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“Put it under Jehu on the bare steps”

2 Kings 9:13
Cultural referenceSettledNarrator
Quickly, each man took his garment and put it under Jehu on the bare steps. Then they blew the ram's horn and proclaimed, 'Jehu is king!' (2 Kings 9:13 BSB)
* Spreading one's own cloak beneath a man was an act of royal homage, an improvised carpet declaring him king. The gesture reappears when crowds spread their cloaks on the road before Jesus (Matthew 21:8).

What it sounds like today

The soldiers just tossing their coats on some stairs.

The cultural key

Throwing garments on a staircase looks like a throwaway detail, but it is a coronation gesture. To take off your own cloak and lay it under a man's feet was to honor him as royalty, turning your clothing into a carpet fit for a king to tread. When Jehu's fellow officers hear he has been anointed, they instantly spread their cloaks under him on the bare stone steps and blow the ram's horn, physically enthroning him on the spot and shouting, 'Jehu is king!' The same act of homage is what the crowds perform for Jesus as he enters Jerusalem, when 'a very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road' (Matthew 21:8), acclaiming him as the coming king. The soldiers are not being careless with their coats; they are staging an instant royal welcome.

Recovered meaning

Spreading their cloaks under Jehu was an act of homage acclaiming him as king, an improvised royal carpet, sealed by the ram's horn and the shout 'Jehu is king!' The same gesture greets Jesus at his entry into Jerusalem.

Parallels: Matthew 21:8
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