ther's throne, and fight for your master's | pit of the shearing house, even two and forty house.

4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand?

5 And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine

eyes.

6 Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be 'mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of

the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up.

7 And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jez

reel.

8¶And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning.

9 And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?

10 Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the LORD hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah,

11 So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his 'kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

12 And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the 'shearing house in the way,

13 Jehu 'met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king, and the children of the queen.

14 And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the

men; neither left he any of them.

10

15 And when he was departed thence, he 'lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.

16 And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD. So they made him ride in his chariot.

17 And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the LORD, which he spake to Elijah.

18 ¶ And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much.

19 Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.

20 And Jehu said, "Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it. 21 And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was 1full from one end to another.

22 And he said unto him that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.

23 And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the LORD, but the worshippers of Baal only.

24 And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed fourscore men without, and said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, he that letteth him go, his life shall be for the life of him.

25 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come 4 Heb. by the hand of. 5 Or, acquaintance. Heb. house of shepherds binding sheep. 8 Heb. to the peace of, &e. 9 Heb. found. 10 Heb. blessed, 11 Heb. Sanctify. Or, so full, that they stood mouth to mouth.

? Heb. for me, * 1 Kings 21. 29.

7 Heb. found.

241

forth. And they smote them with 13the edge 31 But Jehu "took no heed to walk in of the sword; and the guard and the cap- the law of the LORD God of Israel with all tains cast them out, and went to the city of his heart: for he departed not from the sins the house of Baal. of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.

26 And they brought forth the "images out of the house of Baal, and burned them. 27 And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day. 28 Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. 29Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that were in Dan.

30 And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.

32 In those days the LORD began "to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel;

33 From Jordan "eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.

13 Heb. the mouth. 14 Heb. statues. 15 Heb. observed not.
18 Or, even to Gilead and Bashan.

18

16

Verse 6. "The king's sons...were with the great men of the city, which brought them up."-It was a custom in some of the ancient Oriental nations, and is in some of the modern, for the king's sons to be consigned to the care of the principal nobles, who were bound to see them properly brought up and educated. In some countries where this is not quite the regular custom, the king, perhaps to relieve his own purse when his children are numerous, forces on some of his nobles this mark of his royal favour. The serious expense involved makes many unwilling to undertake such charges; but they are obliged to appear delighted with the distinction: and often they really are so, in contemplation of the ultimate advantages they may derive from the connection.

8. "Lay them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate."-Heads are always regarded as the best trophies of victory in the East. The heads of enemies slain in battle, of robbers, and of persons who have been put to death by the royal order, are presented to the king, and afterwards deposited at his palace-gate. If there is but one head, or only a few, they are fixed at some conspicuous part of the gate: and at the grand entrance to the sultan's palace (seraglio) at Constantinople there are niches appropriated to this purpose. When they are more numerous, they are heaped up on each side of the gate, and to swell such barbarous monuments of the monarch's victories or vengeance, it has sometimes been known that prisoners have been slain in cold blood, and innocent persons murdered. These horrid usages prevail throughout Asia, but are more revoltingly displayed, we believe, in Persia than elsewhere. It has there, not seldom, been known that the king has expressed his anger at some town or village, by demanding from it a pyramid of heads, of given dimensions; and Sir John Malcolm says, that the executioners are so indifferent to the distresses of others, that they will select a head of peculiar appearance and long beard to grace the summit of the pyramid. Sometimes the Oriental conquerors desire to form such heads into permanent monuments of the transaction; and this is usually done by erecting pillars for the purpose and inlaying them with the heads of the slain. There are several of these savage monuments in Persia and Turkey. The most recent known to us are the two pillars, which were erected about fifteen years since on each side of the way, near one of the gates of Bagdad, and which are inlaid with the heads of two hundred Khezail Arabs, slain or captured in an engagement with the troops of the pasha.

