*H Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasa, saying:
Ver. 1. Jehu was different from one of the same name and parentage, who came to Josaphat; (2 Par. xix. 2. D. T.) though, if Baasa did not put him to death, as there is some reason to doubt, he might be the same, v. 7. C. — Hanani had been sent to Asa, 2 Par. xvi. 7. Abulens. q. 3.
*H For as much as I have exalted thee out of the dust and made thee prince over my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins:
Ver. 2. I have. All power comes from God, though he frequently disapproves of the means by which people obtain it. H. — Baasa was a traitorous usurper. — My people. Many had abandoned the Lord: (H.) yet he still regards Israel as his people, sending prophets to reclaim them, and preserving many from bending the knee before Baal.
*H Behold I will cut down the posterity of Baasa, and the posterity of his house, and I will make thy house as the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat.
Ver. 3. Posterity, (posteriora. H.) children, and all that he shall leave behind. C. — Baasa himself died a natural death, v. 6. Salien.
* Footnote * 2_Paralipomenon 16 : 1
And in the six and thirtieth year of his kingdom, Baasa the king of Israel came up against Juda, and built a wall about Rama, that no one might safely go out or come in of the kingdom of Asa.*H And when the word of the Lord came in the hand of Jehu, the son of Hanani, the prophet, against Baasa, and against his house, and against all the evil that he had done before the Lord, to provoke him to anger by the works of his hands, to become as the house of Jeroboam: for this cause he slew him; that is to say, Jehu, the son of Hanani, the prophet.
Ver. 7. The evil, to punish it. M. — He, God, slew him, Baasa, (C.) or "because the latter slew" Nadab, &c. Grotius — God punished his usurpation and murders. C. — That is, &c. is not found in Heb. Chal. Sept. nor in some Latin copies. E. — Hence Jehu might survive to admonish Josaphat, v. 1. C.
*H In the six and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Ela, the son of Baasa, reigned over Israel, in Thersa, two years.
Ver. 8. Years, in part, as he was slain in the 27th year of Asa, v. 10.
*H And his servant Zambri, who was captain of half the horsemen, rebelled against him: now Ela was drinking in Thersa, and drunk in the house of Arsa, the governor of Thersa.
Ver. 9. Horsemen. Heb. "chariots." Sept. C. — But Josephus styles him, Hipparchon, "general of the horse." M. — Rebelled. Heb. "conspired." H. — He acted privately at first. M. — Governor. Heb. "steward of his house." Chal. and Arab. "in the temple of the idol Arsa," the earth, whom the pagans worshipped as the mother of gods and men; unless Arsa be put for Asera, or Astarte. C.
* Footnote * 4_Kings 9 : 31
At Jehu coming in at the gate, and said: Can there be peace for Zambri, that hath killed his master?*H And when he was king, and sat upon his throne, he slew all the house of Baasa, and he left not one thereof to piss against a wall and all his kinsfolks and friends.
Ver. 11. Wall. See 1 K. xxv. 22. — Friends, from whom he had any thing to fear. M.
*H For all the sins of Baasa, and the sins of Ela, his son, who sinned, and made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, with their vanities.
Ver. 13. Vanities; idols. H. — They raised fresh altars; or, by their example, encouraged the people to persevere in their impiety. M.
*H And when they heard that Zambri had rebelled, and slain the king, all Israel made Amri their king, who was general over Israel in the camp that day.
Ver. 16. All Israel, that was in the army, while others took part with Zambri. W.
*H And Zambri, seeing that the city was about to be taken, went into the palace, and burnt himself with the king's house: and he died
Ver. 18. Himself. Heb. may also signify, "he (Amri) burnt him." — Zambri, his rival. But the other sense is more natural. C. — Thus Sardanapalus chose to destroy himself, with all his riches, (Justin i. Athen. xii. 7.) to prevent the dead body from being insulted. It was for this reason that Sylla, the first of the Cornelian family, ordered his remains to be burnt. Cic. Leg. i. T.
