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Judgment upon Ahab’s House

10 Ahab had seventy sons [and grandsons] in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to the guardians of the children of Ahab, saying, “Now as soon as this letter comes to you, since your master’s sons (male descendants) are with you, as well as chariots and horses and a fortified city and weapons, select the best and most capable of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s [royal] house.” But they were extremely afraid and said, “Look, the two kings did not stand before Jehu; so how can we stand?” And the one who was in charge of the household, and the one who was overseer of the city, the elders, and the guardians [of the children] sent word to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants and we will do whatever you tell us, but we will not make any man king; do what is good in your eyes.” Then Jehu wrote a second letter to them, saying, “If you are with me and will obey me, take the heads of your master’s [a]sons, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time.” Now the [dead] king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them. When the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel. When a messenger came and told him, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons,” he said, “Put them in two heaps at the entrance of the city gate until morning.” The next morning he went out and stood and said to all the people, “You are just and innocent; behold, I conspired against [Joram] my master and killed him, but who killed all these? 10 Know then [without any doubt] that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the Lord has done what He said [b]through His servant Elijah.”(A) 11 So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and his familiar friends and his priests, until he left him without a survivor.

12 And he set out and went to Samaria. On the way as he was at the [c]place of the sand heaps [meeting place] for the shepherds, 13 Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and said, “Who are you?” They answered, “We are the relatives of Ahaziah; and we came down to greet the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother [Jezebel].” 14 Then Jehu said, “Take them alive.” So they took them alive and [later] slaughtered them at the well by the place of the sand heaps, forty-two men; he left none of them [alive].

15 When Jehu went on from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. He greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with yours?” Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said “If it is, give me your hand.” He gave him his hand, and Jehu pulled him up into the chariot. 16 And he said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” So he had Jehonadab in his chariot. 17 When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed everyone who remained of Ahab’s family in Samaria, until he had destroyed all of them, in accordance with the word of the Lord which He spoke to Elijah.

Jehu Destroys Baal Worshipers

18 Jehu assembled all the people and said [in pretense] to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much [more]. 19 Now, summon unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests. Let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal; whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it with trickery, in order to destroy the worshipers of Baal. 20 Jehu said, “Consecrate a festive assembly (celebration) for Baal.” And they proclaimed it. 21 Then Jehu sent throughout Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came; there was no one left who did not come. They went to the house (temple) of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. 22 He said to the man in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the worshipers of Baal.” And he brought the garments out to them. 23 Then Jehu with Jehonadab the son of Rechab went into the house of Baal; and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search carefully and see that there are no servants of the Lord here with you, but only the worshipers of Baal.” 24 Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.

Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside for himself and said, “If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, the one who lets him go shall forfeit his own life for that man’s life.”

25 Then it came about, as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guards and to the royal officers, “Go in and kill them; let no one come out.” And they killed them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the royal officers threw their bodies out, and went to the inner room of the house of Baal. 26 They brought out the sacred pillars (obelisks) of the house of Baal and burned them. 27 They also tore down the sacred pillar of Baal and tore down the house of Baal, and made it into a latrine [forever unclean] [d]to this day.

28 Thus Jehu eradicated Baal from Israel. 29 However, Jehu did not turn from the [idolatrous] sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, that is, [led them to worship] the golden calves which were at Bethel and Dan.(B) 30 The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing what is right in My eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab in accordance with everything that was in My heart, [e]your sons (descendants) shall sit on Israel’s throne to the fourth generation.”(C) 31 But Jehu did not take care to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin.

32 So in those days the Lord began to cut off portions of Israel; Hazael [of Aram] defeated them throughout the territory of Israel: 33 from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the Arnon River, even Gilead and Bashan.

Jehoahaz Succeeds Jehu

34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehu and everything that he did and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 35 Jehu slept with his fathers [in death], and they buried him in Samaria. Jehoahaz his son became king in his place. 36 The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

Athaliah Queen of Judah

11 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah [king of Judah] saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal offspring. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram [of Judah and half] sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and abducted him from among the king’s sons who were to be killed, and hid him and his nurse in the [f]bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and he was not put to death. Joash was hidden with his nurse in the house (temple) of the Lord for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Now in the seventh year Jehoiada [the priest, Jehosheba’s husband] sent for the captains of hundreds of the [g]Carites and of the guard and brought them to him to the house of the Lord. Then he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the Lord, and showed them the king’s [hidden] son. He commanded them, saying, “This is the thing that you shall do: a third of you who come in [reporting for duty] on the Sabbath shall keep watch over the king’s house (a third shall also be at the [city] gate Sur, and a third at the gate behind the guards); so you shall keep watch over the palace [from three posts] for defense. Two units of you, all those who go out [off duty] on the Sabbath, shall also keep watch over the house (temple) of the Lord for [the protection of] the king. You shall surround the [young] king, each man with weapons in his hand; and whoever comes through the ranks shall be put to death. You are to be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.”

The captains of hundreds acted in accordance with everything that Jehoiada the priest commanded; and each of them took his men who were to come in (on duty) on the Sabbath, with those who were to go out (off duty) on the Sabbath, and they came to Jehoiada the priest. 10 The priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and shields that had been King David’s, which were in the house of the Lord. 11 And the guards stood, each man with weapons in his hand, from the right side to the left side of the temple area, by the altar [in the courtyard] and by the temple [proper], all around the king. 12 Then Jehoiada brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him and gave him the Testimony [a copy of the Mosaic Law]; and they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “Long live the king!”

