Inductive Bible Studies,

Twentieth Study.—Israel and Judah during the First Three Reigns of the Dynasty of Jehu.¹

[The material of this " study " is furnished by Professors Beecher and Harper. It is edited by Professor Harper.]

I. PRELIMINARY NOTES.

1. Properly, there should be given in connection with this lesson a more or less complete list of Assyriological helps. This list, however, will be reserved for the twenty-first "study" (February).

2. For general work the following literature is suggested:

(1) Geikie, "Hours with the Bible," vol. IV., ch. 6;

(2) Stanley, "History of the Jewish Church," 2d series, Lecture XXXII.;

(3) articles in Smith's Bible Dictionary on the various names which come up in the "study;"

(4) Old Testament Histories in loc.

II. THE BIBLICAL LESSON.

Prepare for recitation 2 Kgs. 8:28-14:16, and 2 Chron. 22:5-25:24, in the order of the following topics:

1. Overthrow of the Dynasty of Omri.²

(1) 2 Kgs. 8:28,29; 2 Chron. 22:5.6, Jehoram and Ahaziah at Ramoth-gilead and at Jezreel;

(2) 2 Kgs. 9:1-15, anointing of Jehu;

(3) 2 Kgs. 9:16-26, 2 Chron. 22:7, death of Jehoram;

(4) 2 Kgs. 9:30-37, death of Jezebel;

(5) 2 Kgs. 10:1-11, death of Ahab's sons;

(6) 2 Kgs. 9:27,28; 10:12-14; 2 Chron. 22:7-9, death of Ahaziah and his "brethren;"

(7) 2 Kgs. 10:15,16,23, Jehonadab, son of Rechab.

2. Jehu's Religious Policy,³ 2 Kgs. 10:17-31.

3. Athaliah's Six Years⁴ (A. Di. 91-96), 2 Kgs. 11:1-20; 2 Chron. 22:10-23:21.

4. Remainder of Jehu's Reign of 28 years, to beginning of the twenty-third of Joash of Judah (to close of A. Di. 118), 2 Kgs. 10:36; 12:6.

(1) 2 Kgs. 11:4-12:3; 2 Chron. 23:1-24:3, early years of Joash of Judah;

(2) 2 Kgs. 12: 4-6; 2 Chron. 24:4,5, his first attempt to repair the temple;

(3) 2 Kgs. 10: 32-36, Hazael deprives Israel of all its territory east of Jordan;⁵ death of Jehu.

5. Reign of Jehoahaz of Israel (A. Di. 119-135, seventeen years).

(1) 2 Kgs. 10:35; 13:1-3, his accession;

(2) 2 Kgs. 12:7-16; 2 Chron. 24:8-16, second attempt of Jehoash of Judah to repair the temple;

(3) 2 Chron. 24:15-22, death of Jehoiada, followed by defection of Jehoash of Judah;

(4) 2 Kgs. 13:3-7, Israel wasted by Hazael;

(5) 2 Kgs. 13:10, Jehoash of Israel co-king with Jehoahaz⁶ (A. Di. 133-135).

6. The Sixteen Years of Jehoash of Israel (A. Di. 136-151).

(1) 2 Kgs. 13:9-13 his accession and general character;

(2) 2 Kgs. 12:17,18; 2 Chron. 24:20-25, Hazael invades Judah;

(3) 2 Kgs. 13:14-22, death of Elisha; Syrians and Moabites in Israel;

(4) 2 Kgs. 13:24, Ben-hadad succeeds Hazael;

(5) 2 Kgs. 12:19-21; 14:1-6; 2 Chron. 24:25-25:4, Amaziah succeeds Jehoash of Judah (his first year being A. Di. 137);

(6) 2 Kgs. 13:23-25, Jehoash of Israel beats Ben-hadad three times;

(7) 2 Kgs. 14:7,10; 2 Chron. 25:5-13, 14,19,20), Amaziah's expedition against Edom;

(8) 2 Kgs. 14:8-14; 2 Chron. 25:14-24, victory of Jehoash over Amaziah.

III. TEXTUAL TOPICS.

1. 2 Kgs. 9:3. "Flee, tarry not."  

2. 2 Kgs. 9:7-10. "Smite the house of Ahab" (cf. 1 Kgs. 21: 29); like the house of Jeroboam (cf. 1 Kgs. 14: 10); Jezebel (cf. 1 Kgs. 21:23).  

3. 2 Kgs. 9:11. "Ye know the man, and his communication."  

4. 2 Kgs. 9:13. "And put it under him on the top of the stairs."  

5. 2 Kgs. 9:22. "Whoredoms," "witchcrafts."  

6. 2 Kgs. 9:29. Evidence against the authenticity of this verse.  

7. 2 Kgs. 9:30. "Painted her eyes, and tired her head."  

8. 2 Kgs. 10:1. How was Jehu's wisdom shown in this?

9. 2 Kgs. 10:9. "Ye be righteous, etc."  

10. 2 Kgs. 10:15,16. Jehonadab, the son of Rechab (cf. Jer. 35:6,7); "see my zeal for the Lord."  

