2KI 10

2 Kings 10:9

WEB

In the morning, he went out and stood, and said to all the people, “You are righteous. Behold, I conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these?

BSB

The next morning, Jehu went out and stood before all the people and said, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these?

KJV

And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?

Matthew Henry

Verses 1–14

2 Kings 10:1–14

We left Jehu in quiet possession of Jezreel, triumphing over Joram and Jezebel; and we must now attend his further motions. He knew the whole house of Ahab must be cut off, and therefore proceeded in this bloody work, and did not do it deceitfully, or by halves, Jer 48:10.

I. He got the heads of all the sons of Ahab cut off by their own guardians at Samaria. Seventy sons (or grandsons) Ahab had, Gideon's number, Jdg 8:30. In such a number that bore his name his family was likely to be perpetuated, and yet it is extirpated all at once. Such a quiver full of arrows could not protect his house from divine vengeance. Numerous families, if vicious, must not expect to be long prosperous. These sons of Ahab were now at Samaria, a strong city, perhaps brought thither upon occasion of the war with Syria, as a place of safety, or upon notice of Jehu's insurrection; with them were the rulers of Jezreel, that is, the great officers of the court, who went to Samaria to secure themselves or to consult what was to be done. Those of them that were yet under tuition had their tutors with them, who were entrusted with their education in learning, agreeable to their birth and quality, but, it is to be feared, brought them up in the idolatries of their father's house and made them all worshippers of Baal. Jehu did not think fit to bring his forces to Samaria to destroy them, but, that the hand of God might appear the more remarkably in it, made their guardians their murderers. 1. He sent a challenge to their friends to stand by them, Kg2 10:2, Kg2 10:3. "You that are hearty well-wishers to the house of Ahab, and entirely in its interests, now is your time to appear for it. Samaria is a strong city; you are in possession of it; you have forces at command; you may choose out the likeliest person of all the royal family to head you; you know you are not tied to the eldest, unless he be the best and meetest of your master's sons. If you have any spirit in you, show it, and set one of them on his father's throne, and stand by him with your lives and fortunes." Not that he desired they should do this, or expected they would, but thus he upbraided them with their cowardice and utter inability to contest with the divine counsels. "Do if you dare, and see what will come of it." Those that have forsaken their religion have often, with it, lost both their sense and their courage, and deserve to be upbraided with it. 2. Hereby he gained from them a submission. They prudently reasoned with themselves: "Behold, two kings stood not before him, but fell as sacrifices to his rage; how then shall we stand?" Kg2 10:4. Therefore they sent him a surrender of themselves: "We are thy servants, thy subjects, and will do all that thou shalt bid us, right or wrong, and will set up nobody in competition with thee." They saw it was to no purpose to contend with him, and therefore it was their interest to submit to him. With much more reason may we thus argue ourselves into a subjection to the great God. Many kings and great men have fallen before his wrath, for their wickedness; and how then shall we stand? Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? No, we must either bend or break. 3. This was improved so far as to make them the executioners of those whom they had the tuition of (Kg2 10:6): If you be mine, bring me the heads of your master's sons by tomorrow at this time. Though he knew it must be done, and was loth to do it himself, one would think he could not expect they should do it. Could they betray such a trust? Could they be cruel to their master's sons? It seems, so low did they stoop in their adoration to the rising sun that they did it; they cut off the heads of those seventy princes, and sent them in baskets a present to Jehu, Kg2 10:7. Learn hence not to trust in a friend nor to put confidence in a guide not governed by conscience. One can scarcely expect that he who has been false to his God should ever be faithful to his prince. But observe God's righteousness in their unrighteousness. These elders of Jezreel had been wickedly obsequious to Jezebel's order for the murder of Naboth, Kg1 21:11. She gloried, it is likely, in the power she had over them; and now the same base spirit makes them as pliable to Jehu and as ready to obey his orders for the murder of Ahab's sons. Let none aim at arbitrary power, lest they be found rolling a stone which, some time or other, will return upon them. Princes that make their people slaves take the readiest way to make them rebels; and by forcing men's consciences, as Jezebel did, they lose their hold of them. When the separated heads were presented to Jehu, he slyly upbraided those that were the executioners of this vengeance. The heads were laid in two heaps at the gate, the proper place of judgment. There he acquitted the people before God and the world (Kg2 10:9, You are righteous), and, by what the rulers of Samaria had now done, comparatively acquitted himself: "I slew but one; they have slain all these: I did it by conspiracy and with design; they have done this merely in compliance and with an implicit obedience. Let not the people of Samaria, nor any of the friends of the house of Ahab, ever reproach me for what I have done, when their own elders, and the very guardians of the orphans, have done this." It is common for those who have done something base to attempt the mitigation of their own reproach by drawing others in to do something worse. But, (2.) He resolves all into the righteous judgment of God (Kg2 10:10): The Lord hath done that which he spoke by Elijah. God is not the author of any man's sin, but even by that which men do from bad principles God serves his own purposes and glorifies his own name; and he is righteous in that wherein men are unrighteous. When the Assyrian is made the rod of God's anger, and the instrument of his justice, he meaneth not so, neither does his heart think so, Isa 10:7.

