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2 Kings 9:1–13 — Jehu Anointed King of Israel. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

And Elisha the prophet called. —Rather, meanwhile Elisha had called—i.e. , while Joram was lying ill of his wounds. The Hebrew construction again indicates not so much succession as contemporaneousness .

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

The Prophet Elijah was commanded to anoint Jehu about twelve years before this time; but, because of Ahab’s humiliation, the execution of the judgment pronounced upon him and his family was deferred.

Benson dates the delay at about twelve years and grounds it in Ahab's humiliation (1 Kings 21:29); the figure is his reconstruction, not a datum of the text.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

It only occurs there and in this chapter. Jehu alone of all the kings of Israel was anointed.

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Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706

Jehu was anointed king over Israel, by the Lord's special choice. The Lord still had a remnant of his people, and would yet preserve his worship among them.

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Now Elisha the prophet summoned one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak under your belt, take this flask of oil, and go to Ramoth-gilead.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

we·’ĕ·lî·šā‘ han·nā·ḇî qā·rā lə·’a·ḥaḏ mib·bə·nê han·nə·ḇî·’îm way·yō·mer lōw ḥă·ḡōr mā·ṯə·ne·ḵā wə·qaḥ haz·zeh paḵ haš·še·men bə·yā·ḏe·ḵā wə·lêḵ rā·mōṯ gil·‘āḏ

Word by word18 · parsed

וֶאֱלִישָׁע֙we·’ĕ·lî·šā‘Now ElishaH477

√ ʼĔlîyshâʻ — Elisha, the famous prophetConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular

הַנָּבִ֔יאhan·nā·ḇîthe prophetH5030

√ nâbîyʼ — a prophet or (generally) inspired manArticleNounmasculine singular

קָרָ֕אqā·rāsummonedH7121

√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

qârâʼ: to call out to, to summon Qal perfect, not the narrative consecutive: Ellicott reads the construction as contemporaneous rather than sequential, so that Elisha's summons is happening while Joram lies wounded at Jezreel. The prophet does not react to the political moment; he is already inside it.

לְאַחַ֖דlə·’a·ḥaḏoneH259

√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iPreposition-lNumbermasculine singular

מִבְּנֵ֣יmib·bə·nêof the sonsH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcPreposition-mNounmasculine plural construct

הַנְּבִיאִ֑יםhan·nə·ḇî·’îmof the prophetsH5030

√ nâbîyʼ — a prophet or (generally) inspired manArticleNounmasculine plural

וַיֹּ֨אמֶרway·yō·merand saidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

ל֜וֹlōwto him

Prepositionthird person masculine singular

חֲגֹ֣רḥă·ḡōrTuck your cloakH2296

√ châgar — to gird on (as a belt, armor, etcVerbQalImperativemasculine singular

châgar: to gird on (as a belt, armor) The imperative that opens the unit is a war word domesticated into a travel instruction. Elisha does not send a robed dignitary; he sends a man stripped for running, and the last command of the same errand (v. 3) will be “flee.” The whole commission is bracketed by speed.

מָתְנֶ֗יךָmā·ṯə·ne·ḵāunder your beltH4975

√ môthen — properly, the waist or small of the backNounmasculine dual constructsecond person masculine singular

וְ֠קַחwə·qaḥtakeH3947

√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalImperativemasculine singular

הַזֶּה֙haz·zehthisH2088

√ zeh — the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thatArticlePronounmasculine singular

פַּ֣ךְpaḵflaskH6378

√ pak — a flask (from which a liquid may flow)Nounmasculine singular construct

pak: a flask (from which a liquid may flow) One of the rarest nouns in the canon, standing in only three verses. Its other appearance is 1 Samuel 10:1, where Samuel pours from a pak on Saul's head and kisses him. Israel's first king and Israel's last dynasty both begin from this one small vessel; the Verifier confirms the shared lexeme. Whether its contents were the sanctuary oil of Exodus 30 is disputed among our sources (see the apparatus).

הַשֶּׁ֤מֶןhaš·še·menof oilH8081

√ shemen — grease, especially liquid (as from the olive, often perfumed)ArticleNounmasculine singular

shemen: grease, especially liquid, as from the olive, often perfumed The common word, not a technical cultic term. Barnes and the Pulpit Commentary nonetheless identify it with the holy anointing oil; Gill denies it, arguing the temple oil could not be had and that this was common or balsam oil from the prophet's own house. The Hebrew noun alone will not decide between them.

בְּיָדֶ֔ךָbə·yā·ḏe·ḵāH3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcPreposition-bNounfeminine singular constructsecond person masculine singular

וְלֵ֖ךְwə·lêḵand goH1980

√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalImperativemasculine singular

רָמֹ֥תrā·mōṯto Ramoth-gileadH7418

√ Râmôwth — Ramoth-Negeb or Ramath-Negeb, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

Râmôwth: heights The contested fortress east of Jordan. JFB: a city of great importance to the Hebrew people as a fortress of defense against the Syrians. Ahab died trying to take it (1 Kings 22); Joram has just been wounded holding it. The anointing happens in the one place the house of Ahab has bled for twice.

גִּלְעָֽד׃gil·‘āḏ. . .H1568

√ Gilʻâd — Gilad, a region East of the JordanNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-Elisha the-prophet called to-one from-sons-of the-prophets, and-he-said to-him: “Gird thy-loins, and-take flask-of the-oil the-this in-thy-hand, and-go Ramoth Gilead.”

Where the English smooths the original

חֲגֹ֣ר מָתְנֶ֗יךָ חֲגֹר מָתְנֶיךָ (ḥă·ḡōr mā·ṯə·ne·ḵā, H2296 + H4975) is flatly “gird thy loins,” a Qal imperative of châgar, to gird on as one girds on a belt or armor. BSB renders the sense (“Tuck your cloak under your belt”) and loses the idiom. Geneva supplies the custom: in those countries they wore long garments which they tucked up for earnest business. The phrase is the standing Hebrew signal that a man is about to move fast and dangerously.
פַּ֣ךְ פַּךְ (paḵ, H6378) is not the AV's “box” but a small flask, literally a vessel from which a liquid may flow. Barnes: “Rather, ‘flask,’ or ‘vial’.” Cambridge notes the word occurs only here and at 1 Samuel 10:1. The English word chosen decides whether the reader hears an ordinary household vial or a cultic instrument, and the Hebrew itself does not settle it.
בְּיָדֶ֔ךָ בְּיָדֶךָ (bə·yā·ḏe·ḵā, H3027) “in thy hand” has no rendering at all in the BSB line; the interlinear gloss for word 14 is blank. The Hebrew is physical: the whole weight of the dynasty change is carried in one man's fist, in one small flask.
רָמֹ֥ת גִּלְעָֽד רָמֹת גִּלְעָד (rā·mōṯ gil·‘āḏ, H7418 + H1568) is two separate proper nouns in the Hebrew, “Heights of Gilead,” fused by English hyphen into one place name. Note also that the Strong's gloss carried in this unit's lexicon for H7418 describes Ramoth-Negeb, a different site; the gloss is a source artifact, not a claim about this verse.

The Voices✦ 3 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

It is curious that the father of Jehu who executed the sentence of Jehovah upon the house of Ahab should have borne this name (“Jehovah judgeth”).

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

and carry him into an inner chamber; a chamber within a chamber, as in the original; this he was to do for secrecy, that it might not be seen what he did to Jehu; and lest he should be prevented doing it by the captains, or be exposed to danger for doing it; since that might be deemed treason to do what he was to do

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Elijah had been bidden to anoint him king, but apparently had neglected to do so, or rather had devolved the task upon his successor.

The Pulpit Commentary's word “neglected” is a strong charge against Elijah that the text nowhere makes; it offers “devolved” as the alternative in the same breath. Ellicott says frankly that the narrative nowhere tells us.

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When you arrive, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go in, get him away from his companions, and take him to an inner room.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ū·ḇā·ṯā šām·māh ū·rə·’ê·hō·šā- šām yê·hū ḇen- yə·hō·wō·šā·p̄āṭ ben- nim·šî ū·ḇā·ṯā wa·hă·qê·mō·ṯōw mit·tōḵ ’e·ḥāw wə·hê·ḇê·ṯā ’ō·ṯōw ḥe·ḏer bə·ḥā·ḏer

Word by word17 · parsed

וּבָ֖אתָū·ḇā·ṯāWhen you arriveH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

שָׁ֑מָּהšām·māh. . .H8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverbthird person feminine singular

וּרְאֵֽה־ū·rə·’ê·hō·šā-lookH7200

√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)Conjunctive wawVerbQalImperativemasculine singular

שָׁ֠םšām. . .H8033

√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb

יֵה֨וּאyê·hūfor JehuH3058

√ Yêhûwʼ — Jehu, the name of five IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

בֶן־ḇen-sonH1121

√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine singular construct

יְהוֹשָׁפָ֜טyə·hō·wō·šā·p̄āṭof JehoshaphatH3092

√ Yᵉhôwshâphâṭ — Jehoshaphat, the name of six IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

Yᵉhôwshâphâṭ: Jehovah judgeth Ellicott flags the coincidence: the man who executes Jehovah's sentence on the house of Ahab is son of a father named “Jehovah judgeth.” Nothing else is known of him, and the text makes nothing of it; the name simply sits there.

בֶּן־ben-the sonH1121

נִמְשִׁ֗יnim·šîof NimshiH5250

√ Nimshîy — Nimshi, the (grand-) father of JehuNounpropermasculine singular

Nimshîy: Nimshi, the (grand)father of Jehu A rare name, standing in only five verses, and the one that fixes this unit verbally to Elijah's unexecuted commission at 1 Kings 19:16. The Pulpit Commentary notes Jehu is usually called “son of Nimshi” rather than son of Jehoshaphat, and offers two guesses: an early death of the father, or simply that Nimshi was the more important man.

וּבָ֙אתָ֙ū·ḇā·ṯāGo inH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

וַהֲקֵֽמֹתוֹ֙wa·hă·qê·mō·ṯōwget him awayH6965

√ qûwm — to rise (in various applications, literal, figurative, intensive and causative)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singularthird person masculine singular

qûwm: to rise (causative, to raise up) The Hiphil makes the young prophet the agent of Jehu's rising. It is a small grammatical fact with the whole coup inside it: the man does not stand up on his own initiative, he is stood up, and by a stranger carrying a flask.

מִתּ֣וֹךmit·tōḵfromH8432

√ tâvek — a bisection, iPreposition-mNounmasculine singular construct

אֶחָ֔יו’e·ḥāwhis companionsH251

√ ʼâch — a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relationship and metaphorical affinity or resemblance (like father))Nounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular

ʼâch: a brother, in the widest sense The word will return in v. 11 transformed: the same men are then called ʻabdê ʼăḏōnāw, the servants of his lord. Between v. 2 and v. 11 Jehu's brothers become somebody's servants, and the somebody is about to be dead.

וְהֵבֵיאתָ֥wə·hê·ḇê·ṯāand takeH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

אֹת֖וֹ’ō·ṯōwhimH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person masculine singular

חֶ֥דֶרḥe·ḏerto an inner roomH2315

√ cheder — an apartment (usually literal)Nounmasculine singular

cheder: an apartment, an inner chamber Repeated back to back with a preposition between, the construction is a Hebrew superlative of enclosure. Gill gives the reason plainly: secrecy, lest the act be seen, and lest the doing of it be deemed treason. The narrative keeps the reader inside that enclosure for exactly four verses.

בְּחָֽדֶר׃bə·ḥā·ḏer. . .H2315

√ cheder — an apartment (usually literal)Preposition-bNounmasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-thou-shalt-come there, and-see there Jehu son-of Jehoshaphat son-of Nimshi, and-thou-shalt-go-in and-raise-him-up from-midst-of his-brothers, and-thou-shalt-bring him chamber in-chamber.

