17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and he saw the company of Jehu as he came , and said , "I see a company ." And Joram said , "Take a horseman and send him to meet them and let him say , 'Is it peace ?' " 18 So a horseman went to meet him and said , "Thus says the king , 'Is it peace ?' " And Jehu said , " What have you to do with peace ? Turn behind e me." And the watchman reported , "The messenger came to them, but he did not return ." 19 Then he sent out a second horseman , who came to them and said , "Thus says the king , 'Is it peace ?' " And Jehu answered , "What have you to do with peace ? Turn behind e me." 20 The watchman reported , "He came even to them, and he did not return ; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi , for he drives furiously ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 9:17-20
Commentary on 2 Kings 9:16-29
(Read 2 Kings 9:16-29)
Jehu was a man of eager spirit. The wisdom of God is seen in the choice of those employed in his work. But it is not for any man's reputation to be known by his fury. He that has rule over his own spirit, is better than the mighty. Joram met Jehu in the portion of Naboth. The circumstances of events are sometimes ordered by Divine Providence to make the punishment answer to the sin, as face answers to face in a glass. The way of sin can never be the way of peace, Isaiah 57:21. What peace can sinners have with God? No peace so long as sin is persisted in; but when it is repented of and forsaken, there is peace. Joram died as a criminal, under the sentence of the law. Ahaziah was joined with the house of Ahab. He was one of them; he had made himself so by sin. It is dangerous to join evil-doers; we shall be entangled in guilt and misery by it.