11. 2 Kgs. 10:18. What had been Jehu's religion, that of Baal or Jehovah?  

12. 2 Kgs. 10:22. "The vestry;" by whom were vestments worn?  

13. 2 Kgs. 10:25,27. "Cast them out;" "went to the city of the house of Baal;" "draught house."  

14. 2 Kgs. 10: 31. Why was he so hostile to Baal-worship, yet friendly to the worship of the calves?  

15. 2 Kgs. 10:32. "Cut Israel short," cf. the fact that Jehu was an ally of Assyria, and as such the enemy of Hazael.

16. 2 Kgs. 11:3. "Hid in the house of the Lord six years."  

17. 2 Kgs. 11:4. Who were the Carites? Cf. Cherethites.  

18. 2 Kgs. 11:12. What was the "testimony" (Exod. 25:16,21; Deut. 17:18,19)? "clapt their hands," cf. Ps. 47:1; 98:8.  

19. 2 Kgs. 11:14. What was "the pillar?"  

20. 2 Kgs. 12:4. What three kinds of money in this verse?  

21. 2 Kgs. 12:6-8. The meaning of the various statements here made.  

22. 2 Kgs. 12:16. The money for the guilt offerings (Lev. 5:1-6), for the sin-offering (Lev. 5:7-12).  

23. 2 Kgs, 12:17. Set his face to go up to Jerusalem (2 Chron. 24: 23,24).  

24. 2 Kgs. 12:20. Slew Joash (2 Chron. 24: 25,26).  

25. 2 Kgs. 13:5. "Saviour;" "went out from under the hands of the Syrian;" "dwelt in tents."  

26. 2 Kgs. 13:7. Force of this verse.  

27. 2 Kgs. 13:14. How account for the tender regard here shown by the king for Elisha, and yet for his failure to abandon the calf-worship?  

28. 2 Kgs. 13:15-19. The meaning of this symbolical transaction.  

29. 2 Kgs. 13:20,21. The difficulties suggested by this passage.  

30. 2 Kgs. 14:6. The bearing of this verse upon the date of Deut.?  

31. 2 Kgs. 14:9. The interpretation of the apologue (cf. Judg. 9:8-15).  

32. 2 Kgs. 14:13. What was done with Amaziah?  

33. 2 Kgs. 14:15. What does this repetition (13:12) indicate?

IV. SPECIAL TOPICS.

1. Israelitish and Jewish Kings.

(1) Names of those taken up in this lesson;

(2) duration of each reign;

(3) synchronism of the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah.

2. Variations between 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles (8:28-14:16 22:5-25:24).

(1) Cases in which one account gives a different statement from the other;

(2) events or statements in Kings and not in Chronicles;

(3) events or statements in Chronicles and not in Kings;

(4) the impressions produced by these variations.

3. The Dynasty of Omri.

(1) Its connection with the royal line of Judah;

(2) its connection with Tyre and Sidon;

(3) its reputation in Assyria;

(4) the great sins of which this dynasty, in particular Ahab's family, were guilty;

(5) the consequences of a prolonged rule of this house;

(6) was Jehu's revolution⁷ justifiable?

(7) Elisha's share in this revolution (cf. Jerem. 1:10); in what respects was the part which he played characteristically prophetic?

4. Jehu.⁸

(1) How far personally responsible for the revolution?

(2) the qualities which show him to have been well adapted to the work to which he was called;

(3) the proverb "to drive like Jehu;"

(4) his character;

(5) his name on the monuments;⁹

(6) an estimate of the motives which regulated his conduct throughout his administration.

5. Jehonadab, the Son of Rechab.

(1) The information furnished in this passage;

(2) the information furnished in Jer. 35;

(3) the theory that this was a national and nomadic community;

(4) the theory that it was a religious community.

6. The Elevation of Joash.

(1) Its special significance.

(2) Athaliah:

(a) compared with Jezebel;

(b) her influence;

(c) the question of a woman acting as chief ruler;

(d) her end.

(3) Jehoiada:

(a) the wisdom of his policy;

(b) his motive;

(c) his character as revealed in the transaction.

(4) What ground for the idea that the elevation of Joash was a priest-revolution, as that of Jehu was a prophet-revolution.

7. The Reign of Joash.

(1) Why is special attention given by the writer to the work of restoring the temple?

(2) Weakness of character shown in

(a) allowing Astarte-worship (2 Chron. 24:17 seq.);

(b) killing Zechariah (2 Chron. 24:20 seq.);

(c) dealing with Hazael.

(3) His death.

8. Last Hours of Elisha.

(1) The last mention made of him.

(2) Explanation of his silence and non-activity for forty-five years.

(3) The significance of his last prophetic utterance.

(4) The story of the man who was laid in his grave:

(a) its significance, if accepted;

(b) the view which regards it as a myth;

(c) the connection of this story with the principle underlying relicworship.

