Summary

Jehu, the son of Hanani—this father and son are both prophets of God. Hanani, the father, criticized King Asa when he was attacked by King Baasha of Israel and in this way, at the cost of many temple treasures, persuaded King Benhadad of Aram to support him, Asa, instead of his rival Baasha (2 Chronicles 16:7–9). Asa then had this critical prophet imprisoned (2 Chronicles 16:10). The son, Jehu, is instructed by God to address Baasha about his wrong example of the worship of imagery. This Jehu is also mentioned in 2 Chronicles 19:2, where he critically addresses Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. We also find his name in 2 Chronicles 20:34. There we read about the chronicles of Jehu the son of Hanani, which are recorded in the Book of the Kings of Israel. Father and son are from the kingdom of Judah, but the son also speaks God’s words in the kingdom of Israel; that is an indication that the two states are still one in God’s eyes: one God, one people.

More generally, it must be said here that a king in Israel or Judah always needed such a prophet: as a critical guide, as a conscience of the government. For example, we see many prophets appearing in this way, e.g., Samuel with Saul, Nathan with David, Elijah with Ahab. With father Hanani, we already saw that such a critical act was risky: he was imprisoned. Especially the book of 2 Chronicles mentions such minor prophets: Shemaiah (2 Chronicles 11:2; 2 Chronicles 12:5), Iddo (2 Chronicles 12:15), Azariah (2 Chronicles 15:1), Oded (2 Chronicles 15:8), Hanani (2 Chronicles 16:7, already mentioned above), Micaiah (2 Chronicles 18:8), Jehu (2 Chronicles 19:2), Jahaziel (2 Chronicles 20:14), Eliezer (2 Chronicles 20:37), (Elijah sending a prophetic letter, 2 Chronicles 21:12), Zechariah (2 Chronicles 24:20), a man of God (2 Chronicles 25:7), a prophet (2 Chronicles 25:15), Oded (2 Chronicles 28:9), the prophetess Huldah (2 Chronicles 34:22).