FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS
JEWISH ANTIQUITIES
Book 9

¹When king Josaphat arrived in Jerusalem, after his alliance with Achab, the king of Israel, in the war against Ader, king of Syria, the prophet Jehu met him and blamed him for assisting Achab, an impious and wicked man, and told him that God was displeased with him for doing so and yet despite his sin had saved him from the enemy because of his good character. ²Then the king turned to offer thanksgiving and sacrifices to God and went around all this territory and taught the people the laws given by God through Moses, and the worship due to him. ³He also appointed judges in each of the cities of his kingdom, and told them that when judging the people they should care for nothing so much as for justice and not to be swayed by bribes, or by the dignity of the wealthy or the highly born, but to treat all on an equal footing, knowing that God is aware of every secret action. ⁴When he had taught this in every city of the two tribes, he returned to Jerusalem, where he chose judges from the priests and the Levites and officers of the people and urged them to pass all their sentences with care and justice. ⁵If any of the tribespeople had major differences they should send them from the other cities to these judges, who were obliged to give judgment in such cases with special care, as sentences passed in the city which houses the temple of God and the king's dwelling, must be given with optimum care and justice. ⁶In charge of them he appointed Amarias the priest and Zebadias, both of the tribe of Judas, and in this way the king ordered these matters.

⁷About that time the Moabites and Ammanites with a large band of Arabs attacked Josaphat, and encamped at Engedi, a city three hundred furlongs from Jerusalem, and beside lake Asphaltitis, where the finest kind of palm trees and the Opobalsamum grow. ⁸When Josaphat heard that the enemies had crossed over the lake and had invaded that region belonging to his kingdom, he was afraid and called the people of Jerusalem together in the temple. Standing opposite the sanctuary he prayed and called on God for the power and strength to punish the invaders. ⁹The builders of the temple had prayed to Him to protect the city and defeat any who dared to come against it—like those who had now come to take away the land that God had given them. As he prayed this, he wept and the whole crowd, with the women and children, interceded. ¹⁰A prophet named Jaziel came into the assembly and called to the people and the king that God had heard their prayers and promised to fight against their enemies. He told the king to bring out his forces the next day, ¹¹for he would find them between Jerusalem and the ascent from Engedi, at a place called Exoché ( Eminence.) He must not fight them, but only stand still and see how God would fight them. When the prophet had said this, the king and the people fell on their faces and thanked God and worshipped him, and the Levites with their instruments continued singing hymns to God.

¹²When it was day and the king had arrived in the wilderness below the city of Tekoa, he told the people to trust what the prophet had said and not line themselves up for battle, but to set in front of them the priests with their trumpets and the Levites, and then thank God for already saving our region from our enemies. ¹³The king's view prevailed and they did as he advised, and God raised up fear and terror among the Ammanites, who saw each other as enemies and began killing each other, until not one was spared from such a large army. ¹⁴When Josaphat looked into the gorge where their enemies had been encamped and saw it full of corpses, he was glad at this miraculous help from God, who had given them the victory by his own power, without any effort of theirs. He allowed his army take the booty of the enemy's camp and despoil their corpses. ¹⁵They did this for three days until they were tired, such was the number of the dead. On the fourth day, all the people assembled in a hollow, narrow place and blessed God for his power and help, from which the place received its name, the Valley of Blessing.

¹⁶When the king had led his army back up to Jerusalem, he began to celebrate festivals and offer sacrifices over many days. Afterward, when this destruction of their enemies was heard of by foreign nations, all were struck with fear, thinking that in future God would be clearly on his side. So from then on Josaphat lived in glorious splendour, for his righteousness and piety toward God. ¹⁷He was friendly with Achab's son, who was king of Israel, and he joined with him in the building of ships to sail to Pontus and the trading cities of Thrace; but they did not succeed, for the ships were lost due to their size, and from then on he no longer cared for shipping. Such is the story of Josaphat, the king of Jerusalem.

¹⁸Ochosias, son of Achab, ruled the Israelites and lived in Samaria. He was an evil man and in all respects like both his parents and Jeroboam, who was the first to go astray and began to lead the people astray. ¹⁹In the second year of his reign, the king of Moab renounced his obedience and left off paying the tributes formerly paid to his father Achab. Then Ochosias had a fall as he was coming down from the roof of his house and in his sickness sent to the Fly, as the god of Akkaron was called, to inquire about his recovery. ²⁰The God of the Hebrews appeared to the prophet Elijah, telling him to go and meet the messengers and ask them whether the people of Israel had no God of their own, that the king should send to a foreign god to inquire about his recovery, and to bid them return and tell the king that he would not be cured of this disease. ²¹When Elijah did as God told him and the messengers had heard his words, immediately they returned to the king, and as he was surprised that they returned so soon and asked them the reason, they said that a man had met them and forbidden them to go any farther but to return and at the command of the God of Israel tell you that this disease will end badly. ²²When the king got them to describe the man who told them this, they replied that he was a hairy man with a leather girdle around his waist. By this he knew that the man described by the messengers was Elijah, so he sent a officer with fifty soldiers, with instructions to bring Elijah to him.

