2 Kings 9:31

2Ki 9:31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, [Had] Zimri peace, who slew his master?

Ver. 31. She said, Had Zimri peace?] Or, O Zimri - so she calleth Jehu, his master’s murderer, - shall it be peace? thinkest thou to carry it away clear thus? She thought, haply, that being a woman she might say anything, Hecuba-like; and that Jehu would not meddle with her: but he had a particular charge about her, {2Ki 9:7; 2Ki 9:10} and his case was not Zimri’s, who came quickly to an ill end indeed; as did also Phocas, who had stewed his master Mauricius in his own broth, and was himself killed piecemeal.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki_9:31

Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?

Divine purposes and human agencies

These are not the words of the Spirit of God, but of that wicked witch Jezebel, wife of the idolatrous Ahab. Nevertheless, there is a truth implied in them which it shall be our present business to expound and illustrate. Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? What did she mean by this? The answer is in the story of Zimri told in the sixteenth chapter of the first Book of Kings. Elah, son of Baasha, has reigned over Israel but two years, when in a drunken revel, in the house of his steward, he is slain by Zimri, captain of half his chariots, and his throne usurped by the traitor who had thus shed his blood. But for Zimri there is indeed no peace; the seven days of his reign are days of terror and of blood. Tirzah is speedily besieged by the army under Omri which hastens from Gibbethon; and when Zimri sees that his usurped power is gone, he betakes himself to the palace, where, kindling a fire around him, he perishes in the midst of the flames. That Divine purposes are sometimes accomplished by wicked agents; but that this in nowise excuses the agents themselves, or shields them from merited punishment.

I. By many facts in human history.

1. Look at facts in the history of nations.

2. Look at facts in the history of individuals.

There is Jacob concerning whose relation to Esau the prophecy stands that the elder shall serve the younger; yet how utterly detestable the means;--the lies, the trickery, the fraud, by which the end is attained, for the purposes of God I have respect, and I know that they shall stand, but for the means used by Jacob and his mother, I have the utmost abhorrence and contempt.

II. In the great central fact of Christianity. I mean the Crucifixion of the Lord. Here, the divinest purpose works itself out by the most satanic agency. The noblest deed of love ever wrought by the great God of love Himself, combines with the meanest, foulest, deed of hatred, ever wrought by man, in the great agony of the Cross. Him, says Peter, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye by wicked hands have crucified and slain. And yet one step further--I wot that through ignorance ye did it. So that here the chosen channels through which Divine wisdom and Divine love pour themselves upon us are human ignorance and wickedness! O the depth of the riches, etc. And here, I merely remark, that to the sentence,which states the principle we are discussing, I might add another member:--namely, That if those wicked agents who, consciously or unconsciously carry out Divine purposes, repent of their sin, they are not excluded from participation in the good they have been instrumentally, and sinfully, accomplishing.

III. In the dissemination of the gospel. Means in themselves inconsistent with the spirit of the Gospel, are in the order of Divine providence, indirectly employed. (J. W. Lance.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 9:31. 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 grand-father Omri, (see the margin,) and expect thou the same treatment from some of my posterity. She took no notice of the hand of God gone out against her family, but flew in the face of him who was only a sword in that hand. Thus men are very apt, when they are in trouble, to break out into passion against the instruments of their trouble, when they ought to be submissive to God, and angry at themselves only. The cases of Zimri and Jehu were not at all parallel. Zimri, who had come to the throne by blood and treachery, and who, within seven days, was constrained to burn the palace over his head, and himself in it, had no warrant for assuming the government, but was incited to do it purely by his own ambition and cruelty; whereas Jehu was anointed to be king at the express command of God, given to Elijah, (1Ki 19:16,) and in all he did against the house of Ahab, acted by divine direction. In comparing persons and things, we must carefully distinguish between the precious and the vile; and take heed, lest in the fate of sinful men we read the doom of useful men.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9:31 Jezebel accused Jehu of being another Zimri, perhaps to remind him that Zimri’s quest for power was short-lived (1 Kgs 16:15-19).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

As though she would say, Can any traitor, or any that riseth against his superior, have good success? read 1 Kings 16:10.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 31. Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?] Jarchi paraphrases this place thus: "If thou hast slain thy master, it is no new thing; for Zimri also slew Elah, the son of Baasha;" which words were rather intended to conciliate than to provoke. But the words are understood by most of the versions thus: Health to Zimri, the slayer of his master!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(31) And as . . . she said.—And Jehu had come into the gate, and she said.

