TRV
Translation
King James Version
Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen.
KJV (with Strong's)
Complete Jewish Bible
where he encountered relatives of Achazyah king of Y'hudah. "Who are you?" he asked. "We're relatives of Achazyah," they answered, "and we're going down to pay our respects to the families of the king and of the queen mother."
Berean Standard Bible
Jehu met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, “Who are you?” “We are relatives of Ahaziah,” they answered, “and we have come down to greet the sons of the king and of the queen mother.”
American Standard Version
Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah: and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen.
World English Bible Messianic
Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, “Who are you?” They answered, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah. We are going down to greet the children of the king and the children of the queen.”
Geneva Bible (1599)
He met with the brethre of Ahaziah king of Iudah, and sayd, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah, and goe downe to salute the children of the King and the children of the Queene.
Young's Literal Translation
and Jehu hath found the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and saith, `Who are ye?' and they say, `Brethren of Ahaziah we are , and we go down to salute the sons of the king, and the sons of the mistress.'
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Commentary on 2 Kings 10 verses 1–14
1 ¶ And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab's children, saying,
2 Now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fenced city also, and armour;
3 Look even out the best and meetest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.
4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand?
5 And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes.
6 Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up.
7 And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel.
8 And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning.
9 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?
10 Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the LORD hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah.
11 So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.
12 And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing house in the way,
13 Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen.
14 And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them.
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.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 1–14. Public domain.
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SUMMARY
This verse records a chilling and pivotal encounter during Jehu's divinely ordained purge of the house of Ahab and the worshippers of Baal in Israel. As Jehu systematically eliminates all those connected to the wicked dynasty, he intercepts a delegation of forty-two relatives of the recently slain King Ahaziah of Judah. Unaware of the full scope of Jehu's violent mission, they innocently identify themselves as kin of Ahaziah and state their purpose: to visit the surviving royal children in Samaria, a mission that tragically places them directly in the path of Jehu's sweeping judgment.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The encounter in 2 Kings 10:13 is rich with Dramatic Irony. The audience is fully aware of Jehu's mission and the fate of Ahaziah and the Israelite royal family, while the "brethren of Ahaziah" are completely oblivious. Their innocent declaration of identity and purpose ("We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen") is heard by the reader with a chilling understanding of their impending doom, contrasting sharply with their own hopeful intentions. This irony heightens the sense of tragedy and the inexorable nature of divine judgment. Furthermore, the scene employs Foreshadowing, as the very act of their identification and stated purpose immediately suggests their unfortunate end, which is confirmed in the following verses. The swiftness of their encounter and subsequent demise also serves as a form of Pacing, accelerating the narrative of Jehu's relentless purge and emphasizing the unstoppable momentum of God's judgment.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
This verse serves as a stark reminder of the pervasive nature of divine judgment, particularly when a nation or dynasty has persistently defied God. The "brethren of Ahaziah," though seemingly innocent of the primary offenses of Ahab and Jezebel, are caught in the sweeping consequences of Judah's unholy alliance with the wicked house of Israel. Their fate underscores the principle that sin, especially idolatry and apostasy, has far-reaching effects, impacting not only the perpetrators but also those closely associated with them. It highlights God's unwavering commitment to justice and the complete eradication of evil from His people, even if it means the innocent are swept up in the wake of judgment against the guilty. This incident powerfully illustrates the severity of God's wrath against idolatry and the dangers of compromising faith through political or familial alliances with those who reject God.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
The encounter between Jehu and the relatives of Ahaziah presents a sobering truth: the consequences of sin, particularly the sin of idolatry and unholy alliances, can extend far beyond the immediate perpetrators, impacting even those who seem only tangentially connected. This should prompt us to consider the ripple effects of our choices, especially in our associations and allegiances. Are we aligning ourselves with influences or systems that are contrary to God's will, even if our intentions seem innocent or our connection is indirect? This passage calls us to examine our spiritual integrity, urging us to sever ties with anything that compromises our devotion to God. It reminds us that while God is merciful, His justice is also thorough and inescapable, and His call to holiness demands a clear separation from all forms of spiritual compromise. It challenges us to reflect on the nature of divine judgment, which, though often difficult to comprehend from a human perspective, is always rooted in God's perfect righteousness and His ultimate purpose for His people.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why were Ahaziah's relatives going to Samaria, and why were they killed?
Answer: Ahaziah's relatives were traveling to Samaria, the capital of Israel, to "salute" or inquire about the welfare of the children of the king and queen (presumably the surviving members of the Israelite royal family). This was a customary familial and diplomatic visit, reflecting the close alliance between the royal houses of Judah and Israel, cemented by marriage (Ahaziah's mother, Athaliah, was Ahab's daughter, as detailed in 2 Kings 8:26). They were likely unaware of the full extent of Jehu's purge. They were killed because Jehu was executing a divinely commanded judgment against the entire house of Ahab, which included all those connected to the dynasty and its Baal worship. As Ahaziah was Ahab's grandson and an ally, his relatives were considered part of the condemned lineage or those closely associated with it. Jehu's mission was to utterly destroy all who remained of Ahab's influence, fulfilling the prophecy of God's comprehensive judgment against the wicked house (as commissioned in 2 Kings 9:7-10). Their very identity and destination placed them in the path of this sweeping divine retribution.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
The brutal judgment executed by Jehu, culminating in the slaughter of Ahaziah's relatives, foreshadows the ultimate, perfect judgment of God, yet it also points to the radical nature of salvation found in Christ. While Jehu's purge was a violent, earthly cleansing of a corrupt dynasty, it imperfectly reflects God's righteous wrath against sin and idolatry. The innocent caught in the crossfire of this Old Testament judgment highlight the universal human condition: all are implicated in sin and stand under God's righteous judgment, for "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). However, the Christ-centered fulfillment reveals a divine solution far beyond human purging. Jesus, the true King, does not come to destroy the innocent, but to bear the judgment for the guilty. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, offering Himself as the perfect sacrifice to appease God's wrath, demonstrating "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8-9). In Christ, those who were once "brethren" of a condemned world, caught in the spiritual consequences of sin, are offered a new kinship—adoption into God's family, receiving the "Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'" (Galatians 4:4-7). The judgment on the house of Ahab, and even on Ahaziah's kin, ultimately points to the necessity of a radical divine intervention, which finds its complete and merciful expression in the atoning work of Jesus on the cross, offering not destruction, but eternal life to all who believe, for "God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).