Where the English smooths the original

וַהֲקֵֽמֹתוֹ֙ וַהֲקֵמֹתוֹ (wa·hă·qê·mō·ṯōw, Hiphil of qûwm, H6965) is causative: “and thou shalt cause him to rise.” K&D: “let him (bid him) rise up from the midst of his comrades in arms.” BSB's “get him away” reads the outcome and drops the verb of raising, which matters because the same root will open v. 6 when Jehu rises of himself.
אֶחָ֔יו אֶחָיו (’e·ḥāw, H251 ʼâch, brother in the widest sense) says “his brothers,” not “his companions.” Ellicott, K&D and Cambridge all gloss it as fellow captains, brothers in arms. The softening costs the reader the irony: Jehu is lifted out from among his brothers in order to end another man's whole house of brothers.
חֶ֥דֶר בְּחָֽדֶר חֶדֶר בְּחָדֶר (ḥe·ḏer bə·ḥā·ḏer, H2315 twice) is literally “a chamber within a chamber.” Gill notes the doubling is in the original; K&D renders “into the innermost chamber”; Ellicott observes the same phrase at 1 Kings 20:30 and 1 Kings 22:25. “An inner room” is accurate and flat; the Hebrew builds a box inside a box.
וּבָ֖אתָ וּבָאתָ (ū·ḇā·ṯā, conjunctive perfect of bôwʼ, H935) begins a chain of five conjunctive perfects running through v. 3. Hebrew binds the whole errand into one unbroken command; English breaks it into separate sentences with separate periods, which lets the reader pause where the Hebrew does not.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

God who would not countenance (by anointing) the erection of that usurped throne, would countenance the alteration. Or is it that by this visible testimony of divine ordination the courage of the Israelitish captains might be raised up, to second the high and bold attempt of him, whom they saw destined from heaven to rule?’ (Bp Hall.)

Cambridge is quoting Bishop Hall, not speaking in its own voice; the question mark is Hall's, and he leaves the alternative open.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

which was done, not with the anointing oil in the temple, which could not be come by; and with which, as Kimchi from their Rabbins says, only the kings of the house of David were anointed, and they only when there was a division, or the crown was translated to another family, as was the case now; but with common oil, or the oil of balsam, such as the prophet had in his house

Gill here flatly contradicts Barnes and the Pulpit Commentary, both of whom identify the oil with the holy compound of Exodus 30:23-25. The text says only shemen. We record the disagreement rather than resolve it.

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

Flee, and tarry not - The probable object of these directions was at once to prevent questioning, and to render the whole thing more striking.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

Over Israel. —Literally, unto Israel , both here and in 2Kings 9:12 . But a great number of MSS., and all the versions in both places, read over Israel .

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Then take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and declare, ‘This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run. Do not delay!”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·lā·qaḥ·tā p̄aḵ- haš·še·men wə·yā·ṣaq·tā ‘al- rō·šōw wə·’ā·mar·tā kōh- Yah·weh ’ā·mar mə·šaḥ·tî·ḵā lə·me·leḵ ’el- yiś·rā·’êl ū·p̄ā·ṯaḥ·tā had·de·leṯ wə·nas·tāh wə·lō ṯə·ḥak·keh

Word by word19 · parsed

וְלָקַחְתָּ֤wə·lā·qaḥ·tāThen takeH3947

√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

פַךְ־p̄aḵ-the flaskH6378

√ pak — a flask (from which a liquid may flow)Nounmasculine singular construct

הַשֶּׁ֙מֶן֙haš·še·menof oilH8081

√ shemen — grease, especially liquid (as from the olive, often perfumed)ArticleNounmasculine singular

וְיָצַקְתָּ֣wə·yā·ṣaq·tāpourH3332

√ yâtsaq — properly, to pour out (transitive or intransitive)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

yâtsaq: to pour out The same verb, with the same noun shemen and the same rare pak, stands at 1 Samuel 10:1. Three shared lexemes, one of them in only three verses: the Verifier makes this the strongest verbal link in the unit. Whatever else this scene is, it is written in the vocabulary of Saul's anointing.

עַל־‘al-it onH5921

√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition

רֹאשׁ֔וֹrō·šōwhis headH7218

√ rôʼsh — the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itcNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

וְאָֽמַרְתָּ֙wə·’ā·mar·tāand declareH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

כֹּֽה־kōh-This is whatH3541

√ kôh — properly, like this, iAdverb

יְהוָ֔הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אָמַ֣ר’ā·marsaysH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

מְשַׁחְתִּ֥יךָֽmə·šaḥ·tî·ḵāI anointH4886

√ mâshach — to rub with oil, iVerbQalPerfectfirst person common singularsecond person masculine singular

mâshach: to rub with oil, to anoint The root behind mâshîach. Cambridge notes the singular fact that Jehu alone of all the kings of the northern kingdom was anointed; Gill reports Kimchi's rule that anointing was reserved for the house of David and used only when the crown was being moved to another family. On either account the oil here is not ceremony but legal instrument: it transfers a right that Jehu does not possess by birth.

לְמֶ֖לֶךְlə·me·leḵyou kingH4428

√ melek — a kingPreposition-lNounmasculine singular

אֶל־’el-overH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

Preposition ʼel, “unto,” where the sense demands “over”: a small textual seam the versions have smoothed.

יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לyiś·rā·’êlIsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

וּפָתַחְתָּ֥ū·p̄ā·ṯaḥ·tāThen openH6605

√ pâthach — to open wide (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

הַדֶּ֛לֶתhad·de·leṯthe doorH1817

√ deleth — something swinging, iArticleNounfeminine singular

וְנַ֖סְתָּהwə·nas·tāhand runH5127

√ nûwç — to flit, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

nûwç: to flit, to flee Paired at the end of the verse with a prohibition of waiting, this is the first half of a frame; the verb is discharged at the end of v. 10, where the young man actually opens the door and flees. Everything the commission contains is spoken inside that bracket.

וְלֹ֥אwə·lōDo notH3808

√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absConjunctive wawAdverbNegative particle

תְחַכֶּֽה׃ṯə·ḥak·kehdelayH2442

√ châkâh — properly, to adhere toVerbPielImperfectsecond person masculine singular

châkâh: properly, to adhere to; to wait The Piel intensifies. Elisha will not let the messenger stay to be thanked, questioned or implicated. The commentators split on why: K&D, following Seb. Schmidt, rejects the danger reading in favour of preventing further discussion; Gill and JFB keep the danger reading. The verse itself gives no reason.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-thou-shalt-take flask-of the-oil and-pour upon his-head, and-thou-shalt-say: ‘Thus says YHWH: I-have-anointed-thee for-king unto Israel.’ And-thou-shalt-open the-door and-flee, and-thou-shalt-not wait.

Where the English smooths the original

מְשַׁחְתִּ֥יךָֽ מְשַׁחְתִּיךָ (mə·šaḥ·tî·ḵā, Qal perfect first person singular of mâshach, H4886, with second person suffix) is “I have anointed thee,” a completed act in the mouth of God, spoken before one drop of oil has touched Jehu's head. BSB's present “I anoint you” makes the oil the cause; the Hebrew perfect makes the oil the announcement of something already done.
אֶל־ אֶל־יִשְׂרָאֵל (’el-yiś·rā·’êl, H413) is literally “unto Israel,” not “over Israel.” Ellicott records that a great number of manuscripts and all the versions read al, over, both here and in v. 12. The consonantal oddity is preserved; the English quietly adopts the easier reading.
וְנַ֖סְתָּה וְנַסְתָּה (wə·nas·tāh, nûwç, H5127, to flit, to flee) is the verb of a man escaping, not of a man hurrying. BSB's “run” is a shade too athletic. Barnes reads the order as aimed at preventing questioning and making the whole thing more striking; Gill reads it as fear of arrest. The Hebrew verb supports both and decides neither.
תְחַכֶּֽה תְחַכֶּה (ṯə·ḥak·keh, Piel imperfect of châkâh, H2442) carries the root sense “to adhere to,” and so to stay put, to attach oneself to a place. The prohibition is not against slowness but against sticking around. K&D: “that he might not mix himself up with other affairs.”

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

Even the young man the prophet. —Rather, the young man of the prophet—i.e. , Elisha’s minister. The construction, however, is unusual, and some MSS., the LXX. and the Syriac, omit the young man in the second place.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

The second נער has the article in the construct state, contrary to the rule (vid., Ges. 110, 2, b.).

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

It argued great faith in this young prophet that he undertook so readily the execution of this command. For there was no small danger in anointing a new king, as Elisha himself plainly intimated, when he ordered him to flee away as fast as he could, as soon as he had performed his office.

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

Which is here noted as an eminent act of obedience, whereby he run into a manifest hazard of his life.

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So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

han·na·‘ar han·na·‘ar han·nā·ḇî way·yê·leḵ rā·mōṯ gil·‘āḏ

Word by word6 · parsed

הַנַּ֛עַרhan·na·‘arSo the youngH5288

√ naʻar — (concretely) a boy (as active), from the age of infancy to adolescenceArticleNounmasculine singular

naʻar: a boy, from infancy to adolescence; a servant lad The single most important word in the verse, and the reason the commentators dwell on it. Gill argues the youth was chosen precisely because he was less known and more expendable than Elisha; Benson calls the undertaking great faith; Poole calls it a manifest hazard of his life. Whoever he was, the canon never names him again.

הַנַּ֥עַרhan·na·‘ar. . .H5288

√ naʻar — (concretely) a boy (as active), from the age of infancy to adolescenceArticleNounmasculine singular

The doubled article: a textual crux, not a style. See the apparatus.

הַנָּבִ֖יאhan·nā·ḇîprophetH5030

√ nâbîyʼ — a prophet or (generally) inspired manArticleNounmasculine singular

nâbîyʼ: a prophet, an inspired man The narrator insists on the title here, at the one moment the man is alone on the road. Cambridge has already warned that “sons of the prophets” names a community of worship rather than a family; this one is called a prophet in his own right, and in v. 11 the officers will call him a madman.

וַיֵּ֧לֶךְway·yê·leḵwentH1980

√ hâlak — to walk (in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

רָמֹ֥תrā·mōṯto Ramoth-gileadH7418

√ Râmôwth — Ramoth-Negeb or Ramath-Negeb, a place in PalestineNounproperfeminine singular

גִּלְעָֽד׃gil·‘āḏ. . .H1568

√ Gilʻâd — Gilad, a region East of the JordanNounproperfeminine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-he-went the-lad, the-lad the-prophet, Ramoth Gilead.

Where the English smooths the original

הַנַּ֛עַר הַנַּ֥עַר הַנַּעַר הַנַּעַר הַנָּבִיא (han·na·‘ar han·na·‘ar han·nā·ḇî) stammers: “the lad, the lad the prophet.” BSB smooths it to “the young prophet.” Ellicott records that some manuscripts, the Septuagint and the Syriac omit the second occurrence; the Pulpit Commentary calls the repetition doubtful on the same grounds. The awkwardness in the Hebrew is the evidence, and the English removes it.
הַנַּ֥עַר נַעַר (na·‘ar, H5288) is a boy from infancy to adolescence, or a servant lad. K&D reads the second occurrence as “the servant of the prophet,” and notes it carries the article while standing in the construct state, contrary to the rule (citing Gesenius 110, 2, b). The grammatical irregularity is exactly what the smooth English translation cannot show.
וַיֵּ֧לֶךְ וַיֵּלֶךְ (way·yê·leḵ, H1980) answers וְלֵךְ of v. 1 word for word: “go” and “he went,” with nothing at all in between. The BSB opening “So the young prophet went” adds a logical connector the Hebrew does not have. Benson and Poole both read the bare obedience as the point.
רָמֹ֥ת גִּלְעָֽד The destination is given with no preposition at all in the Hebrew, a bare accusative of direction: “he went Ramoth Gilead.” English must supply “to.”

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Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

The chief officers - the generals - were assembled together in Jehu's quarters, perhaps holding a council of war.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

We may take it that he was the moving spirit in the war-council, and hence had gained a popularity beyond that of king Joram.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

It does not appear that Jehu aimed at the government, or that he ever thought of it, but the commission given him was a perfect surprise to him.

Benson is arguing against an older view that Elijah had privately anointed Jehu long before; he calls it not at all probable. Poole and JFB hold the opposite, that the commission was Elijah's and merely left in charge to Elisha.

