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2 Kings 10
New English Translation

Jehu Wipes Out Ahab’s Family

10 Ahab had seventy sons living in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the leading officials of Jezreel and to the guardians of Ahab’s dynasty. This is what the letters said,[a] 2 “You have with you the sons of your master, chariots and horses, a fortified city, and weapons. So when this letter arrives,[b] 3 pick the best and most capable[c] of your master’s sons, place him on his father’s throne, and defend[d] your master’s dynasty.”

4 They were absolutely terrified[e] and said, “Look, two kings could not stop him![f] How can we?”[g] 5 So the palace supervisor,[h] the city commissioner,[i] the leaders,[j] and the guardians sent this message to Jehu, “We are your subjects![k] Whatever you say, we will do. We will not make anyone king. Do what you consider proper.”[l]

6 He wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are really on my side and are willing to obey me,[m] then take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel at this time tomorrow.”[n] Now the king had seventy sons, and the prominent men[o] of the city were raising them. 7 When they received the letter, they seized the king’s sons and executed all seventy of them.[p] They put their heads in baskets and sent them to him in Jezreel. 8 The messenger came and told Jehu,[q] “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” Jehu[r] said, “Stack them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.” 9 In the morning he went out and stood there. Then he said to all the people, “You are innocent. I conspired against my master and killed him. But who struck down all of these men? 10 Therefore take note that not one of the Lord’s words which he pronounced against Ahab’s dynasty[s] will fail to materialize.[t] The Lord has done what he announced through his servant Elijah.”[u] 11 Then Jehu killed all who were left of Ahab’s family in Jezreel, and all his nobles, close friends, and priests. He left no survivors.

12 Jehu then left there and set out for Samaria.[v] While he was traveling through Beth Eked of the Shepherds, 13 Jehu encountered[w] the relatives[x] of King Ahaziah of Judah. He asked, “Who are you?” They replied, “We are Ahaziah’s relatives. We have come down to see how[y] the king’s sons and the queen mother’s sons are doing.” 14 He said, “Capture them alive!” So they captured them alive and then executed all forty-two of them by the cistern at Beth Eked. He left no survivors.

15 When he left there, he met[z] Jehonadab son of Rekab who had been looking for him.[aa] Jehu greeted him and asked,[ab] “Are you as committed to me as I am to you?”[ac] Jehonadab answered, “I am!” Jehu replied, “If so, give me your hand.”[ad] So he offered his hand and Jehu[ae] pulled him up into the chariot. 16 Jehu[af] said, “Come with me and see how zealous I am for the Lord’s cause.”[ag] So he[ah] took him along in his chariot. 17 He went to Samaria and killed each of Ahab’s remaining family members who were in Samaria until he destroyed them,[ai] in keeping with the Lord’s message which he had announced to Elijah.

Jehu Executes the Prophets and Priests of Baal

18 Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, “Ahab worshiped[aj] Baal a little; Jehu will worship[ak] him with great devotion.[al] 19 So now, bring to me all the prophets of Baal, as well as all his servants and priests.[am] None of them must be absent, for I am offering a great sacrifice to Baal. Any of them who fails to appear will lose his life.” But Jehu was tricking them[an] so he could destroy the servants of Baal. 20 Then Jehu ordered, “Make arrangements for[ao] a celebration for Baal.” So they announced it. 21 Jehu sent invitations throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one was absent. They arrived at the temple of Baal and filled it up from end to end.[ap] 22 Jehu ordered the one who was in charge of the wardrobe,[aq] “Bring out robes for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out robes for them. 23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rekab went to the temple of Baal. Jehu[ar] said to the servants of Baal, “Make sure there are no servants of the Lord here with you; there must be only servants of Baal.”[as] 24 They went inside to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside. He had told them, “If any of the men inside gets away, you will pay with your lives!”[at]

25 When he finished offering the burnt sacrifice, Jehu ordered the royal guard[au] and officers, “Come in and strike them down! Don’t let any escape!” So the royal guard and officers struck them down with the sword and left their bodies lying there.[av] Then they entered the inner sanctuary of the temple of Baal.[aw] 26 They hauled out the sacred pillar of the temple of Baal and burned it. 27 They demolished[ax] the sacred pillar of Baal and[ay] the temple of Baal; it is used as[az] a latrine[ba] to this very day. 28 So Jehu eradicated Baal worship[bb] from Israel.

