2 Kings 9 Elisha sendeth a young prophet with instructions to anoint Jehu king over Israel; whom he chargeth to destroy the house of Ahab, and fleeth, 2 Kings 9:1–10.

Gird up thy loins; for haste, to take this opportunity when the kings of Israel and Judah were both absent, 2 Kings 8:29, and Jehu, as it seems, was left in chief command. Partly that the work may not be hindered, and partly for the security of thy own person. See 2 Kings 9:3.

Partly that the work may not be hindered, and partly for the security of thy own person. See 2 Kings 9:3.

I have anointed thee king over Israel: this was not his whole message; but the rest of it is particularly declared 2 Kings 9:7–10, and is to be understood here.

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

Into the house, i.e. into an inner chamber in the house, 2 Kings 9:2. He poured the oil on his head; thereby in God’s name letting him into the actual possession of the kingdom.

Smite, i.e. kill and destroy, as that word is used, Gen. 8:21, and elsewhere. Thy master; thy former lord and king.

In the portion of Jezreel; in that part of land in or near the city, which belonged to Naboth.

To the servants of his lord; to the rest of the commanders and officers there present. Is all well? is not this unlucky messenger come with some ill tidings? Wherefore came this mad fellow? they perceived him to be a prophet by his habit, and gestures, and manner of speech.

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. Tell us now: his concealment of the thing made them more greedy to know it.

Then they hasted; being well-pleased with the thing; partly, from the advantage which hereby they expected; partly, from that desire of change which is in most men’s natures; and principally, by God’s providence inclining their hearts to Jehu.

Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead; which interpreters conclude to have been taken by Joram before this time, though the taking of it be not mentioned. This they gather, first, from the mention of the inner chamber, 2 Kings 9:2, and of the top of the stairs here; secondly, from 2 Kings 9:15, Let none go…

When he fought with Hazael; when he came with an army, either to retake the city taken by Joram, or to raise the siege. Out of the city; or, from the city; either from within the city, or from before it, from the siege or army.

Went to Jezreel, accompanied with the horsemen of his army.

Inquire who it is comes, and if he come upon peaceable terms. For he feared, lest either the Syrians had prevailed there, or some sedition or rebellion was raised against him; which the example of Libnah, and his own guilty conscience, made him fear.

What hast thou to do with peace? what right hast thou, or thy master that sent thee, to peace?

As his temper is hasty and fierce, so is his march.

Against Jehu, or, to meet Jehu, to know his intentions, and by his presence to repress any seditious inclinations which might be in Jehu or his followers. In the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite; in that field which formerly belonged to Naboth, part whereof was enclosed by Ahab, and made a garden.

Is it peace? dost thou come to me with a peaceable mind, or in a way of hostility? For now, when it was too late, he began to suspect some treachery; which God hid from him before, to prepare him for destruction.

Joram turned his hands; either that therewith he might turn the reins of the chariot, or that by this motion he might direct his charioteer to turn it from Jehu.

Between his arms; between his shoulders, when he was turned or turning back, the chariot being probably open behind, as many times they were.

When I and thou rode together after Ahab his father; which might be when Ahab went in his chariot, attended with his nobles or chief officers, (of which these were two,) to take a formal and solemn possession of Naboth’s land; for then the prophet Elijah met him, and denounced this judgment against…

The blood of his sons; who, as it seems, were killed with their father by Jezebel’s advice, to make the possession of the vineyard more sure to Ahab, though it be not mentioned in its proper place, 1 Kings 21:13; for it is not unusual to bring in such fragments of history in succeeding writings…

By the way of the garden-house; by some secret way, hoping to escape whilst they were busy about Joram. Smite him also, as you have done Joram; for he also is of the house of Ahab, 2 Kings 8:18.

Which they did by Jehu’s permission for Jehoshaphat’s sake, 2 Chron. 22:9.

Of this See Poole “2 Kings 8:25”.

Either hoping that by her majestic dress and carriage she might strike Jehu or his followers with such an awe, that they should not offer any injury to her person; or rather, because perceiving her case to be desperate, and that she could not live, was resolved to die with honour and gallantry.

At the gate of the king’s palace. Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? remember that thy brother traitor Zimri had but a very short enjoyment of the benefit of his treason, and was speedily and severely punished for it by my grandfather, Omri, 1 Kings 16:9, 1 Kings 16:16, and do thou expect the…

For such used to attend upon queens in their chambers.

They threw her down; being mercenary creatures, they quickly comply with Jehu’s command, sacrificing her life to save their own.

This he suddenly commanded: either because he had forgot the charge given him above, 2 Kings 9:10, or because having done his own business, he was careless about God’s work, and the fulfilling of his threatening. For she is a king’s daughter: see 1 Kings 16:31.

This is the word of the Lord: this strange providence brings that to his mind which he had forgotten, or did not regard.

These words are not extant in the place where this prophecy is first mentioned, 1 Kings 21:23, but are here added, either by Jehu, by way of explication and amplification; or rather, because Elijah spoke them, though they be not there recorded, as being for the substance of them contained in the…