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John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63

not perhaps at first thoroughly understanding who he meant; or however was willing to have it repeated and explained, that it might be manifest to the whole company that he was intended

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and when he arrived, the army commanders were sitting there. “I have a message for you, commander,” he said. “For which of us?” asked Jehu. “For you, commander,” he replied.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yā·ḇō ha·ḥa·yil śā·rê yō·šə·ḇîm wə·hin·nêh dā·ḇār lî ’ê·le·ḵā haś·śār way·yō·mer ’el- mî mik·kul·lā·nū way·yō·mer yê·hū ’ê·le·ḵā haś·śār way·yō·mer

Word by word18 · parsed

וַיָּבֹ֗אway·yā·ḇōand when he arrivedH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

הַחַ֙יִל֙ha·ḥa·yilthe armyH2428

√ chayil — probably a force, whether of men, means or other resourcesArticleNounmasculine singular

שָׂרֵ֤יśā·rêcommandersH8269

√ sar — a head person (of any rank or class)Nounmasculine plural construct

יֹֽשְׁבִ֔יםyō·šə·ḇîmwere sittingH3427

√ yâshab — properly, to sit down (specifically as judgeVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural

yâshab: properly, to sit down, specifically as judge The root carries a judicial shading. These men are seated in council when the oracle arrives, and by v. 13 they will have risen and rendered a verdict on the house of Ahab, seating Jehu in their place.

וְהִנֵּ֨הwə·hin·nêhthereH2009

√ hinnêh — lo!Conjunctive wawInterjection

דָּבָ֥רdā·ḇārI have a messageH1697

√ dâbâr — a wordNounmasculine singular

dâbâr: a word The same noun that names the word of the LORD throughout the Former Prophets is used here as a piece of military shorthand. The ambiguity is the hinge of the scene: the officers hear a courier, and what has actually entered the room is an oracle.

לִ֛יlî

Prepositionfirst person common singular

אֵלֶ֖יךָ’ê·le·ḵāfor youH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionsecond person masculine singular

הַשָּׂ֑רhaś·śārcommanderH8269

√ sar — a head person (of any rank or class)ArticleNounmasculine singular

sar: a head person of any rank or class Repeated three times in one verse, without a name attached. The messenger will not say “Jehu,” and Jehu has to ask. Cambridge takes Jehu's speaking first as evidence that he was the moving spirit of the council; the Pulpit Commentary suggests the young man knew him by sight and simply looked at him.

וַיֹּ֕אמֶרway·yō·merhe saidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

אֶל־’el-ForH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

מִ֣יmîwhichH4310

√ mîy — who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things)Interrogative

מִכֻּלָּ֔נוּmik·kul·lā·nūof usH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholePreposition-mNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common plural

“From all of us”: Jehu's question forces the singling out into the open, in front of witnesses.

וַיֹּ֤אמֶרway·yō·meraskedH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

יֵהוּא֙yê·hūJehuH3058

√ Yêhûwʼ — Jehu, the name of five IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

אֵלֶ֥יךָ’ê·le·ḵāFor youH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionsecond person masculine singular

הַשָּֽׂר׃haś·śārcommanderH8269

√ sar — a head person (of any rank or class)ArticleNounmasculine singular

וַיֹּ֖אמֶרway·yō·merhe repliedH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-he-came, and-behold commanders-of the-force sitting. And-he-said: “A-word to-me unto-thee, O-commander.” And-Jehu said: “Unto whom from-all-of-us?” And-he-said: “Unto-thee, O-commander.”

Where the English smooths the original

דָּבָ֥ר לִ֛י אֵלֶ֖יךָ דָּבָר לִי אֵלֶיךָ (dā·ḇār lî ’ê·le·ḵā, H1697) is verbless and abrupt: “a word to me unto thee.” Gill records the Latin of Pagninus, Montanus and Vatablus, verbum mihi ad te. BSB's “I have a message for you” supplies a verb and a pronoun and loses the bluntness. Dâbâr is also the standing term for a prophetic oracle; “message” hides that.
הַחַ֙יִל֙ הַחַיִל (ha·ḥa·yil, H2428) is force or strength, whether of men, means or other resources, and only by extension an army. “The army commanders” is right in sense; the Hebrew word underneath it is raw power.
וְהִנֵּ֨ה וְהִנֵּה (wə·hin·nêh, H2009) is the interjection “and behold,” a camera cut placing the reader inside the door at the moment it opens. BSB reduces it to the adverb “there.”
יֹֽשְׁבִ֔ים יֹשְׁבִים (yō·šə·ḇîm, Qal participle of yâshab, H3427, properly to sit down, specifically as judge) is durative: they are sitting, settled, in session. Barnes and Cambridge both take it as a council of war; Gill allows a meal. The participle gives the stillness that the next verse breaks.

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Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599

This anointing was for kings, priests and prophets which were all figures of Messiah, in whom these three offices were accomplished.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

Though the northern kingdom had cast aside the true worship of Jehovah, and followed readily in the ways of Jeroboam, yet the abundance of prophetic labour which was expended in Israel exceeds, as far as we learn from the Bible, that which was bestowed on the more faithful Judah. Israel is still the people of the Lord.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

name is emphatically put forward, in contrast with the name of Baal, as that of the true God of Israel

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

Reuss asserts that this account of the anointing of Jehu, like that of the anointing of Hazael ( 2Kings 8:13 ), is substituted in the present narration for what another document related of Elijah . This is pure conjecture.

Ellicott is answering a nineteenth century source-critical proposal that the Elisha narratives were transferred from a lost Elijah document. He dismisses it, and closes the same paragraph by calling Reuss considerably wiser than our only authorities. We record the exchange because the question of how Elijah's commission reached Elisha is genuinely open in the text.

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So Jehu got up and went into the house, where the young prophet poured the oil on his head and declared, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anoint you king over the LORD’s people Israel.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yā·qām way·yā·ḇō hab·bay·ṯāh way·yi·ṣōq haš·še·men ’el- rō·šōw way·yō·mer lōw kōh- Yah·weh ’ĕ·lō·hê yiś·rā·’êl ’ā·mar mə·šaḥ·tî·ḵā lə·me·leḵ ’el- Yah·weh ’el- ‘am yiś·rā·’êl

Word by word21 · parsed

וַיָּ֙קָם֙way·yā·qāmSo Jehu got upH6965

√ qûwm — to rise (in various applications, literal, figurative, intensive and causative)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

qûwm: to rise Jehu rises of himself here, where in v. 2 he was to be raised by another. The commission and its execution are worded with the same root in two different voices, Hiphil and Qal.

וַיָּבֹ֣אway·yā·ḇōand wentH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

הַבַּ֔יְתָהhab·bay·ṯāhinto the houseH1004

√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcArticleNounmasculine singularthird person feminine singular

וַיִּצֹ֥קway·yi·ṣōqwhere the young prophet pouredH3332

√ yâtsaq — properly, to pour out (transitive or intransitive)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

הַשֶּׁ֖מֶןhaš·še·menthe oilH8081

√ shemen — grease, especially liquid (as from the olive, often perfumed)ArticleNounmasculine singular

אֶל־’el-onH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

רֹאשׁ֑וֹrō·šōwhis headH7218

√ rôʼsh — the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itcNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

וַיֹּ֣אמֶרway·yō·merand declaredH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

ל֗וֹlōw

Prepositionthird person masculine singular

כֹּֽה־kōh-This is whatH3541

√ kôh — properly, like this, iAdverb

יְהוָה֙Yah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֱלֹהֵ֣י’ĕ·lō·hêthe GodH430

√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural construct

ʼĕlôhîym: gods in the ordinary sense; God The construct “God of Israel” is used at precisely the point where Israel's God is claiming a kingdom that has been worshipping another. Cambridge: Israel is still the people of the Lord, and receives more prophetic labour than the more faithful Judah.

יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לyiś·rā·’êlof IsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

אָמַ֤ר’ā·marsaysH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

מְשַׁחְתִּ֧יךָֽmə·šaḥ·tî·ḵāI anoint youH4886

√ mâshach — to rub with oil, iVerbQalPerfectfirst person common singularsecond person masculine singular

mâshach: to rub with oil, to anoint Geneva's marginal note (b) is the oldest Christological reading in our sources for this unit: anointing was for kings, priests and prophets, all of them figures of Messiah. Applied here, the note carries a hard edge, since the figure in question is Jehu.

לְמֶ֛לֶךְlə·me·leḵkingH4428

√ melek — a kingPreposition-lNounmasculine singular

אֶל־’el-overH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

יְהוָ֖הYah·wehthe LORD’sH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אֶל־’el-. . .H413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

עַ֥ם‘ampeopleH5971

√ ʻam — a people (as a congregated unit)Nounmasculine singular construct

ʻam: a people, as a congregated unit The decisive addition of the fuller form of the oracle. The kingdom Jehu receives is not his and not Ahab's: it is on loan from its true owner, which is also why the same oracle can hand it over and take it back (Hosea 1:4).

יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃yiś·rā·’êlIsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-he-rose and-came the-house-ward, and-he-poured the-oil upon his-head, and-he-said to-him: “Thus says YHWH God-of Israel: I-have-anointed-thee for-king unto people-of YHWH, unto Israel.

Where the English smooths the original

הַבַּ֔יְתָה הַבַּיְתָה (hab·bay·ṯāh, H1004 with the directional ending) is “house-ward,” toward the interior. Barnes, Cambridge, the Pulpit Commentary and K&D all reconstruct the same architecture: the officers sit in the open court, and Jehu leads the way inward into a room off it. The directional ending is the one word in the verse that moves.
עַ֥ם יְהוָ֖ה עַם יְהוָה (‘am Yah·weh, H5971 + H3068) “people of YHWH” is added here and absent from the shorter form of the same sentence in v. 3 and v. 12. Ellicott draws the conclusion: Israel being Jehovah's people, Jehovah was Israel's true king, so the appointment is within His sovereign right. Gill notes the LORD had not yet written Loammi (Hosea 1:9) over them.
אֱלֹהֵ֣י אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל (’ĕ·lō·hê yiś·rā·’êl, H430, plural construct) sets the full covenant title against a kingdom whose state cult is Baal. The Pulpit Commentary reads the name as emphatically put forward in contrast with the name of Baal. BSB keeps the words and cannot keep the polemic.
מְשַׁחְתִּ֧יךָֽ The perfect is repeated verbatim from v. 3, the third of four occurrences of this exact form in the unit (vv. 3, 6, 12). The Hebrew reports the identical formula with no variation; the English rendering “I anoint you” likewise flattens each to a present.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

That they were idolaters was bad enough, and merited all that was brought upon them; yet this is not mentioned here; but the controversy God has with them is for their being persecutors.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The punishment of Ahab had been postponed because of his repentance ( 1 Kings 21:29 ) but the sins of the father, which have blossomed and borne evil fruit in his children, will at last be thoroughly punished.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

We are not told elsewhere, but the thing is in itself probable, that Jezebel persecuted to the death those who clung to the exclusive worship of Jehovah.

A rare piece of source honesty: Ellicott marks the persecution of the Jehovah loyalists as an inference, not a recorded event.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Yet still his conduct in destroying the house of Ahab is spoken of by the Prophet Hosea as a sin, and God declares, by Hosea's mouth, that he will "avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu

The Pulpit Commentary is here setting up a long quotation from Dr. Pusey, whose resolution is that Jehu obeyed the letter for his own ends and so turned a righteous judgment into his own sin. That is Pusey's reading, offered as an answer; the tension it answers is in the text.

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And you are to strike down the house of your master Ahab, so that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets and the blood of all the servants of the LORD shed by the hand of Jezebel.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·hik·kî·ṯāh ’eṯ- bêṯ ’ă·ḏō·ne·ḵā ’aḥ·’āḇ wə·niq·qam·tî də·mê ‘ă·ḇā·ḏay han·nə·ḇî·’îm ū·ḏə·mê kāl- ‘aḇ·ḏê Yah·weh mî·yaḏ ’î·zā·ḇel

Word by word15 · parsed

וְהִ֨כִּיתָ֔הwə·hik·kî·ṯāhAnd you are to strike downH5221

√ nâkâh — to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive perfectsecond person masculine singular

nâkâh: to strike, lightly or severely Poole glosses it flatly as to kill and destroy. The Pulpit Commentary insists this is a command and not a prediction, and then spends its longest note in the unit on the consequence: that Hosea 1:4 will call the obedience itself bloodguilt.

