(12) This was the word of the Lord.--Thenius considers this remark as added by the Judaean editor to the short abstract of Zachariah's reign.

Verse 12. - This was the word of the Lord which he spake unto Jehu (comp. 2 Kings 10:30), saying, Thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation. The direct promise was, "Thy house shall hold the throne so long;" the implied prophecy, "They shall not hold it longer." There had not been wanting other indications of the coming troubles. Hosea had declared that God would avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu (Hosea 1:4). Amos had gone further, and had openly proclaimed that God would "rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword" (Amos 7:9). The threat had been understood as a threat against Jeroboam himself (Amos 7:11), but this was a misinterpretation. The words plainly pointed, to a revolution in the time of his son. And so it came to pass. The house of Jehu ceased to reign in the fourth generation of the descendants of its founder. No considerations of prudence or of gratitude could keep the nation faithful to any dynasty for a longer time than this. In breaking off from the divinely chosen house of David, and choosing to themselves a king, the Israelites had sown the seeds of instability in their state, and put themselves at the mercy of any ambitious pretender. Five dynasties had already borne rule in the two hundred years that the kingdom had lasted; four more were about to hold the throne in the remaining fifty years of its existence. "Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel," though said of Reuben only (Genesis 49:4), fairly expressed the character of the entire kingdom, with which Reuben cast in its lot at the time of the separation.

15:8-31 This history shows Israel in confusion. Though Judah was not without troubles, yet that kingdom was happy, compared with the state of Israel. The imperfections of true believers are very different from the allowed wickedness of ungodly men. Such is human nature, such are our hearts, if left to themselves, deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. We have reason to be thankful for restraints, for being kept out of temptation, and should beg of God to renew a right spirit within us.This was the word of the Lord which he spake unto Jehu,.... Which was now fulfilled in the short reign of Zachariah:

saying, thy sons shall sit on the throne of Israel unto the fourth generation; see 2 Kings 10:30, and so it came to pass; as every word of the Lord does, not one fails; for after Jehu reigned Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam the second, and Zachariah, all descendants of Jehu.