Ki 10:1 And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters and sent to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, the elders, and to the supporters of Ahab, saying,
2Ki 10:2 And now when this letter comes to you, and you have with you the sons of your lord, and chariots and horses are with you, and a fortified city, and armor;
2Ki 10:3 and you shall look out the best and the most upright of the sons of your lord, and you shall set him on the throne of his father. And you shall fight for the house of your lord.
2Ki 10:4 And they were greatly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings have not stood before him, and how shall we stand?
2Ki 10:5 And he who was over the house, and he over the city, and the elders, and the supporters, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants, and all that you say to us we will do. We will not make anyone king. Do what is good in your eyes.
2Ki 10:6 And he wrote a letter to them a second time, saying, If you are for me, and are listening to my voice, take the heads of the men, the sons of your lord, and come to me about this time tomorrow, to Jezreel. And the king's sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who reared them.
2Ki 10:7 And it happened, when the letter came to them, they took the sons of the king and killed them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent to him in Jezreel.
2Ki 10:8 And the messenger came and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Make them two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.
2Ki 10:9 And it happened in the morning, he went out and stood, and said to all the people, You are righteous. Behold, I have conspired against my lord, and have killed him. But who struck all these?
2Ki 10:10 Then know that nothing of the Word of Jehovah shall fall to the earth, that which Jehovah spoke against the house of Ahab. For Jehovah has done that which He spoke by the hand of His servant Elijah.
2Ki 10:11 And Jehu killed all those left to the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and his great men, and his friends, and his priests, until he did not leave a survivor to him.
2Ki 10:12 And he rose up and came in, and went to Samaria. He was at the shepherds' shearing house in the way.
2Ki 10:13 And Jehu met the brothers of Ahaziah the king of Judah, and said, Who are you? And they said, We are brothers of Ahaziah, and we are going down to ask the welfare of the sons of the king, and the sons of the queen.
2Ki 10:14 And he said, Capture them alive! And they captured them alive, and killed them at the pit of the shearing house, forty men. And he did not leave a man of them.
2Ki 10:15 And he left there and found Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him, and he blessed him. And he said to him, Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart? And Jehonadab said, It is. If it is, give your hand. And he gave his hand, and he made him come up to him into the chariot.
2Ki 10:16 And he said, Come with me and see my zeal for Jehovah. And they made him ride in the chariot.
2Ki 10:17 And he came to Samaria and killed all those left of Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the Word of Jehovah that He spoke to Elijah.
2Ki 10:18 And Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu shall serve him much.
2Ki 10:19 And now call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. Do not let a man be lacking, for I shall have a great sacrifice to Baal. Anyone who is lacking, he shall not live. And Jehu was acting with cunning in order to destroy the servants of Baal.
2Ki 10:20 And Jehu said, Separate an assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.
2Ki 10:21 And Jehu sent to all Israel, and all the servants of Baal came in. And there was not a man left who did not come in. And they came into the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was full from mouth to mouth.
2Ki 10:22 And he said to the one over the wardrobe, Bring out garments to all the servants of Baal. And he brought out the garments to them.
2Ki 10:23 And Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab went in to the house of Baal and said to the servants of Baal, Search and see that there are none of the servants of Jehovah here with you; but only the servants of Baal.
2Ki 10:24 And they came in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. And Jehu had set for himself eighty men on the outside. And he said, The man who lets any of the men escape whom I am bringing into your hands, his life for the life of him.
2Ki 10:25 And it happened, when he finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the runners and the third officers, Go in, strike them. Do not let any man come out. And they struck them by the edge of the sword. And the runners and the third officers threw them out. And they went into the city to the house of Baal,
2Ki 10:26 and brought out the pillars of the house of Baal and burned them.
2Ki 10:27 And they broke down the pillar of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it an outhouse to this day.
2Ki 10:28 And Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
2Ki 10:29 Only, from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, Jehu did not turn from following them, the calves of gold at Bethel, and in Dan.
2Ki 10:30 And Jehovah said to Jehu, Because you have done well, to do the right in my eyes, and you have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in My heart, the sons of the fourth generation shall sit for you on the throne of Israel.
2Ki 10:31 And Jehu did not take heed to walk in the Law of Jehovah, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin.
2Ki 10:32 In those days Jehovah began to cut off in Israel, and Hazael struck them in all the border of Israel,
2Ki 10:33 from the Jordan eastward, the whole land of Gilead, of the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer by the Arnon River, even Gilead and Bashan.
2Ki 10:34 And the rest of the matters of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel?
2Ki 10:35 And Jehu lay with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And his son Jehoahaz reigned in his place.
2Ki 10:36 And the days that Jehu reigned over Israel were twenty eight years, in Samaria.
