2 Kings 9:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Kings 9:1
And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead:
a prophet or (generally) inspired man · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
called
קָרָ֕אka.Ra'
H7121
to call out to (i.e. properly · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
one
לְאַחַ֖דle.'a.Chad
H259
properly · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
children
מִבְּנֵ֣יmi.be.Nei
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
prophets
הַנְּבִיאִ֑יםha.ne.vi.'Im
H5030
a prophet or (generally) inspired man · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
said
וַיֹּ֨אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
up
חֲגֹ֣רcha.Gor
H2296
to gird on (as a belt · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
loins
מָתְנֶ֗יךָma.te.Nei.kha
H4975
properly · noun, common masculine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
take
וְ֠קַחVe.kach
H3947
to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
box
פַּ֣ךְpakh
H6378
a flask (from which a liquid may flow) · noun, common masculine singular construct
oil
הַשֶּׁ֤מֶןha.She.men
H8081
grease · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
hand
בְּיָדֶ֔ךָbe.ya.De.kha
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
go
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
Ramoth-gilead
רָמֹת גִּלעָדRâmôth Gilʻâd
H7433
Ramoth-Gilad
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Samuel 10:1 Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be c…
2 Kings 4:29 Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any…
1 Samuel 16:1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with…
1 Kings 1:39 And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, Go…
2 Kings 8:28-29 And he went with Joram the son of Ahab to the war against Hazael king of Syria in Ramoth-gilead; and the Syrians wounded Joram.
Deuteronomy 4:1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in an…
2 Kings 2:3 And the sons of the prophets that were at Beth-el came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy mas…
Luke 12:35-37 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 9:1-10
We have here the anointing of Jehu to be king, who was, at this time, a commander (probably commander-in-chief) of the forces employed at Ramoth-Gilead, Kg2 9:14. There he was fighting for the king his master, but received orders from a higher king to fight against him. It does not appear that Jehu aimed at the government, or that he ever thought of it, but the commission given him was a perfect surprise to him. Some think that he had been anointed before by Elijah, whom God ordered to do it, but privately, and with an intimation that he must not act till further orders, as Samuel anointed David long before he was to come to the throne: but that it not at all probable, for then we must suppo…
One of the children of the prophets - The Jews say that this was Jonah the prophet, the son of Amittai.
Gird up thy loins - What thou hast to do requires the utmost despatch.
John Gill on 2 Kings 9:1
And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets,.... Who the Jews generally say (k) was Jonah the son of Amittai:
and said, gird up thy loins; his loose and long garments about his loins, for quicker dispatch in travelling:
and take this box of oil in thine hand; for an use after directed to:
and go to Ramothgilead; where Joram had left his army with his captains, to keep the city from the Syrians.
(k) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 18. p. 47.
Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Kings 9:1-10
Anointing of Jehu by Command of Elisha. - While the Israelitish army was at Ramoth, Elisha executed the last of the commissions which Elijah had received at Horeb (Kg1 19:16), by sending a pupil of the prophets into the camp to anoint Jehu the commander-in-chief of the army as king, and to announce to him, in the name of Jehovah, that he would be king over Israel; and to charge him to exterminate the house of Ahab.
Kg2 9:1-3
Kg2 9:1-3 contain the instructions which Elisha gave to the pupil of the prophets. השׁמן פּך as in Sa1 10:1. יהוּא שׁם ראה, look round there for Jehu. וגו הקמתו, let him (bid him) rise up from the midst of his brethren, i.e., of his comrades in arms. בּחדר חדר: the true…
The Church Fathers
"Then the prophet Elisha called a member of the company of prophets and said to him, 'Gird up your loins; take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead.' " Here the Scripture reports the just sentence that befalls the house of Ahab. Immediately it speaks about the choice of the judge and executor of the judgment. And this was Jehu, the son of Nimshi, who, on the word of the Lord, anointed one of the prophets for the royalty. And this was the disciple of Elisha who was sent by his master to the city of Ramoth-gilead, which was under the siege of the Israelites. He entered their camp and went to the tent where the commanders of the army gathered and standing before them, he naively said, "I have a message for you, commander." Jehu said in reply, "For which one of us?" The servant realized that he was the one indicated by Elisha. In fact, he did not know his name, but even though the son of the prophet did not know him nor had ever seen him, he saw the importance of this situation, and his mind was troubled, so that he said, "For you, commander." He showed that through the revelation of God he had realized that he was the one chosen by God. And immediately he took him into an inner chamber, according to the order of his master. And two things were also hidden: Jehu understood that that affair had to remain secret and that the news [of the anointing] should not be divulged at that time among the people. Therefore he anointed him and ordered him to take revenge against the house of Ahab. Then the prophet fled at once from the camp, and shortly later the entire assembly was in an admirable unanimity before king Jehu against Israel.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Box — For holding oil or perfumery (Mark 14:3). It was of the form of a flask or bottle. The Hebrew word (pak) used for it is more appropriately rendered “vial” in 1 Sam. 10:1, and should also be so…
Elijah — Whose God is Jehovah. (1.) “The Tishbite,” the “Elias” of the New Testament, is suddenly introduced to our notice in 1 Kings 17:1 as delivering a message from the Lord to Ahab. There is mention made…
Jehoram — Jehovah-exalted. (1.) Son of Toi, king of Hamath, sent by his father to congratulate David on the occasion of his victory over Hadadezer (2 Sam. 8:10). (2.) A Levite of the family of Gershom (1 Chr.…
Prophet — (Heb. nabi, from a root meaning “to bubble forth, as from a fountain,” hence “to utter”, comp. Ps. 45:1). This Hebrew word is the first and the most generally used for a prophet. In the time of…
Anointing · .Jehu — .Jehu
Box · For oil — For oil
Church And State · .Withdraws support and anoints a succes — .Withdraws support and anoints a succes
Enthusiasm · .Jehu — .Jehu
Jehu · 2. — 2.
Oil · Kept in: Boxes — Kept in: Boxes
Prophets · Schools of — Schools of
Ramoth-Gilead · Elisha anoints Jehu to be king there — Elisha anoints Jehu to be king there
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The writer recaps Jehu’s coup that instituted the fourth dynasty in Israel in four phases: (1) Elisha sent a member of the prophetic band to the army camp at Ramoth-gilead to anoint Jehu as the next king of Israel (9:1-10); (2) Jehu’s men learned of the prophet’s visit to their commander and proclaimed Jehu as king (9:11-15); (3) Both Joram and King Ahaziah of Judah were killed (9:16-29); and (4) Jezebel was killed (9:30-37).
9:1-3 Although Jehu received prophetic endorsement of his kingship, his anointing did not signify approval of all his subsequent actions. It did, however, carry a divine charge to execute the house of Ahab as punishment for his wickedness and idolatry (9:8-10).
Rashi on 2 Kings 9:1
Elisha the prophet called, etc. At the same time that Yehorom was ill in Yizre’el.
One of the prophets’ disciples. It was Yonah son of Amitai.
“Gird you loins.” Every “girding of the loins” is an expression of hurry1See above 4:29, and Shemos 12:11. [and] might; because he was sent on a perilous mission (he needed to hurry).2Even though one who performs a mitzvah is ordinarily immune from any harm befalling him, this does not apply to exceptionally dangerous activities such as this. See Maseches Chulin 142a.
