The son of Nimshi.--Jehu was son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi. The former phrase may have fallen out of the text here. (Yet comp. 2 Kings 8:26, "Athaliah daughter of Omri.") The Syriac and Arabic call Jehu "the son of Nimshi" in 2 Kings 9:2 also.
He driveth ?uriously--i.e., the foremost charioteer so drives. The word rendered "furiously" is related to that rendered "mad fellow" in 2 Kings 9:11. (Comp. margin here.) Jehu's chariot swayed unsteadily as he drove madly on. LXX., ?? ?????????. The Targum explains in an exactly opposite sense, "quietly;" and so Josephus: "Jehu was driving rather slowly, and in orderly fashion" (perhaps confounding shigg?'on, "madness," Deuteronomy 28:28, with shigg?yon, "a slow, mournful song," or elegy).
Verse 20. - And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again. A still stranger circumstance, and one still more suspicious. The second messenger could only have been sent out because the king disapproved the detention or the first. Whoever, therefore, had detained the second messenger must be consciously acting in opposition to the wishes of the king. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi. It is not meant that Jehu was driving his own chariot (which great men never did, 2 Kings 22:3-4), and drove in a furious manner, but that the "company" was being urged forward at an unusual pace, in a reckless and hot-headed way. The watchman conjectured, therefore, that Jehu must be leading them, since he had a character for impetuosity. For he driveth furiously; or, madly - " like a madman" (Keil) - "praecipitanter" (Vatabl.). The LXX. translate ἐν παραλλαγῇ - which has, perhaps, the same meaning (comp. Eur., 'Hipp.,' 935; Lysias, Ft., 58).
9:16-29 Jehu was a man of eager spirit. The wisdom of God is seen in the choice of those employed in his work. But it is not for any man's reputation to be known by his fury. He that has rule over his own spirit, is better than the mighty. Joram met Jehu in the portion of Naboth. The circumstances of events are sometimes ordered by Divine Providence to make the punishment answer to the sin, as face answers to face in a glass. The way of sin can never be the way of peace, Isa 57:21. What peace can sinners have with God? No peace so long as sin is persisted in; but when it is repented of and forsaken, there is peace. Joram died as a criminal, under the sentence of the law. Ahaziah was joined with the house of Ahab. He was one of them; he had made himself so by sin. It is dangerous to join evil-doers; we shall be entangled in guilt and misery by it.
And the watchman told, saying, he came even unto them, and cometh not again,.... Was detained, as the other was:
and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for, coming nearer, the watchman could discern the manner of his driving:
for he driveth furiously; in great haste, making much speed, being a man of a very warm and active spirit; and now being eager to come up with Joram, and seize him unprepared, and ascend the throne; the Targum is the reverse,
"for he driveth quietly or slowly,''being desirous of drawing Joram out of the city, and get him into his hands, and slay him, that he might not have the trouble of besieging the place, which was able to hold out some time against him; and besides, he remembered the prophecy of Elisha, that Naboth's blood would be requited in the field of Jezreel, 2 Kings 9:26, and therefore was desirous of drawing him out of the city, in order to slay him there.
The son of Nimshi.--Jehu was son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi. The former phrase may have fallen out of the text here. (Yet comp. 2 Kings 8:26, "Athaliah daughter of Omri.") The Syriac and Arabic call Jehu "the son of Nimshi" in 2 Kings 9:2 also.
He driveth ?uriously--i.e., the foremost charioteer so drives. The word rendered "furiously" is related to that rendered "mad fellow" in 2 Kings 9:11. (Comp. margin here.) Jehu's chariot swayed unsteadily as he drove madly on. LXX., ?? ?????????. The Targum explains in an exactly opposite sense, "quietly;" and so Josephus: "Jehu was driving rather slowly, and in orderly fashion" (perhaps confounding shigg?'on, "madness," Deuteronomy 28:28, with shigg?yon, "a slow, mournful song," or elegy).
and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for, coming nearer, the watchman could discern the manner of his driving:
for he driveth furiously; in great haste, making much speed, being a man of a very warm and active spirit; and now being eager to come up with Joram, and seize him unprepared, and ascend the throne; the Targum is the reverse,
"for he driveth quietly or slowly,''being desirous of drawing Joram out of the city, and get him into his hands, and slay him, that he might not have the trouble of besieging the place, which was able to hold out some time against him; and besides, he remembered the prophecy of Elisha, that Naboth's blood would be requited in the field of Jezreel, 2 Kings 9:26, and therefore was desirous of drawing him out of the city, in order to slay him there.