13 When Athaliah heard the sound of the guards and of the people, she went into the house of the Lord to the people. 14 When she looked, behold, there stood the [young] king [on the platform] by the pillar, as was customary [on such occasions], and the captains and the trumpeters were beside the king; and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing the trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!” 15 Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds appointed over the army and said to them, “Take her out between the ranks, and whoever follows her put to death with the sword.” For the priest had said, “Let her not be put to death in the house (temple) of the Lord.” 16 So they seized her, and she went through the horses’ entrance to the king’s house (palace), and she was put to death there.

17 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord, the king, and the people, that they would be the Lord’s people—also between the king and the people [to be his subjects]. 18 Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down. They utterly smashed his altar and his images to pieces, and they put Mattan the priest of Baal to death in front of the altars. And [Jehoiada] the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord. 19 Then he took the captains of hundreds, the Carites (royal bodyguards), the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought the [young] king down from the house of the Lord, and came by way of the guards’ gate to the king’s house. And [little] Joash sat on the throne of the kings. 20 So all the people of the land rejoiced and the city [of Jerusalem] was quiet. For they had put Athaliah to death with the sword at the king’s house.

21 [h]Jehoash (Joash) was seven years old when he became king.

Joash (Jehoash) Reigns over Judah

12 In the seventh year of Jehu [king of Israel], [i]Jehoash became king [over Judah], and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. Jehoash did right in the sight of the Lord all his days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him. Only the high places were not removed; the people were still sacrificing and burning incense [to the Lord] on the high places [rather than at the temple].

The Temple to Be Repaired

Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money for the dedicated things which is brought into the house of the Lord, in current money, both the money of each man’s assessment [for all those bound by vows], and all the money which any man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house (temple) of the Lord, let the priests receive such contributions for themselves, each from his acquaintance; and they shall repair any breach in the house of the Lord, wherever a breach is found.”

But it came about in the twenty-third year of [the reign of] King Jehoash, that the priests still had not repaired the damages of the Lord’s house. Then King Jehoash called for Jehoiada the priest and the [other] priests and said to them, “Why are you not repairing the damage of the house (temple)? Now then, do not take any more money from your acquaintances, but turn it all over for [the repair of] the damages of the house.” [You are no longer responsible for this work. I will take it into my own hands.] So the priests agreed that they would receive no [more] money from the people, nor [be responsible to] repair the damages of the house.

Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one enters the house of the Lord; and the priests who guarded the door put in the chest all the money that was brought [by the people] into the house of the Lord. 10 And whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the king’s scribe and the high priest came up and tied it in bags and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord. 11 Then they gave the money, which was weighed out into the hands of those who were doing the work, who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; and they paid it out to the carpenters and builders who worked on the house (temple) of the Lord, 12 and to the masons and stonecutters, and to buy timber and hewn (cut) stone to repair any breach in the house of the Lord, and for all that was laid out for repairing the house. 13 However, there were not made for the house of the Lord basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, any gold containers or [other] silver containers, from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord; 14 but they gave that to those who did the work, and with it they repaired the house of the Lord. 15 Moreover, they did not require an accounting from the men into whose hands they placed the money to be paid to those who did the work, for they acted in good faith. 16 Money from the guilt offerings and money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord [for repairs]; it was for the priests.

17 Then Hazael king of Aram (Syria) went up, fought against Gath [in Philistia], and captured it. And Hazael [j]resolved to go up to Jerusalem. 18 So Jehoash the king of Judah took all the sacred things that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah, his fathers, kings of Judah, had dedicated, and his own sacred things and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house (temple) of the Lord and of the king’s house, and sent them to Hazael king of Aram; and Hazael departed from Jerusalem.(D)

Joash (Jehoash) Succeeded by Amaziah in Judah

19 Now the rest of the acts of Joash and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 20 His servants arose and formed a [k]conspiracy [against him] and struck down Joash [in revenge] at the house of Millo, [on the way] that goes down to Silla.(E) 21 For Jozacar (Jozachar) the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of Shomer, his servants, struck him and he died; and they buried Joash with his fathers in the City of David. Amaziah his son became king in his place.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 10:6 The relative of one who had been killed had the right to avenge the death by killing the guilty person (Num 35:12).
  2. 2 Kings 10:10 Lit by the hand.
  3. 2 Kings 10:12 Or Beth-eked.
  4. 2 Kings 10:27 I.e. to the date of this writing.
  5. 2 Kings 10:30 The descendants of Jehu: Jehoahaz, Jehoash (Joash), Jeroboam II, and Zechariah, ruled nearly a hundred years.
  6. 2 Kings 11:2 Most likely this was one of many bedrooms in the palace and served as a temporary hiding place until the child could be moved to the temple (v 3); but it is possible that this was a priest’s bedroom in the temple.
  7. 2 Kings 11:4 Mercenary soldiers recruited to serve as royal bodyguards.
  8. 2 Kings 11:21 Ch 12:1 in Hebrew.
  9. 2 Kings 12:1 Judah and Israel each had a king named Joash or Jehoash, and the Hebrew uses the two forms of the name interchangeably. Since the times of their reigns overlapped, it is easy to confuse them. The same potential confusion exists with the name Joram/Jehoram.
  10. 2 Kings 12:17 Lit set his face.
  11. 2 Kings 12:20 Joash was responsible for the murder of the high priest Zechariah the son of Jehoiada.

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