2 Kings 9:22 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
2 Kings 9:22
And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?
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
2 Chronicles 21:13 But hast walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and hast made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to go a whoring, like to the whoredo…
Nahum 3:4 Because of the multitude of the whoredoms of the wellfavoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredom…
1 Kings 16:30-33 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.
1 Kings 18:4 For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fe…
1 Kings 19:1-2 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
1 Kings 21:8-10 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his…
1 Kings 21:25 But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
Isaiah 57:19-21 I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.
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…
What peace, so long as the whoredoms - Though the words whoredom, adultery, and fornication, are frequently used to express idolatry, and false religion, in general; yet here they may be safely taken in their common and most obvious sense, as there is much reason to believe that Jezebel was the patroness and supporter of a very impure system of religion; and to this Jehu might refer, rather than to the calf-worship, to which himself was most favourably disposed.
John Gill
Dictionary and topics
Ahaziah — Held by Jehovah. (1.) The son and successor of Ahab. He followed the counsels of his mother Jezebel, and imitated in wickedness the ways of his father. In his reign the Moabites revolted from under…
Enchantments — (1.) The rendering of Hebrew latim_ or _lehatim, which means “something covered,” “muffled up;” secret arts, tricks (Ex. 7:11, 22; 8:7, 18), by which the Egyptian magicians imposed on the credulity…
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.…
Jehu — Jehovah is he. (1.) The son of Obed, and father of Azariah (1 Chr. 2:38). (2.) One of the Benjamite slingers that joined David at Ziklag (1 Chr. 12:3). (3.) The son of Hanani, a prophet of Judah (1…
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…
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).
Witchcraft — (1 Sam. 15:23; 2 Kings 9:22; 2 Chr. 33:6; Micah 5:12; Nahum 3:4; Gal. 5:20). In the popular sense of the word no mention is made either of witches or of witchcraft in Scripture. The “witch of En-dor”…
Ahaziah · .History of — .History of
Church And State · .Withdraws support and anoints a succes — .Withdraws support and anoints a succes
on 2 Kings 9:22
And it came to pass, when Joram saw, Jehu, that he said, is it peace, Jehu?.... Have things gone well at Ramothgilead? art thou come in triumph from thence? or obliged to fly from the Syrians? or art thou come in a peaceable, or in an hostile manner to me?
and he answered, what peace; canst thou expect at home or abroad, from me or others:
so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many? which may be understood both literally of corporeal whoredom, and diabolical arts she was addicted to, and figuratively of idolatry, often called whoredom in Scripture, and of the wicked arts and methods she made use of to inveigle and entice persons into it; and both these v…
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
Jezebel · Was an idolatress and persecuted the prophets of God — Was an idolatress and persecuted the prophets of God
Joram · .Killed by Jehu — .Killed by Jehu
Kings · Who reigned over Judah: Ahaziah — Who reigned over Judah: Ahaziah
Naboth · His mur — His mur
Sorcery · .By Jezebel — .By Jezebel
Usurpation · .By Jehu — .By Jehu
Whoredom · Licentious rites of, in idolatrous worship — Licentious rites of, in idolatrous worship
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).