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

בֵּ֥יתbêṯthe houseH1004

√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct

אֲדֹנֶ֑יךָ’ă·ḏō·ne·ḵāof your masterH113

√ ʼâdôwn — sovereign, iNounmasculine plural constructsecond person masculine singular

ʼâdôwn: sovereign, lord The plural form quietly indicts Jehu before he moves: these are his lords, and he has served them. Gill notes he was captain under Ahab and still under Ahab's son, and that only a command from the King of kings could keep the act from being treason.

אַחְאָ֖ב’aḥ·’āḇAhabH256

√ ʼAchʼâb — Achab, the name of a king of Israel and of a prophet at BabylonNounpropermasculine singular

וְנִקַּמְתִּ֞יwə·niq·qam·tîso that I may avengeH5358

√ nâqam — to grudge, iConjunctive wawVerbPielConjunctive perfectfirst person common singular

nâqam: to grudge, to avenge The oracle's stated ground is not idolatry but persecution. Benson presses this hard: that they were idolaters was bad enough, yet this is not mentioned here, and the controversy God has with them is for their being persecutors. Read against 1 Kings 18:4 and 19:10, the charge is specific and evidenced.

דְּמֵ֣י׀də·mêthe bloodH1818

√ dâm — blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animalNounmasculine plural construct

עֲבָדַ֣י‘ă·ḇā·ḏayof My servantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine plural constructfirst person common singular

הַנְּבִיאִ֗יםhan·nə·ḇî·’îmthe prophetsH5030

√ nâbîyʼ — a prophet or (generally) inspired manArticleNounmasculine plural

The prophets as ʻăḇāḏay, “my servants”: the same noun applied in the next clause to all the servants of the LORD, widening the charge from an order to a people.

וּדְמֵ֛יū·ḏə·mêand the bloodH1818

√ dâm — blood (as that which when shed causes death) of man or an animalConjunctive wawNounmasculine plural construct

כָּל־kāl-of allH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

עַבְדֵ֥י‘aḇ·ḏêthe servantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine plural construct

יְהוָ֖הYah·wehof the LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

מִיַּ֥דmî·yaḏ[shed] by the handH3027

√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcPreposition-mNounfeminine singular construct

אִיזָֽבֶל׃’î·zā·ḇelof JezebelH348

√ ʼÎyzebel — Izebel, the wife of king AhabNounproperfeminine singular

ʼÎyzebel: Izebel, the wife of king Ahab She is named last and alone, the only individual in the indictment. Ellicott concedes we are not told elsewhere that she persecuted to the death, but calls it probable in itself; the Pulpit Commentary treats the general persecution as established by the reduction of the faithful to seven thousand at 1 Kings 19:18. The honest position is Ellicott's: the charge is coherent with the record, and the record is thin.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-thou-shalt-smite the-house-of thy-lords Ahab, and-I-will-avenge bloods-of my-servants the-prophets and-bloods-of all-of servants-of YHWH from-hand-of Jezebel.

Where the English smooths the original

אֲדֹנֶ֑יךָ אֲדֹנֶיךָ (’ă·ḏō·ne·ḵā, H113, masculine plural construct with suffix) is plural: “thy lords.” Ellicott is precise about the effect: not Ahab thy master, but the house of Ahab thy lords. BSB's singular “your master Ahab” makes Ahab the referent; the Hebrew makes the whole dynasty the referent, which is exactly what is about to be struck.
דְּמֵ֣י דְּמֵי (də·mê, H1818 dâm, masculine plural construct) is “bloods,” not “blood.” The Hebrew plural of this noun is the technical form for shed blood, bloodguilt, blood that accumulates and is owed. BSB's singular reads as a substance; the plural reads as a debt with a ledger.
וְנִקַּמְתִּ֞י וְנִקַּמְתִּי (wə·niq·qam·tî, Piel conjunctive perfect of nâqam, H5358, properly to grudge, to avenge) has YHWH as its subject and Jehu's sword as its instrument. BSB's “so that I may avenge” supplies a purpose clause; the Hebrew simply continues the chain of perfects, so that the man's striking and God's avenging are grammatically one motion. That grammatical fusion is the moral problem of the whole unit.
מִיַּ֥ד מִיַּד (mî·yaḏ, H3027) is “from the hand of,” which in Hebrew idiom means both “shed by” and “required from.” Cambridge takes the second: God will require from her and her family the penalty. BSB's bracketed “[shed] by the hand” chooses the first and closes off the other.

The whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, both slave and free, in Israel.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

kāl- bêṯ ’aḥ·’āḇ wə·’ā·ḇaḏ wə·hiḵ·rat·tî lə·’aḥ·’āḇ maš·tîn bə·qîr wə·‘ā·ṣūr wə·‘ā·zūḇ bə·yiś·rā·’êl

Word by word11 · parsed

כָּל־kāl-The wholeH3605

√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct

בֵּ֣יתbêṯhouseH1004

√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct

אַחְאָ֑ב’aḥ·’āḇof AhabH256

√ ʼAchʼâb — Achab, the name of a king of Israel and of a prophet at BabylonNounpropermasculine singular

וְאָבַ֖דwə·’ā·ḇaḏwill perishH6

√ ʼâbad — properly, to wander away, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectthird person masculine singular

ʼâbad: properly, to wander away; to perish The lexicon gloss in this unit is truncated by the source, and the root sense matters: to be lost, to go missing, rather than simply to die. The house of Ahab will not merely fall; it will go out of existence as a name.

וְהִכְרַתִּ֤יwə·hiḵ·rat·tîand I will cut offH3772

√ kârath — to cut (off, down or asunder)Conjunctive wawVerbHifilConjunctive perfectfirst person common singular

kârath: to cut off, down or asunder The Hiphil with a first person subject: God Himself is the one cutting. Jehu's sword has not yet been mentioned in this sentence, and by the grammar it does not need to be.

לְאַחְאָב֙lə·’aḥ·’āḇfrom AhabH256

√ ʼAchʼâb — Achab, the name of a king of Israel and of a prophet at BabylonPreposition-lNounpropermasculine singular

מַשְׁתִּ֣יןmaš·tînevery maleH8366

√ shâthan — (causatively) to make water, iVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

shâthan: to make water A rare and vulgar participle, standing in only six verses. The Verifier records it as shared with exactly two of the candidates it returns for this unit, 1 Kings 16:11 (the sentence on the house of Baasha) and 1 Samuel 25:34 (David's oath against the house of Nabal); the neighbouring oracles at 1 Kings 21:21 and 1 Kings 14:10 are tied to this verse by the rest of the formula, qîyr and kârath and ʻâtsâr. Outside David's oath the idiom belongs to one genre only: the erasure of a male line. Its coarseness is the point: this is how the court of heaven speaks about a royal line it has finished with.

בְּקִ֔ירbə·qîr. . .H7023

√ qîyr — a wall (as built in a trench)Preposition-bNounmasculine singular

וְעָצ֥וּרwə·‘ā·ṣūrboth slaveH6113

√ ʻâtsâr — to incloseConjunctive wawVerbQalQalPassParticiplemasculine singular

A passive participle of ʻâtsâr, to enclose or restrain; paired with its opposite to mean everyone without exception.

וְעָז֖וּבwə·‘ā·zūḇand freeH5800

√ ʻâzab — to loosen, iConjunctive wawVerbQalQalPassParticiplemasculine singular

ʻâzab: to loosen, to leave, to forsake The second half of the merism. Cambridge: the phrase is intended to embrace every one, young or old, bond or free. Whatever its precise social reference, its grammatical function is total inclusion.

בְּיִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃bə·yiś·rā·’êlin IsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobPreposition-bNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-shall-perish all-of house-of Ahab, and-I-will-cut-off to-Ahab every-one-pissing against-the-wall, and-shut-up and-abandoned in-Israel.

Where the English smooths the original

מַשְׁתִּ֣ין בְּקִ֔יר מַשְׁתִּין בְּקִיר (maš·tîn bə·qîr, Qal participle of shâthan, H8366, to make water) is a deliberately coarse idiom: “one who urinates against the wall.” BSB renders the referent, “every male,” and Cambridge follows the Revised Version with “every man child.” The Hebrew is contemptuous by design. The word stands in only six verses in the canon, and every one of them is a sentence of dynastic extermination.
וְעָצ֥וּר וְעָז֖וּב וְעָצוּר וְעָזוּב (wə·‘ā·ṣūr wə·‘ā·zūḇ, H6113 + H5800) are two passive participles, “shut in and let loose,” or as the Revised Version has it, him that is shut up and him that is left at large. BSB's “both slave and free” interprets a merism whose exact sense the Pulpit Commentary calls doubtful. Ellicott preserves the sound effect by citing Reuss in French.
וְאָבַ֖ד וְאָבַד (wə·’ā·ḇaḏ, H6, root sense to wander away and so to be lost, to perish) is Qal in the Masoretic pointing, intransitive: the house perishes. Ellicott records that the Syriac, Arabic and Vulgate read a different pointing, “I will cause to perish.” The difference decides whether the first clause of the sentence has God as its agent or not.
וְהִכְרַתִּ֤י וְהִכְרַתִּי (wə·hiḵ·rat·tî, Hiphil of kârath, H3772, to cut off, down or asunder) is the verb used for cutting a covenant. The idiom of covenant-making is here turned against a royal house and used to unmake it. BSB's “I will cut off” keeps the word; only the Hebrew reader hears the second register.

I will make the house of Ahab like the houses of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·nā·ṯat·tî ’eṯ- bêṯ ’aḥ·’āḇ kə·ḇêṯ yā·rā·ḇə·‘ām ben- nə·ḇāṭ ū·ḵə·ḇêṯ ba‘·šā ḇen- ’ă·ḥî·yāh

Word by word12 · parsed

וְנָֽתַתִּי֙wə·nā·ṯat·tîI will makeH5414

√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcConjunctive wawVerbQalConjunctive perfectfirst person common singular

nâthan: to give, to put, to set Not “make” but the wide verb of giving, putting, consigning. Its object here is a royal house, and its indirect object is the shape of two houses already destroyed: the sentence hands Ahab's line over into a mould that has been used before. That is why the verse reads as case law rather than as threat, and why Cambridge can explain it simply by cross-referring to the earlier sentences at 1 Kings 14:10 and 1 Kings 16:3-4. Two dead dynasties are cited as the legal measure of a third.

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

בֵּ֣יתbêṯthe houseH1004

√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct

אַחְאָ֔ב’aḥ·’āḇof AhabH256

√ ʼAchʼâb — Achab, the name of a king of Israel and of a prophet at BabylonNounpropermasculine singular

כְּבֵ֖יתkə·ḇêṯlike the housesH1004

√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcPreposition-kNounmasculine singular construct

יָרָבְעָ֣םyā·rā·ḇə·‘āmof JeroboamH3379

√ Yârobʻâm — Jarobam, the name of two Israelite kingsNounpropermasculine singular

Yârobʻâm: Jeroboam The Pulpit Commentary supplies the record: the house of Jeroboam was cut off about seventy years before by Baasha (1 Kings 15:29-30), and the house of Baasha was swept away even faster by Zimri (1 Kings 16:11). The precedent cited against Ahab is one in which each executioner became the next defendant, which is precisely the pattern Hosea 1:4 will extend to Jehu.

בֶּן־ben-sonH1121

נְבָ֑טnə·ḇāṭof NebatH5028

√ Nᵉbâṭ — Nebat, the father of Jeroboam INounpropermasculine singular

וּכְבֵ֖יתū·ḵə·ḇêṯ[and]H1004

√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcConjunctive waw, Preposition-kNounmasculine singular construct

בַּעְשָׁ֥אba‘·šāBaashaH1201

√ Baʻshâʼ — Basha, a king of IsraelNounpropermasculine singular

Baʻshâʼ: Basha, a king of Israel Ellicott adds that Shalmaneser II mentions a king of Ammon named Ba'sa, an Assyriological aside with no bearing on this verse.