Verses 1-11 Summary: Jehu sends a message to Samaria telling the supporters of Ahab's house to make a new king from one of his sons and get ready to fight. They reason that two kings have already been defeated so they will surrender to Jehu. Jehu tells them to prove their loyalty by sending the heads of Ahab's sons. They do. Jehu orders the heads to be placed at the gate until morning. In the morning, Jehu makes it clear that Ahab's household "cleansing" has been by the word of God. He makes it clear that he is currently in power, noting that the sons were killed at the hands of those who once supported Ahab, and now obviously do not.
NOTES: It appears that Jehu is taking his anointing seriously. He makes it clear that he is doing God's bidding. It is also clear that he does not want all out civil war. He does not want to kill more people to maintain control. He calls the people "righteous," noting that they have nothing to do with this power struggle or anything that may seem dastardly. It looks like a mostly peaceful (limited force) coup.
Verses 12-14 Summary: Jehu heads to Samaria. He is at the shearing house. He meets Ahaziah's brothers. They were going to Samaria to check on the welfare of the king's (Ahab) sons. Jehu has them executed (40 in all).
NOTES: Never mind my first thoughts in the previous notes. Let's not forget, these are David's descendants. We are told in Chronicles that the execution of Ahaziah was from God. This action against the house of David was not part of God's plan.
Verses 15-17 Summary: Jehu meets Jehonadab and takes him up into his chariot. They ride to Samaria and Jehu finishes off whoever is left in Ahab's house.
1. Later in Jeremiah 35, the descendants of Jonadab will be commended. What are they commended for? These were asked to drink wine in the temple and they refused. The directive to not drink wine and live a nomadic life was issued by Jonadab and the Rechabites did not falter in their faith to these directives. 1Chro. 2:55 alludes to the heritage of these families. They were Kenites of the Levitical tribe. Abstaining from wine was part of a Nazarite vow, dedicating one's life to God (sometimes the duration was limited). The Rechabites are historically worshipers of Yaweh.
Their tenacity to stay loyal to their vowed lives does not go unnoticed. In Jeremiah God says "Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not have a man cut off from standing before Me all the days."
This loyalty was part of a contrastive judgment against Judah.
Verses 18-28 Summary: Jehu declares that he will worship Baal even more that Ahab. He asks for every Baal worshiper and official to come to the house of Baal to worship. He did this to set a trap. Once they were all there, he had set eighty men waiting to destroy them. After they were wiped out, they destroyed the temple of Baal.
Note: How do we reconcile what was written about Jehoram?: 2Ki 3:2 And he did that which was evil in the eyes of Jehovah; only not like his father and his mother. For he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.
In my initial reading, I assumed Jehoram removed Baal worship. I gave him credit for doing this even though Baal was his mother's religious god of choice. Obviously, I assumed too much. The "putting away" was simply a brief turning way, or "turning off" of the idol. We see here that it was admirable, but only half-hearted in the end. It was only a personal choice for himself most likely.
Verses 29-36 Summary: God is satisfied with Jehu's actions concerning the house of Ahab. Jehu is promised four generations on the throne for Israel. Unfortunately, Jehu continues with the idol worship set up by Jeroboam. He also ignores the Law of Moses. The Syrians continue to chip away at Israel throughout all their territory. Jehu reigns twenty-eight years and his son Jehoahaz succeeds him
2. Though it appears that Jehu had done well in destroying all the house of Ahab, Hosea 1:4-5 tells us God would repay the house of Jehu for the blood he shed in Jezreel. Why would God tell Jehu to kill the house of Ahab and then condemn him for following His command? First (and foremost) God is just.
To create a clearer understanding review the word in Ho. 1:4
H6485 פָּקַד pâqad paw-kad' A primitive root; to visit (with friendly or hostile intent);
God is not going to avenge, repay or punish (for doing what he asked) in this text. He is going to "visit" the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu. Or in other words, the brutal bloodshed that finished Ahab's house, will be similar to what will happen to the house of Jehu. The end of the verse (4) supports this "and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease." It is a complete annihilation that is being prophesied.
Was Jehu "over-zealous?"
1Ki 21:21 Behold, I shall bring evil on you, and shall take away your posterity, and cut off to Ahab him who urinates against a wall, both bond and free in Israel. --- "bond and free" denotes his slaves etc.
One big issue in my mind does reveal some possible overreach:
2Ki 10:13 And Jehu met the brothers of Ahaziah the king of Judah, and said, Who are you? And they said, We are brothers of Ahaziah, and we are going down to ask the welfare of the sons of the king, and the sons of the queen.
Then: And he did not leave a man of them.
Killing David's descendants might have gone too far, but there is no way to know. These executions did not happen in Jezreel but at the shearing house on the way to Samaria. It's important to note that God was pleased with what Jehu did in relation to the expulsion of the house of Ahab. Without any other evidence I's say they the brothers of Ahaziah was likely overreach to a degree, but we do not see Jehovah issuing a "but" in His acceptance of Jehu's zeal. These executions, not in Jezreel, could not be part of an argument of proprietary punishment in this context.
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