²³When the officer who was sent found Elijah sitting on top of a hill, he told him to come down and come at the king's orders, for if he refused they would take him by force. Then the other told him, "That you may have proof that I am a true prophet, I will pray for fire to fall from heaven and destroy both the soldiers and yourself." So he prayed and a whirlwind of fire fell down and destroyed the officer and his men. ²⁴When the king heard of their destruction he was furious and sent another officer with the same number of soldiers as before. When this officer too threatened the prophet that unless he came down of his own accord, he would arrest and bring him, he prayed against him too and fire killed him like the officer before him. ²⁵When told about this too, he king sent out a third officer, but this was a wise man of a mild disposition, so when he reached the place where Elijah happened to be he said civilly to him that he should know he came to him against his will and only at the king's command, and that those who had earlier come had done so unwillingly on the same account, and asked him to have pity on the soldiers with him and to accompany him down to the king. ²⁶Elijah accepted his discreet words and courteous behaviour and followed him down. When he came to the king, he prophesied to him in God's name, "Since you have scorned him as not being a God able to foretell the truth about your sickness, but have sent to the god of Akkaron to inquire of him about how it will turn out, know that you shall die."

²⁹When Joram took over the kingdom, he decided to make an expedition against the king of Moab, named Mesha, who, as we said already, had broken away from his brother after paying a tribute of two hundred thousand sheep with their fleeces to their father Achab. ³⁰When he had gathered his local army he sent to Josaphat who had from the start been a friend to his father, asking his help in the war he wanted to make on the Moabites, for abandoning their obedience. Not only did he promise to help him, but also he would get the king of Idumaea, who was under his authority, to take part in the campaign. ³¹With these assurances of help from Josaphat, Joram took his army and came to Jerusalem, and when he had been sumptuously entertained by the king of Jerusalem, they decided to march against their enemies through the wilderness of Idumaea, for the enemy would not expect their attack from that direction; and thus the three set off, the kings of Jerusalem, Israel and Idumaea. ³²When they had gone a circuitous seven days' journey, they were in short of water for the livestock and for the army due to a mistaken direction taken by the guides leading them, so all were struggling, especially Joram, who in his grief cried out to God, asking what wrong they had done to make him hand over the three kings to the king of Moab, without a fight. ³³But Josaphat, a righteous man, encouraged him and told him send to the camp to learn if any prophet of God had come along with them, "through whom we might learn from God what to do." When one of Joram's servants said that he had seen there Elijah's disciple Eliseus, the son of Shaphat, the three kings went to him, at the request of Josaphat. ³⁴As they came to the prophet's tent, which happened to be pitched outside the camp, they all asked him— and Joram was particular—what would become of the army. When he replied not to trouble him but to go to his father's and mother's prophets who would surely tell him the truth, he continued asking him to prophesy and save them. ³⁵Then he swore by God that he would not answer him except for the sake of Josaphat, who was a holy and righteous man, and when at his request they brought him a man who could play the harp, as the music played the divine Spirit came upon him and he directed them to dig many trenches in the valley. ³⁶"For although neither cloud nor wind nor rainstorm can be seen," he said, "you shall see this river full of water, until your army and livestock are saved by drinking from it. And this is not the only favour you will receive from God, but you will also overcome your enemies and take the best and strongest cities of the Moabites and cut down their fruit trees, and lay waste their region and block up their fountains and rivers."

³⁷After the prophet said this, the next day before sunrise there was a great flow of water for God had made it rain heavily three days' journey away in Idumaea, so that the army and the livestock had plenty to drink. ³⁸When the Moabites heard that the three kings were coming on them and approaching through the wilderness, the king of Moab instantly mustered his army and made them pitch camp on the mountains so that their enemies could not invade their land without being seen. ³⁹When at sunrise they saw the water in the torrent, for it was not far from the land of Moab and that it looked the colour of blood, for at that time the water looks especially red, in the light of the sun they mistakenly judged that in their thirst their enemies had killed each other and that the river was running with their blood. ⁴⁰Thinking this to be the case, they asked their king to send them out to despoil the enemy and all hurried as if to something already gained, and came to the camp of their enemies thinking them already destroyed. But this hope deceived them, for their enemies surrounded them and some of them were cut to pieces while the rest were scattered and fled to their own land. ⁴¹Marching into Moab, the kings destroyed its cities and seized and spoiled their fields, filling them with stones from the brooks and cut down the best of their trees and blocked their wells and knocked their walls to the ground. ⁴²But though pursued like them, the Moabite king withstood a siege and seeing his city in danger of being taken by force, sallied out with seven hundred men, hoping to break through the enemy's camp with his cavalry on the side that was least carefully guarded. But the attempt did not succeed for it came at a place that was carefully watched. ⁴³Returning to the city he did something that showed his despair and utter woe, for taking his eldest son who was due to reign after him and lifting him up on the wall in full view of the enemy, he offered him as a whole holocaust to God. When the kings saw this, they felt the distress that caused it and were so moved by pity that they raised the siege and each returned to his home.