A Summary of Jehu’s Reign

29 However, Jehu did not repudiate the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had encouraged Israel to commit; the golden calves remained in Bethel and Dan.[bc] 30 The Lord said to Jehu, “You have done well. You have accomplished my will and carried out my wishes with regard to Ahab’s dynasty. Therefore four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel.”[bd] 31 But Jehu did not carefully and wholeheartedly obey the law of the Lord God of Israel.[be] He did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam had encouraged Israel to commit.[bf]

32 In those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel’s territory.[bg] Hazael attacked their eastern border.[bh] 33 He conquered all the land of Gilead, including the territory of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh, extending all the way from the Aroer in the Arnon Valley through Gilead to Bashan.[bi]

34 The rest of the events of Jehu’s reign, including all his accomplishments and successes, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.[bj] 35 Jehu passed away[bk] and was buried in Samaria. His son Jehoahaz replaced him as king. 36 Jehu reigned over Israel for twenty-eight years in Samaria.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Kings 10:1 tn Heb “to the officers of Jezreel, the elders, and to the guardians of Ahab, saying.” It is not certain why the officials of Jezreel would be in Samaria. They may have fled there after they heard what happened to Joram and before Jehu entered the city. They would have had time to flee while Jehu was pursuing Ahaziah.
  2. 2 Kings 10:2 tn Heb “And now when this letter comes to you—with you are the sons of your master and with you are chariots and horses and a fortified city and weapons.”
  3. 2 Kings 10:3 tn Hebrew יָשָׁר (yashar) does not have its normal moral/ethical nuance here (“upright”), but a more neutral sense of “proper, right, suitable.” For the gloss “capable,” see HALOT 450 s.v. יָשָׁר.
  4. 2 Kings 10:3 tn Or “fight for.”
  5. 2 Kings 10:4 tn Heb “they were very, very afraid.” The term מְאֹד (meʾod) “very,” is repeated for emphasis.
  6. 2 Kings 10:4 tn Heb “did not stand before him.”
  7. 2 Kings 10:4 tn Heb “How can we stand?”
  8. 2 Kings 10:5 tn Heb “the one who was over the house.”
  9. 2 Kings 10:5 tn Heb “the one who was over the city.”
  10. 2 Kings 10:5 tn Or “elders.”
  11. 2 Kings 10:5 tn Heb “servants.”
  12. 2 Kings 10:5 tn Heb “Do what is good in your eyes.”
  13. 2 Kings 10:6 tn Heb “If you are mine and you are listening to my voice.”
  14. 2 Kings 10:6 sn Jehu’s command is intentionally vague. Does he mean that they should bring the guardians (those who are “heads” over Ahab’s sons) for a meeting, or does he mean that they should bring the literal heads of Ahab’s sons with them (so reads Lucian’s Greek translation, the Syriac Peshitta, and some mss of the Targum)? The city leaders interpret his words in the literal sense, but Jehu’s command is so ambiguous he is able to deny complicity in the executions (see v. 9).
  15. 2 Kings 10:6 tn Heb “great men,” probably in wealth, position, and prestige.
  16. 2 Kings 10:7 tn Heb “and when the letter came to them, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered seventy men.”
  17. 2 Kings 10:8 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  18. 2 Kings 10:8 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  19. 2 Kings 10:10 tn Heb “the house of Ahab.”
  20. 2 Kings 10:10 tn Heb “will fall to the earth.”
  21. 2 Kings 10:10 tn Heb “by the hand of his servant Elijah.”
  22. 2 Kings 10:12 tn Heb “and he arose and went and came to Samaria.”
  23. 2 Kings 10:13 tn Heb “found.”
  24. 2 Kings 10:13 tn Or “brothers.”
  25. 2 Kings 10:13 tn Heb “for the peace of.”
  26. 2 Kings 10:15 tn Heb “found.”
  27. 2 Kings 10:15 tn Heb “and he went from there and found Jehonadab son of Rekab [who was coming] to meet him.”
  28. 2 Kings 10:15 tn Heb “and he blessed him and said to him.”
  29. 2 Kings 10:15 tn Heb “Is there with your heart [what is] right, as my heart [is] with your heart?”
  30. 2 Kings 10:15 tc Heb “Jehonadab said, ‘There is and there is. Give your hand.’” If the text is allowed to stand, there are two possible ways to understand the syntax of וָיֵשׁ (vayesh), “and there is”: (1) The repetition of יֵשׁ (yesh, “there is and there is”) could be taken as emphatic, “indeed I am.” In this case, the entire statement could be taken as Jehonadab’s words or one could understand the words “give your hand” as Jehu’s. In the latter case the change in speakers is unmarked. (2) וָיֵשׁ begins Jehu’s response and has a conditional force, “if you are.” In this case, the transition in speakers is unmarked. However, it is possible that וַיֹּאמֶר (vayyoʾmer), “and he said,” or וַיֹּאמֶר יֵהוּא (vayyoʾmer yehu), “and Jehu said,” originally appeared between יֵשׁ and וָיֵשׁ and has accidentally dropped from the text by homoioarcton (note that both the proposed וַיֹּאמֶר and וָיֵשׁ begin with vav, ו). The present translation assumes such a textual reconstruction; it is supported by the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate.
