Was Jehu’s Cunning Against the Baal Worshipers a Good Thing?

March 16, 2026 by: John Woodhouse

The Truth About God

Everything that is wrong in our world can be traced back to this: “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie.”

In Israel in the ninth century BC, under the influence of the house of Ahab, people had exchanged the truth about God for a lie. The lie was Baal. The worship of Baal was very bad indeed. All the evils of this regime were the fruit of this idolatry (see 2 Kings 9:22).

It is no accident, therefore, that the account of Jehu dealing with the evil of the house of Ahab comes to its dramatic climax and conclusion in a terrible confrontation with the worship of Baal. What happened to the worshipers of Baal will horrify us. When we see what Jehu did, we will need to reflect on how Baal worship could be so bad that it incurred this response from the man appointed by God to judge. We need to see clearly that to exchange the truth about God for a lie is very bad indeed. It is a story of:

  1. Cunning (2 Kings 10:18–21)
  2. Care (2 Kings 10:22, 23)
  3. Destruction (2 Kings 10:24–27)
  4. A good outcome? (2 Kings 10:28)

Cunning (2 Kings 10:18–21)

Jehu’s actions up to this point could be understood politically. All obstacles to his taking the throne in Israel had been removed. First to go were the sitting king (Jehoram, 2 Kings 9:21–26), his most powerful ally (Ahaziah, 2 Kings 9:27, 28), and the formidable force that had corrupted the whole kingdom (Jezebel, 2 Kings 9:30–37). Second, all possible claimants to the throne were slain (the “sons” of Ahab, 2 Kings 10:1–10). Third, those in Jezreel who had most loyally served King Jehoram were struck down (2 Kings 10:11). Fourth, the “relatives” of Ahaziah, who might have been expected to oppose Jehu’s revolution, met their end (2 Kings 10:12–14). Fifth, he wiped out all who might be counted as Ahab’s people in Samaria (2 Kings 10:17).

2 Kings

2 Kings

John Woodhouse

This commentary, written by an experienced Bible expositor, helps modern readers, especially pastors and Bible teachers, understand and apply the message of 2 Kings to their own lives. Part of the Preaching the Word series.

Jehu had already been acclaimed as king by the army (2 Kings 9:13). With all potential opposition out of the way, he assumed the role of national leader without further ado. What he did next demonstrated that this revolution was about more than political power.

Jehu gathered together “all the people” (2 Kings 9:18a), no doubt meaning their representatives. The new king was about to address all his subjects formally for the first time. Having struck down the house of Ahab (2 Kings 9:7), what would Jehu’s first words to all the people be? For readers of this story, what he said is enough to take your breath away. He declared to the assembled people, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much” (2 Kings 9:18b).

Readers who have already seen the cunning way in which Jehu manipulated the leading citizens in Samaria into killing the “sons” of Ahab (2 Kings 10:1–10) may suspect that Jehu’s announcement to his people was not a straightforward statement of the truth. We will see in a moment that that is so. But first let us appreciate how these words would have been heard by “all the people” that day. “Ahab served Baal.” Indeed he did. He built a temple for Baal (1 Kings 16:32). He allowed hundreds of prophets of Baal to thrive under his wife’s patronage (1 Kings 18:19). He also allowed Jezebel’s enthusiasm for Baal free reign in Israel. But some who followed Baal may have been disappointed with Ahab. He had apparently been swayed, at least briefly, by the antics of the prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel and had allowed Elijah to kill hundreds of Baal prophets that day (1 Kings 18:39–46). On another occasion he had shown convincing signs of repentance from his Baal-inspired ways (1 Kings 21:27). Furthermore, he had given his sons names that were hardly an encouragement to Baal devotees: Ahaziah (“Yahweh has grasped,” 1 Kings 22:40) and Jehoram (“Yahweh is exulted,” 2 Kings 3:1). Indeed, one of those sons had shown a distinct anti-Baal tendency (2 Kings 3:2). Perhaps there were many nods in the crowd as they heard the new king: “Ahab served Baal a little.”