⁴⁴Josaphat came to Jerusalem to live on in peace there but he outlived the campaign only for a short time and died at the age of sixty years, after reigning for twenty-five of them. He received a magnificent burial in Jerusalem, for he had imitated the actions of David.

⁴⁵Of the many children he left behind he named his eldest son Joram to succeed him, of the same name as his mother's brother who was the son of Achab and king of Israel. ⁴⁶When the king of Israel came from Moab to Samaria, he had with him Eliseus the prophet, whose acts I want to treat of in particular, for as we have found them in the sacred books they are illustrious and worthy of recording.

⁴⁷They say that the widow of Achab's steward Obedias came to him to say she knew how her husband had saved the lives of the prophets who were to be killed by Achab's wife Jezabel. She told how he had hidden a hundred of them and borrowed money to feed them and how after her husband's death, she and her children were taken into slavery by the creditors, and she asked him for mercy and help on account of what her husband had done. ⁴⁸When he asked her what she had in the house, she said, "Nothing but a very small amount of oil in a jug." So the prophet sent her away to borrow many empty vessels from her neighbours and then shut her chamber door and pour some oil into them all, when God would make them full. ⁴⁹When the woman had done as he ordered to do she got her children to bring each of the vessels, and all of them were filled and not one left empty, she went to the prophet to tell him of it. ⁵⁰He advised her to go and sell the oil and pay the creditors their and that there would be something left over from the price of the oil, which she could use to feed her children. That was how Eliseus discharged the woman's debts and freed her from being harassed by her creditors.

⁵¹Eliseus also sent urgently to Joram, warning him to beware of that place, as some Syrians were lying there in ambush to kill him. So the king did as the prophet urged him and refrained from going out hunting. ⁵²When Ader's plot was unsuccessful he was angry with his own men as if they had betrayed the ambush to Joram. Sending for them, he said that clearly they had betrayed his secret plans and threatened to execute them, since he had entrusted the plot to none but them and yet his enemy knew of it. ⁵³One who was present said that he was mistaken and should not suspect them of revealing to the enemy about the assassins he had sent. He should realize that it was Eliseus the prophet who had revealed all and shown all his plans. So he had some men sent to learn in what city Eliseus was staying. ⁵⁴When the messengers brought word that he was in Dothain Ader sent to that city a large force of horses and chariots to take Eliseus. They surrounded the city by night and kept him confined within it, but at dawn when the prophet's servant noticed how his enemies were trying to capture Eliseus, he hurried to him shouting out wildly in warning. ⁵⁵But he was unafraid encouraged the servant, telling him not fear but to scorn the enemy and to show as much hope and courage as he could. God heard the prayer of the prophet and made the servant see a crowd of chariots and horses surrounding Eliseus, until he laid aside his fear and his courage revived at the sight of what he supposed had come to their help. ⁵⁶Then Eliseus asked God to blind the eyes of their enemies and cast a mist before them, so they could not see him. When this happened he went among the enemy and asked whom they were looking for, and when they answered, "The prophet Eliseus," he promised to hand him over to them if they would follow him to the city where he happened to be. ⁵⁷God so darkened their sight and mind that they eagerly followed the prophet and when Eliseus had brought them to Samaria he told king Joram to shut the gates and surround them with his own army, and then prayed to God to clear the eyes of the enemies and banish the mist from before them; and when they were freed from their darkness they found themselves in the middle of their opponents. ⁵⁸Naturally the Syrians were shocked and distressed at so divine and amazing a deed but when king Joram asked the prophet to let him shoot at them, Eliseus forbade it and said that it is fair to kill those who are taken in battle, but that these men had done the region no harm, and had come there unknowingly by the divine Power. ⁵⁹His advice was to treat them hospitably at his table and then send them away without harming them. So Joram obeyed the prophet, and after giving the Syrians a splendid and magnificent feast he let them go back to Ader their king.