II. He proceeded to destroy all that remained of the house of Ahab, not only those that descended from him, but those that were in any relation to him, all the officers of his household, ministers of state, and those in command under him, called here his great men (Kg2 10:11), all his kinsfolks and acquaintance, who had been partners with him in his wickedness, and his priests, or domestic chaplains, whom he employed in his idolatrous services and who strengthened his hand that he should not turn from his evil way. Having done this in Jezreel, he did the same in Samaria (Kg2 10:17), slew all that remained to Ahab in Samaria. This was bloody work, and is not now, in any case, to be drawn into a precedent. Let the guilty suffer, but not the guiltless for their sakes. Perhaps such terrible destructions as these were intended as types of the final destruction of all the ungodly. God has a sword, bathed in heaven, which will come down upon the people of his curse, and be filled with blood. Isa 34:5, Isa 34:6. Then his eye will not spare, neither will he pity.

III. Providence bringing the brethren of Ahaziah in his way, as he was going on with this execution, he slew them likewise, Kg2 10:12-14. The brethren of Ahaziah were slain by the Arabians (Ch2 22:1), but these were the sons of his brethren, as it is there explained (Kg2 10:8), and they are said to be princes of Judah, and to minister to Ahaziah. Several things concurred to make them obnoxious to the vengeance Jehu was now executing. 1. They were branches of Ahab's house, being descended from Athaliah, and therefore fell within his commission. 2. They were tainted with the wickedness of the house of Ahab. 3. They were now going to make their court to the princes of the house of Ahab, to salute the children of the king and the queen, Joram and Jezebel, which showed that they were linked to them in affection as well as in affinity. These princes, forty-two in number, being appointed as sheep for the sacrifice, were slain with solemnity, at the pit of the shearing-house. The Lord is known by these judgments which he executeth.

Cross-references: Jer 48:10 · Judg 8:30 · 2Kgs 10:2 · 2Kgs 10:3 · 2Kgs 10:4 · 2Kgs 10:6 · 2Kgs 10:7 · 1Kgs 21:11 · 2Kgs 10:9 · 2Kgs 10:10 · Isa 10:7 · 2Kgs 10:11 · 2Kgs 10:17 · Isa 34:5 · Isa 34:6 · 2Kgs 10:12 · 2Chr 22:1 · 2Kgs 10:8

Hebrew interlinear

H1961

הָיָהhâyâh/haw-yaw/

v — exist, be, become, come to pass

Derivation: a primitive root (compare 1933);

to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)

KJV: beacon, × altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, × have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, × use.

הָיָה

vb — fall out

הָיָה 3570 vb. fall out, come to pass, become, be

Qal

I.

1.

a. Fall out, happen

b. occur, take place, come about, come to pass

2. esp. & very oft., come about, come to pass

a.

(1). וַיְהִי and it came to pass that, most often (c. 292 t.)

(2). rarely also Pf. c. וְ conj. וְהָיָה

b. less oft. וְהָיָה Pf. consec. and it shall come to pass, or frequentat. came to pass (repeatedly, etc.)

II. Come into being, become

1.

a. abs., in lively narrative, arise, appear, come

b. sq. prep.

2. become

a. sq. pred. noun (to be viewed as implicit accus.)

b. sq. pred. adj.

c. become like

d. sq. pred. לְ pers.

e. sq. לְ pred.

f. oft. c. לְ pred. לְ pers.

g. with עַל and לְ

h. sts. c. לְ pers. only = became the property of, come into the possession of

III. Be (often with subbordinate idea of becoming)

1. exist, be in existence

2. abide, remain, continue

3. with word of locality, be in or at a place, be situated, stand, lie

4. as copula, joining subj. & pred.

5. periphrastic conjug.

Niph.

1. either be done, be brought about, or occur, come to pass

2. be done, finished, gone

H1242

בֹּקֶרbôqer/bo'-ker/

n-m — dawn, morning

Derivation: from 1239;

properly, dawn (as the break of day); generally, morning

KJV: ( ) day, early, morning, morrow.