  31. 2 Kings 10:15 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  32. 2 Kings 10:16 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  33. 2 Kings 10:16 tn Heb “and see my zeal for the Lord.”
  34. 2 Kings 10:16 tc The MT has a plural form, but this is most likely an error. The LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Vulgate all have the singular.
  35. 2 Kings 10:17 tn Heb “him.” The pronoun refers to Ahab who represents his entire family.
  36. 2 Kings 10:18 tn Or “served.
  37. 2 Kings 10:18 tn Or “serve.”
  38. 2 Kings 10:18 tn Heb “much” or “greatly.”
  39. 2 Kings 10:19 tn Heb “and now, all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests summon to me.”
  40. 2 Kings 10:19 tn Heb “acted with deception [or, ‘trickery’].”
  41. 2 Kings 10:20 tn Heb “set apart”; or “observe as holy.”
  42. 2 Kings 10:21 tn Heb “and the house of Baal was filled mouth to mouth.”
  43. 2 Kings 10:22 tn Heb “and he said to the one who was over the wardrobe.”
  44. 2 Kings 10:23 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  45. 2 Kings 10:23 tn Heb “Search carefully and observe so that there are not here with you any servants of the Lord, but only the servants of Baal.”
  46. 2 Kings 10:24 tn Heb “The man who escapes from the men whom I am bringing into your hands, [it will be] his life in place of his life.”
  47. 2 Kings 10:25 tn Heb “runners.”
  48. 2 Kings 10:25 tn Heb “and they threw.” No object appears. According to M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 116), this is an idiom for leaving a corpse unburied.
  49. 2 Kings 10:25 tn Heb “and they came to the city of the house of Baal.” It seems unlikely that a literal city is meant. Some emend עִיר (ʿir), “city,” to דְּבִיר (devir) “holy place,” or suggest that עִיר is due to dittography of the immediately preceding עַד (ʿad) “to.” Perhaps עִיר is here a technical term meaning “fortress” or, more likely, “inner room.”
  50. 2 Kings 10:27 tn Or “pulled down.”
  51. 2 Kings 10:27 tn The verb “they demolished” is repeated in the Hebrew text.
  52. 2 Kings 10:27 tn Heb “and they made it into.”
  53. 2 Kings 10:27 tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has the hapax legomenon מַחֲרָאוֹת (makharaʾot), “places to defecate” or “dung houses” (note the related noun חֶרֶא (khereʾ)/חֲרִי (khari), “dung,” HALOT 348-49 s.v. *חֲרָאִים). The marginal reading (Qere) glosses this, perhaps euphemistically, מוֹצָאוֹת (motsaʾot), “outhouses.”
  54. 2 Kings 10:28 tn Heb “destroyed Baal.”
  55. 2 Kings 10:29 tn Heb “Except the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat which he caused Israel to commit, Jehu did not turn aside from after them—the golden calves which [were in] Bethel and which [were] in Dan.”
  56. 2 Kings 10:30 tn Heb “Because you have done well by doing what is proper in my eyes—according to all which was in my heart you have done to the house of Ahab—sons of four generations will sit for you on the throne of Israel.” In the Hebrew text the Lord’s statement is one long sentence (with a parenthesis). The translation above divides it into shorter sentences for stylistic reasons.sn Jehu ruled over Israel from approximately 841-814 b.c. Four of his descendants (Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, and Zechariah) ruled from approximately 814-753 b.c. The dynasty came to an end when Shallum assassinated Zechariah in 753 b.c. See 2 Kgs 15:8-12.
  57. 2 Kings 10:31 tn Heb “But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart.”
  58. 2 Kings 10:31 tn Heb “He did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam which he caused Israel to commit.”
  59. 2 Kings 10:32 tn Heb “began to cut off Israel.”
  60. 2 Kings 10:32 tn Heb “Hazael struck them down in all the territory of Israel, from the Jordan on the east.” In the Hebrew text the phrase “from the Jordan on the east” begins v. 33.
  61. 2 Kings 10:33 tn Heb “all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassehites, from Aroer which is near the Arnon Valley, and Gilead, and Bashan.”
  62. 2 Kings 10:34 tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jehu, and all which he did and all his strength, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
  63. 2 Kings 10:35 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
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2 Kings 10
New Living Translation

