The LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in executing that which is right in my eyes, and have done to Ahab’s house according to all that was in my heart, your descendants shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 30. Generation. So Joachaz, Joas, Jeroboam II. and Zacharias, succeeded to the throne. This small temporal reward he obtained for the little good which he had done; while, on the other hand, he was punished for his manifold transgressions. Osee (1:4,) reproaches him even for the blood which he had spilt in Jezrahel; for, though Achab and Joram were guilty, was Jehu innocent? Can this murder of Ochozias be justified? Calmet.—“What advantage was it to him that he received some little transitory reward of a temporal kingdom, for his obedience in exterminating the house of Achab; which he indeed exhibited to gratify his own lust of dominion?” Saint Augustine c. mend. ii. chapter 2. This holy doctor observes, that moral good works are thus rewarded. Worthington.