2 Kings 9:17 - meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Kings 9:17
And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?
to stand · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
watchman
וְהַצֹּפֶה֩ve.ha.tzo.Peh
H6822
properly · conjunction + definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
tower
הַמִּגְדָּ֜לha.mig.Dal
H4026
a tower (from its size or height) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Jezreel
בְּיִזְרְעֶ֗אלbe.yiz.re.'El
H3157
Jizreel · preposition + proper noun, a place name
spied
וַיַּ֞רְאvai.Yar'
H7200
to see · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
company
שִׁפְעַ֤תshif.'At
H8229
copiousness · noun, common feminine singular construct
Jehu
יֵהוּא֙ye.Hu'
H3058
Jehu · proper noun, a man's name
came
בְּבֹא֔וֹbe.vo.'O
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · preposition + verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
said
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
see
רֹאֶ֑הro.'Eh
H7200
to see · verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
company
שִׁפְעַ֖תshif.'At
H8229
copiousness · noun, common feminine singular construct
Joram
יְהוֹרָ֗םye.ho.Ram
H3088
Jehoram · proper noun, a man's name
said
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Take
קַ֥חkach
H3947
to take (in the widest variety of applications) · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
horseman
רַכָּ֛בra.Kav
H7395
a charioteer · noun, common masculine singular absolute
send
וּֽשְׁלַ֥חu.she.Lach
H7971
to send away · conjunction + verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
meet
קִרְאָהqirʼâh
H7125
an encountering
say
וְיֹאמַ֥רve.yo.Mar
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal, 3rd person masculine singular
peace
הֲשָׁלֽוֹםha.sha.Lom
H7965
safe · interrogative particle + noun, common masculine singular absolute
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 16:4 And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou p…
1 Samuel 17:22 And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.
2 Samuel 13:34 But Absalom fled. And the young man that kept the watch lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came much people by the way of th…
2 Samuel 18:24 And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate unto the wall, and lifted up his eyes, and looked, a…
1 Kings 2:15 And he said, Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit the kingdom is…
2 Kings 7:14 They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.
2 Kings 9:19 Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to…
Isaiah 21:6-9 For thus hath the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Kings 9:16-29
From Ramoth-Gilead to Jezreel was more than one day's march; about the mid-way between them the river Jordan must be crossed. We may suppose Jehu to have marched with all possible expedition, and to have taken the utmost precaution to prevent the tidings from getting to Jezreel before him; and, at length, we have him within sight first, and then within reach, of the devoted king.
I. Joram's watchman discovers him first at a distance, him and his retinue, and gives notice to the king of the approach of a company, whether of friends or foes he cannot tell. But the king (impatient to know what is the matter, and perhaps jealous that the Syrians, who had wounded him, had traced him by the blood…
there stood a watchman on the tower of Jezreel--The Hebrew palaces, besides being situated on hills had usually towers attached to them, not only for the pleasure of a fine prospect, but as posts of useful observation. The ancient watchtower of Jezreel must have commanded a view of the whole region eastward, nearly down to the Jordan. Beth-shan stands on a rising ground about six or seven miles below it, in a narrow part of the plain; and when Jehu and his retinue reached that point between Gilboa and Beth-shan, they could be fully descried by the watchman on the tower. A report was made to Joram in his palace below. A messenger on horseback was quickly despatched down into the plain to meet…
A watchman on the tower - These watchmen, fixed on elevated places and generally within hearing of each other, served as a kind of telegraphs, to communicate intelligence through the whole country. But, in some cases, it appears that the intelligence was conveyed by a horseman to the next stage, as in the case before us. At this time, when the armies were at Ramoth-gilead, they were, no doubt, doubly watchful to observe the state of the country, and to notice every movement. See on Sa2 13:34 (note).
Dictionary and topics
Fenced cities — There were in Palestine (1) cities, (2) unwalled villages, and (3) villages with castles or towers (1 Chr. 27:25). Cities, so called, had walls, and were thus fenced. The fortifications consisted of…
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.…
Jezebel — Chaste, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of the Zidonians, and the wife of Ahab, the king of Israel (1 Kings 16:31). This was the “first time that a king of Israel had allied himself by marriage…
Jezreel — God scatters. (1.) A town of Issachar (Josh. 19:18), where the kings of Israel often resided (1 Kings 18:45; 21:1; 2 Kings 9:30). Here Elijah met Ahab, Jehu, and Bidkar; and here Jehu executed his…
Jezreel, Tower of — One of the turrets which guarded the entrance to the city (2 Kings 9:17).
Joram — =Jeho’ram. (1.) One of the kings of Israel (2 Kings 8:16, 25, 28). He was the son of Ahab. (2.) Jehoram, the son and successor of Jehoshaphat on the throne of Judah (2 Kings 8:24).
Watches — The periods into which the time between sunset and sunrise was divided. They are so called because watchmen relieved each other at each of these periods. There are frequent references in Scripture to…
Ahaziah · .History of — .History of
Church And State · .Withdraws support and anoints a succes — .Withdraws support and anoints a succes
Conspiracy · .Of Jehu — .Of Jehu
Horse, The · Used for: Conveying posts, & c — Used for: Conveying posts, & c
John Gill on 2 Kings 9:17
And there stood a watchman on the tower of Jezreel,.... Who could see afar off when an enemy was coming, and his business was to give notice of it; and especially he was now on his watch tower, because the king was there, and this was necessary for his safety:
and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company; a troop of soldiers, though he did not know who they were, and to whom they belonged, whether they were Syrians or Israelites; which was reported to the king:
and Joram said, take an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, is it peace? he might fear some ill had befallen his army at Ramothgilead, and the Syrians had got the advantage of them; or they ha…
Slaying of the Two Kings, Joram of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah. - Kg2 9:16. Jehu drove without delay to Jezreel, where Joram was lying sick, and Ahaziah had come upon a visit to him.
Kg2 9:17-21
As the horsemen, who were sent to meet him on the announcement of the watchman upon the tower at Jezreel that a troop was approaching, joined the followers of Jehu, and eventually the watchman, looking down from the tower, thought that he could discover the driving of Jehu in the approaching troop, Joram and Ahaziah mounted their chariots to drive and meet him, and came upon him by the portion of the ground of Naboth the Jezreelite. The second שׁפעת in Kg2 9:17 is a rarer form of the absolute state (…
Jehu · .Religious zeal of, in killing idolaters — .Religious zeal of, in killing idolaters
Joram · .Killed by Jehu — .Killed by Jehu
Kings · Who reigned over Judah: Ahaziah — Who reigned over Judah: Ahaziah
Tower · For watchmen (sentinels) — For watchmen (sentinels)
Towers · Watchmen posted on, in times of danger — Watchmen posted on, in times of danger
Usurpation · .By Jehu — .By Jehu
Watchman · On towers — On towers
Watchmen · Were stationed: On watch towers — Were stationed: On watch towers
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).
