Chapter 9

Elisha sends a son of the prophets to Ramoth-Gilead to anoint Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat King of Israel.  Then the son is to run away quickly.  (What is Jehoshaphat's son doing as King in the north?  Jehoshaphat was a southern King.  Jehu is a commander, and the son anoints him over Israel and tells him he is to wipe out the house of Ahab as Jeroboam and Baasha were wiped out and to wreak vengeance on Jezebel.  The reason for this is so that God can be avenged on Jezebel for the blood of all the prophets she killed.  So Ahab is dead, and Jehoram/Joram is ruling in the north, but Jezebel is still alive.  Don't know if Joram is her son or a son of another wife, but at the very least her husband's son is ruling.  She is likely still very well taken care of.  The son of the prophet delivers Elisha's message to Jehu, then he "flees".

Jehu's companions ask him what that mad prophet wanted, and Jehu tells them.  So they blow the trumpet and declare Jehu King.

At the time this all happens, the Northern army is in Ramoth-gilead on guard against an invasion by Hazael.  Joram, King of Israel until a few minutes ago, is in Jezreel recovering from wounds received while fighting against Hazael, and Ahaziah, King of Judah is in Jezreel visiting Joram.  Jehu grabs a chariot and heads for Jezreel.  When Jehu gets close, the guards see him coming.  Joram sends out a messenger, who doesn't return, then a second one, who also does not return.  By now Jehu is close enough that the watchman identifies him.  For some odd reason, despite the messengers not returning, Joram and Ahaziah get in their own chariots and go out to meet Jehu.  The two current kings and son of a southern King just recently anointed as King of the northern Kingdom meet at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite.  We have seen this name Naboth before, but this may be a different Naboth.  (As they begin to speak we learn that Joram is indeed Jezebel's son.)  Things get dicey and Joram turns to get out of there, warning Ahaziah that this is treachery.  But Jehu shoots Joram with an arrow that pierces his heart from behind as he flees.  Jehu orders that Joram be thrown off the wall of Jezreel onto the plot of ground - the vineyard - owned formerly by Naboth.  Ohhhh!  This is why the exact spot of their meeting is mentioned!  It was the murder of Naboth by Jezebel's plotting that had really pushed Ahab the rest of the way over the line.

Seeing this, Ahaziah flees, but Jehu pursues him and says "Shoot him also", and they do so.  Jehu doesn't personally murder Ahaziah.  Ahaziah gets as far as Megiddo with an arrow(s) in him, and dies there.  He is carried home to Jerusalem and buried there.  vs 29:

29 In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah. [2Ki 9:29 ESV]

An odd place for this verse.  These usually come at the beginning of a King's reign, not upon his death.  Seems a little out of place.

As Jehu comes into town Jezebel paints up her eyes and calls Jehu a murderer.  Two or three eunuchs throw her down from her tower.  Blood spatters on the wall and the horses, and the horses trample her.  After he eats a good meal, Jehu orders her buried because she's a King's daughter.  But all they find is her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands because the dogs have eaten the rest.