Jehu Kills Ahab’s Family

10 Ahab had seventy sons living in the city of Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the elders and officials of the city,[a] and to the guardians of King Ahab’s sons. He said, 2 “The king’s sons are with you, and you have at your disposal chariots, horses, a fortified city, and weapons. As soon as you receive this letter, 3 select the best qualified of your master’s sons to be your king, and prepare to fight for Ahab’s dynasty.”

4 But they were paralyzed with fear and said, “We’ve seen that two kings couldn’t stand against this man! What can we do?”

5 So the palace and city administrators, together with the elders and the guardians of the king’s sons, sent this message to Jehu: “We are your servants and will do anything you tell us. We will not make anyone king; do whatever you think is best.”

6 Jehu responded with a second letter: “If you are on my side and are going to obey me, bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Now the seventy sons of the king were being cared for by the leaders of Samaria, where they had been raised since childhood. 7 When the letter arrived, the leaders killed all seventy of the king’s sons. They placed their heads in baskets and presented them to Jehu at Jezreel.

8 A messenger went to Jehu and said, “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.”

So Jehu ordered, “Pile them in two heaps at the entrance of the city gate, and leave them there until morning.”

9 In the morning he went out and spoke to the crowd that had gathered around them. “You are not to blame,” he told them. “I am the one who conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these? 10 You can be sure that the message of the Lord that was spoken concerning Ahab’s family will not fail. The Lord declared through his servant Elijah that this would happen.” 11 Then Jehu killed all who were left of Ahab’s relatives living in Jezreel and all his important officials, his personal friends, and his priests. So Ahab was left without a single survivor.