V. GENERAL REMARKS.¹⁰

1. Samas-rimman of Assyria was succeeded by Rimman-nirari III., whose first year, by the cast of the chronology given in the " Biblical Lesson," corresponded to the third year of Jehoahaz, and whose twenty-nine years nearly covered the reigns of Jehoahaz and his successor Jehoash. Rimman-nirari says (unfortunately, the precise date is lost) that he subjugated Syria, all Phoenicia, Tyre, Zidon, Omri, Edom and Philistia, and fixed taxes and tribute over them. He gives details of his victories over Mariha, the king of Damascus Syria (see Smith's " Canon," p. 115). It is not easy to decide whether Mariha was the successor of Ben-hadad, or whether the name is another name for Ben-hadad or for Hazael.

2. To the latter part of the time covered by this study belong, according to the opinion of many, the writing of the books of Joel and Obadiah. To the same years, probably, belong the events referred to in the first of the prophetic discourses that make up the Book of Amos (see Amos, chs. 1 and 2). The life and prophesying of Jonah belongs to the same years, or a little later, 2 Kgs. 14:25. These prophetic books should be read and studied in connection with the history.

3. Prominent in the historical situation in Joel, Obadiah, and Amos 1 and 2, is a scene in which a foreign enemy sat in the gates of Jerusalem, holding drunken revelry there, and (not carrying the people as a body into exile, but) selling large numbers of Judaite captives into slavery and exile, some of them to the Greeks, and some to other distant lands. In this, Tyre, Zidon, the Philistine cities, Egypt, and Edom are charged with especial guilt as accessories, while charges of a different character, dealing with outrages committed east of the Jordan, are made against Damascus and Ammon and? Moab. Edom, especially, is charged with making capital out of the calamities of his brother Israel. See Joel 3:1-7,19; Obad. 10-16,20; Amos 1 and 2; 4:10,11, etc.

4. What was the written law of Moses, 2 Kgs. 14:6; 2 Chron. 25:4; 23:18? The law of the Lord, 2 Kgs. 10:31? The " testimony," 2 Kgs. 11:12; 2 Chron. 23:11?

5. If the early date for these prophets be the true one, and if these references belong to any event mentioned in the historical books of the Bible, that event is likely to be Hazael's invasion of Judah; form an opinion, by comparing the books, as to whether this is the case.

1) Note on the Chronology.-If the dates given in this study were reduced to dates B. C., taking the first year of Jeroboam I. to be 975 B. C., they would agree nearly, though not exactly, with the dates given inthe margins of most marginal Bibles. Again, assuming that the accession year of Jehu, 90 A. Di., was 842 B. C., and reducing the dates here given to dates B. C.,they will agree closelywith the dates accepted by most Assyriologists, exceptthose who reject the biblical dates by the wholesale. The Assyrian synchronisms herein given differfrom those sometimes stated, but are accurate, on the assumption that the eighteenth year of Shalmanezer II. was the year of Jehu's accession, that is the year before his "first year."

All work on these dates should be done by a process of parallel columns, like that described in the last lesson, and not by processes of combining and averaging numbers, or of conjectural correction.

2) Shalmaneser II. says (Black Obelisk, lines 97-99,and second epigraph; also Bull Inscription, C. I., vol iii., page 5, cited in Smith's "Assyrian Canon," page 113, and "Records of the Past," vol. v.) that in his eighteenth year, he defeated Hazael of Damascus, capturing from him an immense number of chariots and horses; and that he received tribute from Hazael, and from Jehu, the son of Omri." On the obelisk is the figure of Jehu, making his submission and giving tribute. Apparently the pressure upon Syria from Shalmaneser afforded Jehoram and Ahaziah their opportunity to attack Ramoth-gilead, and afforded Jehu his opporunity to rise against Jehoram. Apparently, also, Jehu signalized his accession not only by extirpating the Baalite religion, but by promptly submitting himself as a tributary to the Assyrian empire.

3) It appears from this that Jehoram had continued to favor the religion of Baal, though he had deposed it from being the state religion. 2 Kgs. 3: 2,3.

4) During the first of these years, Shalmaneser says that he cut cedars in Lebanon; the third he says that he again defeated Hazael, and received the tribute of Tyre, Zidon, etc.

5) If the claims made by Mesha on the Moabite stone are correct, Hazael only completed what Mesha had begun.

During this period, Assur-dayan, in Mesopotamia, revolted, with some success, against Shalmaneser. In A. Di. 108,Samas-rimman,son and successor of Shalmaneser, in his first year, conquered the rebel. In each of the two following years, his troops reached the Mediterranean. Presumably, Hazael and Jehu both continued tributary. See Inscription of Samas-rimman, " Records of the Past," vol. i., page 13.

6) But Josephus says that Jehu reigned twenty-seven years, and that Jehoahaz came to the throne in the twenty-first year of Jehoash of Judah. By his numerals there was no co-reign at this point.

7) For a compendious statement of various opinions concerning this revolution and its significance, see Lange, 2 Kgs., pp. 105,106.

8) See note by Prof. W. G. Sumner, in Lange's "2 Kings," pp. 102, 103.

9) Schrader, The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament, vol. I., p. 199, seq.

10) By Professor Beecher.