Jehu
Encyclopedia
Jehu was a king of Israel. He was the son of Jehoshaphat, and grandson of Nimshi
.
William F. Albright
has dated his reign to 842-815 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 841-814 BC. The principal source for the events of his reign comes from .
, was marked by the Battle of Ramoth-Gilead against the army of the Arameans; there Jehoram was wounded and afterwards returned to Jezreel
to recover. He was attended by Ahaziah
, the king of Judah
, who was also his nephew (f) Jehu slew Jehoram and became king himself. The author of Kings describes that, while the captains (commanders) of the Israelite army were assembled away from the king's eyes, the prophet Elisha
sent one of his students to this meeting. This student led Jehu away from his peers and anointed
him king in an inner chamber, then immediately departed . 2 Kings is silent about the exact identity of this student. Jehu's companions, inquiring after the object of this mysterious visit, were told; they immediately and enthusiastically blew their trumpets and proclaimed him king .
, the king of Judah, tried to escape, but was fatally wounded by one of Jehu's soldiers at Beth
-gan.
The author of Kings describes how Jehu entered the city without any resistance, and saw Jezebel, the mother of king Jehoram, presenting herself from a window in the palace and receiving him with insolence. Jehu commanded the eunuchs of the royal palace to cast her down into the street. The fall was fatal. Then he rode his chariot over her body. Servants returned to bury her body but the dogs had devoured everything but her hands, feet and skull.
Now master of Jezreel, Jehu wrote to the chief men in the capital Samaria
, and commanded them to count the heads of all the royal princes of the kingdom. They did what they were told, bringing him seventy heads piled up in two heaps at his gate the next day. Ahab's entire family is eliminated by Jehu. Shortly afterwards, Jehu encountered the "brethren of Ahaziah
" at "the shearing-house" , and slaughtered another forty-two people connected with the Omri
des.
Jehu's quest was rooted in more than his quest for power and the favour of the God of Israel. This account frequently invokes the slogan of "avenging the blood of Naboth
" , whose vineyard Jehoram's father Ahab
had taken by force ; this fact suggests that perhaps the burden of making the northern kingdom a regional power had grown too heavy for its citizens, and Jehoram's defeat at Ramoth-Gilead gave them an opportunity to throw this burden off.
Following Jehu's slaughter of the Omrides, he met Jehonadab
the Rechabite, whom he took into his chariot, and they entered the capital together. This adds support to the inference that, at least at the beginning of his reign, Jehu was supported by the pro-Jehovah
faction. Once in control of Samaria, he summoned all of the worshipers of Baal
to the capital, slew them , and destroyed the temple of that deity .
Beyond his bloody coup d'etat
, and his tolerance for the golden calves
at Dan and Bethel
(which drew the disdain of the author of Kings), little is known of the events of Jehu's reign. He was hard pressed by the predations of Hazael
, king of the Arameans, who is said to have defeated his army "throughout all of the territories of Israel
" beyond the Jordan river, in the lands of Gilead
, Gad
, Reuben
, and Manasseh
(f).
This could explain why Jehu is offering tribute to Shalmaneser III
on his Black Obelisk
; Jehu was encouraging the enemy of the Arameans to be his friend. Strong international alliances would also have helped validate his military coup that year over the Omride king, Joram. Bit-Khumri was used by Tiglath-pileser III for the non-Omride kings Pekah
(733) & Hoshea
(732), hence House/Land/Kingdom of Omri
could apply to later Israelite kings not necessarily descended from Omri.
, Jehu appears in Assyrian documents, notably in the Black Obelisk
where he is depicted as kissing the ground in front of Shalmaneser III
. In the Assyria
n documents he is simply referred to as "Jehu son of Omri" (The House of Omri being an Assyrian name for the Kingdom of Israel). This tribute is dated 841 BC.
According to the Obelisk, Jehu severed his alliances with Phoenicia
and Judah
, and became subject to Assyria
.