בֶן־ḇen-sonH1121

אֲחִיָּֽה׃’ă·ḥî·yāhof AhijahH281

√ ʼĂchîyâh — Achijah, the name of nine IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-I-will-set the-house-of Ahab like-house-of Jeroboam son-of Nebat and-like-house-of Baasha son-of Ahijah.

Where the English smooths the original

וְנָֽתַתִּי֙ וְנָתַתִּי (wə·nā·ṯat·tî, H5414 nâthan, to give, used with the greatest latitude: to put, to set, to make) is not primarily “make.” The verb of giving is used to hand one house over into the shape of another. BSB's “I will make” is idiomatic English and loses the sense of consignment.
כְּבֵ֖ית כְּבֵית (kə·ḇêṯ, H1004 with the comparative kaph) occurs twice, once for each dynasty, so the Hebrew states the precedent two separate times rather than collapsing it into BSB's single plural “like the houses of.” Judicial language repeats; summary language does not.
בֵּ֣ית בַּיִת (bayith, H1004) runs three times through this one verse and again through vv. 7 and 8: the whole oracle is built on a single noun meaning house, family, dynasty and building at once. Every English rendering must choose among those senses word by word; the Hebrew never has to.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The dogs in Eastern cities prowl hungrily about, and act as scavengers. Hence they are in bad repute, and the name ‘dog’ is one of greatest contempt. To be devoured by them was the extreme of degradation and penalty to an Oriental mind.

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The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s

Rizpah, the daughter of Aiah, had kept watch over the bodies of the seven sons of Saul, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night ( 2 Samuel 21:10 )

The Pulpit Commentary sets Rizpah, and then Antigone, against Jezebel to measure what is being withheld. The Sophocles comparison is the commentator's own cultural argument, not a scriptural claim.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

There shall be none to bury her — That is, none shall bury her, or she shall not be buried; for it appears from 2 Kings 9:34 , that Jehu gave orders to have her buried, sending out persons for that purpose, but they could only find some small remains of her carcass, the dogs having eaten the rest.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

And the dogs shall eat Jezebel. —Literally, and Jezebel the dogs shall eat . (Comp. Elijah’s threat, 1Kings 21:23 .)

source ↗

And on the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour Jezebel, and there will be no one to bury her.’” Then the young prophet opened the door and ran.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·’eṯ- bə·ḥê·leq yiz·rə·‘el hak·kə·lā·ḇîm yō·ḵə·lū ’î·ze·ḇel wə·’ên qō·ḇêr way·yip̄·taḥ had·de·leṯ way·yā·nōs

Word by word11 · parsed

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-AndH853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

בְּחֵ֥לֶקbə·ḥê·leqon the plot [of ground]H2506

√ chêleq — properly, smoothness (of the tongue)Preposition-bNounmasculine singular construct

chêleq: a portion, an allotted share The lexicon entry carried in this unit begins “properly, smoothness (of the tongue),” which is the truncated head of a long Strong's article and not the sense here; in this verse the noun is territorial. The plot in question is the vineyard taken by judicial murder in 1 Kings 21, and the oracle sends the sentence back to the scene of the crime.

יִזְרְעֶ֖אלyiz·rə·‘elat JezreelH3157

√ Yizrᵉʻêʼl — Jizreel, the name of two places in Palestine and of two IsraelitesNounproperfeminine singular

הַכְּלָבִ֛יםhak·kə·lā·ḇîmthe dogsH3611

√ keleb — a dogArticleNounmasculine plural

keleb: a dog Cambridge: the dogs in Eastern cities prowl hungrily about and act as scavengers, so the name is one of the greatest contempt, and to be devoured by them was the extreme of degradation. The Pulpit Commentary adds that both Israelites and Phoenicians buried their dead carefully, so the threat lands with full force on a Phoenician queen in particular.

יֹאכְל֧וּyō·ḵə·lūwill devourH398

√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural

אִיזֶ֜בֶל’î·ze·ḇelJezebelH348

√ ʼÎyzebel — Izebel, the wife of king AhabNounproperfeminine singular

וְאֵ֣יןwə·’ênand [there will be] no oneH369

√ ʼayin — a non-entityConjunctive wawAdverb

קֹבֵ֑רqō·ḇêrto bury [her]H6912

√ qâbar — to interVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular

qâbar: to inter The participle of an act that will not happen. In a culture where burial is the last duty owed even to enemies, its withholding is the sentence, not an incidental detail.

וַיִּפְתַּ֥חway·yip̄·taḥThen the young prophet openedH6605

√ pâthach — to open wide (literally or figuratively)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

הַדֶּ֖לֶתhad·de·leṯthe doorH1817

√ deleth — something swinging, iArticleNounfeminine singular

וַיָּנֹֽס׃way·yā·nōsand ranH5127

√ nûwç — to flit, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

nûwç: to flee The young prophet obeys the last word of his commission to the letter and vanishes out of the canon. Gill supplies the motive: lest he be taken up for a traitor. The narrative offers no motive at all.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-Jezebel the-dogs shall-eat in-the-portion of-Jezreel, and-none burying.” And-he-opened the-door and-fled.

Where the English smooths the original

וְאֶת־אִיזֶ֜בֶל Ellicott gives the Hebrew word order exactly: literally, and Jezebel the dogs shall eat. The object marker אֵת fronts the queen ahead of her devourers, so that the sentence names her first and then names what eats her. BSB restores normal English order and the rhetorical shock goes with it.
בְּחֵ֥לֶק בְּחֵלֶק (bə·ḥê·leq, H2506) is the allotted portion, the surveyed plot. Cambridge notes that at 1 Kings 21:23 the Hebrew word used means wall or rampart, though some authorities read the same word as here, and that the “portion” is the outlying ground where an Eastern town deposits its offal. BSB's “plot of ground” is correct and loses the legal weight: this is Naboth's confiscated allotment (Benson, JFB, Poole).
וְאֵ֣ין קֹבֵ֑ר וְאֵין קֹבֵר (wə·’ên qō·ḇêr, H369 + Qal participle of qâbar, H6912) is a verbless clause with a participle: “and none burying.” Not a future prediction but a stated absence. Benson notes the grim literal outworking: Jehu did send men to bury her, and they found almost nothing to bury (2 Kings 9:34-35).
וַיָּנֹֽס וַיָּנֹס (way·yā·nōs, H5127) is the same root Elisha commanded in v. 3, now in the narrative past. The commission and its discharge close with the identical verb; BSB uses “run” in v. 3 and “ran” here, which happens to preserve the match.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

This mad fellow. —They were struck by his wild demeanour and furious haste. Or, perhaps, “this inspired one,” in a tone of ridicule. (Comp. Hosea 9:7 .)

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

They called the prophet משׁגּע, a madman, in derision, with reference to the ecstatic utterances of the prophets when in a state of holy inspiration.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

We need not then suppose that they deemed the prophet a madman, but this is the term they are pleased to apply to him owing to his sudden movements.

Cambridge dissents from the majority of our sources, which take the insult at face value. Its reading, that the term is camp slang for a man in a hurry, is a minority position worth weighing.

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Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s

They said of our Lord, He is beside himself, and of St. Paul, that much learning had made him mad.

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When Jehu went out to the servants of his master, they asked, “Is everything all right? Why did this madman come to you?” “You know his kind and their babble,” he replied.

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wə·yê·hū yā·ṣā ’el- ‘aḇ·ḏê ’ă·ḏō·nāw way·yō·mer lōw hă·šā·lō·wm mad·dū·a‘ haz·zeh ham·šug·gā‘ bā- ’ê·le·ḵā ’at·tem yə·ḏa‘·tem ’eṯ- hā·’îš wə·’eṯ- śî·ḥōw way·yō·mer ’ă·lê·hem

Word by word21 · parsed

וְיֵה֗וּאwə·yê·hūWhen JehuH3058

√ Yêhûwʼ — Jehu, the name of five IsraelitesConjunctive wawNounpropermasculine singular

יָצָא֙yā·ṣāwent outH3318

√ yâtsâʼ — to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proximVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

אֶל־’el-toH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

עַבְדֵ֣י‘aḇ·ḏêthe servantsH5650

√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine plural construct

אֲדֹנָ֔יו’ă·ḏō·nāwof his masterH113

√ ʼâdôwn — sovereign, iNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular

ʼâdôwn: sovereign, lord The same plural form used of Ahab in v. 7 is now used of Joram, and the men called Jehu's brothers in v. 2 are called his lord's servants here. In nine verses the social vocabulary of the room has been rewritten.

וַיֹּ֤אמֶרway·yō·merthey askedH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

לוֹ֙lōw

Prepositionthird person masculine singular

הֲשָׁל֔וֹםhă·šā·lō·wmIs everything all rightH7965

√ shâlôwm — safe, iArticleNounmasculine singular

shâlôwm: safe, whole, well The question that governs the rest of the chapter. Asked here by nervous officers, it will be asked by two royal horsemen and finally by the king himself, and each time the answer will be worse.

מַדּ֛וּעַmad·dū·a‘WhyH4069

√ maddûwaʻ — what (is) known?Interrogative

הַזֶּ֖הhaz·zehdid thisH2088

√ zeh — the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thatArticlePronounmasculine singular

הַמְשֻׁגָּ֥עham·šug·gā‘madmanH7696

√ shâgaʻ — to rave through insanityArticleVerbPualParticiplemasculine singular

shâgaʻ: to rave through insanity The soldiers' word for a prophet. Poole and JFB both explain the contempt sociologically: the prophets' neglect of appearance, their contempt of wealth, their strange gestures in the fervour of devotion, and they cite Jeremiah 29:26 for the same equation of prophecy with madness. Benson pushes it to its end, that they said the same of our Lord and of Paul.

בָּֽא־bā-comeH935

√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

אֵלֶ֑יךָ’ê·le·ḵāto youH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionsecond person masculine singular

אַתֶּ֛ם’at·temYouH859

√ ʼattâh — thou and thee, or (plural) ye and youPronounsecond person masculine plural

יְדַעְתֶּ֥םyə·ḏa‘·temknowH3045

√ yâdaʻ — to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing)VerbQalPerfectsecond person masculine plural

אֶת־’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker

הָאִ֖ישׁhā·’îšhis kindH376

√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personArticleNounmasculine singular

וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853

√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker

שִׂיחֽוֹ׃śî·ḥōwand their babbleH7879

√ sîyach — a contemplationNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

sîyach: a contemplation, a musing, a complaint Strong's heads the entry “a contemplation,” and K&D says the word includes both meditating and speaking; the ancient versions split it five ways (Ellicott: babble, story, folly, what he said, his news). The joke of the verse depends on the officers hearing only the dismissive end of that range. Jehu's answer is an evasion built on the ambiguity of one noun.

וַיֹּ֣אמֶרway·yō·merhe repliedH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

אֲלֵיהֶ֔ם’ă·lê·hem. . .H413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionthird person masculine plural

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-Jehu went-out unto servants-of his-lords, and-he-said to-him: “Peace? Why came this the-raving-one unto-thee?” And-he-said unto-them: “You know the-man and-his-musing.”

