the 1'(lfld by which the palaoe w11.s approached, Ver. 85.-And they went to bury her 1 Rnd 111.y there bleeding and helpless. And but they found no more of her than the skull, some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall. and the feet, and the palms of her hands, As she frll, some portion of her body struck " The harder pints of the human frame " against the wall of the palace, and left (Stanley); perhaps nleo the less palatable, splashes of blood upon it. There were since cannihlllB BRY thl\t the palm of the prohnbly some projections from the wall humnn hand is excessively hitter. Do~s in between the window and the ground. And Oriental countries are over prowling nl)out, on the horses. As her body struck the pro- especially in the vicinity of towns, on the jections, a bloody shower spurted from it, look-out for food, and will es.t flesh or otfal which fell in part upon the horses that drew of any kind. They have been oallcd "the ,Tehu's chariot. And he trade her underfoot. scavengers of the East," and the phrase Like Tullis. (Liv., i. 4S), J ehu hs.d his chariot well describes them. Denn Stanley saw driven over the prostrate corpse, so that the "the wild dogs of J ezreel prow ling about hoofs of his horses, s.nd perhaps his own the mounds where the offal is ce.st outside pereou, were sprinkl('(]. with the royo.l blood. the gates of the town by the inhabitants." Compare the passage of Livy, "Ameus, agi- Ver. 36.-Wherefore they oame age.in, and tantibus furiis, Tullia per patris corpus car- told him. The men whom he had sent to pentum egisse fertur, partemque sanguinis bury Jezebel returned, and t.old the king ac ciedis paternm cruento vehiculo, cont.ami- what they had found. The narrative woke no.ta ipsa respersaque, tutisse ad penates another chord of memory whioh had hitherto suos virique sui." It is not often that royo.l slept. And he said, This is the word of the corpsc-s. unless in the hes.t of bu.ttle, have Lord, which he spake by his servant Elijah received such treo.tment. the Tishbite. The prophecy referred to is Ver. 3!.-A.nd when he wo.s oome in- doubtless that recorded in 1 Kings xxi. 23. i.e. when Jehu had established himself in It is, however, here expanded, either because the royal pals.ce-he did eat and drink, and Jehu's rccolleotion was notexact,or because said. His firat care was to refresh himself the record in l Kings is abbreviated. The -lo order s. banquet to be served, and to great point of the prophecy is common to satisfy his appetite with food s.nd drink. both records, viz. ths.t the dogs should eat Not till afterwards did he bethink himself Jezebel at Jezreel, on the scene of her of the bloody corpse of his late queen s.nd iniquities. Saying, In the portion of Jezreel mistress, lying on the cold ground uncared shall dogs eat the tlesh of Jezebel. It is for and untended, exposed to scorn and not quite clear what is meant by the ignominy. When the th,,ught occurred t,o "portion" (p';'r.i) of Jezreel. Probably there him, it brought about s. certain amount of is no allusion to the "portion" (rij-:7!;1) of relenting. Oo, see now this cursed woman. Naboth (vers. 25, 26). Rather the same is He calls Jezebel "a cursed woman," not inappropriately. She had brought a curse meant as by ~n in 1 Kings xxi. 23, viz. the on her hllBband, on her sons, and on her cultivated space or " portion " of land outside grandsons; she had been the evil genius of the wall of the town (see tbe comment on two countries, Isrs.el and Judah; she had that passage). _ been the prime mover in a bloody persecu- Ver. 37.-A.nd the oaroe.se of Jezebel shall tion of the worshippers of J ehove.h; and was be e.s dung upon the face of the field ( comp. the true origino.l source of the present revo- Pa. lx.xxiii. 10; Zeph. i. 17; Jer. ix. 22; lution, which was t,o result in the deaths of xvi. 4, etc.). The expression was proverbial. 10 many others. And bury her: for she is In the portion of Jezreel (see the comment a king's daughter. As queen-mother, Jehu, on the preceding verse) ; so that they shall it seems, would not have regarded Jezebel not say, This is Jezebel. The fragments of as entitled to burial ; but as daughter of the body were BO scattered that there could Eth-Bo.al, King of the Zidonio.ne (1 Kings be no collective tomb, no place whereat :xvL 31), and so a princess born, he allowed admirers could congregate and say, "Here her claim. Perhaps he feared lest further lies the great queen-here lies Jezebel." insult to the corpse might provoke the re- To rest in no tomb was viewed as a shame Bentment of the Phrenician monarch, and and a disgrace. draw down upon Lim that prince's hostility.
HOMILETICS. Vera. 1-10.-The prophet and the prophet-disciple-the dutieB of direction and of obedience. The time had come for a great change-a "great revolution," to use the words of Ewald. 'fhe first dynasty of Israel which had shown any indications of atu.bility was to be swept away, and another still more stable dynasty was to be estab- 011, IX, 1-37,] THE SECOND BOOK OF THH KINGS. 197