(found in 1993 and 1994) claimed to have slain both Ahaziah of Judah
(who was visiting Jehoram) and Jehoram. The most likely author of this monument is Hazael
of the Arameans. Although the inscription is a contemporary witness of this period, kings of this period were inclined to boast and make exaggerated claims; so it is not likely that Hazael actually did the killing.
Nimshi
Nimshi was the grandfather of Jehu, father of Jehoshaphat, and a character in the Hebrew Bible. Although he is sometimes referred to as the father is Jehu in the Hebrew Bible, this is usually regarded by scholars to mean that this means descendant of father, not that Jehu was the son of Nimshi...
.
William F. Albright
William F. Albright
William Foxwell Albright was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist and expert on ceramics. From the early twentieth century until his death, he was the dean of biblical archaeologists and the universally acknowledged founder of the Biblical archaeology movement...
has dated his reign to 842-815 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 841-814 BC. The principal source for the events of his reign comes from .
Proclamation as king
The reign of Jehu's predecessor, JehoramJehoram of Israel
Jehoram was a king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. He was the son of Ahab and Jezebel.According to , in the fifth year of Joram of Israel, Jehoram became king of Judah, when his father Jehoshaphat was king of Judah, indicating a co-regency...
, was marked by the Battle of Ramoth-Gilead against the army of the Arameans; there Jehoram was wounded and afterwards returned to Jezreel
Jezreel (city)
Jezreel was an ancient Israelite city and fortress originally within the boundaries of the Tribe of Issachar, and later within the northern Kingdom of Israel. According to the Book of Kings, the royal palace of King Ahab in Jezreel was adjacent to the vineyard of Naboth...
to recover. He was attended by Ahaziah
Ahaziah of Judah
Ahaziah of Judah was king of Judah, and the son of Jehoram and Athaliah, the daughter of king Ahab of Israel. He is also called Jehoahaz ....
, the king of Judah
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....
, who was also his nephew (f) Jehu slew Jehoram and became king himself. The author of Kings describes that, while the captains (commanders) of the Israelite army were assembled away from the king's eyes, the prophet Elisha
Elisha
Elisha is a prophet mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eliseus via Greek and Latin, or Alyasa via Arabic.-Biblical biography:...
sent one of his students to this meeting. This student led Jehu away from his peers and anointed
Anointed
Anointed is a Contemporary Christian music group from Columbus, Ohio, known for their strong vocals and harmonies, featuring siblings Steve Crawford and Da'dra Crawford Greathouse, along with former members Nee-C Walls and Mary Tiller . Their musical style includes elements of R&B, Pop, Rock,...
him king in an inner chamber, then immediately departed . 2 Kings is silent about the exact identity of this student. Jehu's companions, inquiring after the object of this mysterious visit, were told; they immediately and enthusiastically blew their trumpets and proclaimed him king .
Jezreel and the deaths of Jehoram and Jezebel
With a chosen band, Jehu set forth with all speed to Jezreel, where Jehoram was recovering from his wound from the Battle of Ramoth-Gilead. There he slew Jehoram with his own hand, shooting him through the heart with an arrow. AhaziahAhaziah of Judah
Ahaziah of Judah was king of Judah, and the son of Jehoram and Athaliah, the daughter of king Ahab of Israel. He is also called Jehoahaz ....
, the king of Judah, tried to escape, but was fatally wounded by one of Jehu's soldiers at Beth
Beth (Hebrew)
- Biblical place names beginning with Beth :*Bethel "house of God " — *Bethlehem "house of bread." Ironically, in the book of Ruth, there was a famine in Bethlehem, the "house of bread," which led Naomi's family to Moab where she met Ruth...
-gan.
