n 2
Kings xiv. 24; against Zechariah, under whom the catastrophe took
place, in 2 Kings xv. 9: "And he did that which was evil in the eyes of
the Lord, as his fathers had done, and departed not from the sins of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel to sin." According to
the context, we must, in the first place, think of the _religious
guilt_; the blood of Jezreel, in the verse under consideration, must
correspond with the _whoredoms_ in ver. 2.--Moreover, the extension of
the punishment to all Israel could not, according to this explanation,
be understood; for the deed was only that of Jehu and his assistants.
How, then, could not only the house of Jehu be punished, but also [Pg
207] the kingdom of the house of Israel be destroyed, and its bow
broken in the valley of Jezreel?

According to another interpretation still more prevalent, "the blood of
Jezreel" denotes "all the evil deeds committed by the Israelitish kings
in Jezreel." But this interpretation is sufficiently invalidated by the
single circumstance, that the residence of the family of Jehu, which,
after all, alone comes into consideration in this place, was, from the
very beginning, not Jezreel, but Samaria; compare 2 Kings x. 36, xiii.
10, xiv. 23.

Two particulars are contained in the announcement of punishment.
_First_,--The whole house of Jehu, and _then_ all Israel, are to become
a Jezreel as regards punishment, as they are even now in point of
guilt; and, in this announcement, the significant _paronomasia_ must
not be overlooked between _Israel_--the designation of the dignity of
the people, and _Jezreel_--that which is base in deeds and condition.
Calvin makes prominent the last-mentioned feature only: "You are," he
explains, "a degenerate people, you differ in nothing from your king
Ahab." We cannot, however, follow him in this explanation; the words,
"I cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel," cannot, as
several interpreters suppose, mean merely, "I will put an end to the
dominion of the family of Jehu over Israel." That these words rather
announce the cessation of every native regal government, and hence of
the entire national independence, is so evident, that it stands in need
of no proof. Both of these features are, in their fulfilment, separated
indeed by a long period of time (see the Introduction); but they are
nevertheless closely connected. With the ruin of the house of Jehu, the
strength of the kingdom of Israel was brok