⁶⁰When these men returned and told Ader the strange thing that had happened to them and how they had experienced appearance and power of the God of Israel, and about the prophet with whom God was so evidently present, he feared Eliseus and decided to make no more secret plots against the king of Israel, but resolved to make open war with them, thinking to defeat his enemies by his great army and power. ⁶¹So he set out with a large force against Joram, who, not thinking he could fight him, shut himself up in Samaria and depended on the strength of its walls. Ader planned to capture the city, if not by his machines of war, then by reducing the Samaritans by famine and the lack of supplies, so he set to besiege the city. ⁶²Joram's supplies were so reduced that from the extreme shortage an ass's head was sold in Samaria for eighty pieces of silver and the Hebrews bought a sextary of dove's dung, in place of salt, for five pieces of silver. ⁶³He feared that the hunger might cause someone to betray the city to the enemy, so every day he went around the walls and the guards to see if any such idea were lurking there, and by letting himself be seen and taking such care, he forestalled any from trying such a thing, or of carrying it through even if they planned it. ⁶⁴When a certain woman cried out, "Have pity on me, my lord," he thought that she was about to ask for something to eat and called God's curse on her, saying he had neither threshing-floor nor wine-press from which to give her what she wanted. ⁶⁵But she said she did not want his help in any such thing or to trouble him for food, but asked him to judge her case against another woman. When be bade her speak and tell him what she wanted, she said that because of the intolerable famine and scarcity she had made an agreement with another woman who was her neighbour and friend, that both should kill their children, as each of them had a son of their own, in order to feed each other for a day apiece. ⁶⁶"But," she said, "on the first day I killed my son and we survived upon him yesterday, and now this other woman will not do the same but has broken her agreement and hidden her son." ⁶⁷When he heard this Joram grieved deeply and rent his garment and shouted with a loud voice and was full of anger against the prophet Eliseus and decided to have him killed for not praying to God to provide them some solution or way of escape from the plight surrounding them; and immediately he sent a man away to cut off his head. ⁶⁸This man hurried to execute the prophet, but Eliseus was not unaware of the king's anger toward him, for as he sat at home in his house with his disciples he told them that Joram, the son of a murderer, had sent a man to behead him. ⁶⁹"But when the one who is ordered to do this arrives ," he said, "be ready for him when he comes in and close the door on him and hold him fast, for the king himself will follow him and come to me, having changed his mind." When the man sent by the king to kill Eliseus arrived, they did as they were told. ⁷⁰Then Joram repented of his anger against the prophet, and for fear that the man ordered to kill him might get there and do it he hurried to stop the murder and save the prophet. When he reached him, he accused him of not praying to God for their salvation from their plight but merely looked on as they destroyed by it. ⁷¹Eliseus promised that on the next day, at the very same hour that the king came to him, they would have plenty of food and that two seahs of barley would be sold in the market for a shekel and a seah of fine flour would be sold for a shekel. ⁷²This prediction gladdened Joram and those who were present, for they did not hesitate to believe what the prophet said, having seen his former predictions come true, and the expectation of plenty made the needs and anxieties of that day seem minor to them. ⁷³But the officer of the third band, a friend and supporter of the king, said, "Prophet, you are making incredible claims! For as God cannot pour down from heaven torrents of barley or fine flour, so is it impossible for what you say to happen." To this the prophet replied, "You shall see these things happen, but you shall not have any share in them."

