Jehu (son of Hanani)

Biblical Record

Jehu, the son of Hanani, is called a prophet. He is a different person from the king of northern Israel who bore the same name, Jehu the grandson of Nimshi. In the Bible the name "Jehu" usually refers to that king. Jehu the son of Hanani appears in only a few passages.

• Rebuke of Baasha: In 1 Kings 16:1-4 the word of the LORD comes to Jehu with a rebuke for Baasha, king of northern Israel. God had raised Baasha out of the dust and made him prince over His people, but Baasha walked in the way of Jeroboam and made Israel to sin. The prophecy therefore announces that the house of Baasha will be swept away like the house of Jeroboam. Verse 7 gives two reasons: Baasha's evildoing and his striking down of that house (KJV: "because he killed him"). The prophecy was fulfilled in the days of Baasha's son Elah. Elah's servant Zimri killed him and destroyed the whole house of Baasha, and Scripture records that this happened "according to the word of the LORD, which he spake against Baasha by Jehu the prophet" (1 Kings 16:9-12).
• Rebuke of Jehoshaphat: In 2 Chronicles 19:1-3 Jehu goes out to meet Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, as he returns from the battle at Ramoth-gilead. Jehoshaphat had gone into that battle in alliance with Ahab, king of northern Israel. Jehu declares that wrath will come upon the king because he helped the ungodly and loved those who hate the LORD. He adds, however, that good things were found in the king, for he had taken away the Asherah poles (KJV: "groves") and prepared his heart to seek God.
• The Book of Jehu: 2 Chronicles 20:34 states that the acts of Jehoshaphat are written "in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel." This work has not survived.

Jehu's father, Hanani, was also a seer, and he was imprisoned for rebuking King Asa (2 Chronicles 16:7-10). In the phrase "Jehu the son of Hanani the seer" (2 Chronicles 19:2), the wording alone does not make clear whether "the seer" refers to the father or to Jehu.

Significance Within Scripture

Jehu was a prophet who delivered God's word to the kings of both the northern and the southern kingdoms. His ministry is read as an example of the prophetic tradition of confronting wrongdoing even in the face of royal power. 2 Chronicles also presents him as the author of a historical record. The New Testament does not mention him.

Interpretation and Issues

• The "house" Baasha struck down: 1 Kings 16:7 counts Baasha's destruction of the house of Jeroboam among the reasons for the rebuke. Yet the prophet Ahijah had already foretold the downfall of Jeroboam's house (1 Kings 14:10-11; 15:29), and this raises an interpretive question. A common explanation is that Baasha remains responsible for shedding blood out of his own ambition, even when his actions carry out God's judgment. A similar question arises in connection with Hosea 1:4, which concerns the purge carried out by Jehu the grandson of Nimshi.
• Length of ministry: According to the chronological data in Kings and Chronicles, a considerable span of time separates the reign of Baasha from that of Jehoshaphat. Jehu is therefore generally understood to have been active as a prophet over a long period, though the exact number of years depends on the method of chronological reckoning.