Jehu(Hebrew:יֵהוּא,romanized:Yēhūʾ,meaning "Yahis He ";Akkadian:𒅀𒌑𒀀Ya'úa[ia-ú-a];Latin:Iehu) was the tenth king of thenorthern Kingdom of IsraelsinceJeroboam I,noted for exterminating the house ofAhab.He was the son ofJehoshaphat,[1]grandson ofNimshi,and possibly great-grandson ofOmri,[2]although the latter notion is not supported by the biblical text. His reign lasted 28 years.
| Jehu | |
|---|---|
 The tribute of "Jehu of the people of the land ofOmri"(Akkadian:𒅀𒌑𒀀 𒈥 𒄷𒌝𒊑𒄿) as depicted on theBlack ObeliskofShalmaneser III | |
| King of Israel (Northern Kingdom) | |
| Reign | c. 841–814 BCE |
| Coronation | Ramoth-Gilead,Israel |
| Predecessor | Jehoram |
| Successor | Jehoahaz |
| Born | c. 882 BCE |
| Died | c. 814 BCE |
| Burial | |
| Issue | Jehoahaz |
| Father | Jehoshaphat |
William F. Albrighthas dated Jehu's reign to 842–815 BCE, whileE. R. Thieleoffers the dates 841–814 BCE.[3]The principal source for the events of his reign comes from2 Kings.[4]
Biblical narrative
edit
Proclamation as king
editThe reign of Jehu's predecessor,Jehoram,was marked by theBattle of Ramoth-Gileadagainst the army of theArameans.Jehoram was wounded and returned toJezreelto recover. He was attended byAhaziah,king ofJudah,who was also his nephew, son of his sisterAthaliah.Meanwhile, according to the writer of the Books of Kings, the prophetElishaordered one of his students to go to Ramoth-Gilead and separate Jehu, a military commander at the time, from his companions. There, he was to anoint Jehu as king in an inner chamber and explain to him that he was to act as an agent ofdivine judgmentagainst the house ofAhab.The student followed these instructions, and upon completion he ran away. Jehu initially dismissed the student as a "madman", but nonetheless told his companions about his anointing. His companions later enthusiastically blew their trumpets and proclaimed him their king.[5][6]
Jezreel and the deaths of Jehoram and Jezebel
edit
With a chosen band, Jehu planned his conspiracy against King Jehoram and secretly entered Jezreel. Jehoram tried to flee, but Jehu shot an arrow that pierced his heart. Jehu later threw his body onNaboth's vineyard, to avenge Naboth, whom Jehoram'sfatherandmotherhad murdered.[7]KingAhaziahfled after seeing Jehoram's death but Jehu wounded him. Ahaziah fled toMegiddo,where he died.[5]
Jehu proceeded to enter the premises of the palace at Jezreel.Jezebelwatched him with contempt from the palace window and mockingly compared him to KingZimri.Jehu later commanded Jezebel's eunuchs to throw her out of the palace window. They obeyed his commands and Jezebel was instantly killed. Jehu trampled over her body, and when he decided later to arrange a proper burial due to her royal descent, only her skull, hands and feet remained. The rest of her body had been eaten by dogs.
Now master of Jezreel, Jehu wrote to command the chief men inSamariato hunt down and kill all the royal princes. They did so, and the next day they piled the 70 heads in two heaps outside the city gate, as Jehu commanded. Ahab's entire family was slain. Shortly afterward, Jehu encountered the 42 "brothers ofAhaziah"(since the brothers of Ahaziah had been taken away and probably killed by the Philistines,[8]these must have been relatives of Ahaziah in a broader sense, like nephews and cousins) at "Beth-eked of the shepherds". They told Jehu they were visiting the royal family. Jehu killed them all at "the pit of Beth-eked".
After Jehu's slaughter of the Omrides, he metJehonadabtheRechabiteand convinced him that he was pro-Yahwist.Jehonadab quickly allied with him, and they entered the capital together. In control of Samaria, he invited the worshippers ofBaalto a ceremony, then trapped and killed them.[11]He then destroyed their idols and temple, and turned the temple into a latrine.[12]
Reign
editOther than Jehu's bloody seizure of power and tolerance for thegolden calvesatDanandBethel,which was criticized as a "heretical" interpretation of Yahwism, little else is known of his reign. He was hard pressed byHazael,king of theArameans,who defeated his armies "throughout all of the territories ofIsrael"beyond theJordan River,in the lands ofGilead,Gad,Reuben,andManasseh.[13]
This suggests that Jehu offered tribute toShalmaneser III,as depicted on hisBlack Obelisk,in order to gain a powerful ally against theArameans.Bit-Khumriwas used byTiglath-Pileser IIIfor the non-Omride kingsPekah(733) &Hoshea(732),[14]hence House/Land/Kingdom ofOmricould apply to later Israelite kings not necessarily descended from Omri. According to others, this description should be taken very literally, as in this period Assyrians were very closely following the events in this area, with control slipping in later years.[15]
The destruction of the house of Ahab is commended by the author of 2 Kings as a form of divine punishment. Yahweh rewards Jehu for being a willing executor of divine judgment by allowing four generations of kings to sit on the throne of Israel.[16]Jehu and his descendants Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, and Zachariah ruled Israel for 102 years. Nonetheless, according to theBook of Hosea,God punished theHouse of Jehuthrough the hands of theAssyriansfor Jehu's massacre atJezreel,[17]and some Biblical commentators reasoned that this was because Jehu's motives may not have been entirely pure in his massacre.[18]
Archaeological evidences
editTel Dan Stele
editThe author of theTel Dan Stele(9th century BCE, found in 1993 and 1994) claimed to have slain bothAhaziah of JudahandJehoram of Israel.Most scholars identify Hazael of Damascus (c. 842 – 806 BCE) as the author, the Damascan king who fought a great war against Israel and Juda. Apperently the coalition that had been forged between Ahab andHadadezer,who had provided the main force that stopped the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III at theBattle of Qarqar,had fallen apart under their successors and in the succeeding war between Israel-Juda against Aram-Damascus the kings of Israel and Juda were killed. Jehu, allready an important military leader, then became king after this event.