⁷⁴What Eliseus had so foretold happened as follows There was a law in Samaria that those who had leprosy and whose bodies were not cleansed from it, should stay outside the city. Now there were four men who on this account stayed outside the gates, and because of the extremity of the famine no one brought any food out to them. ⁷⁵But the law forbade them to enter the city and even if they were let in they would die miserably of hunger and if they stayed where they were they needed food, so they decided to surrender to the enemy, for then if they were spared they would survive, and if they were killed, it would be an easy death. ⁷⁶When they had decided this they came at night to the enemy's camp. Now God had begun to frighten and disturb the Syrians and to bring the noise of chariots and armour to their ears, as though an army were coming upon them, making them think it was coming ever nearer to them. ⁷⁷They were so afraid that they left their tents and ran together to Ader saying that king Joram of Israel had hired and led the kings of Egypt and the islands as allies against them for they heard the sound of them coming. ⁷⁸Ader believed what they said for his ears were filled with the same noise so they fell into great disorder and uproar and leaving their horses and pack animals and immense wealth in the camp, they took to flight. ⁷⁹When, as we said a while ago, the lepers who had left Samaria and gone to the camp of the Syrians, arrived there, all they saw was great peace and silence, so they entered it and immediately went into one of their tents, and when they saw no one there, they ate and drank and took away clothing and a large amount of gold which they hid outside the camp. ⁸⁰Then they went into another tent and as before carried off what was in it, and they did this several times, quite undisturbed by anyone. From this they gathered that the enemy had left and they were ashamed not to tell this to Joram and the citizens. ⁸¹So they came to the walls of Samaria and called aloud to the watchmen and told them about the enemy, and these in turn told the king's guards, through whom Joram heard of it, and he summoned his friends and officers. ⁸²When they came he said he suspected that the king of Syria's departure was a cunning ambush, "since despairing of subduing us by famine, when we come out from the city to spoil their camp thinking they have fled, he will suddenly attack" and then they would be killed and the city taken without a fight. "So I urge you to stay in the city and not go outside it scornfully thinking that the enemy had really left." ⁸³Somebody said that he was good and wise to suspect this, but still advised that he should send a few cavalry to search all the region as far as the Jordan. "If they are seized the enemy in ambush, they will save your army from going out unsuspecting into a similar misfortune ," adding, "if those cavalry are caught and killed by the enemy, they may added to the people who have died of hunger." ⁸⁴He approved of this view and sent some out to see for themselves. They saw no sign of enemies on the road, but found it full of provisions and weapons, which must have been discarded to speed their flight; and when the king heard this, he sent the crowd out to take the spoils of the camp. ⁸⁵These were of no small value, for they found a large amount of gold and silver and flocks of all kinds of livestock, and thousands of measures of wheat and barley, more than they ever dreamed of. Not only was their former shortage solved, but also things were so plentiful that two seahs of barley were bought for a shekel and a seah of fine flour for a shekel, as Eliseus had prophesied. Now a seah is equal to one and a half Italian modii. ⁸⁶The officer of the third troop was the only one not to benefit from this plenty, for as he was appointed by the king to guard the gate and prevent the crowds from blocking and crushing each other in the press, he suffered that very fate himself and died in the way foretold by Eliseus, since of all of them only he disbelieved what was said about the abundant provisions they were going to have.

⁸⁷Then the king of Syria, Ader, had escaped to Damascus and knew that it was the divinity had thrown all his army into this fear and disorder and that it was not caused by the enemy's attack. On finding God so opposed to him he was very downcast and grew sick. ⁸⁸At that time the prophet Eliseus had gone from his own region to Damascus, and when Ader knew this he sent Azael, the most faithful of his servants, to meet him and bring him gifts, with instructions to ask him about his sickness and whether he would recover from it. ⁸⁹So Azael came to Eliseus with forty camels, bringing the best and most precious fruits of the region of Damascus and from the royal palace itself. He greeted him courteously and said he was sent to him by king Ader bringing gifts, to inquire about his sickness and if he would recover from it. ⁹⁰The prophet told Azaelos to tell the king the news was not bad, but that still he must die. Hearing this, the king's servant was sad and Eliseus also wept and his tears ran copiously at seeing in advance the woes his people would suffer after the Ader's death. ⁹¹When Azael asked why he was distressed he said he was weeping in pity for the people of Israel and "the terrible miseries they will suffer through you. For you will kill the best of them and burn their strongest cities and destroy their children and dash them against the stones and rip open their women with child." ⁹²When Azael asked, "How can I have the power to do such things?" the prophet replied that God had shown that he would become king of Syria. When Azael came to Ader, he brought him good news about his sickness but the next day he spread a wet cloth over him like a net and strangled him and took over his throne. ⁹³He was an active man and had the great support of the Syrians and of the people of Damascus, both of whom to this day pay divine honours to Ader himself and Azael, who ruled after him, because of their benefactions and for the temples they built to adorn the city of the Damascenes. ⁹⁴They hold processions every day in honour of these kings, and pride themselves on their antiquity, unaware that these kings are much later than they imagine and go back less than eleven hundred years. When Joram, the king of Israel, heard that Ader was dead, he recovered from his terror and dread of him and gladly lived in peace.

⁹⁵The king of Jerusalem, Joram—for as we have said he had the same name as the king of Israel—on becoming king immediately began to slaughter his brothers and those of his father's friends who had been leaders, and so gave the first proof of his wickedness. He was no better than the kings of Israel who first sinned against their ancestral Hebrew laws and against God's worship. ⁹⁶One person who taught him to do wrong in various ways and to worship foreign gods was Gotholia, Achab's daughter who lived with him; and yet God would not quite root out this family, because of his promise made to David, though Joram never ceased introducing new customs and spreading impiety against the customs of his own people. ⁹⁷When about that time the Edomites rebelled from him and killed their former king, who had been subject to his father and set up one of their own choosing, Joram attacked the land of Idumaea by night, with his cavalry and chariots, and killed those who were near his own kingdom, but did not proceed further. ⁹⁸But this expedition did him no good, for they all rebelled from him, as well as the inhabitants of the region of Libnah. And he went so far as to compel the people to go up to the high places of the mountains and worship foreign gods.

