Bible Strands
2 Kings 9:32
He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three eunuchs looked down at him.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jehu stands at the base of a window while a woman looks down from above, addressing him as "Zimri, murderer of your master." He looks up and shouts to anyone watching who will stand with him, prompting two or three eunuchs to look down.
The words — The Hebrew phrase וַיִּשָּׂא פָנָיו אֶל־הַחַלּוֹן (va-yiśśāʾ pānāyw ʾel-haḥallôn) literally means "and he lifted up his face to the window." He then cries מִי אִתִּי (mi ʾittî), "who [is] with me?" twice.
The thread — The demand for visible allegiance echoes Moses’ call at Sinai (Exodus 32:26), Amasai’s declaration to David (1 Chronicles 12:18), and the fortified defenses of Judah (2 Chronicles 11:12).
Why it lands — The text records a violent power transition where Jehu tests for loyalty before executing a royal. It demands the reader observe how political survival operates through public displays of allegiance rather than private conviction.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.
Cross-references
- Exodus 32:26 So Moses stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me.” And all the Levites gathered around him.
- 1 Chronicles 12:18 Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the chief of the Thirty, and he said: “We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers, for your God helps you.” So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.
- 2 Chronicles 11:12 He also put shields and spears in all the cities and strengthened them greatly. So Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.
- Esther 1:10 On the seventh day, when the king’s heart was merry with wine, he ordered the seven eunuchs who served him—Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas—
- Esther 2:15 Now Esther was the daughter of Abihail, the uncle from whom Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter. And when it was her turn to go to the king, she did not ask for anything except what Hegai, the king’s trusted official in charge of the harem, had advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of everyone who saw her.
- Esther 2:21 In those days, while Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthan and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs who guarded the entrance, grew angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes.
- Psalms 118:6 The LORD is on my side; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
- Psalms 124:1 A song of ascents. Of David. If the LORD had not been on our side—let Israel now declare—
- Acts 12:20 Now Herod was in a furious dispute with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they convened before him. Having secured the support of Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their region depended on the king’s country for food.