Where the English smooths the original

הֲשָׁל֔וֹם הֲשָׁלוֹם (hă·šā·lō·wm, H7965) is one word: “Peace?” The interrogative particle plus the great covenant noun. BSB's “Is everything all right?” gives the conversational force and drops the word, which will be thrown back three more times in this chapter (vv. 17, 18, 19, 22) until Jehu answers it with a spear.
הַמְשֻׁגָּ֥ע הַמְשֻׁגָּע (ham·šug·gā‘, Pual participle of shâgaʻ, H7696, to rave through insanity) is passive: one who has been driven mad. K&D reads the sneer as aimed at the ecstatic utterances of the prophets; Ellicott suggests it may mean “this inspired one” in a tone of ridicule; Cambridge doubts they meant it seriously at all. The passive stem is what makes all three readings possible, and BSB's plain noun “madman” makes only one.
שִׂיחֽוֹ שִׂיחוֹ (śî·ḥōw, H7879 sîyach, a contemplation) is not a word for nonsense. K&D: it includes both meditating and speaking. The versions split badly, as Ellicott records: the Septuagint has babble, the Targum story, the Syriac folly, the Vulgate what he said, the Arabic his news. BSB picks “their babble” and thereby takes the officers' side of the ambiguity.
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר The verb is third person masculine singular, “and he said,” though the speakers are plural. Ellicott records that many manuscripts and all versions except the Targum read “and they said.” BSB harmonises to “they asked” without marking the variant.

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Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

It is false. —This is rather too strong, and does not convey the exact force of the reply. The captains reply to Jehu’s “Oh, you know all about it!” with the one word, “trickery!”

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Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685

It is false: there is something extraordinary and of great importance in his message, as we plainly perceive by his calling thee into an inner chamber, by his great expedition, and by his gesture and carriage.

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Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

It is worthy of notice how constantly the people of the northern kingdom, though it was given up to calf-worship, and Baal-worship, yet attach the highest importance to the messages of God’s prophets, and act upon them without demur.

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Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s

They were not contented with this answer, however, but said שׁקר, i.e., thou dost not speak truth. Jehu thereupon informed them that he had anointed him king over Israel in the name of Jehovah.

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“That is a lie!” they said. “Tell us now!” So Jehu answered, “He talked to me about this and that, saying, ‘This is what the LORD says: I anoint you king over Israel.’”

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Hebrew — tap a word ↓

še·qer way·yō·mə·rū hag·geḏ- lā·nū nā way·yō·mer ’ā·mar ’ê·lay kā·zōṯ wə·ḵā·zōṯ lê·mōr kōh Yah·weh ’ā·mar mə·šaḥ·tî·ḵā lə·me·leḵ ’el- yiś·rā·’êl

Word by word18 · parsed

שֶׁ֔קֶרše·qerThat is a lieH8267

√ sheqer — an untruthNounmasculine singular

sheqer: an untruth The one word that breaks the scene open. The officers do not dispute the content of the message, which they have not heard; they dispute Jehu's pretence of indifference, and by disputing it they commit themselves. Ellicott sees the strategic result: their manner convinced Jehu that he might safely trust them.

וַיֹּאמְר֣וּway·yō·mə·rūthey saidH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

הַגֶּד־hag·geḏ-TellH5046

√ nâgad — properly, to front, iVerbHifilImperativemasculine singular

nâgad: properly, to front, to put before the face The Hiphil means to make something stand in front of a person. The verb asks Jehu to put the thing out in the open, which is exactly what he has been told not to do and what he immediately does.

לָ֑נוּlā·nūus

Prepositionfirst person common plural

נָ֖אnānowH4994

√ nâʼ — 'I pray', 'now', or 'then'Interjection

The particle nâʼ, a softener: “tell us, please.”

וַיֹּ֗אמֶרway·yō·merSo Jehu answeredH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular

אָמַ֤ר’ā·marHe talkedH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

אֵלַי֙’ê·layto meH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionfirst person common singular

כָּזֹ֤אתkā·zōṯabout thisH2063

√ zôʼth — this (often used adverb)Preposition-kPronounfeminine singular

וְכָזֹאת֙wə·ḵā·zōṯand thatH2063

√ zôʼth — this (often used adverb)Conjunctive waw, Preposition-kPronounfeminine singular

לֵאמֹ֔רlê·mōrsayingH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct

כֹּ֚הkōhThis is whatH3541

√ kôh — properly, like this, iAdverb

יְהוָ֔הYah·wehthe LORDH3068

√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular

אָמַ֣ר’ā·marsaysH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

מְשַׁחְתִּ֥יךָֽmə·šaḥ·tî·ḵāI anointH4886

√ mâshach — to rub with oil, iVerbQalPerfectfirst person common singularsecond person masculine singular

mâshach: to anoint The fourth and last occurrence of this exact verb form in the unit. Gill supposes Jehu showed them the oil still on him. The text does not say so; it says only that he quoted the formula, and that the formula was enough.

לְמֶ֖לֶךְlə·me·leḵyou kingH4428

√ melek — a kingPreposition-lNounmasculine singular

אֶל־’el-overH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃yiś·rā·’êlIsraelH3478

√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-said: “Falsehood! Tell now to-us.” And-he-said: “Like-this and-like-this he-said unto-me, saying: ‘Thus says YHWH: I-have-anointed-thee for-king unto-Israel.’”

Where the English smooths the original

שֶׁ֔קֶר שֶׁקֶר (še·qer, H8267, an untruth) stands alone as a single-word exclamation: “Falsehood!” There is no verb and no subject. Ellicott says the rendering “It is false” is rather too strong and does not convey the exact force, and offers the officers' one word as “trickery!” BSB's full sentence “That is a lie!” turns an interjection into an accusation.
כָּזֹ֤את וְכָזֹאת֙ כָּזֹאת וְכָזֹאת (kā·zōṯ wə·ḵā·zōṯ, H2063 twice with comparative kaph) is “like this and like this,” a narrator's shorthand for a speech he will not repeat in full. BSB's “about this and that” reads as casual chat; the Hebrew idiom is a deliberate ellipsis, and what it omits is vv. 7 to 10, the sentence of extermination.
הַגֶּד־ לָ֑נוּ נָ֖א הַגֶּד־נָא לָנוּ (hag·geḏ-nā lā·nū, Hiphil imperative of nâgad, H5046, properly to front, to put before the face, plus the particle nâʼ, H4994) is an imperative softened by a particle of entreaty. Ellicott hears a tone of persuasion. BSB's “Tell us now!” with an exclamation point makes it a demand instead.
אֶל־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל The same “unto Israel” of v. 3 rather than “over Israel,” and Ellicott notes the manuscripts and versions read “over” in both places. Jehu repeats the oracle in exactly the form the narrator gave it in v. 3, not in the fuller form he actually heard in v. 6.

The Voices✦ 4 public domain

Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878

In Hebrew it rarely occurs ( Proverbs 17:22 ; Proverbs 25:15 ), and means bone , for which in Aramaic it is the usual term ( Daniel 6:25 ).

Ellicott canvasses the Septuagint, Syriac, Targum, Vulgate and Arabic on this word and settles on none of them, which is the most honest position any of our sources takes on it.

source ↗

Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834

The outer cloak of the Jews was a sort of large shawl or blanket, which might well serve for a carpet of state. Such a carpet is commonly represented on the seat of an Assyrian throne in the Nineveh sculptures.

source ↗

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s

The generals must have gathered such a company as they could on a short notice, and when Jehu was seated in the best state they could prepare, have made their proclamation while he sat on the extemporized throne.

source ↗

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871

the upper cloak which they spread on the ground, as a token of their homage to their distinguished commander (Mt 21:7).

source ↗

Quickly, each man took his garment and put it under Jehu on the bare steps. Then they blew the ram’s horn and proclaimed, “Jehu is king!”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·ma·hă·rū ’îš way·yiq·ḥū biḡ·ḏōw way·yā·śî·mū ṯaḥ·tāw ’el- ge·rem ham·ma·‘ă·lō·wṯ way·yiṯ·qə·‘ū baš·šō·w·p̄ār way·yō·mə·rū yê·hū mā·laḵ

Word by word14 · parsed

וַֽיְמַהֲר֗וּway·ma·hă·rūQuicklyH4116

√ mâhar — properly, to be liquid or flow easily, iConjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

mâhar: properly, to flow easily; to hurry Third and last of the unit's speed words, after “gird thy loins” and “flee, do not wait.” The whole narrative from Elisha's flask to the trumpet is written at a run, and the officers' haste is the proof that the army was already waiting for a reason to move.

אִ֣ישׁ’îšeach manH376

√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular

וַיִּקְחוּ֙way·yiq·ḥūtookH3947

√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בִּגְד֔וֹbiḡ·ḏōwhis garmentH899

√ beged — a covering, iNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular

beged: a covering Cambridge reconstructs the scene minutely: the loose outer robes had probably been laid aside during the consultation, and the men piled them into an extemporised cushion rather than a carpeted processional way, because the conspirators were in too great haste for that sort of parade.

וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּway·yā·śî·mūand put [it]H7760

√ sûwm — to put (used in a great variety of applications, literal, figurative, inferentially, and elliptically)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

תַחְתָּ֖יוṯaḥ·tāwunder [Jehu]H8478

√ tachath — the bottom (as depressed)Prepositionthird person masculine singular

אֶל־’el-onH413

√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition

גֶּ֣רֶםge·remthe bareH1634

√ gerem — a bone (as the skeleton of the body)Nounmasculine singular construct

gerem: a bone One of the rarest nouns in the Hebrew Bible, in only five verses, and the hardest word in this unit. Its other occurrences are Genesis 49:14, Proverbs 17:22, Proverbs 25:15 and Job 40:18, none of them about stairs. K&D gives the fullest defence of “the bare steps themselves,” taking gerem like ʻetsem in the sense of the substance or self of a thing. We follow that reading and mark it as a reading.

הַֽמַּעֲל֑וֹתham·ma·‘ă·lō·wṯstepsH4609

√ maʻălâh — elevation, iArticleNounfeminine plural

וַֽיִּתְקְעוּ֙way·yiṯ·qə·‘ūThen they blewH8628

√ tâqaʻ — to clatter, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

בַּשּׁוֹפָ֔רbaš·šō·w·p̄ārthe ram’s hornH7782

√ shôwphâr — a cornet (as giving a clear sound) or curved hornPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular

shôwphâr: a curved horn, as giving a clear sound Barnes and Cambridge both note the horn as the recognised instrument of a coronation, citing 2 Samuel 15:10, 1 Kings 1:34, 1 Kings 1:39 and 2 Kings 11:14. It is the only element of a legitimate enthronement present here: no Zadok, no Nathan, no Gihon, no temple, no people. A staircase, some coats and a horn.

וַיֹּאמְר֖וּway·yō·mə·rūand proclaimedH559

√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine plural

יֵהֽוּא׃yê·hūJehuH3058

√ Yêhûwʼ — Jehu, the name of five IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular

מָלַ֥ךְmā·laḵis kingH4427

√ mâlak — to reignVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular

mâlak: to reign The last word of the unit, and a Qal perfect: not the acclamation “Jehu is king” but the report “Jehu has become king,” a thing already finished before the horn sounded. Hebrew enthronement cries state accomplished fact, which is why the same perfect form of this root is used at 2 Samuel 15:10 and 1 Kings 1:11 for a reign announced before anyone has verified it. The kingdom of Israel changes hands in a sentence of two words, spoken on a staircase by men who nine verses earlier were calling the messenger a madman.

Literal — word-for-word from the original

And-they-hastened, and-they-took each-man his-garment, and-they-put under-him upon the-bone of-the-steps, and-they-blew with-the-shofar, and-they-said: “Jehu has-become-king!”

Where the English smooths the original

גֶּ֣רֶם הַֽמַּעֲל֑וֹת גֶּרֶם (ge·rem, H1634) means bone. Ellicott: in Hebrew it rarely occurs, and means bone, for which in Aramaic it is the usual term. Kimchi, followed by K&D, reads it as “the steps themselves,” bare of any carpet; the Revised Version margin has “the bare steps”; the Vulgate guessed “in the fashion of a tribunal”; the Septuagint simply transliterated the Hebrew. BSB's “bare steps” picks one of four ancient guesses. The Hebrew here is genuinely obscure.
מָלַ֥ךְ יֵהֽוּא מָלַךְ יֵהוּא (mā·laḵ yê·hū, H4427, Qal perfect) is “Jehu has become king,” a perfect of accomplished fact, not the present-tense proclamation “Jehu is king.” Hebrew acclamation announces something finished. The oil has done its work three verses earlier; the trumpet only publishes it.
בִּגְד֔וֹ בִּגְדוֹ (biḡ·ḏōw, H899 beged, literally a covering) is the one large outer cloth each man wore. Barnes: a sort of large shawl or blanket, which might well serve for a carpet of state. BSB's “garment” is accurate and unremarkable; the Hebrew noun is simply “his covering,” and what they cover is the bare stone.
וַֽיְמַהֲר֗וּ וַיְמַהֲרוּ (way·ma·hă·rū, Piel of mâhar, H4116, properly to flow easily, and so to hurry) opens the verse as a finite verb, not as BSB's adverb “Quickly.” Hebrew makes the haste an act; English makes it a manner. Ellicott notes the Septuagint reads “and they heard, and hasted,” and draws the political inference from the speed.

