ProlepsisOpen in the graph →

Prophecy

Jehu’s dynasty to the fourth generation (2 Kings 10:30)

Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III (British Museum, 841 BC): Jehu prostrate before the king of Assyria. It attests Jehu, not the length of his dynasty.
Archaeological object Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III (British Museum, 841 BC): Jehu prostrate before the king of Assyria. It attests Jehu, not the length of his dynasty. — Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg), Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

○ Written after the events, according to historians; tradition dates it before

Written c. 841–835 BC according to tradition; c. 640–560 BC according to historians. Event: c. 841–752 BC.

See the full entry: sources, objections, answers

In short

The announcement. In the second book of Kings, around 841–835 BC, the LORD promises King Jehu that his descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.

What happened. Jehu, Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam II and then Zechariah reign from about 841 to 752 BC, and Zechariah is assassinated after six months. Three of these kings are named in non-biblical documents, but the end of the dynasty is told only by the Bible.

What is still debated. the promise and its fulfillment appear in the same work, written after the fall of the dynasty, and “four generations” may be a stock phrase.

What would be striking if the text came first

Jehu’s family held power for nearly a century, the longest dynasty of the northern kingdom, and it stops at the number of generations announced. But historians date the book of Kings to after its fall; only the prophet Hosea, who is older, announced its end.

Main objection (in French for now)

2 R 10:30 et 2 R 15:12 appartiennent au même ouvrage, écrit après la chute de la dynastie : la « prédiction » est un schéma d’accomplissement construit par le rédacteur.

The text (World English Bible)

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.”

2 Kgs 10:30

Sources