2 Kings 10:1
in 2 Kings 10Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders, and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab, saying:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, even the elders, and unto them that brought up the sons of Ahab, saying,
KJV
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,
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This verse in 2 Kings 10
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAhab had seventy sons - As he had several wives, he might have many children. The Israelites, from the earliest part of their history, were remarkably fruitful. How amazingly did they multiply in Egypt, even under the hand of the severest oppression! And as to the individuals of whose families we have an account, they are quite remarkable: Rehoboam had thirty-eight sons; Abdon had forty; Tola had thirty; Ahab, seventy; and Gideon, seventy-one.
This site's exposition
Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria
on 2 Kings 10:1-3
Jehu's first letter does not demand surrender; it dares Samaria's rulers to set up one of Ahab's seventy sons as king and fight for the house, testing whether they will resist him at all. The seventy sons, some of them likely grandsons given the reckoning at verse thirteen, mark the size of a dynasty Jehu intends to end in full. The letter's real aim is to force the guardians to name their loyalty before Jehu ever draws a sword against them.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria--As it appears (2Ki 10:13), that grandsons are included it is probable that this number comprehended the whole posterity of Ahab.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Seventy sons - i. e., descendants; there were included among them children of Jehoram (2Ki 10:2-3, etc.).
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And to the custodian of Achov’s children. Those who brought up his children. 1 The literal translation is, “and to those who raised Achov.”
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּלְאַחְאָ֛ב | uleachav | and [belonged] to Ahab | H256 → | 92 times |
| שִׁבְעִ֥ים | shivim | seventy | H7657 → | 91 times |
| בָּנִ֖ים | banim | sons | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| בְּשֹׁמְר֑וֹן | beshomeron | in Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
| וַיִּכְתֹּב֩ | vaiyikhto | and he wrote | H3789 → | 224 times |
| יֵה֨וּא | yehu' | Jehu | H3058 → | 58 times |
| סְפָרִ֜ים | sefarim | letters | H5612 → | 186 times |
| וַיִּשְׁלַ֣ח | vaiyishlach | and he sent [them] | H7971 → | 845 times |
| שֹׁמְר֗וֹן | shomeron | Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| שָׂרֵ֤י | sarei | [the] officials of | H8269 → | 421 times |
| יִזְרְעֶאל֙ | yizreel | Jezreel | H3157 → | 36 times |
| הַזְּקֵנִ֔ים | hazekenim | the elders | H2205 → | 178 times |
| וְאֶל־ | veel- | and to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הָאֹמְנִ֥ים | haomenim | the guardians | H539 → | 106 times |
| אַחְאָ֖ב | ʾachav | Ahab | H256 → | 92 times |
| לֵאמֹֽר׃ | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
וּלְאַחְאָ֛בand [belonged] to Ahab
uleachavH256 →92 times
שִׁבְעִ֥יםseventy
shivimH7657 →91 times
בָּנִ֖יםsons
banimH1121 →4930 times
בְּשֹׁמְר֑וֹןin Samaria
beshomeronH8111 →109 times
וַיִּכְתֹּב֩and he wrote
vaiyikhtoH3789 →224 times
יֵה֨וּאJehu
yehu'H3058 →58 times
סְפָרִ֜יםletters
sefarimH5612 →186 times
וַיִּשְׁלַ֣חand he sent [them]
vaiyishlachH7971 →845 times
שֹׁמְר֗וֹןSamaria
shomeronH8111 →109 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
שָׂרֵ֤י[the] officials of
sareiH8269 →421 times
יִזְרְעֶאל֙Jezreel
yizreelH3157 →36 times
הַזְּקֵנִ֔יםthe elders
hazekenimH2205 →178 times
וְאֶל־and to
veel-H413 →5510 times
הָאֹמְנִ֥יםthe guardians
haomenimH539 →106 times
אַחְאָ֖בAhab
ʾachavH256 →92 times
לֵאמֹֽר׃<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Kings 13:32for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 16:24
He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a city there, calling it Samaria after the name of Shemer, who had owned the hill.
- 1 Kings 13:2
And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of…
- Leviticus 26:30
I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.
- 1 Kings 12:31
Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed from every class of people priests who were not Levites.
- 2 Kings 23:16–19
And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the hillside, and he sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar to defile it,…
- 1 Kings 16:24
Through
Judges 8:30Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives.
it leads to
- Judges 9:5
He went to his father’s house in Ophrah, and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerubbaal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, survived, because he hid himself.
- Judges 9:2
“Please ask all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember that I am your own flesh…
- Deuteronomy 17:17
He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.
- Judges 9:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings

Who and where
4 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonDivided kingdomAhabSeventh king of the northern kingdom, son of Omri, who "did evil above all that were before him"; Elijah's chief antagonist, conde…
- PersonDivided kingdomJehuThe furious-driving commander anointed at Elisha's order who purged the house of Ahab and Baal from Israel — zealous for the LORD,…
- PlaceThe northern hill countrySamariaThe hill Omri bought and built his capital on, where Ahab raised a temple to Baal, where the four lepers found the Aramean camp em…
- PlaceNorthern IsraelJezreelAhab's summer capital beside Naboth's vineyard; the city of the dogs' prophecy, where Jezebel fell and Jehu's wheels rolled.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