How pleased many must have been to hear, “But Jehu will serve him much.” Jehu’s talk about “the word of the Lord” (2 Kings 9:26, 36; 2 Kings 10:10) was not to be taken too seriously. Jehu had displaced the house of Ahab and Jezebel only to outdo them in enthusiasm for Baal. So it seemed to Jehu’s gullible hearers. Those who had swallowed the big lie of Baal were easily misled. They readily believed what they wanted to believe.

Jehu continued with a royal summons to give expression to his keen Baalist agenda: “Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants1 [ESV, worshipers] and all his priests. Let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal” (2 Kings 9:19a).

It must have sounded as though Jehu was planning to be installed as king with a great Baal ceremony. At last! Gone are the days of “limping between two opinions” (1 Kings 18:21). Elijah’s ultimatum on Mount Carmel was about to be overturned. “If Baal [is God], then follow him,” Elijah had said. Now the people had a king who would lead them in doing just that. Jehu wanted all Baal followers to come. No exceptions.

With shocking irony (when we see how events unfold), Jehu declared, “Whoever is missing shall not live” (2 Kings 9:19b). He gave no hint of what would happen to whoever came.

The narrator kindly relieves the tension for his readers with this aside: “But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the servants [ESV, worshipers] of Baal” (2 Kings 9:19c). Jehu’s words were deliberately deceptive, but also very clever.2 As with his earlier letter (2 Kings 10:6), there were ambiguities. The Hebrew verb ‘bd (“serve”) in 2 Kings 9:18 sounds almost identical to ’bd (“destroy”) in 2 Kings 9:19c.

Jehu declared his intention to “serve” Baal, but his true plan was to “destroy.”3 Similarly the great “sacrifice” (zebakh) he planned to offer will turn out to be rather different from what his hearers must have expected. The ambiguity here is subtle but striking, for this is the word that was used of another anticipated slaughter of false priests (see 1 Kings 13:2; 2 Kings 23:20). The hearers of Jehu’s words did not realize that they would turn out to be Jehu’s “great sacrifice”!4 Cunning indeed!

Jehu continued, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal” (2 Kings 9:20a). Hearers could assume that he was planning a grand enthronement for himself in Baal’s temple. That would be a first for Israel. How very exciting for all who adored Baal!

The solemn, holy Baal gathering was called (2 Kings 9:20b).

And Jehu sent throughout all Israel, and all the servants [ESV, worshipers] of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they entered the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. (2 Kings 9:21)

The Baal temple that Ahab had built in Samaria probably had a vast, open courtyard where this large gathering of people could be accommodated (as implied for the rather different house in Jerusalem in 1 Kings 6:36).5 It was packed. All the prophets, priests, and other servants of Baal squeezed into the space. No one wanted to miss this great day! No one *dared miss this day (“Whoever is missing shall not live,” 2 Kings 9:19).

Care (2 Kings 10:22, 23)

The hype was building. Jehu took the exuberance to another level. “He said to him who was in charge of the wardrobe,6 ‘Bring out the vestments for all the servants [ESV, worshipers] of Baal’” (2 Kings 9:22a). No one, certainly not this lowly attendant, suspected Jehu’s intentions. “So he brought out the vestments for them” (2 Kings 9:22b). For the reader of the narrative the tension mounts. Every follower of Baal is now present, dressed in a uniform that will clearly identify him as a Baal-man.

Then Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab, and he said to the servants [ESV, worshipers] of Baal, “Search, and see that there is no servant of the Lord here among you, but only the servants [worshipers] of Baal.” (2 Kings 9:23)

We don’t want any servants of Yahweh here today. Only servants of Baal. The presence of Jehonadab adds to the tension. Jehu had brought him to Samaria to “see my zeal for the Lord” (2 Kings 10:16). Yet again in this dreadful story of Jehu we want to close our eyes.

Destruction (2 Kings 10:24–27)

If you can bear it, read on. “Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings” (2 Kings 9:24a). It is natural to understand “They” as Jehu and Jehonadab.7 The cunning is breathtaking. If Jehonadab was known (which is possible) as a devoted follower of Yahweh, his apparent conversion to the worship of Baal under the influence of Jehu would signify the great change that their new king was introducing. If even Jehonadab, son of Rechab, had come to offer sacrifices to Baal, this could be the end of all Yahweh worship in Israel.

