JEHU (Hebr. Yehu; Assyr. Ya-u-a: LXX. lou;
Josephus, leous): Tenth king of Israel, a usurper,
successor of Joram whom he slew. His dates, according
to the old chronology, are 884-856 B.C.;
according to Kamphausen, 843-815; according to
Köhler, 881-853 B.C.; and according to Curtis
(DB, i. 401), 842-815 B.C. The Books of Kings
(I, xix. 16-17;
( II, ix.-x,)
give a detailed account
of the manner in which Jehu gained his throne,
rooted out the house of Ahab, and exterminated
the worship of Baal. The statement
(II Kings x. 32-34)
that during the reign of Jehu Hazael of
Damascus took possession of the whole of the
country east of the Jordan is to be understood of
the whole of Bashan and Gilead. The rest of the
recital, as well as I Kings xx. 22, and probably
II Kings iii. 4-27, vi. 24-vii. 17 is derived from a special North-Israelitic source, both old and valuable.
Jehu was a leader in Joram's army and, during
the battle with the Armeans at Ramoth-gilead,
had the chief command. As one day he was taking
with his captains, a youth appeared, gave
him a message from the prophet Elisha, anointed
him king over Israel, and hastened away. Jehu
then regarded himself as Yahweh's appointed instrument
to execute justice upon Ahab ? ? ?
He had the gates of the city guarded so that no
news could reach Joram, and then hastened with a
troop toward Jezreel. After two messengers despatched
by Joram had been detained, Joram and
his friend Ahaziah went to meet Jehu. In answer
to the question whether he brought good news, he
replied with the sinister remark that nothing could
be good as long as the heathenish practises of
Jezebel continued, and then sent an arrow through
the heart of the fleeing Joram. Jehu ordered the
dead body to be thrown into the neighboring field
of Naboth, and then entered Jezreel. Jezebel, by
his command, was hurled from the window at which
she stood and mocked. The nobles, who felt no
disposition to risk anything for the house of Ahab,
submitted to Jehu, and he ordered them to appear
before him the next day with the heads of the seventy
princes who were in Samaria. He declared,
hypocritically, that he was innocent of the death of
the princes, which had been accomplished by the
will of God in fulfilment of the words of Elisha, and
then proceeded to slay all the relations of Ahab
as well as his officials, friends and priests. Thereupon
he advanced against Samaria. On his way
thither, he slew forty-two princes of the house of
David, who were on their way to Jezreel to visit
their kindred (
II Kings x. 12-14). Jehu openly
sided with the party which would not tolerate the
worship of Baal and proceeded to do all in his
power to extirpate it.
All that is known of the subsequent twenty-eight
years of Jehu's reign is that he fought unsuccessfully
against the Arameans under Hazael (II Kings x. 32), who ascended the throne of Damascus about
the same time as Jehu became king of Israel
(II Kings viii. 7-15)
and by the same means--regicide.
The misfortune in this war with Syria is ascribed
(II Kings x. 31) to Jehu's protection of the calf-worship in Israel, although the continuance of his
dynasty for four generations is regarded as a reward
for rooting out Baal-worship.
W. LOTZ.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
The sources are I Kings xix. 16-17;
II Kings ix.-x.;
II Chron. xxii. 7-9. The literature is given
under AHAB (q.v.). Consult also: C. F. Burney,
Noka on the Hebrew Text of . . . Kings, Oxford, 1903; DB, ii,
564-566; EB, ii. 2355-2357; JE, vii, 88-89.