⁹⁹As he was doing this and had entirely set aside his ancestral laws, a letter from Elijah the prophet was brought to him declaring that God would greatly punish him for not imitating his forefathers but following the wicked ways of the kings of Israel, and forcing the tribe of Judas and the citizens of Jerusalem to exchange the holy worship of their own God for the worship of idols, as Achab had forced the Israelites, ¹⁰⁰and for killing his brothers and other good and righteous men. In this letter the prophet warned of the punishment he would suffer for this, namely, the people's destruction and the violation of the king's own wives and children, ¹⁰¹and that he himself would die of a painful stomach illness and his bowels would rot from within and flow out; and that he would look on, unable to help himself, as he died in that way. This was what Elijah told him in that letter.

¹⁰²Not long afterward an army of Arabs and foreigners from near Ethiopia attacked Joram's kingdom and pillaged the region and the king's own house. They killed his sons and wives. But only one of his sons, Ochosias by name, survived by escaping from the enemy. ¹⁰³After this disaster, he himself fell victim to the disease foretold by the prophet, which lasted a long time, for the angry divinity punished him in the belly, and seeing his bowels flow out he died in misery; and the people insulted his corpse. ¹⁰⁴I imagine that they reckoned that his death had come from the wrath of God and that therefore he was unworthy of a royal funeral, so they did not lay him to rest in the tombs of his fathers or show him special honour, but buried him like a private citizen, after he had lived for forty years and ruled for eight of them. The people of Jerusalem then passed on the kingship to his son Ochosias.

¹⁰⁵After the death of Ader, Joram, the king of Israel, hoped to take Aramatha, a city of Galadene, from the Syrians, so he set out against it with a large army. During the siege he was shot with an arrow by one of the Syrians. So he returned to Jezreel to let his wound heal, leaving his whole army in Aramatha under the command of Jehu, son of Amases. Already the city had been taken by force. ¹⁰⁶He intended when he was healed to make war on the Syrians, but Eliseus the prophet sent one of his disciples to Aramatha, with holy oil to anoint Jehu and to tell him that God had chosen him as their king. He had him say other things to him also, and to travel like a fugitive so as to leave without anyone knowing. ¹⁰⁷Reaching the city, he found Jehu sitting among the military officers, as Eliseus had said he would, and approached saying that he wanted to speak with him about something. ¹⁰⁸When the other got up and followed him into an inner chamber, the young man took the oil and poured it on his head and said that God made him king in order to destroy the house of Achab and to revenge the blood of the prophets so evilly killed by Jezabel, ¹⁰⁹to exterminate their house just as those of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and of Basanes had died for their wickedness, and that no seed might remain of Achab's family. Having said this, he left the chamber quickly, trying not to be seen by anyone among the army.

¹¹⁰Jehu came forward to the place he had earlier sat with the officers, and when they asked and cajoled him to say why the raving young man had come to him, he answered, "You have guessed right, for the words he spoke were those of a madman!" ¹¹¹When they pressed to hear more, he told how he had said that God had chosen him as king over the people. When he had said this, each of them took off his cloak, and spread it under his feet and blew the trumpets, to proclaim Jehu as king. ¹¹²Gathering the army he prepared to attack Joram in the city of Jezreel, where, as we have said, he was recovering from the wound he had received at the siege of Aramatha. Now Ochosias, king of Jerusalem, happened to have come to Joram on account of their relationship, for as we have said he was his sister's son, to see how he was surviving his wound. ¹¹³Since Jehu wished to attack Joram's group unexpectedly, he wanted none of the soldiers to go and tell Joram what had happened, for this would clearly show their favour for him and that they wished to make him king.

