The roots of Jehu’s bloody coup : a violent story of religious Zealots, retributive justice or international politics?

Abstract

The study undertaken in this dissertation developed out of my honors research essay titled “A socio-political view of land acquisition in 1 Kings 21:1-16 as a form of dehumanization.” The previous research essay serves as a precursor for the current study. Naboth’s loss of his הלחנ (inheritance), resulting in his death under the rule of Ahab, is considered by scholars as one of the possible roots which served as a basis for Jehu’s coup as retributive justice for Naboth. It is, therefore, the aim of this paper to investigate all the possible roots of Jehu’s coup adopting a holistic approach in explicating all contributing factors and to interrogate the extreme use of violence.

Following the death of Naboth in 1 Kings 21:1-16, and a further mention of Naboth’s death and the acquisition of his vineyard in 2 Kings 9-10, the murder of Naboth prompted and sparked a debate of whether Naboth’s death was avenged as Jehu executed his coup. An investigation into Jehu’s coup opened up more doors of research as it became apparent that many other factors became intertwined with the coup narrative.

The apostasy of the Northern Kingdom also brought an element of idolatry into the scheme. The prophets Elijah and Elisha are introduced into the narrative through the anti- Jezebel redaction to invoke a Yahwism theme. Jehu was then a Yahwistic revolutionary who was being obedient to Yahweh during his bloody extermination of the house of Ahab.

Archaeological evidence (i.e. Tel Dan) would later defy the claims of the narrative as they are presented in the Old Testament, this then led to an investigation and an inquiry of how Jehu is related to all factors tied to him. How is Jehu’s coup related to Tel Dan, Naboth, and the prophetic agenda of Elijah and Elisha?