2 Kings 9:30
New International Version
Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she put on eye makeup, arranged her hair and looked out of a window.

New Living Translation
When Jezebel, the queen mother, heard that Jehu had come to Jezreel, she painted her eyelids and fixed her hair and sat at a window.

English Standard Version
When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window.

Berean Standard Bible
Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window.

King James Bible
And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.

New King James Version
Now when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she put paint on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked through a window.

New American Standard Bible
When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it, and she put makeup on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked down through the window.

NASB 1995
When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the window.

NASB 1977
When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes and adorned her head, and looked out the window.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Jehu came to Jezreel, and Jezebel heard of it and she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the window.

Amplified Bible
So when Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it, and she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked down from the [upper] window.

Christian Standard Bible
When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it, so she painted her eyes, fixed her hair, and looked down from the window.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it, so she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from the window.

American Standard Version
And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And Yahu came to Yizreil, and Izabeil heard and she painted her eyes with black lead and girt her head, and she looked out from a window.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Ju came to Jezrael; and Jezabel heard of it, and coloured her eyes, and adorned her head, and looked through the window.

Contemporary English Version
Jehu headed toward Jezreel, and when Jezebel heard he was coming, she put on eye shadow and brushed her hair. Then she stood at the window, waiting for him to arrive.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Jehu came into Jezrahel. But Jezabel hearing of his coming in, painted her face with stibic stone, and adorned her head, and looked out of a window

English Revised Version
And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and tired her head, and looked out at the window.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
When Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it. She put on eye shadow, fixed her hair, and looked out of a second-story window.

Good News Translation
Jehu arrived in Jezreel. Jezebel, having heard what had happened, put on eye shadow, arranged her hair, and stood looking down at the street from a window in the palace.

International Standard Version
As soon as Jehu arrived at Jezreel, Jezebel adorned her eyes, arranged her hair, and peered out a window.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window.

Literal Standard Version
And Jehu comes to Jezreel, and Jezebel has heard, and puts her eyes in paint and beautifies her head, and looks out through the window.

Majority Standard Bible
Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window.

New American Bible
Jehu came to Jezreel, and when Jezebel heard of it, she shadowed her eyes, adorned her hair, and looked down from her window.

NET Bible
Jehu approached Jezreel. When Jezebel heard the news, she put on some eye liner, fixed up her hair, and leaned out the window.

New Revised Standard Version
When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; she painted her eyes, and adorned her head, and looked out of the window.

New Heart English Bible
When Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and attired her head, and looked out at the window.

Webster's Bible Translation
And when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and adorned her head, and looked out at a window.

World English Bible
When Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and adorned her head, and looked out at the window.

Young's Literal Translation
And Jehu cometh in to Jezreel, and Jezebel hath heard, and putteth her eyes in paint and maketh right her head, and looketh out through the window.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Murder of Jezebel
30Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window. 31And as Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, O Zimri, murderer of your master?”…

Cross References
1 Samuel 29:1
Now the Philistines brought all their forces together at Aphek, while Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel.

1 Kings 16:9
However, while Elah was in Tirzah getting drunk in the house of Arza the steward of his household there, Elah's servant Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, conspired against him.

1 Kings 21:23
And the LORD also speaks concerning Jezebel: 'The dogs will devour Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.'

Proverbs 6:25
Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes.

Jeremiah 4:30
And you, O devastated one, what will you do, though you dress yourself in scarlet, though you adorn yourself with gold jewelry, though you enlarge your eyes with paint? You adorn yourself in vain; your lovers despise you; they want to take your life.

Ezekiel 23:40
Furthermore, you sisters sent messengers for men who came from afar; and behold, when they arrived, you bathed for them, painted your eyes, and adorned yourself with jewelry.


Treasury of Scripture

And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.

Jezebel

1 Kings 19:1,2
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword…

Jeremiah 4:30
And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.

Ezekiel 23:40
And furthermore, that ye have sent for men to come from far, unto whom a messenger was sent; and, lo, they came: for whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with ornaments,

tired

Isaiah 3:18-24
In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon, …

Ezekiel 24:17
Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.

1 Timothy 2:9,10
In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; …

Jump to Previous
Adorned Arranged Attired Dressing Eyes Face Hair Head Heard Jehu Jezebel Jez'ebel Jezreel Maketh News Ornaments Paint Painted Painting Putteth Right Tired Window
Jump to Next
Adorned Arranged Attired Dressing Eyes Face Hair Head Heard Jehu Jezebel Jez'ebel Jezreel Maketh News Ornaments Paint Painted Painting Putteth Right Tired Window
2 Kings 9
1. Elisha sends a young prophet with instructions to anoint Jehu at Ramoth Gilead
4. The prophet having done his message, flees
11. Jehu, being made king by the soldiers, kills Joram in the field of Naboth
27. Ahaziah is slain at Gur, and buried at Jerusalem
30. Proud Jezebel is thrown down out of a window, and eaten by dogs.














(30) And when Jehu was come.--Rather, And Jehu came--i.e., after the slaughter of Ahaziah, as the Hebrew construction implies.

Jezebel heard of it.--Rather, Now Jezebel had heard--scil., the news of the death of the two kings. There should be a stop after Jezreel.

And she painted her face.--Rather, and she set her eyes in paint--i.e., according to the still common practice of Oriental ladies, she painted her eyebrows and lashes with a pigment composed of antimony and zinc (the Arabic kohl). The dark border throws the eye into relief, and makes it appear larger (Bahr). Pliny relates that in his day this pigment (stibium) was called platyophthalmon (comp. Jeremiah 4:30), because it dilates the eye (Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxiii. 34).