12 Then Jehu set out for Samaria. Along the way, while he was at Beth-eked of the Shepherds, 13 he met some relatives of King Ahaziah of Judah. “Who are you?” he asked them.

And they replied, “We are relatives of King Ahaziah. We are going to visit the sons of King Ahab and the sons of the queen mother.”

14 “Take them alive!” Jehu shouted to his men. And they captured all forty-two of them and killed them at the well of Beth-eked. None of them escaped.

15 When Jehu left there, he met Jehonadab son of Recab, who was coming to meet him. After they had greeted each other, Jehu said to him, “Are you as loyal to me as I am to you?”

“Yes, I am,” Jehonadab replied.

“If you are,” Jehu said, “then give me your hand.” So Jehonadab put out his hand, and Jehu helped him into the chariot. 16 Then Jehu said, “Now come with me, and see how devoted I am to the Lord.” So Jehonadab rode along with him.

17 When Jehu arrived in Samaria, he killed everyone who was left there from Ahab’s family, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah.

Jehu Kills the Priests of Baal

18 Then Jehu called a meeting of all the people of the city and said to them, “Ahab’s worship of Baal was nothing compared to the way I will worship him! 19 Therefore, summon all the prophets and worshipers of Baal, and call together all his priests. See to it that every one of them comes, for I am going to offer a great sacrifice to Baal. Anyone who fails to come will be put to death.” But Jehu’s cunning plan was to destroy all the worshipers of Baal.

20 Then Jehu ordered, “Prepare a solemn assembly to worship Baal!” So they did. 21 He sent messengers throughout all Israel summoning those who worshiped Baal. They all came—not a single one remained behind—and they filled the temple of Baal from one end to the other. 22 And Jehu instructed the keeper of the wardrobe, “Be sure that every worshiper of Baal wears one of these robes.” So robes were given to them.

23 Then Jehu went into the temple of Baal with Jehonadab son of Recab. Jehu said to the worshipers of Baal, “Make sure no one who worships the Lord is here—only those who worship Baal.” 24 So they were all inside the temple to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty of his men outside the building and had warned them, “If you let anyone escape, you will pay for it with your own life.”

25 As soon as Jehu had finished sacrificing the burnt offering, he commanded his guards and officers, “Go in and kill all of them. Don’t let a single one escape!” So they killed them all with their swords, and the guards and officers dragged their bodies outside.[b] Then Jehu’s men went into the innermost fortress[c] of the temple of Baal. 26 They dragged out the sacred pillar[d] used in the worship of Baal and burned it. 27 They smashed the sacred pillar and wrecked the temple of Baal, converting it into a public toilet, as it remains to this day.

28 In this way, Jehu destroyed every trace of Baal worship from Israel. 29 He did not, however, destroy the gold calves at Bethel and Dan, with which Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to sin.

30 Nonetheless the Lord said to Jehu, “You have done well in following my instructions to destroy the family of Ahab. Therefore, your descendants will be kings of Israel down to the fourth generation.” 31 But Jehu did not obey the Law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit.

The Death of Jehu

32 At about that time the Lord began to cut down the size of Israel’s territory. King Hazael conquered several sections of the country 33 east of the Jordan River, including all of Gilead, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh. He conquered the area from the town of Aroer by the Arnon Gorge to as far north as Gilead and Bashan.

34 The rest of the events in Jehu’s reign—everything he did and all his achievements—are recorded in The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.

35 When Jehu died, he was buried in Samaria. Then his son Jehoahaz became the next king. 36 In all, Jehu reigned over Israel from Samaria for twenty-eight years.

Footnotes

  1. 10:1 As in some Greek manuscripts and Latin Vulgate (see also 10:6); Hebrew reads of Jezreel.
  2. 10:25a Or and they left their bodies lying there; or and they threw them out into the outermost court.
  3. 10:25b Hebrew city.
  4. 10:26 As in Greek and Syriac versions and Latin Vulgate; Hebrew reads sacred pillars.
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