The narrator is ready to let his readers in on the secret, not yet known to anyone in the temple that day except Jehu and Jehonadab. “Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and said, ‘The man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to escape shall forfeit his life’” (2 Kings 9:24b). This is chilling, Jehu’s “cunning” plan from the start. Eighty trusted armed men secretly positioned themselves around the temple of Baal, covering every possible exit. On pain of their own death, they were under orders to see that no one dressed in a Baal vestment would escape from the Baal temple that day.

So as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the officers, “Go in and strike them down; let not a man escape.” So when they put them to the sword, the guard and the officers cast them out . . . (2 Kings 9:25a)

Again it is natural to understand that “he” was Jehu, personally offering the burnt offering, carrying on the deception to the last moment.8 The sudden, shocking change from devout worshipper to executioner-in-chief is described with brutal brevity. The reaction of the gathered worshippers is left to the readers’ imagination. Their bodies were, it seems, cast out on the open ground, just like those of Jehoram and Jezebel (2 Kings 9:25, 35–37).

There was more destruction to come:

[They] went into the inner room9 of the house of Baal and they brought out the pillar that was in the house of Baal and burned it. And they demolished the pillar of Baal, and demolished the house of Baal. (2 Kings 9:25b–27a)

We have heard about this “pillar” before.10 It had been “put away,” but not destroyed by King Jehoram (see 2 Kings 3:2). Now under Jehu they did what Jehoram should have done: They smashed it to pieces. The verb (natats, “demolish”) refers to the violent tearing down of various human structures, especially those of pagan religious significance.11 This demolition therefore was an act of radical reform, the destruction of idolatry.

Then the house itself was demolished (same word). The utter devastation of everything and everyone representing Baal in Israel was appropriately symbolized: “and [they] made it a latrine to this day” (2 Kings 9:27b). Just as Jezebel had ended up like dung on the ground in Jezreel (2 Kings 9:37), so Baal himself would be represented from this day on by a dung heap in Samaria.12

A Good Outcome? (v. 28)

With striking understatement our writer concludes this episode: “Thus [or, And] Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel” (v. 28).13 Just as he had “wiped out” all Ahab’s people remaining in Samaria (10:17), so now he had “wiped out” or destroyed Baal from Israel. The verb is particularly forceful and refers to an action after which nothing is left. It refers to the annihilation of the original inhabitants of the land of Canaan in the book of Deuteronomy as well as the utter destruction of Israel as a consequence of the sins of Jeroboam (1 Kings 13:34), about which we hear in verse 29.15

We need to appreciate that wiping out Baal from Israel is an entirely positive outcome for the writer, and it is intended to be so for his readers.15 The eradication of Baalism from Israel was an unqualified good. It would be like the eradication of Nazism from Europe.

Today we find this difficult. In our time religions tend to be viewed sentimentally (and, I must say, patronizingly) as aspects of human cultures that should be valued and respected. That is not the Bible writer’s view of Baalism. It is not the Bible’s view of any religion (or non-religion) that exchanges the truth about God for a lie.

What about the violence? It is undoubtedly difficult, but ought to help us see that the worship of Baal was so bad that such drastic action was necessary. As we saw in the conclusion to our last chapter, this certainly does not mean that similar violent action is ever justified today. The cross of Christ has changed everything. What Jehu accomplished for Israel in his time and in his way was a shadow of what Jesus has done for us (see Luke 10:18; John 12:31; 16:11; Colossians 2:15; Hebrews 2:14). In his death Jesus destroyed all false gods, even Satan himself. The battle against evil must not now be undertaken by means of physical violence (see Ephesians 6:10–20).

However, we have only appreciated the story of this chapter when we understand that the destruction of “every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God” by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a good thing (see 2 Corinthians 10:5), even better than the wiping out of Baal worship from Israel.

