2 Kings 9:7

2Ki 9:7 And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.

Ver. 7. And thou shalt smite.] See on 2Ki 9:1.

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 9:7. And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab — Thou shalt execute my judgment upon them, pronounced long ago. That I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, &c. — That they were idolaters was bad enough, and merited all that was brought upon them; yet this is not mentioned here; but the controversy God has with them is for their being persecutors. Nothing fills up the measure of the iniquity of any prince or people so much as this doth; nor brings a surer or sorer ruin. This was the sin which principally brought on Jerusalem both its first and its final destruction, 2Ch 36:16, and Mat 23:37-38. Jezebel’s whoredoms and witchcrafts were not so provoking to God as her persecuting the prophets and other faithful worshippers of God, killing some, and driving the rest into corners and caves, 1Ki 18:4.

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

Verse 7. Thou shalt smite the house of Ahab] For their most cruel murders they have forfeited their own lives, according to that immutable law, "HE that sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed." This and the two following verses contain the commission which Jehu received from the Lord against the bloody house of Ahab.

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

(7) The house of Ahab thy master.—Not Ahab thy master, but the house of Ahab thy lords. The LXX. adds, from before me.

The blood of my servants the prophets.—See 1Ki_18:4; 1Ki_18:13.

The blood of all the servants of the Lord.—We are not told elsewhere, but the thing is in itself probable, that Jezebel persecuted to the death those who clung to the exclusive worship of Jehovah.

At the hand of Jezebel.—Comp. Gen_9:5. Jezebel (Heb., ’Izèbel) means immaculata—i.e., virgo. Is it the original of Isabel, Isabella, Isbel?

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

7. thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master] The punishment of Ahab had been postponed because of his repentance (1Ki_21:29) but the sins of the father, which have blossomed and borne evil fruit in his children, will at last be thoroughly punished. The instrument chosen is one who had been in the service of Ahab, and so was aware of the evil that had been wrought by him.

my servants, the prophets] Although Obadiah was able to save a hundred, Jezebel still made havoc of the rest. And it appears from the words that follow that not the prophets only, but all the servants of the Lord, had been the objects of her rage. And she was yet alive and in power. There must have been much zeal for Jehovah to sustain the righteous spirit which manifests itself so frequently in the history of Elijah and Elisha.

at the hand of Jezebel] i.e. God will require from her and her family the penalty for all the evil that has been wrought.

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.

For the whole house of Ahab shall perish,.... Be cut off by death, and that in a violent manner, not one should escape:

and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel; of these phrases; see Gill on Kg1 14:10, Kg1 21:21

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

Jezabel, who had persecuted the prophets unto death, 3 Kings xviii. 4.

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).

Smite, i.e. kill and destroy, as that word is used, Gen 8:21, and elsewhere.

Thy master; thy former lord and king.

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

And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master. This is plainly a command, not a prophecy. Jehu is expressly ordered by God to "smite," i.e. destroy utterly, the whole house of Ahab. This command he carried out (vers. 24, 33; 2Ki_10:1-11) and his obedience to it obtained for him the temporal reward that his children to the fourth generation should sit on the throne of Israel. (2Ki_10:30) Yet still his conduct in destroying the house of Ahab is spoken of by the Prophet Hosea as a sin, and God declares, by Hosea"s mouth, that he will "avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu". (Hos_1:4) It is naturally asked could Jehu"s shedding this blood, at God"s command and in fulfillment of his will, be a sin?" And it is rightly answered, "Because, if we do what is the will of God for any end of our own, for anything except God, we do in fact our own will, not God"s. It was not lawful for Jehu to depose and slay the king his master, except at the express command of God, who, as the supreme King, sets up and puts down earthly rulers as he wills. For any other end, and done otherwise than at God"s express command, such an act is sin. Jehu was rewarded for the measure in which he fulfilled God"s commands, as Ahab, "who had sold himself to work wickedness," had yet a temporal reward for humbling himself publicly, when rebuked by God for his sin, and so honoring God, amid an apostate people. But Jehu, by cleaving, against the will of God, to Jeroboam"s sin 2Ki 11:29) which served his own political ends, showed that, in the slaughter of his master, he acted, not as he pretended, out of zeal for the will of God, (2Ki_10:16) but served his own will and his own ambition only. By his disobedience to the one command of God, he showed that he would have equally disobeyed the other, had it been contrary to his own will or interest. He had no principle of obedience. And so the blood which was shed according to the righteous judgment of God, became sin to him that shed it in order to fulfill, not the will of God, but his own" (see Dr. Pusey"s "Minor Prophets, with a Commentary," p. 9,col 1). That I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets. Comp. 1Ki_18:4 1Ki_19:14. Elijah believed all the prophets of Jehovah, except himself, to have been either slain or banished under Ahab, as we see from 1Ki_18:22 1Ki_19:10, 1Ki_19:14. And the blood of all the servants of the Lord. There had evidently been a general persecution of the followers of Jehovah, and not merely a persecution of the prophets. It was only after a number of martyrdoms that the followers of Jehovah in Israel were reduced (1Ki_19:18) to the scanty number of "seven thousand." At the hand of Jezebel. Jezebel was at the bottom of all the persecutions. Sometimes she took matters into her own hands, gave her own orders, and saw them carried out. (1Ki_18:13 1Ki_21:8-14) At other times she was content to "stir her husband up" (1Ki_21:25) and incite him to evil courses.

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

I may avenge,&c. - That they were idolaters was bad enough: yet that is not mentioned here: the controversy God has with them, is for being persecutors. Nothing fills the measure of the iniquity of any prince so as this doth, nor brings a surer or sorer ruin.

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

General Information:

The young prophet continues to speak to Jehu, whom he had just anointed as king over Israel.

I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Yahweh

Here the "blood" of the prophets and the servants refers to their deaths. AT: "I may avenge the deaths of my servants the prophets and all the servants of Yahweh" or "so that I may punish them for murdering my servants the prophets and all the servants of Yahweh" (See: Metonymy)

the blood

The understood verb may be supplied. AT: "avenge the blood" (See: Ellipsis)

who were murdered by the hand of Jezebel

This can be stated in active form. AT: "whom Jezebel commanded her servants to murder" or "whose deaths were commanded by Jezebel" (See: Active or Passive)

by the hand of Jezebel

This means that Jezebel commanded the people to be killed. AT: "by an order from Jezebel" or "by Jezebel's command" (See: Metonymy)

For the whole family of Ahab will perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male child

Here to be "cut off" means to be killed. AT: "For the whole family of Ahab will perish, and I will cause every male child in his family to be killed" or "Every member of Ahab's family will die, including every male child" (See: Euphemism)

every male child

This phrase is used to refer to every male, but it specifies "child" to emphasize that it includes children. AT: "every male" (See: Synecdoche)

translationWords

Ahab

lord

avenge

blood

servant

hand

Jezebel

perish

cut off

free

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.