*H In his sins, which he had sinned, doing evil before the Lord, and walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin, wherewith he made Israel to sin.
Ver. 19. To sin. Zambri had sufficient time, in seven days, (H.) to manifest his evil dispositions, of which he had perhaps given proof before. C.
*H Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: one half of the people followed Thebni, the son of Gineth, to make him king: and one half followed Amri.
Ver. 21. Parts. Those who had chosen Amri, were mortified at the election made by the army, and therefore set up another king. C. — The contest seems to have lasted four years. Houbigant.
*H But the people that were with Amri, prevailed over the people that followed Thebni, the son of Gineth: and Thebni died, and Amri reigned.
Ver. 22. Died in the battle, wherein Amri prevailed. M.
*H In the one and thirtieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Amri reigned over Israel twelve years: in Thersa he reigned six years.
Ver. 23. In the one and thirtieth year, &c. Amri began to reign in the seven and twentieth year of Asa; but had not the quiet possession of the kingdom, till the death of his competitor Thebni, which was in the one and thirtieth year of Asa's reign. Ch. — Twelve years in all, (W.) comprehending the four of civil war; six at Thersa, and two in Samaria. Houbigant.
*H And he bought the hill of Samaria of Semer, for two talents of silver: and he built upon it, and he called the city which he built Samaria, after the name of Semer, the owner of the hill.
Ver. 24. Silver: 684l. 7s. 6d. sterling. Arbuthnot. — The place was sold so cheap, on condition that it should be called after the original owner. Salien. — Somer dwelt there; and several houses had been already erected, (C. xiii. 32.) and even streets, by the king of Syria, for the convenience of his merchants. C. xx. 34. H. — Thersa had lately been so much ruined by civil wars, that Amri thought proper to choose a new seat of government. Samaria was greatly adorned by succeeding kings. C. xxii. 39. It stood in a delightful and commanding situation, and gave its name to the adjacent territory, and to the whole kingdom of Israel. Benadad besieged it twice; and Salmanasar took it. The kings of Egypt laid claim to it, after the death of Alexander: but Antiochus, of Syria, took it from them. Hyrcanus levelled it with the ground. Herod the Great rebuilt the city, and called it Sebaste, in honour of Augustus.
*H And Amri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted wickedly above all that were before him.
Ver. 25. Above. He made a law, (C.) to force all to conform to the established irreligion. Mic. vi. 16. H.
*H And he walked in all the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, and in his sins, wherewith he made Israel to sin: to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities.
Ver. 26. With their vanities. That is, their idols, their golden calves, vain, false, deceitful things.
*H Nor was it enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat: but he also took to wife Jezabel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. And he went, and served Baal, and adored him.
Ver. 31. Jezabel, whose name is become proverbial, to designate a proud, lewd, cruel, and impious woman. Apoc. ii. 20. Grotius compares her with Tullia, Fulvia, and Eudoxia, the respective wives of Tarquin, Anthony, and Arcadius. She was the chief promoter of all the evils of Achab's reign. He did not insist that she should embrace the true religion, when he married her; as it is supposed former kings had done, when they espoused women who had been brought up in idolatry. C. — He even introduced her country's idols, and thus enhanced upon the wickedness of his predecessors. H. — Ethbaal. Menander (ap. Jos. c. Ap. i.) calls him Ithobaal, and remarks that his reign was memorable for a year's drought; probably that of three years, under Achaz. C. xvii. 1. Ethbaal was king of Tyre, and ruled over the Sidonians likewise. C. v. 6.
*H In his days Hiel, of Bethel, built Jericho: in Abiram, his firstborn, he laid its foundations: and in his youngest son, Segub, he set up the gates thereof: according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Josue, the son of Nun.
Ver. 34. Hand. Josue had committed this curse to writing. H. — Hiel, an idolater, did not regard it, and Achab had not zeal to attempt to hinder him. But divine Providence punished his audacity. C. — All his sons perished, while the city was rebuilding. W. — See Jos. vi. 26. C.