Notes:

  1. The Hebrew verb ‘‘abad and corresponding noun ‘ebed occur nine times in our passage and are best translated consistently as “serve” and “servant.”
  2. “Cunning” seems to capture the sense of the Hebrew (‘aqbah) here, the only occurrence of this noun in the Old Testament. Alternatives include “subtilty” (AV, RV), “a trick” (JB), “outwitted” (REB), “deceptively” (HCSB, NIV). For the corresponding adjective (‘aqob) the ESV has “uneven ground” in Isaiah 40:4 and “deceitful” in Jeremiah 17:9. The verb from the same root (‘qb) is translated “cheat” in Genesis 27:36, where it is linked to the name of Jacob (ya‘aqob)
  3. Similarly Burke O. Long, 2 Kings, The Forms of Old Testament Literature, Vol. 10 (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerd mans, 1991), 139; Lissa M. Wray Beal, 1 & 2 Kings, Apollos Old Testament Commentary, Vol. 9 (Nottingham, UK and Downers Grove, IL: Apollos, 2014), 381.
  4. Similarly John Gray, I & II Kings: A Commentary, Third, Fully Revised, Edition (London: SCM, 1977), 560; T. R. Hobbs, 2 Kings, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 13 (Waco, TX: Word Books, 1985), 129.
  5. See John Woodhouse, 1 Kings: Power, Politics, and the Hope of the World, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2018), 190–91.
  6. The Hebrew word (meltakhah) occurs only here. “Wardrobe” is a reasonable guess at the meaning from the context. Compare 22:14 (a different Hebrew word).
  7. Contra Jones, who insists it “must refer to Jehu and the worshippers of Baal.” Gwilym H. Jones, 1 and 2 Kings, Vol. 2, New Century Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI and London: Eerd mans and Marshall, Morgan & Scott, 1984), 470.
  8. Similarly F. W. Farrar, The Second Book of Kings, The Expositor’s Bible (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1894), 137, note 1; James A. Montgomery, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Books of Kings, The International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1951), 411; Gray, Kings, 561; Jones, Kings, 471; Iain W. Provan, 1 & 2 Kings, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1995), 215. Contra Keil, who understands “he” to be the sacrificing priest, not Jehu. C. F. Keil, “1 and 2 Kings,” in C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Vol. 3 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1996), 248.
  9. The layout of the temple of Baal is unclear and need not concern us here. The word translated “inner room” (‘iyr) usually means “city” and could refer to a city-like walled courtyard. So Provan, Kings, 218.
  10. See our discussion of 3:2.
  11. A helpful study is C. Barth, “natats,” TDOT 10, 108–14.
  12. Nelson notes that “a latrine to this day” is “less a way of supporting the credibility of the narrative than simply a good joke.” Richard D. Nelson, First and Second Kings, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1987), 205.
  13. The ESV and other translations make verse 28 the first sentence of the next paragraph, with some support from the space at the end of verse 27 in the printed Hebrew text, as well as the conjunction at the beginning of 10:29.
  14. On the Hebrew verb shmd hiphil (“destroy,” “wipe out”), see Woodhouse, 1 Kings, 713, note 16.
  15. “[I]t is impossible to overstate the appreciation this narrative has for the violent end of Baalism.” Walter Brueggemann, 1 & 2 Kings, Smyth & Helwys Bible Commentary (Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys, 2000), 402.

This article is adapted from 2 Kings: The Truth about Our Troubled World by John Woodhouse.

John Woodhouse

John Woodhouse (DPhil, Victoria University of Manchester) served as principal of Moore Theological College in Sydney, Australia, from 2002 to 2013. He previously worked in pastoral ministry in a suburb of Sydney. He has published articles in various academic journals and is the author of four volumes in Crossway’s Preaching the Word commentary series.

Related Articles

Why Study the Books of 1–2 Kings?

Gavin Ortlund

June 12, 2019

This is a theologically rich book that makes a unique contribution to our understanding of our sin and frailty, God’s character and provision, and the plan of redemption being worked out in history.

The Gospel in 1–2 Kings

Miles V. Van Pelt

March 20, 2019

The clear contrast between God’s covenant-keeping and Israel’s covenant breaking, particularly among Israel’s kings, is perhaps the most important theme in the book of Kings.

Related Resources

ESV Scripture Journal
ESV Scripture Journal: 1–2 Kings
Paperback
1 Kings
1 Kings
John Woodhouse
1–2 Kings
1–2 Kings
Gavin Ortlund
1 Samuel
1 Samuel
John Woodhouse
Redesign
Crossway is a not-for-profit Christian ministry that exists solely for the purpose of proclaiming the gospel through publishing gospel-centered, Bible-centered content. Learn more or donate today at crossway.org/about.