בֹּ֫קֶר

n.m — morning

בֹּ֫קֶר 214 n.m. morning

1. morning (of point of time, time at which, never during which, Eng. morning = forenoon

2. morrow, next day

H3318

יָצָאyâtsâʼ/yaw-tsaw'/

v — go, bring, out

Derivation: a primitive root;

to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proxim.

KJV: × after, appear, × assuredly, bear out, × begotten, break out, bring forth (out, up), carry out, come (abroad, out, thereat, without), be condemned, depart(-ing, -ure), draw forth, in the end, escape, exact, fail, fall (out), fetch forth (out), get away (forth, hence, out), (able to, cause to, let) go abroad (forth, on, out), going out, grow, have forth (out), issue out, lay (lie) out, lead out, pluck out, proceed, pull out, put away, be risen, × scarce, send with commandment, shoot forth, spread, spring out, stand out, × still, × surely, take forth (out), at any time, × to (and fro), utter.

יָצָא

vb — go out

יָצָא 1068 vb. go or come out

Qal

1. go or come out or forth

a. from (מִן) a place

b. go forth from (the presence of) a person

c. in technical senses

d. of flight, involving escape

e. depart

f. of inanimate things

g. with especial emphasis on idea of origin, source

h. of children as going forth from loins (of father)

2.

a. go forth to a place

b. go forward, proceed to or toward something

c. come or go forth, with esp. ref. to purpose or result

3. of combinations

Hiph.

1. cause to go or come out, bring out, lead out

2. fig. obj. persons, bring out of (מִן) distress, etc.

3. bring out animals

4. inanimate obj.

5. fig. subj. י׳, bring forth from (מִן)

Hoph. be brought forth

H5975

עָמַדʻâmad/aw-mad'/

v — stand

Derivation: a primitive root;

to stand, in various relations (literal and figurative, intransitive and transitive)

KJV: abide (behind), appoint, arise, cease, confirm, continue, dwell, be employed, endure, establish, leave, make, ordain, be (over), place, (be) present (self), raise up, remain, repair, serve, set (forth, over, -tle, up), (make to, make to be at a, with-) stand (by, fast, firm, still, up), (be at a) stay (up), tarry.

עָמַד

take one’s stand

עָמַד 620 take one's stand, stand

Qal 435

1.

a. take one's stand, and (esp. pt.) stand, be in a standing attitude

b. stand forth

c. take a stand against, in opposition to

d. present oneself before

e. attend upon, be(come) servant of

f. stand afar

g. stand (silent)

h. stand (appealingly)

i. stand, subj. רֶגֶל

j. stand, of water

2.

a. stand still, stop, cease moving

b. = be inactive

c. = be attentive

d. stop, cease doing a thing

3.

a. tarry, delay

b. remain

c. continue, abide

d. endure

e. be steadfast

f. persist

4. make a stand, hold one's ground

5. stand upright

6.

a. arise, appear, come on the scene

b. stand forth, appear = come into being

c. rise up as foe

7. rare usages

Hiph. 83

1. station, set

2. cause to stand firm

3. cause to stand up, set up, erect

4. present one before king

5. appoint

6. other meanings

Hoph. be presented

H559

אָמַרʼâmar/aw-mar'/

v — say

Derivation: a primitive root;

to say (used with great latitude)

KJV: answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.

אָמַר

vb — utter

אָמַר 5287 vb. utter, say

Qal

1. Say

2. Say in the heart (= think)

3. Promise

4. Command (esp. late)

Niph. be said, told

Hiph. avow, avouch (lit. cause to declare)

Hithp. act proudly, boast

H413

אֵלʼêl/ale/

prep — near, with, among, to

Derivation: (but only used in the shortened constructive form אֶל ); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e.

near, with or among; often in general, to

KJV: about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, × hath, in(-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).

אֶל

prep — motion to

אֶל (nearly always followed by Makkeph), prep. denoting motion to or direction towards (whether physical or mental).

1. of motion to or unto a person or place

2. Where the limit is actually entered, into

3. Of direction towards anything

4. Where the motion or direction implied appears from the context to be of a hostile character, אֶל = against

5. Unto sometimes acquires from the context the sense of in addition to

6. Metaph. in regard to, concerning, on account of

7. Of rule or standard according to (rare)

8. Expressing presence at a spot, against, at, by, not merely after verbs implying motion

9. Prefixed to other preps. it combines with them the idea of motion or direction to

H3605

כֹּלkôl/kole/

n-m — whole, all, any, every

Derivation: or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל; from 3634;

properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense)

KJV: (in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).