Tired.--An old English word, meaning adorned with a tire or head-dress. (Comp. Isaiah 3:18.) Tire might seem to be the Persian tiara, but is much more probably connected with the German zier and zieren. (See Skea?s Etym. Dict., s.v) Jezebel put on her royal apparel in order to die as a queen. Comp. the similar behaviour of Cleopatra:--

"Show me, my women, like a queen. Go fetch

My best attires. I am again tor Cydnus,

To meet Marc Antony . . . Bring our crown, and all.

***** . . .

Verse 30. - And when Jehu was come to Jezreel. Some commentators suppose that Jehu did not engage personally in the pursuit of Ahaziah, but, leaving that to a portion of his retinue, pushed on with all haste to Jezreel, where Jezebel was, "the originator of all the mischief." But it is certainly more natural to understand (with Keil and Josephus) that Jehu himself pursued. The pursuit to Ibleam, where Ahaziah was mortally wounded, and the return to Jezreel, need not have occupied more than about three hours. Jezebel heard of it. She would naturally be the first to hear. On the death of her son, which must have been plainly seen from the walls of Jezreel, she become practically the chief authority in the place, and indeed in the kingdom. Jehoram's sons were probably minors. And she painted her face; literally, and she put her eyes in antimony; i.e. she adorned her eyes with the dark dye which has always been fashionable in the East, and which is still used at the present day. The dye is spread both on the upper and the lower eyelids. It at once increases the apparent size of the eye, and gives it unnatural brilliancy. The Oriental nations, Babylonians, Assyrians, Medes, Persians, were acquainted with the practice from very early times; and it is not surprising that it was known to Jezebel. What was her exact object in applying it is more doubtful. The older commentators, who are followed by Ewald, suppose that she intended to "summon up all her seductive fascinations in order to tempt and conquer Jehu;" but more recent writers (Bahr, Keil, and others) argue that her probable age renders this incredible, since she had already a grandson who was twenty-three years of age (2 Kings 8:26), and must therefore have been herself at least fifty. But, if we remember that Cleopatra was forty when She held Antony as her slave and hoped to captivate Augustus, it would seem to be not altogether beyond the bounds of possibility that a Phoouician princess of fifty may have thought that, by the use of art, she might reader herself a captivating personage. There is, at any rate no evidence that "putting the eyes in antimony" was an ordinary or a fitting preparation for meeting death in a way worthy of a queen. Ewald's view has, therefore much to commend it to our acceptance. Jezebel, trusting in the charms and the fascination which had been so potent over Ahab, may have imagined that she had still enough beauty left to capture Jehu, provided she increased her natural attractions by a careful use of all the resources of art. And tired her head. Phoenician statues of goddesses have their hair arranged in long pendent curls, and bear on their heads a small conical cap with a ribbon wreathed round the base. The artists probably had queens and princesses as their models. There is no evidence that false hair was worn in Phoenicia, either by men or women. And looked out at a window. Windows, sometimes open, sometimes latticed, were common in Oriental houses from the earliest times. They mostly looked into the court round which a house was commonly built; but some few were in the external wall of the building; and through these new arrivals might be reconnoitered. Jezebel "looked out," partly to see, but perhaps still more to be seen.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Now when Jehu
יֵה֖וּא (yê·hū)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3058: Jehu -- 'the LORD is He', the name of several Israelites

arrived
וַיָּב֥וֹא (way·yā·ḇō·w)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 935: To come in, come, go in, go

in Jezreel,
יִזְרְעֶ֑אלָה (yiz·rə·‘e·lāh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 3157: Jezreel -- 'God sows', two Israelites, also two cities in Israel, also a valley in Northern Israel

Jezebel
וְאִיזֶ֣בֶל (wə·’î·ze·ḇel)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 348: Jezebel -- queen of Israel with King Ahab

heard [of it].
שָׁמְעָ֗ה (šā·mə·‘āh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

So she painted
וַתָּ֨שֶׂם (wat·tā·śem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 7760: Put -- to put, place, set

her eyes,
עֵינֶ֙יהָ֙ (‘ê·ne·hā)
Noun - cdc | third person feminine singular
Strong's 5869: An eye, a fountain

adorned
וַתֵּ֣יטֶב (wat·tê·ṭeḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 3190: To be good, well, glad, or pleasing

her head,
רֹאשָׁ֔הּ (rō·šāh)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person feminine singular
Strong's 7218: The head

and looked down
וַתַּשְׁקֵ֖ף (wat·taš·qêp̄)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 8259: To overhang, look out or down

from
בְּעַ֥ד (bə·‘aḏ)
Preposition
Strong's 1157: In up to, over against, at, beside, among, behind, for

a window.
הַחַלּֽוֹן׃ (ha·ḥal·lō·wn)
Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 2474: A window


Links
2 Kings 9:30 NIV
2 Kings 9:30 NLT
2 Kings 9:30 ESV
2 Kings 9:30 NASB
2 Kings 9:30 KJV

2 Kings 9:30 BibleApps.com
2 Kings 9:30 Biblia Paralela
2 Kings 9:30 Chinese Bible
2 Kings 9:30 French Bible
2 Kings 9:30 Catholic Bible

OT History: 2 Kings 9:30 When Jehu was come to Jezreel Jezebel (2Ki iiKi ii ki 2 kg 2kg)
2 Kings 9:29
Top of Page
Top of Page