Jehu (, ; he, יֵהוּא , "Yah is He") son of

Hanani The word Hanani ( he, חנני ''Ḥănānî'') means "God has gratified me" or "God is gracious". Hanani is the name of four men mentioned in the Hebrew Bible: * One of the sons of Heman (1 Chronicles 25:4, 25). * A "seer" or prophet who was se ...

was a prophet mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

, who was active during the 9th century BC.

Biblical account

According to the Bible, Jehu condemned Baasha, king of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, and the

House of Baasha The House of Baasha or Baasha dynasty was a reigning dynasty of the Kingdom of Israel. They are depicted in the first of the Books of Kings. Their estimated reign is placed in the 10th century BCE.Chase (2010), p. 221-222 Reign This dynasty was ...

(

1 Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books ...

16:7), accusing him of leading the people into the

sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

of idolatry like his predecessor

Jeroboam Jeroboam I (; Hebrew: ''Yārŏḇə‘ām''; el, Ἱεροβοάμ, Hieroboám) was the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel. The Hebrew Bible describes the reign of Jeroboam to have commenced following a revolt of the ten northern ...

. Jehu foretold that: :''surely odwill take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and ... will make your house like the

house of Jeroboam The House of Jeroboam or Jeroboam dynasty was a reigning dynasty of the Kingdom of Israel. They are depicted in the first of the Books of Kings. Their estimated reign is placed in the 10th century BCE. Chase (2010), p. 221 The house is named aft ...

the son of Nebat. The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Baasha and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the fields.'' () His words were fulfilled in the reign of Elah, Baasha's son, when the traitor Zimri assassinated Elah and murdered all of Baasha's family and associates. () Jehu also challenged

Jehoshaphat Jehoshaphat (; alternatively spelled Jehosaphat, Josaphat, or Yehoshafat; ; el, Ἰωσαφάτ, Iosafát; la, Josaphat), according to 1 Kings 22:41, was the son of Asa, and the fourth king of the Kingdom of Judah, in succession to his father ...

, king of Judah. Jehoshaphat's alliance with

Ahab Ahab (; akk, 𒀀𒄩𒀊𒁍 ''Aḫâbbu'' 'a-ḫa-ab-bu'' grc-koi, Ἀχαάβ ''Achaáb''; la, Achab) was the seventh king of Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Israel, the son and successor of King Omri and the husband of Jezebel of Sidon, ...

ended in the latter's death at the

Battle of Ramoth-Gilead Ramoth-Gilead ( he, רָמֹת גִּלְעָד, meaning "Heights of Gilead"), was a Levitical city and city of refuge east of the Jordan River in the Hebrew Bible, also called "Ramoth in Gilead" (; ; ) or "Ramoth Galaad" in the Douay–Rheims Bi ...

. Jehoshaphat returned safely, but Jehu rebuked him for helping the wicked king Ahab. He went on to say that nevertheless the

Lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ar ...

found good in the king, as he had removed the

Asherah pole An Asherah pole is a sacred tree or pole that stood near Canaanite religion, Canaanite religious locations to honor the Ugaritic mother goddess Asherah, consort of El (deity), El. The relation of the literary references to an ''asherah'' and archa ...

s from the land and set his heart to seek God. ()

Family

Hanani, Jehu's father, was also a prophet, who rebuked king

Asa of Judah Asa (; el, Ασά; la, Asa) was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the third king of the Kingdom of Judah and the fifth king of the Davidic line, House of David. The Hebrew Bible gives the period of his reign between 40–41 years. His reign is da ...

for entering into a league with

Ben-Hadad I Ben-Hadad I ( he, בן הדד, translit=bn hdd; arc, בר הדד, translit=br hdd), son of Tabrimmon and grandson of Hezion, was king of Aram-Damascus between 885 BC and 865 BC. Ben-Hadad I was reportedly a contemporary of kings Baasha of the ...

, king of Syria, against the

northern kingdom of Israel The Kingdom of Israel (), or the Kingdom of Samaria, was an Israelites, Israelite kingdom in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. The kingdom controlled the areas of Samaria, Galilee and parts of Transjordan (region), Transjordan. Its capi ...

().

References

{{Extra-Quranic Prophets of Islam 10th-century BCE Hebrew people 9th-century BCE Hebrew people Books of Kings people