The author of Kings describes how Jehu entered the city without any resistance, and saw Jezebel, the mother of king Jehoram, presenting herself from a window in the palace and receiving him with insolence. Jehu commanded the eunuchs of the royal palace to cast her down into the street. The fall was fatal. Then he rode his chariot over her body. Servants returned to bury her body but the dogs had devoured everything but her hands, feet and skull.
Now master of Jezreel, Jehu wrote to the chief men in the capital Samaria
Samaria
Samaria, or the Shomron is a term used for a mountainous region roughly corresponding to the northern part of the West Bank.- Etymology :...
, and commanded them to count the heads of all the royal princes of the kingdom. They did what they were told, bringing him seventy heads piled up in two heaps at his gate the next day. Ahab's entire family is eliminated by Jehu. Shortly afterwards, Jehu encountered the "brethren of Ahaziah
Ahaziah of Judah
Ahaziah of Judah was king of Judah, and the son of Jehoram and Athaliah, the daughter of king Ahab of Israel. He is also called Jehoahaz ....
" at "the shearing-house" , and slaughtered another forty-two people connected with the Omri
Omri
Omri was a king of Israel, successful military campaigner and first in the line of Omride kings that included Ahab, Ahaziah and Joram.He was "commander of the army" of king Elah when Zimri murdered Elah and made himself king. Instead, the troops at Gibbethon chose Omri as king, and he led them to...
des.
Jehu's quest was rooted in more than his quest for power and the favour of the God of Israel. This account frequently invokes the slogan of "avenging the blood of Naboth
Naboth
Naboth "the Jezreelite," is the central figure of a story from the Old Testament. According to the story, Naboth was the owner of a plot on the eastern slope of the hill of Jezreel...
" , whose vineyard Jehoram's father Ahab
Ahab
Ahab or Ach'av or Achab in Douay-Rheims was king of Israel and the son and successor of Omri according to the Hebrew Bible. His wife was Jezebel....
had taken by force ; this fact suggests that perhaps the burden of making the northern kingdom a regional power had grown too heavy for its citizens, and Jehoram's defeat at Ramoth-Gilead gave them an opportunity to throw this burden off.
Following Jehu's slaughter of the Omrides, he met Jehonadab
Jehonadab
Jehonadab was the son of Rechab. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible at 2 Kings 10:15-31. Though not a Jew himself, he was a supporter of Jehu, son of Nimshi, in the elimination of the house of Ahab and in suppressing worship of Baal throughout Samaria...
the Rechabite, whom he took into his chariot, and they entered the capital together. This adds support to the inference that, at least at the beginning of his reign, Jehu was supported by the pro-Jehovah
Jehovah
Jehovah is an anglicized representation of Hebrew , a vocalization of the Tetragrammaton , the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible....
faction. Once in control of Samaria, he summoned all of the worshipers of Baal
Baal
Baʿal is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor, cognate to Akkadian Bēlu...
to the capital, slew them , and destroyed the temple of that deity .
Beyond his bloody coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
, and his tolerance for the golden calves
Golden calf
According to the Hebrew Bible, the golden calf was an idol made by Aaron to satisfy the Israelites during Moses' absence, when he went up to Mount Sinai...
at Dan and Bethel
Bethel
Bethel was a border city described in the Hebrew Bible as being located between Benjamin and Ephraim...
(which drew the disdain of the author of Kings), little is known of the events of Jehu's reign. He was hard pressed by the predations of Hazael
Hazael
Hazael was a court official and later an Aramean king who is mentioned in the Bible. Under his reign, Aram-Damascus became an empire that ruled over large parts of Syria and Palestine....
, king of the Arameans, who is said to have defeated his army "throughout all of the territories of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
" beyond the Jordan river, in the lands of Gilead
Gilead
In the Bible "Gilead" means hill of testimony or mound of witness, , a mountainous region east of the Jordan River, situated in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. It is also referred to by the Aramaic name Yegar-Sahadutha, which carries the same meaning as the Hebrew . From its mountainous character...
