2 Kings 9:13, commentary and pictures

Then they hastened to proclaim Jehu king of Israel after he was anointed and took the kingdom following the death of Joram, succeeding Ahab and beginning a new dynasty. The chapter is the account of his rise as king and of the extinction of the house of Ahab. Spreading every man his garment beneath him on the top of the stairs, with trumpet blowing and the shout that Jehu is king, was the customary public form and initial act for proclaiming an anointed man as king. The verse falls at the chronological transition between the reigns of the kings of Israel, and its date can be related to the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah.

In its setting Jehu was raised up by God to destroy the house of Ahab when its punishment was due. The background of that doom includes Jezebel's scheme to obtain Naboth's vineyard, which led to the doom of both Ahab and herself. After destroying Ahab's house Jehu fiercely rooted Baal worship out of Israel. Yet he continued Jeroboam's sin of using images to represent the true God, in effect worshiping himself, and so failed to redeem Israel from false worship though he might have done so had he not worshiped himself.

Jehu as king of Israel in this period is also named in Assyrian records. The name Jehu king of Israel appears on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser II, which depicts and lists tribute brought from him. Those records incorrectly call him the son of Omri, the founder of Ahab's dynasty. This king-making ceremony explains the public honors given to Jesus at His entry into Jerusalem, when the disciples laying their garments on the colt for Him to sit on was the same act proclaiming Him king and making the first move to hail Him, in expectation that the long-expected Messianic reign was about to open, formally proclaiming His kingship in fulfillment of prophecy.