2 Kings 10:18-27

D. THE MASSACRE OF THE BAAL WORSHIPERS 10:18-27

TRANSLATION

(18) And Jehu gathered all the people, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. (19) And now call all the prophets of Baal and all his servants and all his priests unto me; let no man be lacking, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Any who is lacking shall not live. But Jehu did this deceitfully in order to destroy the servants of Baal. (20) And Jehu said, Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it. (21) And Jehu sent throughout all Israel, and every servant of Baal came, so that there did not remain a man who did not come. And they came to the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to the other. (22) And he said to the one who was over the vestry, Bring out garments for all the servants of Baal. And he brought forth to them the vestments. (23) And Jehu came along with Jehonadab son of Rechab to the house of Baal; and he said unto the servants of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the LORD, but worshipers of Baal only. (24) When they had gone in to make sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed outside eighty men, and said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hand escapes, your life instead of his life. (25) And it came to pass when he had finished making the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guards and to the officers, Go in, smite them! Let not a man go out! And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the runners and the officers cast them out, and went unto the city of the house of Baal. (26) And they brought forth the pillars of the house of Baal, and burned them. (27) And they broke in pieces the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and they made it into a dung house unto this day.

COMMENTS

Up to this point, the revolution of 841 B.C. had appeared to be nothing more than a dynastic change such as had been forced upon the nation by Baasha (1 Kings 15:27-29), Zimri (1 Kings 16:9-12), and Omri (1 Kings 16:17-19). No one as yet suspected that deep religious motives were at the root of this revolution. Jehu's remarks about the whoredoms and witchcrafts of Jezebel (2 Kings 9:22) were heard only by a few trusted conspirators. His zeal for Yahweh whispered in the ear of Jehonadab (2 Kings 10:16) had heretofore been kept secret. Thus when Jehu publicly boasted of his intention to serve Baal even more zealously than bad his predecessors, there was nothing to prevent the people from giving credence to his words (2 Kings 10:18). Consequently the prophets, priests, and worshipers of Baal were summoned to the great sacrifice with which, it was believed, Jehu would inaugurate his reign. The absence of any Baal worshiper would be interpreted as rebellion against the crown, deserving of capital punishment. All of this Jehu did deceitfully, for his intention was to utterly destroy the worshipers of this foreign god (2 Kings 10:19). Idolaters were liable to death under the Law of Moses, and Jehu would have had a perfect right to eradicate Baal worship throughout the land. However, the end does not justify the means. To draw several hundred of his subjects by false pretenses into a trap and then slay them for doing what he had himself invited them to do, is an act wholly unjustifiable.

Having stated in summary fashion how Jehu assembled the Baal worshipers, the author then proceeds to give the details. The king requested the Baal cult leaders to proclaim a solemn assembly, i.e., a day when worldly business was suspended for the sake of a religious gathering. The Baal officials were only too happy to comply with this order (2 Kings 10:20). An edict of the king went throughout the kingdom ordering all Baal worshipers to participate in the king's inaugural sacrifice. No doubt the Baal worshipers enthusiastically responded to the royal order. By the hundreds, perhaps thousands, they assembled in the courtyards of the house of Baal which Ahab had built in Samaria (2 Kings 10:21). It was customary when a king called for a great festival that those who assembled be supplied with appropriate garments so that the festivities might be as colorful as possible. So as not to arouse any suspicion, Jehu complied with this custom and ordered the keeper of the vestry to supply the worshipers with proper garb. Probably the robes were secured both from the wardrobe of the temple itself and from that of the royal palace (2 Kings 10:22).

Keeping up the pretense that he was a devotee of Baal, Jehu himself entered the house of Baal along with Jehonadab whom he wished to have as a witness to his zeal for the Lord. He then addressed the worshipers and urged that extreme vigilance be exercised to make sure that none but true worshipers of Baal were present. Of course the real object of the king was to spare the lives of any Yahweh worshipers who might have attended the festival out of curiosity, or to have their share in the revelry which attended the worship of Baal. Jehu's request would not be thought suspicious in view of the general habit of restricting the more sacred rites of a religion to sincere devotees. The worship ceremonies would be profaned by the presence of scoffers or those not truly sincere (2 Kings 10:23).

When the whole multitude of Baal worshipers had entered the sacred precincts to make the appropriate animal sacrifices, Jehu stationed at the entrance eighty trusted soldiers who were known devotees of Yahweh. These executioners were warned that any man who allowed a Baal worshiper to escape would forfeit his own life (2 Kings 10:24). When the officiating priest[566] had finished offering the sacrifices, Jehu gave the order to his guards (lit., runners) and captains to enter the temple precincts and slay the helpless worshipers. Doubtlessly some of the soldiers guarded the exits while others waded into the unarmed multitude wielding their swords right and left and casting the bodies out of their way as they pressed forward to the slaughter.

[566] Some think that Jehu himself is the one who offered the sacrifices. However the Hebrew could equally well be translated, when one finished or when they finished. Still another possibility is that Jehu might be said to have offered, the sacrifice because he furnished the victims offered not because he immolated them with his own hand.

From the outer courts where the multitude had assembled, the soldiers entered the city of the house of Baal, i.e., the inner sanctuary where Baal was enthroned surrounded by the images of his fellow gods. This area was probably reserved for priests only, and no doubt many had taken refuge here when the slaughter had commenced (2 Kings 10:25). The wooden pillars or images representing either various aspects of Baal, or perhaps subordinate deities, were brought forth and burned (2 Kings 10:26). The stone pillar representing Baal himself was broken in pieces. The house of Baal was virtually torn down, and what ruins that remained were made a draught-house, i.e., a depository for all the filth of the city (2 Kings 10:27). Thus did Jehu eliminate the worship of the Tyrian Baal from Israel (2 Kings 10:28).