Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary

Adam Clarke Commentary

Thou shalt smite the house of Ahab - For their most cruel murders they have forfeited their own lives, according to that immutable law, "He that sheddeth man's blood by man shall his blood be shed." This and the two following verses contain the commission which Jehu received from the Lord against the bloody house of Ahab.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master,.... For Jehu was one of Ahab's captains, as he was now one of his son's, as appears from 2 Kings 9:25, but this was to be no objection with him to the destroying of his house, as being an act of high treason, since he had an order for it from the King of kings, and Lord of lords; which otherwise would have seemed unlawful and criminal, and what follows will sufficiently vindicate the justice of God in it:

that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel; who killed the prophets of the Lord, and caused to be put to death Naboth the servant of the Lord, and now their blood was to be avenged on her and her son Joram, and all her family.

Wesley's Explanatory Notes

And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.

I may avenge,… — That they were idolaters was bad enough: yet that is not mentioned here: the controversy God has with them, is for being persecutors. Nothing fills the measure of the iniquity of any prince so as this doth, nor brings a surer or sorer ruin.

John Trapp Complete Commentary

2 Kings 9:7 And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.

Ver. 7. And thou shalt smite.] See on 2 Kings 9:1.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible

Smite, i.e. kill and destroy, as that word is used, Genesis 8:21, and elsewhere.

Thy master; thy former lord and king.

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments

2 Kings 9:7. And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab — Thou shalt execute my judgment upon them, pronounced long ago. That I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, &c. — That they were idolaters was bad enough, and merited all that was brought upon them; yet this is not mentioned here; but the controversy God has with them is for their being persecutors. Nothing fills up the measure of the iniquity of any prince or people so much as this doth; nor brings a surer or sorer ruin. This was the sin which principally brought on Jerusalem both its first and its final destruction, 2 Chronicles 36:16, and Matthew 23:37-38. Jezebel’s whoredoms and witchcrafts were not so provoking to God as her persecuting the prophets and other faithful worshippers of God, killing some, and driving the rest into corners and caves, 1 Kings 18:4.

George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Jezabel, who had persecuted the prophets unto death, 3 Kings xviii. 4.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(7) The house of Ahab thy master.—Not Ahab thy master, but the house of Ahab thy lords. The LXX. adds, from before me.

The blood of my servants the prophets.—See 1 Kings 18:4; 1 Kings 18:13.

The blood of all the servants of the Lord.—We are not told elsewhere, but the thing is in itself probable, that Jezebel persecuted to the death those who clung to the exclusive worship of Jehovah.

At the hand of Jezebel.—Comp. Genesis 9:5. Jezebel (Heb., ’Izèbel) means immaculata—i.e., virgo. Is it the original of Isabel, Isabella, Isbel?

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.

I may avenge

Deuteronomy 32:35,43; Psalms 94:1-7; Matthew 23:35; Luke 18:7,8; Romans 12:19; 13:4; Hebrews 10:30; Revelation 6:9,10; 18:20; 19:2

at the hand

32-37; 1 Kings 18:4; 21:15,21,25

Reciprocal: Numbers 31:3 - avenge the Lord;  1 Kings 15:29 - he left not;  2 Kings 8:18 - the house;  2 Kings 10:10 - the Lord hath done;  2 Kings 10:16 - Come with me;  Job 27:14 - children;  Jeremiah 26:5 - my;  Revelation 2:20 - that woman