כֹּל

n.m — the whole

כֹּל once כּוֹל n.m. the whole, all

1. with foll. gen. (as usually) the whole of, to be rendered, however, often in our idiom, to avoid stiffness, any or every

2. Absolutely:

a. without the art., all things, all

b. with the art. הַכֹּל

(a). where the sense is limited by the context to things (or persons) just mentioned

(b). in a wider sense, all, whether of all mankind or of all living things, the universe, or of all the circumstances of life (chiefly late)

H5971

עַםʻam/am/

n-m — people, tribe, troops, attendants, flock

Derivation: from 6004;

a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock

KJV: folk, men, nation, people.

עַם

n.[m.] — kinsman

[עַם] n.[m.] kinsman (on father's side)

עַם

n.m — people

עַם, עָם 1810 n.m. people

1. a people, nation

2. = smaller units

3. = common people

4. people in gen., persons

5. phrases

H6662

צַדִּיקtsaddîyq/tsad-deek'/

a — just

Derivation: from 6663;

just

KJV: just, lawful, righteous (man).

צַדִּיק

adj — just

צַדִּיק 206 adj. just, righteous

H859

אַתָּהʼattâh/at-taw'/

p — thou, thee, ye, you

Derivation: or (shortened); אַתָּ; or אַת; feminine (irregular) sometimes אַתִּי; plural masculine אַתֶּם; feminine אַתֶּן; or אַתֵּנָה; or אַתֵּנָּה; a primitive pronoun of the second person;

thou and thee, or (plural) ye and you

KJV: thee, thou, ye, you.

אַתְּ

pron. 2 s. f — thou

אַתְּ, אָ֑תְּ pron. 2 s. f. thou (fem.)

אַתָּ֫ה

pron. 2 s. m — thou

אַתָּ֫ה, אָ֑תָּה pron. 2 s. m. thou

אתי

thou

אתי, i.e. אתִּי, the older & more original form of אַתְּ thou (fem.)

אַתֶּם

pron. 2 m. pl — you

אַתֶּם pron. 2 m. pl. you (masc.)

אַתֵּן

pron. 2 f. pl — you

אַתֵּן pron. 2 f. pl. you (fem.)

H2009

הִנֵּהhinnêh/hin-nay'/

dp — lo!

Derivation: prolongation for 2005;

lo!

KJV: behold, lo, see.

הִנֵּה

demonstr.part — lo!

הִנֵּה, once הִנֶּה־ Gn 19:2, demonstr.part. lo!, behold!

H589

אֲנִיʼănîy/an-ee'/

p — I

Derivation: contracted from 595;

I

KJV: I, (as for) me, mine, myself, we, × which, × who.

אֲנִי

pron — I

אֲנִי, אָ֑נִי pron. 1s. comm. I

H7194

קָשַׁרqâshar/kaw-shar'/

v — tie, gird, confine, compact, love, league

Derivation: a primitive root;

to tie, physically (gird, confine, compact) or mentally (in love, league)

KJV: bind (up), (make a) conspire(-acy, -ator), join together, knit, stronger, work (treason).

קָשַׁר

vb — bind

קָשַׁר vb. bind, league together, conspire

Qal

1. bind

2. league together, conspire

Niph. the life of Jonathan was bound up with the life of D.

Pi.

1. bind on (as ornament)

2. bind fast

Pu. = Qal 1 c.

Hithp. conspire

H5921

עַלʻal/al/

prep — above, over, upon, against

Derivation: properly, the same as 5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following);

above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications

KJV: above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, × as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, × both and, by (reason of), × had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-) on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, × with.

כִּי עַל כֵּן

forasmuch as

כִּי עַל כֵּן forasmuch as

עַל

subst — above

עַל, עָ֑ל

I. subst. height

II. As prep. upon, and hence on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against

1. Upon, of the substratum upon which an object in any way rests, or on which an action is performed

a.

(a). of clothing, etc., which any one wears

(b). With verbs of covering or protecting, even though the cover or veil be not over or above the thing covered, but around or before it

b. Of what rests heavily upon a person, or is a burden to him

c. Of a duty, payment, care, etc., imposed upon a person, or devolving on him

d. על is used idiom. to give pathos to the expression of an emotion, by emphasizing the person who is its subject, and who, as it were, feels it acting upon him

e. חָיָה עַל to live upon (as upon a foundation or support)

f. Of the ground or basis, on which a thing is done

2. It expresses excess

3. It denotes elevation or pre-eminence

4. It expresses addition

5. It expresses the idea of being extended, or suspended over anything, without however being in contact with it, above, over

