2 Kings 10:34

10:29-36 It is justly questionable whether Jehu acted from a good principle, and whether he did not take some false steps in doing it; yet no services done for God shall go unrewarded. But true conversion is not only from gross sin, but from all sin; not only from false gods, but from false worships. True conversion is not only from wasteful sins, but from gainful sins; not only from sins which hurt our worldly interests, but from those that support and befriend them; in forsaking which is the great trial whether we can deny ourselves and trust God. Jehu showed great care and zeal for rooting out a false religion, but in the true religion he cared not, took no heed to please God and do his duty. Those that are heedless, it is to be feared, are graceless. The people were also careless, therefore it is not strange that in those days the Lord began to cut Israel short. They were short in their duty to God, therefore God cut them short in their extent, wealth, and power.

Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah,.... Of whose reign, and of the three following, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, and the account of them, from hence to the end of 2 Chronicles 36:13 , what needs explanation or reconciliation; see Gill on 2 Kings 23:31 , 2 Kings 23:32 , 2 Kings 23:33 , 2 Kings 23:34 , 2 Kings 23:35 , 2 Kings 23:36 , 2 Kings 23:37 , 2 Kings 24:5 , 2 Kings 24:6 , 2 Kings 24:8 , 2 Kings 24:10 , 2 Kings 24:17 , 2 Kings 24:18

Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah,.... Of whose reign, and of the three following, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, and the account of them, from hence to the end of 2 Chronicles 36:13 , what needs explanation or reconciliation; see Gill on 2 Kings 23:31 , 2 Kings 23:32 , 2 Kings 23:33 , 2 Kings 23:34 , 2 Kings 23:35 , 2 Kings 23:36 , 2 Kings 23:37 , 2 Kings 24:5 , 2 Kings 24:6 , 2 Kings 24:8 , 2 Kings 24:10 , 2 Kings 24:17 , 2 Kings 24:18

All his might - It is remarkable that this expression, which is not used by the author of Kings in connection with any other king of Israel, should be applied to Jehu, whose ill success in his struggle with Hazael has just been noted, and who submitted to the Assyrians and consented to become a tributary. Perhaps the word is used here in the sense of "personal courage" rather than of "power."

29. Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam … Jehu departed not from after them—Jehu had no intention of carrying his zeal for the Lord beyond a certain point, and as he considered it impolitic to encourage his subjects to travel to Jerusalem, he re-established the symbolic worship of the calves.

34 . the acts of Jehu ] Jehu is one of the kings of whom we learn something from the cuneiform inscriptions. There we are told that he was the ally of Assyria. Hence he was the enemy of Hazael who was frequently at war with the Assyrians. To Assyria Jehu appears to have been a tributary ally, for his tribute is twice mentioned in the records of Salmanasar II. It is noteworthy that in both places he is spoken of as Jehu the son of Omri . The family of Omri, from their magnificence, and their alliance with Tyre and Sidon, must have exercised a great influence among the neighbouring powers, and their name would thus be employed to designate the family on the throne of Israel without regard to whether they were descendants of Omri or not. (See Schrader, Keilinschriften u. das A.T . p. 105 seqq., Engl. Translation, vol. 1: p. 199 seqq.) and all his might ] Though Jehu’s reign marks the commencement of the decay of Israel, and is specially noteworthy for the loss of territory, yet Jehu himself appears to have made his mark as a warrior. The LXX. expands the word ‘might’ and says ‘all his dynasty and the conspiracies which he formed’.

Verse 34. - Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might. This last phrase is remarkable, considering that Jehu's wars, after he became king, seem to have been entirely unsuccessful ones, that he lost a large portion of his dominions to Syria, and (as appears by the Black Obelisk) paid tribute to the Assyrians ('Records of the Past,' vol. 5. p. 41). "Might" has been ascribed by the writer of Kings only to Baasha and Omri among previous Israelite monarchs, and only to Asa and Jehoshaphat among previous Jewish ones. " All his might" has only been used of Asa. We must probably understand, that, although defeated, Jehu gained much distinction, by his personal prowess and other military qualities, in the Syrian wars, and was reckoned "a mighty man of valor" in spite of the ill success of his wars. Are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? (see the comment on 2 Kings 1:18). 2 Kings 10:34

Conclusion of the history of Jehu's reign. The length of his reign is not given till the end in this instance ( 2 Kings 10:36 ), contrary to the usual custom in our books, because his ascent of the throne is not expressly mentioned in what precedes; but the general character of his reign is given in immediate connection with the account of his anointing and of the extermination of Ahab's dynasty.