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Jehu

JEHU (Heb. יֵהוּא), son of Hanani; a prophet during the time of Baasha, king of Israel (c. 906–883 B.C.E.), and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah (c. 867–846 B.C.E.; I Kings 16:1, 7, 12; II Chron. 19:2; 20:34). Jehu's father may have been the seer Hanani who is reported to have rebuked King Asa of Judah and been incarcerated by him (II Chron. 16:7–10; but perhaps it should read "[Jehu son of] Hanani"). Jehu foretold the destruction of the house of Baasha (I Kings 16:1ff.) and censured Jehoshaphat for joining King Ahab of Israel in the attack on Ramoth Gilead (II Chron. 19:2–3). In accordance with his theory that the Books of Samuel and Kings were written successively by the prophets who witnessed the events (cf. e.g., I Chron. 29:29; II Chron. 9:29), the Chronicler attributes to Jehu son of Hanani the portion of the Book of Kings which deals with the age of King Jehoshaphat of Judah (II Chron. 20:34).'

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Noth, Personennamen, 143; O. Eissfeldt, The Old Testament, an Introduction (1965), 533. ADD. BIBLIOGRAPHY: M. Cogan, I Kings (AB; 2000), 401ff.


Sources: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2007 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.