Jehuites, Ahabites, & Omrides: Blood kinship & bloodshed

Abstract

Hypothesizing that Jehu was a scion of the royal family founded by Omri, as the inscriptions of Shalmaneser of Assyria suggest, this article aims at clarifying the way the ancient sources referring to Jehu's coup present the accompanying bloodshed as affecting 'the House of Ahab' alone. Jehu's identification as Ahab's kinsman clarifies the positions he held under the Ahabites - bodyguard and general - presupposing royal personal trust. Jehu's status as an Omride may explain his decision to leave Jezreel, the capital of the Ahabites, not to establish a new capital, but to rule from Samaria, the capital founded by Omri, who is suggested to have been their common forefather.