In brief
Jehu is a king of Israel from the ninth century before Jesus Christ. A messenger of the prophet Elisha anoints him at Ramoth-gilead to strike down the house of Ahab, according to the word the LORD had spoken through Elijah. He kills Joram, has Jezebel put to death, and then destroys the worship of Baal in Israel. The LORD promises him that his sons will sit on the throne to the fourth generation. But Jehu does not walk with all his heart in the law of the LORD and remains attached to the sins of Jeroboam. He reigns twenty-eight years.
What does the name Jehu mean?
The name Jehu is generally linked to a Hebrew expression meaning the LORD is he or Yahweh is God, but this meaning is uncertain and the Bible does not explain it. Jehu is introduced as the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi (2 Kings 9:2). This Jehoshaphat is not the king of Judah.
The world of Jehu
The story of Jehu takes place in the kingdom of Israel, in the north, after the country was divided into two kingdoms. By the usual reckoning, it falls in the ninth century before Jesus Christ. King Joram, son of Ahab, reigns in Samaria, and the house of Ahab serves Baal. Years earlier, Yahweh had told the prophet Elijah to anoint Hazael king over Syria, Jehu king over Israel, and Elisha as prophet in his place (1 Kings 19:15-17). On the day of the anointing, the army of Israel is defending Ramoth Gilead against Hazael, king of Syria, and King Joram is in Jezreel to be healed of his wounds (2 Kings 9:14-15). Ahaziah, king of Judah, tied to the house of Ahab by marriage, has come to see him. Jehu is one of the army's commanders. The account is brutal, for it tells of a judgment of God on a dynasty that had shed the blood of Naboth and of the prophets. It must be read within that frame: God judges, and the text also shows the limits of the man who carries out that judgment.
The story of Jehu
A vial of oil at Ramoth Gilead
2 Kings 9:1-13Elisha calls one of the sons of the prophets and tells him to put his belt on his waist, take a vial of oil and go to Ramoth Gilead. There he is to find Jehu, take him to an inner room, pour the oil on his head, anoint him king over Israel, then flee without waiting. The young man announces that Jehu will strike the house of Ahab and avenge the blood of the prophets. When Jehu rejoins his companions, they first call the messenger “this mad fellow,” then spread their cloaks under Jehu and blow the trumpet: “Jehu is king.”
The road to Jezreel: the end of Joram and Ahaziah
2 Kings 9:14-29Jehu conspires against Joram, mounts his chariot and heads for Jezreel. The watchman sees the company coming, and Joram sends two horsemen to ask whether it is peace. Jehu makes them fall in behind him. The watchman remarks that the driving is like that of a man who drives furiously. Joram goes out to meet him with Ahaziah and asks, “Is it peace, Jehu?” Jehu answers by speaking of the prostitution of Jezebel. He strikes Joram with an arrow and has him thrown into the plot of Naboth. Ahaziah is struck near Ibleam and dies at Megiddo.
Jezebel at the window
2 Kings 9:30-37Jezebel hears that Jehu has come to Jezreel. She paints her eyes, adorns her head and looks out of the window. She calls out to him as another Zimri, the murderer of his master. Jehu lifts his face and asks who is on his side. Two or three eunuchs throw her down. After he has eaten and drunk, Jehu orders that she be buried because she is a king's daughter, but they find no more of her than the skull, the feet and the palms of her hands. Jehu recognizes in this the word that Yahweh spoke by his servant Elijah.
The seventy sons of Ahab
2 Kings 10:1-11Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. Jehu writes to the rulers of the city to select the best of them for the throne. They are exceedingly afraid and say that the two kings did not stand before him, so how could they stand? They declare themselves Jehu's servants. He then demands the heads of the king's sons, and they are sent to him in baskets. In the morning, Jehu tells the people that nothing will fall to the earth of Yahweh's word concerning the house of Ahab, then he kills all who remained in Jezreel.
Ahaziah's relatives and Jehonadab
2 Kings 10:12-17On the way to Samaria, Jehu meets the relatives of Ahaziah, king of Judah, who are going down to greet the sons of the king and of the queen. There are forty-two of them, and Jehu has them taken alive and killed at the pit. Farther on, he meets Jehonadab, son of Rechab, and asks whether his heart is right as his own is toward him. Jehonadab answers that it is, gives his hand and rides up into the chariot. Jehu says to him, “Come with me, and see my zeal for Yahweh.” In Samaria, he destroys all who remained of Ahab's house.
The trap set for the servants of Baal
2 Kings 10:18-28Jehu gathers the people and says, “Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much.” He summons all the prophets, worshipers and priests of Baal for a great sacrifice, threatening with death anyone who is absent. The text specifies that Jehu acts deceptively. The house of Baal is filled from one end to the other, and each one is given vestments. Jehu makes sure no servant of Yahweh is among them, and his men, posted outside, enter and strike. The pillars are burned, the house of Baal is torn down and becomes a latrine: Jehu destroys Baal out of Israel.
A divided verdict: zeal and the heart
2 Kings 10:29-31The text notes at once that Jehu did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and did not give up the golden calves of Bethel and Dan. Yahweh tells him that he has done well in executing what is right in his eyes and that he has done to the house of Ahab all that was in his heart. He therefore promises that his descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. The text adds, however, that Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of Yahweh with all his heart.