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙

Grand Commentary — the unit, read whole

synthesis · verify

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. A flask, a belt and an errand nobody wanted — 1-4

The unit opens with an old man handing a boy a bottle. Ellicott reads the Hebrew construction as contemporaneous rather than sequential, so that while Joram lies wounded at Jezreel, Elisha is already moving: the prophet is not reacting to the political moment, he is inside it. The three imperatives are pure motion, חֲגֹר (gird), קַח (take), לֵךְ (go), and Geneva explains the first from the culture: in those countries they used long garments which they tucked up when they went about earnest business.

⚙ What our sources agree on is that Elisha does not go himself. Benson offers two reasons, age and the fact that he was too well known for an affair requiring secrecy. Gill adds that the young man was fitter for the service partly because he would be less known. Cambridge, correcting the AV's “children of the prophets,” insists these were not a family but a community of worship. The messenger is deliberately anonymous, and the canon never names him again; Ellicott reports that Rashi identified him as Jonah son of Amittai, Gill traces the identification to Seder Olam Rabba, and the Pulpit Commentary calls it a rabbinical fancy, scarcely to be called a tradition. We record all three and adopt none.

The flask itself is the loudest word in the movement. פַּךְ (paḵ, H6378) stands in only three verses in the canon; Cambridge notes it occurs only here and at 1 Samuel 10:1. The Verifier confirms that this unit shares with 1 Samuel 10:1 not only the rare paḵ but also shemen and yâtsaq, the verb of pouring. The scene is written in Samuel's vocabulary.

ii. The chamber inside the chamber — 5-6

Barnes and Cambridge reconstruct the architecture the same way: the generals are sitting in the open court, perhaps in a council of war, and Jehu leads the messenger into a room opening off it. Elisha's instruction was חֶדֶר בְּחָדֶר, which Gill translates literally as a chamber within a chamber and K&D as the innermost chamber. Gill gives the plain reason: secrecy, lest the act be seen, and because what was about to be done might be deemed treason.

⚙ The exchange in v. 5 is the hinge, and it turns on one noun. The messenger says דָּבָר, a word, which is also the standing term for a prophetic oracle; the officers hear a courier. Jehu's question, “unto which of all of us,” forces the singling out into the open in front of witnesses, and Benson argues it shows he had not aimed at the government and that the commission was a perfect surprise to him. Poole and JFB take the opposite line, that Elijah's old commission at 1 Kings 19:16 was left in charge to Elisha who awaited God's time. The text does not adjudicate.

In the room the oracle is given in its fullest form, and it is fuller than what Elisha dictated in v. 3: “over the people of YHWH, over Israel.” Ellicott draws out the logic, that Israel being Jehovah's people, Jehovah was Israel's true king, and therefore it was within His sovereign right to appoint whom He would as His earthly representative. Cambridge presses the same point against the northern kingdom's record: though it had cast aside the true worship of Jehovah, Israel is still the people of the Lord. Geneva's marginal note reaches further, that this anointing was for kings, priests and prophets which were all figures of Messiah.

iii. The ledger of blood — 7-10

The commission turns judicial. Ellicott corrects the English at the first phrase: not Ahab thy master, but the house of Ahab thy lords, the noun being plural. The charge is then stated with unusual precision, and Benson notices what is missing from it: that they were idolaters was bad enough and merited all that was brought upon them, yet this is not mentioned here, and the controversy God has with them is for their being persecutors. The word for blood is plural, דְּמֵי, the technical Hebrew form for shed blood that is owed.

⚙ Then the sentence, in language that is not delicate. מַשְׁתִּין בְּקִיר is a coarse participle standing in only six verses, and the Verifier confirms the shared lexeme with 1 Kings 21:21, 1 Kings 16:11 and 1 Kings 14:10. K&D states the relation flatly: vv. 8 to 10 are simply a repetition of the threat in 1 Kings 21:21-23. The Pulpit Commentary supplies the history that makes the citation bite, that Jeroboam's house was cut off by Baasha and Baasha's by Zimri, so that the house of Ahab had had a double warning and disregarded both.

And the Pulpit Commentary is also the source that refuses to let the reader off. It raises Hosea 1:4, where God declares He will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and asks how an act commanded here can be counted sin there. Its answer, quoted at length from Dr. Pusey, is that Jehu fulfilled the letter for his own political ends, kept Jeroboam's calves, and so had no principle of obedience, with the result that blood shed according to the righteous judgment of God became sin to him that shed it. That is one reading. What is not a reading but a fact of the canon is that the same sword is commanded in 2 Kings 9 and indicted in Hosea 1.

iv. Madman, falsehood, and a throne of coats — 11-13

Jehu comes out with oil in his hair and lies about it. The officers ask הֲשָׁלוֹם, one word, “Peace?”, the question that will be thrown at him three more times before this chapter ends and answered the last time with a spear. They call the prophet הַמְשֻׁגָּע, a Pual participle of a root meaning to rave through insanity. K&D reads the sneer as aimed at the ecstatic utterances of the prophets; JFB and Poole explain it from the prophets' neglect of appearance and contempt of wealth, both citing Jeremiah 29:26; Ellicott suggests “this inspired one” in a tone of ridicule; Cambridge alone doubts they meant anything by it beyond camp slang for a man in a hurry. Benson extends the line to its end: they said of our Lord, He is beside himself, and of St. Paul, that much learning had made him mad.

Jehu's evasion rests on the ambiguity of one noun, שִׂיחוֹ, which K&D says includes both meditating and speaking, and which the ancient versions render as babble, story, folly, news and “what he said.” The officers answer with a single word, שֶׁקֶר. Ellicott says “It is false” is rather too strong and hears the one word as “trickery!”, and he draws the strategic consequence: their manner convinced Jehu that he might safely trust them.

⚙ Then the coronation, and it is made of nothing. Cambridge reconstructs it as an extemporised cushion, not a carpeted processional way, because the conspirators were in too great haste for that sort of parade. Barnes notes the outer cloak was a sort of large shawl which might well serve for a carpet of state, such as Assyrian sculpture shows on a throne seat. The one word nobody can translate, גֶּרֶם, means bone; Ellicott canvasses five ancient versions and settles on none; K&D follows Kimchi to “the bare steps themselves.” The unit ends with a perfect verb, מָלַךְ יֵהוּא, “Jehu has become king,” two words, on a staircase, over a pile of coats.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ Fallible, offered to be tested. Read the unit by what it puts in people's hands. A flask goes into a boy's fist (v. 1) and a sword is put into a general's (v. 7), and the text is careful that neither man took what he holds: the boy was sent, and the general was raised up out of his seat by a stranger. That is the doctrine of the passage before it is anything else. Israel is ʻam YHWH, and a kingdom that belongs to God can be given away by God, to a man with no claim of birth, in a back room, with common oil.

But Scripture will not let this stand as a clean story, and the honest reading has to say so. Two texts sit on either side of Jehu. Here God says strike; at Hosea 1:4 God says He will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu. Pusey's answer, recorded by the Pulpit Commentary, is that Jehu obeyed the letter while serving himself, and kept Jeroboam's calves to prove it. That may well be right. What the text of 2 Kings 9 itself gives us is smaller and harder: a commission fused into a single grammatical chain, “and thou shalt smite . . . and I will avenge,” so that the man's act and God's justice are one motion in the Hebrew and two very different things in the moral world. The house of Ahab is measured against the houses of Jeroboam and Baasha, and the reader who knows 1 Kings knows that every executioner in that list became the next defendant. Jehu is next.

So the unit does two things at once and we should not pick one. It says God really does depose kings and really does require blood at the hand of the persecutor, and it says that a throne built of borrowed coats on a bare staircase is exactly as durable as it looks. The men who made that seat called the messenger a madman ten verses after they heard him. They were not converted; they were opportunistic, and God used them anyway. If there is comfort here it is not in Jehu. It is in the flask: the whole turn of a nation carried in a vessel too small to be worth stealing, given to a boy whose name we never learn, who did exactly what he was told and ran.

A throne of borrowed coats on a bare staircase is exactly as durable as it looks. (This line is our own fallible reading, not Scripture.)

⚙

Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripture

cross-refs · verify

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The same rare flask that anointed Saul verbal / quotation: confirmed

The vessel Elisha hands over is פַּךְ (paḵ, H6378), a noun standing in only three verses in the whole canon. Its one occurrence outside this chapter is 1 Samuel 10:1, where Samuel takes the flask of oil, pours it on Saul's head and kisses him. The Verifier records three shared lexemes across the pair: the rare paḵ, plus shemen (H8081) and the verb yâtsaq (H3332, to pour). Barnes, Cambridge, JFB and K&D all make the same cross-reference independently, Cambridge adding that the word occurs only there and in this chapter, and that Jehu alone of all the kings of Israel was anointed.

⚙ The resonance is not flattering to Jehu. Saul's private anointing was followed by a public acclamation and then by a reign that God tore away for disobedience in the matter of a ban He had commanded. Jehu's follows the same three beats. We note the pattern; we do not claim the writer of Kings intended it.

1 Samuel 10:1

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H6378 pak (in 3 vv, rare), H8081 shemen (in 176 vv), H3332 yâtsaq (in 48 vv). The rarity of pak carries the verbal tier; no citation formula is claimed, only shared vocabulary.

The commission Elijah never carried out verbal / quotation: confirmed

At 1 Kings 19:16 Elijah is told at Horeb to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel. He never does. The Verifier links that verse to this unit through three shared lexemes, decisively נִמְשִׁי (Nimshîy, H5250), a name standing in only five verses, together with Elisha's own name and nâbîyʼ. Gill states the connection directly: the same that Elijah was ordered to anoint, but it was deferred till now, a reprieve being granted to Ahab upon his humiliation (1 Kings 19:16, 21:29). JFB says the errand referred to the last commission given to Elijah in Horeb.

⚙ Our sources disagree sharply about why the delay happened. Benson gives roughly twelve years and grounds it in Ahab's repentance. The Pulpit Commentary says Elijah apparently neglected it, or rather devolved the task upon his successor. Poole and JFB say Elisha simply waited on God's time. Ellicott concedes the narrative nowhere says Elijah instructed his successor. The verbal link is machine-confirmed; the explanation of the gap is reconstruction in every source we have.

1 Kings 19:16 · 1 Kings 21:29

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexemes H5250 Nimshîy (in 5 vv, rare), H477 ʼĔlîyshâʻ (in 52 vv), H5030 nâbîyʼ (in 288 vv). The verbal link rests on the rare patronymic; 1 Kings 21:29 is added as a commentator-supplied reference (Gill, Cambridge), not as a Verifier-computed pair.

The extermination formula: him that urinates against the wall verbal / quotation: confirmed

Verses 8 to 10 are not fresh composition. K&D states it without hedging: 2 Kings 9:8-10 are simply a repetition of the threat in 1 Kings 21:21-23. The Verifier confirms the verbal overlap with 1 Kings 21:21 (H256 Ahab, H7023 qîyr, H3772 kârath), with 1 Kings 14:10 against Jeroboam (H7023, H3772, H6113 ʻâtsâr) and with 1 Kings 16:11 against Baasha (H7023, H8366 shâthan, H1201 Baasha). The decisive lexeme is מַשְׁתִּין (shâthan, H8366), in only six verses in the canon and never outside this formula.