15. "Jehonadab the son of Rechab."-See the note on Jerem. xxxv. 6. From the statement in the text to which we refer, we can collect that Jehonadab was a person whose piety and manner of life procured him such respect and infuence, as must have rendered his countenance and assistance of the utmost consequence to Jehu, by quieting the minds of the people under the measures of violence which were at this time in progress.

"Give me thy hand.”—We are not to understand that Jehu desired Jehonadab to give him his hand, merely to assist him in ascending the chariot; but for a far more significant and important purpose. Three meanings may be assigned to the act, as illustrated by the current usages of the East. 1. The joining of hands is a token of amity, as with us: the shaking of hands has precisely the same meaning as we assign to it; but it is not frequently used in common intercourse, perhaps, because the Orientals have other acts of greeting and salutation which we have not. 2. To confirm what has been said, or to complete an agreement. We also have something of this use; but the implied idea is stronger in the East, since the act of joining hands is employed in giving all the solemnity and inviolability of an oath to declarations, promises, and covenants. Perhaps it was in this sense-that is, for Jehonadab thus to confirm the declaration of his sanction and concurrence-that Jehu desired to take his hand. 3. But there is still a third sense, which is at least equally to the purpose: this is, that to give the hand to a new king is an act of homage to him—an act by which his sovereign character is recognised and fidelity to him is pledged. We incline to the opinion that this was the sense in which Jehu desired to receive the hand of Jehonadab; as it is easy to see of what importance it must have been to him, that such a man as the son of Rechab should set the example of recognition and pledged allegiance. There is no doubt as to the existence of the custom, although there may be same as to its application to the present instance. It appears, that whenever a competition arose among the successors of Mahommed for the Khalifat, he on whom the preference fell, received the hands of the principal persons as a pledge of their fealty. At the first election,

the hot contest for the succession was terminated by Omar, who gave his hand to Abubekr, and promised him his allegiance; and his influential example was followed by the rest. (Ockley's Conquest of Syria,' p. 4.) On the death of Abubekr, Omar succeeded quietly; and we then hear of no offering or receiving of hands. But when Omar died, there was another contest; and Ali having declined the conditions which Othman accepted, the principal persons gave their hands to the latter, and Ali, after some demur, following the example, extended his hand and acknowledged Othman as khalif. (D'Herbelot, in Bial' and 'Othman.') When Othman was dead, several of the principal persons came to Ali, and offered him their hands; but he declined receiving this customary act of recognition till the example should be set by Thaleha and Zobeir; two persons of great influence, who were then absent. They were sent for, and on their arrival offered him their hands; and he told them, if they gave him their hands, to do it in good earnest, as otherwise he would himself prefer giving his own hand to either of them that would accept the government. This they refused; and he then received their hands. At a subsequent period, when the abovenamed Thaleha was dying of a wound at Basrah, he sent for a man belonging to Ali, and said, "Give me your hand, that I may put mine in it, and by this act renew the oath of fidelity which I have already taken to Ali." (Ockley's Hist. of the Saracens ;' D'Herbelot, in voce A) These instances are conclusive as to the custom, and give great probability to the inference we have stated.

7 And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD about the king.

8 And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand: and he that cometh within the ranges, 12 Chron. 22. 10. 2 Heb. seed of the kingdom. 32 Chron. 23 1. 7 Heb. shoulder.

Heb. offices.

Chap. xi.-The history in this chapter is repeated, with additions, in 2 Chron. xxii. 10-12, and the whole of xxiii., where the necessary notes will be given.

3 Heb. holinesses.

4 Heb. the money of the souls of his estimation. 6 Heb. in the twentieth year and third, year. 7 Heb. threshold. 8 Or, secretary.

10 Heb. brought it forth.

Chap. xii.-This chapter is substantially repeated in 2 Chron. xxiv., but with larger additions and greater difference of words than in the text parallel to the preceding chapter. See the notes on 2 Chron. xxiv.