he was hearty in the worship of Baal, and should show a greater respect to it, and more constantly attend it, than Ahab had done; and this he said with a view to draw them to the temple of Baal, and there destroy them, as the sequel shows; and in which he is not to be justified, however good his intention was; for evil is not to be done that good may come.

All that were employed in the several parts of religious worship given him, and in performing any rite and ceremony belonging to it; in invocation of him, and singing praises to him, as the prophets; in offering sacrifices to him, as the priests; or in assisting them in their service, who may be meant by his servants or ministers: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; by which, though he might mean a sacrifice of his prophets, priests, servants, and worshippers, he would have it otherwise understood, and his design was to deceive, which cannot be justified: whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live: but be put to death; this he said, pretending his great zeal for Baal, when his view was by this threatening to get all his worshippers together to destroy them, that none might escape as follows: but Jehu did it in subtlety, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal: the Targum renders it, "with wisdom"; but Jarchi and Ben Gersom much better, "in deceit"; the word signifies supplantation, such as Esau charged Jacob with.

And Jehu said, proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal,.... Such as with the Jews was an holy convocation, when they were forbidden and restrained from doing any work on that day; and such a day Jehu would have appointed and proclaimed for Baal, that the people might be at leisure to attend: and they proclaimed it; according to his order, in Samaria.

And Jehu sent through all Israel,.... Persons to proclaim this solemn assembly: and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not; some no doubt came cheerfully, having no suspicion of him, and the rather, as he might have been a worshipper of Baal in the times of Ahab; and as for what he had done to Baal's priests, they might consider that only as they were in connection with Ahab's family, whom to destroy was his political interest; and they were glad at heart their new king was so affected to Baal, and fond to see such a grand solemnity as they expected this to be; and others that might be suspicious of him, yet as they must die if they did not appear, and there was a possibility they might live, chose therefore to come: and they came into the house of Baal; the temple which Ahab had built for him in Samaria, 1 Kings 16:32. and the house of Baal was full from one end to the other; not only the body of the temple, but all the outward court, every mouth, or corner, as in the original text: and this single house might be sufficient for all in the land; since the number of them might be greatly lessened by the ministry of Elijah and Elisha, as well as by the destruction the former made of the prophets of Baal; and by the schools of the prophets set up in various places, from whence prophets were sent out to instruct the people; and by Joram's putting away the image of Baal, which no doubt lessened the number of his worshippers.

And he said unto him that was over the vestry,.... That had the care of the garments, in which the priests of Baal ministered: bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal; not for the priests only, but for all that worshipped; and this he ordered for the greater solemnity of this service, as he would have it thought; but, in truth, that the worshippers of Baal might be separated, and distinguished from the worshippers of the Lord, that not one of them might be among them: and he brought them forth vestments; out of the chamber or wardrobe in which they were, and they put them on.

And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal,.... Who no doubt was led into the secret, and knew the design of Jehu, or he would not have gone into such an idolatrous place: and said unto the worshippers of Baal, search and look, that there be here with you none of the servants of the Lord, but the worshippers of Baal only; pretending a great regard to the purity of their worship and sacrifices, that they might not be profaned (t) by the company of such who were not worshippers of Baal, but of Jehovah; whereas his view was to prevent any of the worshippers of God perishing with them, who might out of curiosity go in among them, to behold the manner of their service. (t) "----procul, o procul este profani". Virgil. Aeneid. 6. ver. 258.

And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings,.... To Baal, all things being ready for them: Jehu appointed eighty men without; without the temple of Baal, at the several doors and avenues of it: and said, if any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, he that letteth him go, his life shall be for the life of him; should be put to death for it in his room; the life of a watchman set to guard should go for the life of one that escaped.

And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering,.... The chief of the priests of Baal, whose office it was to do this service: that Jehu said to the guard, and to the captains, go in and slay them, let none come forth; this he said to the eighty men set to guard the temple, and the officers over them; and perhaps they might also have a reinforcement, since such a number seems scarcely sufficient to destroy so many as were here; though indeed it must be considered they were armed men: and they smote them with the edge of the sword; put them all to death: and the guard and the captains cast them out; those that were slain, as the Targum, their dead bodies; but it can hardly be thought they would be at the trouble of casting them out, when the house was to be pulled down, and made a jakes (a common sewer or dung house) of, as follows; rather therefore it should be rendered, "they cast" or "flung themselves" (u) with great force, and in great haste, as Kimchi, and rushed out of the temple, being eager to do as follows: and went to the city of the house of Baal; to pull it down; to some city near Samaria where was a temple of Baal; or rather this may design the buildings about the temple of Baal, in which the priests and their families lived, and were so large that they might be called a city of themselves. (u) "et proripuerunt se", De Dicu.

And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burnt them. Lesser images, the images of other deities, or what were placed as decorations of the temple.

And they broke down the temple of Baal,.... Which some take to be Belus, others Saturn, others the sun, which seems most probable: and broke down the house of Baal; his temple, demolished it: and made it a draught house until this day; a common sewer, a jakes; a fit place for dunghill gods to be thrown into, and an idol temple to be turned into.

Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin,.... Which is the common character given of that king, a blot never to be wiped off: Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan: he did not abstain from the worship of them, partly because he might not think it idolatry, because God was worshipped in them; hence he calls the worshippers of the calves the servants of the Lord, 2 Kings 10:23, and partly that he might not displease the princes of the people of Israel, who generally gave in to the worship of them; but chiefly lest the kingdom of Israel should return to the house of David, the worship of the calves being a piece of state policy, to keep them from going to Jerusalem to worship, lest thereby they should be drawn off from their allegiance to the king of Israel.