⚙ The formula functions as case law. The oracle does not merely threaten Ahab, it cites two prior judgments by name in v. 9 and sentences him under them, which is why Cambridge can simply cross-refer to 1 Kings 14:10 and 16:3-4 and consider the matter explained. The Pulpit Commentary supplies the sting: Baasha executed the sentence on Jeroboam and then received it, Zimri executed it on Baasha and then received it. The list is a chain, and 2 Kings 9 adds a link.

1 Kings 21:21 · 1 Kings 14:10 · 1 Kings 16:11

basis: Verifier: H8366 shâthan (in 6 vv, rare) shared with 1 Kings 16:11; H7023 qîyr (in 64 vv) and H3772 kârath (in 280 vv) shared with 1 Kings 21:21 and 1 Kings 14:10; H6113 ʻâtsâr (in 45 vv) shared with 1 Kings 14:10. K&D independently classes the passage as a repetition of 1 Kings 21:21-23.

Gerem: a rare bone in four unrelated places verbal / quotation: confirmed

The hardest word in the unit, גֶּרֶם (gerem, H1634), stands in only five verses. The Verifier returns all four of the others: Genesis 49:14 (Issachar as a strong or bony ass), Proverbs 17:22, Proverbs 25:15 (a soft tongue breaks the bone) and Job 40:18 (the bones of Behemoth). None of them is about a staircase.

⚙ We record this as a lexical link and nothing more. There is no shared motif, no allusion and no quotation between an enthronement on steps and a description of Behemoth's frame; what there is, is a rare noun whose sense here is disputed precisely because the other four occurrences will not settle it. Ellicott canvasses the Septuagint (which transliterates rather than translates), Syriac, Targum, Vulgate and Arabic and adopts none. K&D follows Kimchi to “the steps themselves,” taking gerem like ʻetsem in the sense of the substance of a thing. The thread exists to show the reader how thin the evidence for any rendering is.

Genesis 49:14 · Proverbs 17:22 · Proverbs 25:15 · Job 40:18

basis: Verifier: shared Hebrew lexeme H1634 gerem (in 5 vv, rare) with Genesis 49:14, Proverbs 17:22, Proverbs 25:15 and Job 40:18. The shared vocabulary is machine-confirmed; we explicitly claim no allusion, quotation or shared motif, only that these are the canon's four other uses of a word whose sense here is contested.

Cloaks on the ground for a king who is not on a throne structural / thematic: confirmed

Four of our sources make the same cross-reference without consulting one another. JFB: the upper cloak which they spread on the ground, as a token of their homage to their distinguished commander (Matthew 21:7). K&D cites Matthew 21:7 and Wetstein for the signs of homage. Poole and Benson both cite Matthew 21:7 for the eastern ceremony, Benson explaining it as a sign that they would not have his feet touch the ground and that they put themselves and their concerns under his feet. Ellicott points instead to Luke 19:36.

⚙ This is a cross-Testament link, so no shared Strong's number is possible and none is claimed: the recorded basis is the shared gesture of acclamation, garments spread under a man being publicly received as king, attested independently by JFB, K&D, Poole, Benson and Ellicott. The contrast between the two scenes, a general on a staircase and a man on a donkey, is our own observation and is handled under the Christ readings.

Matthew 21:7 · Luke 19:36

basis: Cross-Testament (Greek to Hebrew), so shared Strong's lexemes are impossible and no verbal tier is available. Basis is a shared enthronement gesture, garments laid under a king, cross-referenced to Matthew 21:7 by JFB, K&D, Poole and Benson, and to Luke 19:36 by Ellicott.

The blood of Jezreel required back from the house of Jehu flagged: verify source

Verse 10 sends the sentence to חֵלֶק יִזְרְעֶאל, the portion of Jezreel, which Benson, JFB and Poole all identify as Naboth's confiscated ground. At Hosea 1:4 God names a child Jezreel because He will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu and cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease. The Pulpit Commentary quotes the verse verbatim at 2 Kings 9:7 and calls the question it raises a natural one: how could Jehu's shedding this blood, at God's command, be a sin?

⚙ We flag this deliberately. The link is real in our sources and turns on a shared place name, but it was not computed by the Verifier for this unit, so we have no machine-recorded lexical basis and no frequency to cite for the pair, and we have not independently verified it. The theological weight of the link is also contested: Pusey's resolution (obedience in the letter, self-service in the motive) is an interpretation, and other readings of Hosea 1:4 exist. Treat the connection as worth checking, not as established here.

Hosea 1:4 · 1 Kings 21:1-16

basis: Not a Verifier-computed pair for this unit: no shared-lexeme basis or frequency is on record here. The link rests on the shared place name Jezreel and on the Pulpit Commentary, which quotes Hosea 1:4 at 2 Kings 9:7 and argues the case from Dr. Pusey. Verify the lexical basis and weigh the disputed interpretation before relying on it.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

Oil on the head: mashach, and the One the word is named for ancient/widely-held

The verb four times repeated in this unit, מָשַׁח (mâshach, H4886), is the root from which mâshîach and so Messiah is formed. Geneva's marginal note at v. 6 states the classical reading in one sentence: this anointing was for kings, priests and prophets which were all figures of Messiah, in whom these three offices were accomplished. Gill, reporting Kimchi and the Rabbins, adds the legal point that anointing was reserved for the Davidic line and used elsewhere only when a crown was being translated to a family that had no right to it but the appointment of God.

⚙ Both halves matter. The oil here is instrument, not ornament: it conveys a title a man does not possess by birth. That is exactly the shape of the New Testament claim about Jesus of Nazareth, except inverted, since He holds the title by birth and receives the anointing without any transfer of a usurped crown. Luke 4:18 reports Him reading Isaiah's anointing oracle over Himself in the synagogue at Nazareth, and Peter at Acts 10:38 describes the anointing as being with the Holy Spirit and with power rather than with oil. Geneva's three offices are the frame: at Ramoth-gilead a flask conveys one of them to a soldier, and the New Testament claim is that all three came together, without a flask, on one man. The reading is ancient and widely held; Geneva states it explicitly, and Gill's Davidic-line rule is the legal shadow it falls on.

1 Samuel 16:13 · Psalm 45:7 · Luke 4:18 · Acts 10:38

They called the messenger mad ancient/widely-held

The officers' word for a prophet of YHWH is מְשֻׁגָּע, a passive participle of a root meaning to rave through insanity. Benson makes the canonical line himself, without prompting: those that have no religion commonly speak of those that are religious with disdain, and look upon them as crack-brained, and they said of our Lord, He is beside himself, and of St. Paul, that much learning had made him mad. Poole makes the same move, citing Jeremiah 29:26, John 10:20 and Acts 26:24 together. Geneva's note (d) generalises it: the world always holds the ministers of God in this estimation, and they called the Son of God a deceiver and said he had the devil, therefore they should not be discouraged.

⚙ The structure is worth naming precisely. The charge of madness in v. 11 is made by men who will act on the madman's message within three verses. They do not stop believing he is mad; they simply find his message useful. Mark 3:21 puts the same charge in the mouths of Christ's own family; John 10:20 in the mouths of the crowd; Acts 26:24 in the mouth of a Roman governor. This link is explicit in Benson, Poole and Geneva, and is not our invention.

Mark 3:21 · John 10:20 · Acts 26:24 · Jeremiah 29:26

Two acclamations, both on borrowed coats novel

Our sources establish the bare parallel: garments thrown down under a man being received as king, at 2 Kings 9:13 and at Matthew 21:7 and Luke 19:36 (JFB, K&D, Poole, Benson, Ellicott). What follows from the parallel is ours.

⚙ Set the two scenes side by side and almost every element inverts. Here a general is seated above his men on a staircase; there a man sits below the crowd on a colt. Here the acclamation is מָלַךְ יֵהוּא, a two-word perfect meaning the thing is done; there the cry is Hosanna, a plea, “save now.” Here the anointing is secret, and within the week the kingdom is taken by the sword; there the acclamation is public, and within the week the King is killed. Here the officers who spread their cloaks kept their commands and their lives; there, on the Gospels' own account, the crowd that spread theirs did not hold. Zechariah 9:9 had already specified which sort of king Israel should look for, lowly and riding on a donkey, and it is not the sort Ramoth-gilead produced.

We mark this novel: the cross-reference is widely held among the commentators, but they draw only a point of eastern custom from it. The antithesis is our own fallible reading and should be weighed as such.

Matthew 21:7-9 · Luke 19:35-38 · Zechariah 9:9

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

Albert Barnes, Notes on the Bible (1834)
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, — (1880s)
Charles Ellicott, Commentary for English Readers (1878)
Geneva Study Bible, Marginal Notes (1599)
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory (1871)
John Gill, Exposition of the Entire Bible (1746–63)
Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1810s)
Keil & Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1860s)
Matthew Henry, Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible (1706)
Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible (1685)
The Pulpit Commentary, Spence & Exell, eds. (1880s)

Text. This unit carries an unusual density of textual and lexical uncertainty, and we have not smoothed it. (1) v. 4: the doubled הַנַּעַר is absent from some manuscripts, the Septuagint and the Syriac (Ellicott); the Pulpit Commentary calls the repetition doubtful on the same evidence; K&D keeps it and notes the second instance carries the article in the construct state, contrary to the rule. (2) vv. 3 and 12: the Hebrew reads ʼel Israel, “unto,” where a great number of manuscripts and all the versions read ʻal, “over” (Ellicott). (3) v. 8: the Masoretic pointing gives an intransitive “shall perish”; the Syriac, Arabic and Vulgate point it “I will cause to perish” (Ellicott), which moves the agency. (4) v. 11: the verb is singular, “and one said,” against many manuscripts and all versions except the Targum, which read “and they said” (Ellicott); BSB harmonises silently. (5) v. 13: גֶּרֶם הַמַּעֲלוֹת is a genuine crux; the Septuagint transliterates rather than translates it, the Syriac reads a seat of steps, the Targum a sundial stairway, the Vulgate “in the likeness of a tribunal,” the Arabic “the steps of the rise,” and Kimchi followed by K&D reads “the steps themselves.” Our literal rendering keeps the root sense “bone” and flags it.

Sources disagreeing. On the oil: Barnes and the Pulpit Commentary identify it with the holy compound of Exodus 30:23-25, the Pulpit Commentary citing Josephus; Gill flatly denies this, arguing the sanctuary oil could not be had and that common or balsam oil from the prophet's house was used. The Hebrew says only shemen. On the messenger: Rashi and Seder Olam Rabba identify him as Jonah son of Amittai (reported by Ellicott and Gill); the Pulpit Commentary calls this a rabbinical fancy, scarcely to be called a tradition. On the insult in v. 11: most of our sources take mᵉshuggāʻ as genuine contempt for prophets, while Cambridge alone argues the officers did not really think him mad. On why Elijah did not perform the anointing himself: the Pulpit Commentary says he apparently neglected it, Benson says it was deferred because of Ahab's humiliation, Poole and JFB say it was left in charge to Elisha, and Ellicott admits the narrative nowhere says so.

Lexicon artifacts. Several Strong's glosses in this unit's lexicon are truncated mid-sentence by the source (H6 “properly, to wander away, i”, H2506 “properly, smoothness (of the tongue)”), and the gloss for H7418 describes Ramoth-Negeb, a different site from the Ramoth-gilead of this text. Where the sense in this passage differs from the truncated gloss we have said so in the note rather than following the gloss.

Source criticism. Ellicott at v. 6 reports and rejects Reuss's proposal that the anointings of Jehu and Hazael were transferred to Elisha from a lost Elijah document, and closes by calling Reuss considerably wiser than our only authorities. We record both the proposal and the rejection. The question of how Elijah's Horeb commission reached Elisha is left open by the text itself.

What we have not resolved. The moral tension between the command in v. 7 and the indictment at Hosea 1:4 is real, is raised by the Pulpit Commentary, and is answered there by a long quotation from Dr. Pusey. We have reported that answer as an interpretation, tiered the Hosea link “flagged: verify source” because it is not a Verifier-computed pair in this unit, and left the tension standing rather than choosing for the reader. Ellicott's aside wondering whether Jezebel is the original of Isabel is philological speculation and carries no exegetical weight; we note it only so it is not mistaken for a datum.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)