Had Zimri . . . master?—Rather, Art well (literally, Is it peace), thou Zimri, his master’s murderer? The “Is it peace?” which Jezebel addresses to Jehu, appears to be an ironical greeting. Thenius explains: “Is there to be peace or war between me and thee, the rebel?” referring to the same phrase in 2Ki_9:17-19; 2Ki_9:22, supra. The phrase is vague enough to admit of many meanings, according to circumstances. Perhaps Jezebel, in her mood of desperate defiance, repeats the question which Jehoram had thrice asked of Jehu, as a hint that she herself is now the sovereign to whom Jehu owes an account of his doings. She goes on to call him a second Zimri—i.e., a regicide like him who slew Baasha, and likely to enjoy as brief a reign as he. (See 1Ki_16:15-18.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

31. at the gate] Of Jezreel. The king’s palace was sure to be there, because it was the custom for the king to sit in the gate to hear causes and complaints brought to him for judgement.

Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?] R.V. Is it peace, thou Zimri, thy master’s murderer? The Hebrew has ‘his master’s murderer’. These sudden changes of person are common in Hebrew but cannot be reproduced easily in English. For an example cf. verses 1, 2 of Psalms 68. ‘God … cause His face to shine … that Thy way may be known’. Jezebel could not expect peace from Jehu. The salutation must therefore be looked on as having lost its literal significance, and become a mere exclamation. For Zimri’s slaughter of Elah, and his seven days’ reign, cf. 1Ki_16:9-20. With a like short tenure of power, and the same fate, Jezebel would threaten Jehu.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they went to bury her,.... The servants of Jehu, according to his orders and instructions:

but they found no more of her than the scull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands; the flesh, and even all the rest of her bones, being devoured by dogs, so that there was scarce anything of her to be buried, as in Kg2 9:10, something similar to this happened to Ascletarion, a mathematician, as related by Suetonius (o).

(o) In Vita Domitian. c. 15.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Master. Being convinced that she could not gain the affections of Jehu, (Haydock) and thinking that he would not lay hands on a woman, (Menochius) she insolently, or in despair, (Haydock) upbraids him as a new Zambri, who might expect a similar fate, 3 Kings xvi. (Calmet) --- The name of Zambri was used proverbially to denote an ungrateful rebel; as with us Judas is used for a traitor. (Tirinus)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

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, 1Ki 16:9,16, and do thou expect the same from some of my posterity.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

31. Jehu entered in at the gate — Or rather, as the context shows, came up to the gate; that is, the gate of the palace leading into the enclosed court of the palace beyond. This gate seems to have been the royal entrance into the city of Jezreel, so that the palace was at this point built against the outer wall of the city, and to the window over the gate Jezebel had come, in order to look and speak defiance to the approaching destroyer.

Had Zimri peace, who slew his master — This is her last glory, to remind her enemy of the fate of one who had, like him, usurped the royal power, and killed his king, and, as Kitto says, “to cast one bitter, burning word upon the head of the destroyer, such as should haunt and scorch him all his life.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? This is a possible meaning of Jezebel"s words, and it has among its advocates Luther, De Wette, Maurer, and Dathe, besides our own translators. But so defiant an utterance is quite incompatible within intention to captivate and conciliate. Probably, therefore, we should understand the queen either as saying affirmatively, "Peace to thee, Zimri!" (or, "Hail, Zimri!") "slayer of thy lord," or else as asking, "Is it peace" (i.e. "Is it peace now between thee and me?"), Zimri, slayer of thy lord?" In either case, Zimri is an honorific appellation, recalling the fact of another Israelite general, who had revolted, slain his master, and reigned as king.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Had Zimri - Remember thy brother traitor Zimri had but a very short enjoyment of the benefit of his treason.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

And she said, “Is everything alright?” Do you wish to be with me in peace?

Zimri, murderer of his master. It is nothing new if you assassinated your master, for Zimri too assassinated Eilah, son of Ba’asha.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.