And he said unto him that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.

And he said to them that were over the wardrobe: Bring forth garments for all the servants of Baal. And they brought them forth garments.

And he said to him that was over the wardrobe, Bring forth vestments for all the servants of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.

And he said to him that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshipers of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.

And he saith to him who is over the wardrobe, 'Bring out clothing to all servants of Baal;' and he bringeth out to them the clothing.

And Jehu said to him who kept the robes, Get out robes for all the servants of Baal. So he got out robes for them.

And he said to those who were over the vestments, "Bring forth vestments for all the servants of Baal." And they brought forth vestments for them.

The vestry - The sacred robes of the Baal priests seem to have been of linen, and were probably white. The vestry here mentioned may, probably, be the robe-chamber of the royal palace, from which the king gave a festal garment to each worshipper.

He said unto him that was over the vestry - The word vestry comes from vestiarium, and that from vestes, garments, from vestio, I clothe; and signifies properly the place where the sacerdotal robes and pontifical ornaments are kept. The priests of Baal had their robes as well as the priests of the Lord; but the garments were such that one could be easily distinguished from the other.

And he said unto him that was over the vestry,.... That had the care of the garments, in which the priests of Baal ministered:
bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal; not for the priests only, but for all that worshipped; and this he ordered for the greater solemnity of this service, as he would have it thought; but, in truth, that the worshippers of Baal might be separated, and distinguished from the worshippers of the Lord, that not one of them might be among them:
and he brought them forth vestments; out of the chamber or wardrobe in which they were, and they put them on.

Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal--The priests of Baal were clad, probably, in robes of white byssus while they were engaged in the functions of their office, and these were kept under the care of an officer in a particular wardrobe of Baal's temple. This treacherous massacre, and the means taken to accomplish it, are paralleled by the slaughter of the Janissaries and other terrible tragedies in the modern history of the East.

על־המּלתּחה אשׁר is the keeper of the wardrobe (Arab. praefectus vestium), for the ἁπ. λεγ. מלתּחה signifies vestiarium (Ges. Thes. p. 764). The reference is not to the wardrobe of the king's palace, out of which Jehu had every one who took part in the feast supplied with a festal dress or new caftan (Deres., Then., etc.), but the wardrobe of the temple of Baal, since the priests of Baal had their own sacred dresses like the priests of almost all religions (as Silius has expressly shown in his Ital. iii. 24-27, of the priests of the Gadetanic Hercules). These dresses were only worn at the time of worship, and were kept in a wardrobe in the temple.