, Gad
Tribe of Gad
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Gad was one of the Tribes of Israel.From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BC, the Tribe of Gad was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government existed,...
, Reuben
Tribe of Reuben
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Reuben was one of the Tribes of Israel.From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BC, the Tribe of Reuben was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government...
, and Manasseh
Tribe of Manasseh
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Manasseh was one of the Tribes of Israel. Together with the Tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh also formed the House of Joseph....
(f).
This could explain why Jehu is offering tribute to Shalmaneser III
Shalmaneser III
Shalmaneser III was king of Assyria , and son of the previous ruler, Ashurnasirpal II....
on his Black Obelisk
Black Obelisk
The "Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III" is a black limestone Neo-Assyrian bas-relief sculpture from Nimrud , in northern Iraq, commemorating the deeds of King Shalmaneser III . It is the most complete Assyrian obelisk yet discovered, and is historically significant because it displays the earliest...
; Jehu was encouraging the enemy of the Arameans to be his friend. Strong international alliances would also have helped validate his military coup that year over the Omride king, Joram. Bit-Khumri was used by Tiglath-pileser III for the non-Omride kings Pekah
Pekah
Pekah was king of Israel. He was a captain in the army of king Pekahiah of Israel, whom he killed to become king. Pekah was the son of Remaliah ....
(733) & Hoshea
Hoshea
See also Hosea, who has the same name in Biblical Hebrew.Hoshea was the last king of the Israelite Kingdom of Israel and son of Elah . William F. Albright dated reign to 732 – 721 BC, while E. R. Thiele offered the dates 732 – 723 BC.Assyrian records basically confirm the Biblical...
(732), hence House/Land/Kingdom of Omri
Omri
Omri was a king of Israel, successful military campaigner and first in the line of Omride kings that included Ahab, Ahaziah and Joram.He was "commander of the army" of king Elah when Zimri murdered Elah and made himself king. Instead, the troops at Gibbethon chose Omri as king, and he led them to...
could apply to later Israelite kings not necessarily descended from Omri.
Black Obelisk
Aside from the Hebrew BibleHebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
, Jehu appears in Assyrian documents, notably in the Black Obelisk
Black Obelisk
The "Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III" is a black limestone Neo-Assyrian bas-relief sculpture from Nimrud , in northern Iraq, commemorating the deeds of King Shalmaneser III . It is the most complete Assyrian obelisk yet discovered, and is historically significant because it displays the earliest...
where he is depicted as kissing the ground in front of Shalmaneser III
Shalmaneser III
Shalmaneser III was king of Assyria , and son of the previous ruler, Ashurnasirpal II....
. In the Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n documents he is simply referred to as "Jehu son of Omri" (The House of Omri being an Assyrian name for the Kingdom of Israel). This tribute is dated 841 BC.
According to the Obelisk, Jehu severed his alliances with Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
and Judah
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....
, and became subject to Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
.
Tel Dan Stele
The author of the Tel Dan SteleTel Dan Stele
The Tel Dan Stele is a stele discovered in 1993/94 during excavations at Tel Dan in northern Israel. Its author was a king of Damascus, Hazael or one of his sons, and it contains an Aramaic inscription commemorating victories over local ancient peoples including "Israel" and the "House of...
(found in 1993 and 1994) claimed to have slain both Ahaziah of Judah
Ahaziah of Judah
Ahaziah of Judah was king of Judah, and the son of Jehoram and Athaliah, the daughter of king Ahab of Israel. He is also called Jehoahaz ....
(who was visiting Jehoram) and Jehoram. The most likely author of this monument is Hazael
Hazael
Hazael was a court official and later an Aramean king who is mentioned in the Bible. Under his reign, Aram-Damascus became an empire that ruled over large parts of Syria and Palestine....
of the Arameans. Although the inscription is a contemporary witness of this period, kings of this period were inclined to boast and make exaggerated claims; so it is not likely that Hazael actually did the killing.