Black Obelisk
edit
Aside from theHebrew Scriptures,Jehu appears in Assyrian documents, notably in theBlack Obelisk,where he is depicted as kissing the ground in front ofShalmaneser IIIand presenting a gift (maddattu ša Ia-ú-a...kaspu mâdu"tribute of Jehu...much silver" ). In theAssyriandocuments, he is simply called "son ofOmri"[20][21](Akkadian:mār Ḫumri,possibly expressing his having been the ruler of "theHouse of Omri",a later Assyrian designation for the Kingdom of Israel), but since his grandfather Nimshi might have been a son of Omri, it could have been just describing a well-known descendency. This tribute is dated ca. 841 BCE.[22]It is the earliest preserved depiction of an Israelite.[10]
According to the Obelisk, Jehu severed his alliances withPhoeniciaandJudah,and became subject toAssyria.Apperently, faced with the agression of Aram-Damascus in the north and also rebellion of the Moabites (seeMesha stele) in the east, Jehu had no other options then yield to the Assyrians, who would resume their attacks at Aram-Damascus, thus relieving the pressure on Israel.
In popular culture
editJehu is portrayed byGeorge Naderin the filmSins of Jezebel(1953).
Drive Like Jehuwas an Americanpost-hardcoreband fromSan Diegoactive from 1990 to 1995. The band's name was derived from 2 Kings 9:20: "And 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".[23][24]
"Jehu's Rebellion" is the eighth chapter inManga Messengers(2011),the penultimate installment in the six-volumeManga Bible(2006–19).
See also
editSources and notes
edit- ^Jehu's father was not the roughly contemporaneous KingJehoshaphatofJudah,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)
- ^Amitai Baruchi-Unna,Jehuites, Ahabites, and Omrides: Blood Kinship and Bloodshed,Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 41.1 (2017) pp. 3–21
- ^Edwin Thiele,The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings,(1st ed.; New York: Macmillan, 1951; 2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965; 3rd ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983).ISBN0-8254-3825-X,ISBN9780825438257
- ^Bible2 Kings 9–10
- ^abDriscoll, James F. "Jehu",Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 8. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 7 Jan. 2014
- ^"2 Kings 9:1-13".
- ^Bible1 Kings 21:4
- ^Bible2 Chronicles 21:17
- ^Kuan, Jeffrey Kah-Jin (2016).Neo-Assyrian Historical Inscriptions and Syria-Palestine: Israelite/Judean-Tyrian-Damascene Political and Commercial Relations in the Ninth-Eighth Centuries BCE.Wipf and Stock Publishers. pp. 64–66.ISBN978-1-4982-8143-0.
- ^abCohen, Ada; Kangas, Steven E. (2010).Assyrian Reliefs from the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II: A Cultural Biography.UPNE. p. 127.ISBN978-1-58465-817-7.
- ^Bible2 Kings 10:19–10:25
- ^Bible2 Kings 10:27
- ^Bible2 Kings 10:32
- ^Kitchen, K A (2003)The Reliabilityof theOld Testament,Cambridge, Eerdmans, p. 24
- ^"Balancing evidence about Jehu and Joash in ancient near east texts - Critical reassessment".
- ^Bible2 Kings 10:30
- ^BibleHosea 1:4–1:5
- ^"Hosea 1:4 Commentaries: And the LORD said to him," Name him Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will punish the house of Jehu for the bloodshed of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel ".biblehub.com.Retrieved2022-04-07.
- ^Delitzsch, Friedrich; McCormack, Joseph; Carruth, William Herbert; Robinson, Lydia Gillingham (1906).Babel and Bible;.Chicago, The Open court publishing company. p. 78.
- ^Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament- Robert William Rogers
- ^Bezold, Carl; King, L. W. (1889).Catalogue of the Cuneiform Tablets in the Kouyunjik Collection of the British Museum.British Museum Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan.ISBN1145519350.
- ^Millard, Alan (1997)Discoveries from Bible Times,Oxford, Lion, p. 121
- ^Huey, Steve."Drive Like Jehu biography".AllMusic.Retrieved2010-01-13.
- ^Reid, Brendan (2003-02-14)."Album Review: Drive Like Jehu -Yank Crime".Pitchfork.Retrieved2010-01-18.