6. From the sense of inclining or impending over, על comes to denote contiguity or proximity, Engl. by (or sts. on)

7. In connection with verbs of motion (actual or fig.)

8. By writers of the silver age, על is sts. used with the force of a dative

9. With other particles:

III. As conj.

a. עַל אֲשֶׁר because that

b. עַל כִּי similar in meaning, but less frequent

c. עַל alone:

(a). because

(b). notwithstanding that, although

IV. Compounds:

1. with כְּ (rare and late)

a. as concerning, as upon

b. the like of their deeds is the like of (that which) he will repay

2. מֵעַל from upon, from over, from by

H113

אָדוֹןʼâdôwn/aw-done'/

n-m — sovereign, controller

Derivation: or (shortened) אָדֹן; from an unused root (meaning to rule);

sovereign, i.e. controller (human or divine)

KJV: lord, master, owner. Compare also names beginning with 'Adoni-'.

אָדוֹן

n.m — lord

אָדוֹן n.m. lord (אֲדֹנִי, אֲדֹנַי, אֲדֹנָי are variations of Mass. pointing to distinguish divine reference fr. human. Pl., with few exc. an intens. pl. of rank; word takes sf. as pl. in all other pers.; so doubtless here. Orig. reading prob. in all cases אֲדֹנַי; אֲדֹנִי now found in J 51 t.)

H2026

הָרַגhârag/haw-rag'/

v — smite

Derivation: a primitive root;

to smite with deadly intent

KJV: destroy, out of hand, kill, murder(-er), put to (death), make (slaughter), slay(-er), × surely.

הָרַג

vb — kill

הָרַג vb. kill, slay

Qal

1.

a. kill, slay, implying ruthless violence

b. hence of wholesale slaughter after battle

2. of God’s slaying in judgment

3. rarely of judicial killing by men (at God’s command)

4. of killing beasts

5. of killing by beasts

6. quite general

7. destroy, ruin

Niph.

1. shall priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary?

2. pass. of Qal 1 b

Pu. be slain

H4310

מִיmîy/me/

i — who?, whoever

Derivation: an interrogative pronoun of persons, as 4100 is of things,

who? (occasionally, by a peculiar idiom, of things); also (indefinitely) whoever; often used in oblique construction with prefix or suffix

KJV: any (man), × he, × him, O that! what, which, who(-m, -se, -soever), would to God.

מִי

pron.interrog — who?

מִי 423 pron.interrog. who? of persons

a. מִי is rarely used of things, and usually where persons are understood or implied

b. in the gen. whose

c. in an indirect qu.

d. מִי ב׳ who among … ?

e. strengthened and emph. forms of interrog.

f. various rhetorical uses whose

g. מִי may sometimes be rendered whosoever, though, as the examples will shew, it does not really mean it

h. once, following a verb, any one

H5221

נָכָהnâkâh/naw-kaw'/

v — strike

Derivation: a primitive root;

to strike (lightly or severely, literally or figuratively)

KJV: beat, cast forth, clap, give (wounds), × go forward, × indeed, kill, make (slaughter), murderer, punish, slaughter, slay(-er, -ing), smite(-r, -ing), strike, be stricken, (give) stripes, × surely, wound.

נָכָה

vb — smite

[נָכָה] 501 vb. smite (not in Qal)

Niph. and he shall be smitten [struck by weapon in battle] and die

Pu. both be smitten down by the hail

Hiph.

1.

a. lit., smite (with a single, non-fatal, blow), strike

b. smite repeatedly, beat a man

c. and they clapped hands (in applause)

d. give a thrust (with fork) into pot; strike roots

e. rarely smite (in battle) so as (merely) to wound

f. smite, of sun

2. Smite fatally

3. Smite = attack, attack and destroy a company

4. Of God

a. smite with a plague, disease, etc.

b. smite = chastise, or send judgment upon

c. of God’s destroying palaces

Hoph. be smitten

H853

אֵתʼêth/ayth/

prt — self, even, namely

Derivation: apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity;

properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)

KJV: [as such unrepresented in English].

אֵת

mark of the accusative

אֵת the mark of the accusative, prefixed as a rule only to nouns that are definite

H428

אֵלֶּהʼêl-leh/ale'-leh/

d — these, those

Derivation: prolonged from 411;

these or those

KJV: an-(the) other; one sort, so, some, such, them, these (same), they, this, those, thus, which, who(-m).

אֵ֫לֶּה

pr.pl.m — these

אֵ֫לֶּה pr.pl.m. & f. these

a. in appos. to a subst. with a pron. suff. (always without the article)

b. repeated, אלהואלה, thesethose

c. with the art. (but only after a subst. determined likewise by the art.)

d. with preps.

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