¹¹⁴They agreed with his words and guarded the roads in case anyone should slip into Jezreel secretly and tell it to the people there. Jehu sat in his chariot and with his elite cavalry headed for Jezreel. And at his approach, the watchman whom Joram had set there to look out for anyone coming to the city, saw Jehu riding with a throng. And he told Joram that a troop of cavalry were coming. ¹¹⁵Immediately he ordered out one of his horsemen to meet them to find out who was coming. When the horseman reached Jehu he asked him about the army, saying that the king wished to know, but was told not to concern himself such matters, but to follow him. ¹¹⁶Seeing this, the watchman told Joram that the horseman had joined the company and was coming with them. When the king sent a second messenger, Jehu told him to do likewise. ¹¹⁷When the watchman told this also to Joram, he finally got into his chariot, along with Ochosias the king of Jerusalem who, as we have said, was there to see how his kinsman was doing after his wound, and out they went to meet him. ¹¹⁸Jehu was marching slowly, and in good order, and when Joram met him in the field of Naboth he asked him if all was well in the camp, but Jehu bitterly rebuked him, even calling his mother a witch and a prostitute. Fearing his purpose and suspecting that it boded him no good, the king turned his chariot as quickly as he could and told Ochosias that they were caught by deceit and treachery. Then Jehu drew his bow and struck him, the arrow going through his heart. ¹¹⁹Joram immediately fell on his knees and gave up the ghost; and Jehu ordered Bidkar, the officer of a third of his army, to throw Joram's corpse into Naboth's field, reminding him how Elijah had prophesied to Achab his father, when he killed Naboth, that both he and his family would die in that place, ¹²⁰for as they sat behind Achab's chariot, they had heard the prophet say so and it now happened according to his prophecy. When Joram fell, Ochosias feared for his own life and turned his chariot onto another road, thinking he could hide from Jehu. ¹²¹But he pursued him and overtook him at a certain ascent and drew his bow and wounded him; and leaving his chariot he got on his horse and fled from Jehu to Megiddo. Although he was cared for there, he died a little later of the wound and was brought to Jerusalem and buried there, after reigning for one year and proving an evil man, even worse than his father.

¹²²When Jehu entered Jezreel, Jezabel dressed up and stood on the tower and said what a fine servant he was, to have killed his master! Looking up at her, he asked who she was and told her to come down to him. Finally he ordered the eunuchs to throw her from the tower. ¹²³In her fall, she spattered the wall with her blood and was trodden by the horses and so died. When this was done, Jehu came to the palace with his friends and relaxed after his journey, with a meal and in other ways. He told his servants to take Jezabel and bury her, because of her lineage, as one descended from kings. ¹²⁴However, those appointed to bury her found nothing remaining but her extremities, for all the rest was eaten by dogs. When Jehu heard this, he admired the prophecy of Elijah, who had foretold that she would die in Jezreel, in this way.

¹²⁵Achab had seventy sons who had been reared in Samaria. So Jehu sent two letters, one to those who had reared the children, and the other to the officers of Samaria, saying that they should appoint the bravest of Achab's sons as king, since they had many chariots and horses and armour and a large army and fortified cities, and in this way avenge their master's death. ¹²⁶This he wrote to test the feelings of those of Samaria. When the officers and those who had reared the children, read the letter, they were afraid, and considering that they could not oppose one who had already subdued two great kings, they replied that they accepted him as master and would do whatever he ordered. ¹²⁷He wrote back in reply insisting that they obey him and cut off the heads of Achab's sons and send them to him. So the officers sent for those who brought up the sons of Achab and directed them to kill them, to cut off their heads and send them to Jehu. They obeyed their orders without exception, and placed them in wicker baskets and sent them to Jezreel. ¹²⁸When Jehu, at supper with his friends, was told that the heads of Achab's sons had been brought, he ordered them to make two heaps of them, one before each of the gates. ¹²⁹In the morning he went out to view them and when he saw them he began to say to the people present that he himself had campaigned against his master and killed him, but that it was not he who killed all these, and he wanted them to note that all had happened to Achab's family according to God's prophecy and his house had died just as Elijah had foretold. ¹³⁰When he had further destroyed any relatives of Achab who were found in Jezreel, he went to Samaria, and on the way he met the relatives of Ochosias king of Jerusalem and asked them where they were going. ¹³¹They replied that they had come to greet Joram and their own king Ochosias, for they did not know that he had killed them both. So Jehu ordered them all captured and killed, being in number forty-two persons.

¹³²After these, he met a good and holy man called Jehonadab who had been his friend of old, who greeted Jehu and began to commend him for doing everything according to God's will, in extirpating the house of Achab. ¹³³Jehu wanted him to come up into his chariot and join in his entry into Samaria, telling him that he would not spare a single criminal, but punish the false prophets and priests who had deceived the people and got them to leave the worship of God Almighty and to worship foreign gods, for it was a fine and pleasing sight to a good and holy man to see the wicked punished. ¹³⁴Persuaded by this, Jehonadab mounted into Jehu's chariot and came to Samaria. And Jehu sought out all Achab's relatives and killed them. Wanting none of the false prophets or priests of Achab's god to escape punishment, he caught them deceitfully by a ruse as follows. ¹³⁵Assembling the people he told them he would worship twice as many gods as Achab worshipped. Then he summoned his priests and prophets and servants as he intended to offer great, expensive sacrifices to Achab's god, and any of his priests who absented themselves would be punished with death. Now Achab's god was called Baal. ¹³⁶When he had set a day on which to offer the sacrifices, he sent around all the region of the Israelites to bring the priests of Baal to him, and Jehu ordered that vestments be given to all the priests. When they had received them, he went into the house with his friend Jonadab and had them search for any foreigner or stranger among them, for he would have none of a different religion present at their rites. ¹³⁷When they said that there was no stranger there and began their sacrifices, he set eighty men outside, from among the soldiers he knew to be most faithful and told them to kill the prophets and avenge their ancestral laws now so long dishonoured, threatening that if any escaped, their own lives would be forfeit. ¹³⁸So they killed all those men with the sword and burned the house of Baal and so purged Samaria of foreign customs. This Baal was the god of the Tyrians, for Achab had built a temple for him in Samaria to gratify his father-in-law, Ethbaal, the king of Tyre and Sidon, and assigned prophets for him and worshipped him in every way. ¹³⁹Once this god was demolished, Jehu allowed the Israelites to worship the golden heifers; but because he had taken care to punish the wicked, God foretold by his prophet that his sons would reign over Israel for four generations. This was the state of affairs under Jehu.