A twenty-eight-year reign that shrinks
2 Kings 10:32-36In those days, Yahweh begins to cut away parts of Israel. Hazael strikes Israel in all its borders, from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, the Reubenites and the Manassites, as far as Bashan. The rest of the acts of Jehu is written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. He sleeps with his fathers and is buried in Samaria. His son Jehoahaz reigns in his place. Jehu had reigned twenty-eight years over Israel in Samaria.
Jehu's family
- father
- Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi (not to be confused with the king of Judah) 2 Kings 9:2
- grandfather
- Nimshi 2 Kings 9:2
- son and successor
- Jehoahaz 2 Kings 10:35
What Jehu teaches us
- God fulfills his word: what he announced through Elijah against the house of Ahab came to pass.
- Zeal, even spectacular zeal, does not replace obedience of the heart: Jehu destroys Baal but keeps the golden calves.
- Obeying God halfway remains incomplete obedience: the Bible says that Jehu did not walk with all his heart in the law of the LORD.
- God judges idolatry and injustice: the blood of Naboth and that of the prophets were not forgotten.
- One can be an instrument of God without being a model to imitate in every respect.
Key verses
Here is the message of the anointing: the LORD appoints Jehu king over Israel and charges him to strike down the house of Ahab, to avenge the blood of his servants the prophets and of all his servants.
The LORD acknowledges that Jehu has done well in carrying out what was right in his eyes and promises him that his sons will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.
Jehu's record is mixed: he is not careful to walk with all his heart in the law of the LORD and does not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam. Great zeal can live alongside a divided heart.
Bible verses to meditate on
Frequently asked questions
Who was Jehu in the Bible?
Jehu was a commander of the army of Israel, anointed king by a messenger of Elisha. He carried out God's judgment on the house of Ahab, killed Joram and Jezebel and wiped out the worship of Baal. He reigned twenty-eight years, but did not follow the LORD with all his heart.
What does the name Jehu mean?
The name Jehu is generally linked to a Hebrew expression meaning the LORD is he or Yahweh is God. This meaning is uncertain, and the Bible gives no explanation of the name. He should not be confused with the prophet Jehu, son of Hanani, who rebuked Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 19:2).
Where can I find the story of Jehu in the Bible?
The story of Jehu is found in 2 Kings 9 and 10. Chapter 9 tells of his anointing and the deaths of Joram, Ahaziah and Jezebel. Chapter 10 tells of the end of the house of Ahab, the destruction of the worship of Baal and the assessment of his reign.
Was Jehu right to wipe out the house of Ahab?
The text gives two elements. On the one hand, Yahweh himself charged Jehu to strike the house of Ahab (2 Kings 9:7) and later tells him that he has done well in executing what is right in his eyes (10:30). On the other hand, the book of Hosea later announces the punishment of the house of Jehu for “the blood of Jezreel” (Hosea 1:4). The Bible therefore does not present Jehu as a model to imitate in everything. It shows that God fulfills his word through him, while holding him responsible for his actions. Every reader must stay attentive to this nuance.
Why was Jehu anointed king?
Yahweh had told Elijah, long before, to anoint Jehu, son of Nimshi, to be king over Israel (1 Kings 19:16). At the anointing by the son of the prophet, the message is precise: Jehu is to strike the house of Ahab, and God will avenge the blood of his servants the prophets and of all his servants (2 Kings 9:7). It is therefore an act willed by God and announced in advance, not a mere coup. The text specifies that after the anointing Jehu nevertheless forms a conspiracy against Joram (9:14), which shows that the divine word is carried out by human means.
Why was so little of Jezebel found?
After Jezebel's death, Jehu goes in to eat and drink, then orders that she be buried because she is a king's daughter. But all they find of her is the skull, the feet and the palms of her hands (2 Kings 9:34-35). Jehu sees in this the fulfillment of Yahweh's word by Elijah: the dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel on the plot of Jezreel, and her body will be as dung, so that no one can say, “This is Jezebel” (9:36-37). The text gives no other detail. It presents the scene as the sign that what God had announced comes true.
Did Jehu really end the worship of Baal in Israel?
The text says: “Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.” The servants of Baal are struck, the pillars burned, and the house of Baal torn down and turned into a latrine (2 Kings 10:25-28). But the account continues at once: he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam and did not give up the golden calves of Bethel and Dan (10:29). Jehu therefore removes one cult without returning fully to the law of Yahweh. Verse 31 sums it up: he took no heed to walk in that law with all his heart. His visible zeal is not the same as complete faithfulness.
What does the promise of four generations mean?
After the destruction of Baal, Yahweh tells Jehu, “your descendants shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation” (2 Kings 10:30). This promise is the reward for what he did well against the house of Ahab. It is then fulfilled: at the death of Zechariah, the text recalls that Yahweh's word to Jehu came to pass (2 Kings 15:12). Zechariah reigns six months, then Shallum strikes him down and reigns in his place. The Bible thus shows that God keeps his word, even within the limited duration he set.
Who is Jehonadab, son of Rechab, beside Jehu?
Jehonadab, son of Rechab, comes to meet Jehu after the death of Ahaziah's relatives (2 Kings 10:15). Jehu asks whether his heart is right, as his own heart is toward him. Jehonadab answers that it is, gives him his hand and rides up into the chariot. Jehu invites him to see his zeal for Yahweh (10:16). He is then present when Jehu comes to the house of Baal (10:23). The text says nothing more about him in this passage, and it is better not to attribute to him what the Bible does not relate at this point.