2 Kings 9:14-29--Jehu Assassinates Joram and Ahaziah

2 Kings 9:14-29
English Standard Version

Jehu Assassinates Joram and Ahaziah
14 Thus Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram with all Israel had been on guard at Ramoth-gilead against Hazael king of Syria, 15 but King Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) So Jehu said, “If this is your decision, then let no one slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.” 16 Then Jehu mounted his chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to visit Joram.

17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came and said, “I see a company.” And Joram said, “Take a horseman and send to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’” 18 So a man on horseback went to meet him and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’” And Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.” And the watchman reported, saying, “The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.” 19 Then he sent out a second horseman, who came to them and said, “Thus the king has said, ‘Is it peace?’” And Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.” 20 Again the watchman reported, “He reached them, but he is not coming back. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”

21 Joram said, “Make ready.” And they made ready his chariot. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu, and met him at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?” 23 Then Joram reined about and fled, saying to Ahaziah, “Treachery, O Ahaziah!” 24 And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and shot Joram between the shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart, and he sank in his chariot. 25 Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, “Take him up and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember, when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab his father, how the Lord made this pronouncement against him: 26 ‘As surely as I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons—declares the Lord—I will repay you on this plot of ground.’ Now therefore take him up and throw him on the plot of ground, in accordance with the word of the Lord.”

27 When Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled in the direction of Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him and said, “Shoot him also.” And they shot him in the chariot at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo and died there. 28 His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the city of David.

​29 In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.

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So Jehu conspired against Joram had ordered all the army of Israel to keep guard at Ramoth-gilead against Hazael and the invading Syrian army, but Joram himself had gone to Jezreel to seek healing from the wounds he received in battle from the Syrians.

So Jehu told those who had just sworn allegiance to him that if they were really loyal to him, they needed to blockade Ramoth-gilead so that no one could get in or out with messages--specifically that no one would get in or out with a message that Jehu had been made king over all of Israel or the news of what he was about to do to the house of Ahab.  So Jehu mounted his chariot and went down to Jezreel to take care of both Joram and Ahaziah at the same time (the kings of Israel and Judah--both were members of the house of Ahab).

The watchman at Jezreel saw a company of men approaching and was told to send a horseman out to meet them and say, ​“Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’” and Jehu replied, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.”  The watchman then saw the messenger get to the company and join ranks with them so the watchman is ordered to send out another messenger, and the same thing happens again.  Then the watchman recognized that the chariot driver drove like Jehu, and that he was driving furiously.

Joram assumes that he needs his own chariot at this point and Joram and Ahaziah both head out separately in their own chariots, and went to meet Jehu.  They asked themselves if Jehu came in peace and Jehu answered them, “What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?”  I guess they finally got the answer they were looking for.  Jehu definitely did not come in peace!

Joram tried to run away, but Jehu shot him with his bow at full strength between his shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart (a perfect shot)  Jehu then told his aide to pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground that had been Naboth's vineyard in Jezreel, for Ahab and Jezebel conspired together to murder Naboth so they could steal his land to turn it into a royal garden.  Jehu did this because he remembered the word of the LORD that was spoken against Ahab that day, "As surely as I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons—declares the Lord—I will repay you on this plot of ground."  So, Jehu desired to fulfil the words of this prophecy that the LORD had spoken by placing Joram on the land that belonged to Naboth.

Ahaziah, king of Judah, saw this and fled, for he knew his life was also in peril.  He too was part of the house of Ahab, and he too whored after other gods and and taught those in Judah to do the same.  Ahaziah tried to make a run for Beth-haggan, but Jehu ordered his men to shoot him also, and he was overtaken and shot in his chariot at the ascent of Gur.  Ahzaiah's servants then carried him back to Jerusalem and buried him among the sons of David in the royal tombs, and word of what has happened that day reaches the ears of Jezebel who still lives in Jezreel.  She becomes afraid that she is next on Jehu's list, and she is not wrong.  We'll talk about that next time.