¹⁴⁰When Othlias, the daughter of Achab, heard of the death of her brother Joram and of her son Ochosias and of the royal family, she wanted none of the house of David to be left alive and the whole family exterminated, so that no king might come from it later on. ¹⁴¹She thought she had achieved this, but one of Ochosias' sons was saved, who escaped death in this way: Ochosias had a half-sister named Joshabeth, who was married to the high priest Jodas. ¹⁴²She went to the royal palace and among the slain she found Joas, for that was the one-year-old child's name, concealed with his nurse, and took and locked them both into a secret bed-chamber. For six years she and her husband Jodas brought him up secretly in the temple, during which time Othlias ruled over Jerusalem and the two tribes.

¹⁴³On the seventh year, Jodas shared this with five of the centurions and persuaded them to help in his attempts against Othlias and to join him in claiming the kingship for the child. They duly swore not to betray each other and then he had good hope of deposing Othlias. ¹⁴⁴The men whom Jodas the priest had chosen as his partners went around all the region and from it gathered the priests and Levites and the heads of the tribes and brought them to Jerusalem to the high priest. ¹⁴⁵He asked them to promise under oath to keep secret what he was to reveal to them, which needed their silence and their help. When they had sworn and thereby made it safe for him to speak, he produced the child of the family of David that he had brought up and told them, "This is your king, of that house which you know God foretold would reign over you for all time. ¹⁴⁶My advice is that one third of you guard him in the temple and one third keep watch at all the gates of the temple and that the rest of you guard the gate which opens toward to the royal palace and let the rest of the people be in the temple, unarmed, and let no man go armed into the temple, except the priests." ¹⁴⁷Then he directed some of the priests and Levites to stand around the king as a bodyguard with swords drawn, and to immediately kill anyone else who dared to enter the temple armed, and told them to fear no one, but to continue guarding the king.

¹⁴⁸These agreed to do as the high priest asked and proved their resolve in action. Then Jodas opened the armoury which David had made in the temple and distributed to the centurions and priests and Levites all the spears and quivers and any other kind of weapons it contained and set them armed in a circle around the temple, within arm's reach of each other, thereby barring entry to those who should not enter. ¹⁴⁹Bringing the child into the centre they put on him the royal crown and anointing him with oil Jodas installed him as king, while the throng rejoiced and cried out, "God save the king!"

¹⁵⁰Surprised to hear the uproar and the acclamations, Othlias was greatly troubled in mind and instantly came out from the royal palace with her own army, and when she arrived at the temple, the priests received her, but those on guard around it followed the high priest's orders and blocked her armed followers from going in. ¹⁵¹When Othlias saw the child standing beside the tent, with the royal crown upon his head, she rent her clothes and shouted very loudly, commanding them to kill the one who had plotted against her and tried to take the leadership from her. But Jodas called on the centurions to bring Othlias to the valley of the Cedron and kill her there, for he would not have the temple defiled by the wretched woman's execution. ¹⁵²He also ordered that if anyone came near to help her, he too should be killed, and those in charge of killing Othlias took her and led her to the gate of the king's mules, and did away with her there.

¹⁵³When Othlias had been dispatched in this way, Jodas called the people and the warriors together into the temple and made them take an oath to obey the king and care for his safety and that of his government; and he made the king promise to worship God and not break the laws of Moses. ¹⁵⁴Then they ran to the house of Baal, which Othlias and her husband Joram had built in honour of Achab and to the dishonour of the God of their fathers and demolished it and killed Mathan, who held his priesthood. ¹⁵⁵Jodas left to the priests and Levites the care and custody of the temple as arranged by king David, ordering them to offer their appointed holocausts twice a day and the incense according to the law. He also assigned some of the Levites and porters to guard the temple, so that no defiled person might enter it.