And the Lord said unto Jehu,.... By a prophet, he not being one himself; and this is generally supposed, by the Jews (w), to be Jonah the son of Amittai: because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes: in rooting out the idolatry of Baal, which was right in the sight of God, and was materially a good work, though it might not be done from a good principle, nor every step taken in doing it justifiable: and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart: that he had decreed within himself should be done, and had foretold by his prophets would be done, the doing of which was acceptable and well pleasing to him: thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel; as they did, namely, Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam, and Zachariah, though the last reigned but six months, just enough to fulfil this promise. (w) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 19.

But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart,.... As to his moral conversation, he was not careful that it was according to the law of God, and what he did agreeable to it, it was not sincerely, and from the right principle: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin; which he would, if he had had a cordial respect to all the commandments of the law.

In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short,.... To bring their dominions into a narrower compass; this was done in the days of Jehu, though he was so active and courageous, wherefore the hand of God was the more seen in it: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel; which bordered on his country, when he did what Elisha foretold he would, 2 Kings 8:12.

From Jordan eastward,.... This was principally the coast on which Hazael smote them, to the east of the land of Canaan: all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Moabites; the country on the other side Jordan, given to these tribes by Moses, at their request, which were before the kingdoms of Sihon and of Og: from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan: countries which the Israelites first conquered, and were the first they lost.

Here is all the account of the reign of Jehu, though it continued twenty-eight years. The progress of it answered not to the glory of its beginning. We have here, I. God's approbation of what Jehu had done. Many, it is probable, censured him as treacherous and barbarous - called him a rebel, a usurper, a murderer, and prognosticated ill concerning him, that a family thus raised would soon be ruined; but God said, Well done (Kg2 10:30), and then it signified little who said otherwise. 1. God pronounced that to be right which he had done. It is justly questionable whether he did it from a good principle and whether he did not take some false steps in the doing of it; and yet (says God), Thou hast done well in executing that which is right in my eyes. The extirpating of idolaters and idolatry was a thing right in God's eyes, for it is an iniquity he visits as surely and severely as any: it was according to all that was in his heart, all he desired, all he designed. Jehu went through with his work. 2. God promised him a reward, that his children of the fourth generation from him should sit upon the throne of Israel. This was more than what took place in any of the dignities or royal families of that kingdom; of the house of Ahab there were indeed four kings, Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah, and Joram, but the last two were brothers, so that it reached but to the third generation, and that whole family continued but about forty-five years in all, whereas Jehu's continued in four, besides himself, and in all about 120 years. Note, No services done for God shall go unrewarded. II. Jehu's carelessness in what he was further to do. By this it appeared that his heart was not right with God, that he was partial in his reformation. 1. He did not put away all the evil. He departed from the sins of Ahab, but not from the sins of Jeroboam - discarded Baal, but adhered to the calves. The worship of Baal was indeed the greater evil, and more heinous in the sight of God, but the worship of the calves was a great evil, and true conversion is not only from gross sin, but from all sin - not only from false gods, but from false worships. The worship of Baal weakened and diminished Israel, and made them beholden to the Sidonians, and therefore he could easily part with that; but the worship of the calves was a politic idolatry, was begun and kept up for reasons of state, to prevent the return of the ten tribes to the house of David, and therefore Jehu clave to that. True conversion is not only from wasteful sins, but from gainful sins - not only from those sins that are destructive to the secular interest, but from those that support and befriend it, in forsaking which is the great trial whether we can deny ourselves and trust God. 2. He put away evil, but he did not mind that which was good (Kg2 10:31): He took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel. He abolished the worship of Baal, but did not keep up the worship of God, nor walk in his law. He had shown great care and zeal for the rooting out of a false religion; but in the true religion, (1.) He showed no care, took no heed, lived at large, was not at all solicitous to please God and to do his duty, took no heed to the scriptures, to the prophets, to his own conscience, but walked at all adventures. Those that are heedless, it is to be feared, are graceless; for, where there is a good principle in the heart, it will make men cautious and circumspect, desirous to please God and jealous of doing any thing to offend him. (2.) He showed no zeal; what he did in religion he did not do with his heart, with all his heart, but did it as if he did it not, without any liveliness or concern. It seems, he was a man that had little religion himself, and yet God made use of him as an instrument of reformation in Israel. It is a pity but that those that do good to others should always be good themselves. III. The judgment that came upon Israel in his reign. We have reason to fear that when Jehu took no heed himself to walk in God's law the people were generally as careless as he, both in their devotions and in their conversations. There was a general decay of piety and increase of profaneness; and therefore it is not strange that the next news we hear is, In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short, Kg2 10:32. Their neighbours encroached upon them on every side; they were short in their duty to God, and therefore God cut them short in their extent, wealth, and power. Hazael king of Syria was, above any other, vexatious and mischievous to them, smote them in all the coasts of Israel, particularly the countries on the other side Jordan, which lay next him, and most exposed; on these he made continual inroads, and laid them waste. Now the Reubenites and Gadites smarted for the choice which their ancestors made of an inheritance on that side Jordan, which Moses reproved them for, Num. 32. Now Hazael did what Elisha foresaw and foretold he would do. Yet, for doing it, God had a quarrel with him and with his kingdom, as we may find, Amo 1:3, Amo 1:4. Because those of Damascus have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron, therefore (says God) I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad. Lastly, The conclusion of Jehu's reign, Kg2 10:34-36. Notice is taken, in general, of his might; but, because he took no heed to serve God, the memorials of his mighty enterprises and achievements are justly buried in oblivion.

And Jehu slept with his fathers,.... Died as they did: and they buried him in Samaria; where Omri and Ahab, his predecessors, were buried, 1 Kings 16:28. and Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead; who reigned seventeen years, 2 Kings 13:1.

And the time that Jehu reigned was twenty and eight years. Which was longer than any king of Israel had reigned.