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2 Kings 10:14

in 2 Kings 10

Then Jehu ordered, “Take them alive.” So his men took them alive, then slaughtered them at the well of Beth-eked—forty-two men. He spared none of them.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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.

KJV

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.

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This verse in 2 Kings 10

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The pit of the shearing house - Probably the place where they washed the sheep previously to shearing, or the fleeces after they were shorn off.

This site's exposition

at the shearing house in the way

on 2 Kings 10:12-14

On the road to Samaria, at a place named for shepherds binding their flocks to shear them, Jehu meets forty-two kinsmen of Ahaziah of Judah traveling north in ignorance of the revolution. He takes them alive and kills every one at the pit of the shearing house, a slaughter that reaches south into David's own line even though Ahaziah himself had already died at Jehu's hand. The same totality appears again when Athaliah moves against Judah's own royal line at chapter eleven, a crime this chapter's slaughter of Ahaziah's kinsmen already anticipates.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And he said, take them alive,....

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

And the queen’s sons. Ezevel. 6 They were unaware that Yeihu killed Yehorom, otherwise they would have fled.—Radak
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on II Kings 10:13:1, via Sefaria, The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J

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 words

Every 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.

  • וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙and he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • תִּפְשׂ֣וּםseize them

    tifsumH8610 →65 times

  • חַיִּ֔יםalive

    chaiyimH2416 →498 times

  • וַֽיִּתְפְּשׂ֖וּםand they seized them

    vaiyitpesumH8610 →65 times

  • חַיִּ֑יםalive

    chaiyimH2416 →498 times

  • וַֽיִּשְׁחָט֞וּםand they slaughtered them

    vaiyishchatumH7819 →81 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H413 →5510 times

  • בּ֣וֹר[the] pit of

    borH953 →

  • בֵּֽית־Beth

    beit-H1044 →4 times

  • עֵ֗קֶדEked

    ʾekedH1044 →4 times

  • אַרְבָּעִ֤יםforty

    ʾarbaimH705 →136 times

  • וּשְׁנַ֙יִם֙and two

    ushenayimH8147 →768 times

  • אִ֔ישׁman

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • וְלֹֽא־and not

    velo'-H3808 →5168 times

  • הִשְׁאִ֥ירhe spared

    hishirH7604 →133 times

  • אִ֖ישׁanyone

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • מֵהֶֽם׃ סfrom them

    mehem

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

8 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

2 Kings 8:18And Jehoram walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done. For he married a daughter of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD.2 works1 Kings 20:18“If they have marched out in peace,” he said, “take them alive. Even if they have marched out for war, take them alive.”2 works2 Kings 11:1When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs.2 works2 Chronicles 22:8So while Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the rulers of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who were serving Ahaziah, and he killed them.2 works2 Chronicles 22:10When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs of the house of Judah.2 works2 Kings 10:10–11Know, then, that not a word the LORD has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail, for the LORD has done what He promised through His servant Elijah.”2 works
The other 2 cross-references, with their words ▾
2 Kings 10:6Then Jehu wrote them a second letter and said: “If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, then bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Now the sons of the king, seventy in all, were being brought up by the leading men of the city.2 worksHosea 7:7All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers. All their kings fall; not one of them calls upon Me.2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    2 Kings 11:1

    When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs.

    it leads to

    • Jeremiah 41:1

      In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family and one of the king’s chief officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son…

    • 2 Chronicles 22:10–12

      When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs of the house of Judah.

    • 2 Kings 25:25

      In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the…

    • Matthew 2:16

      When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years…

    • 2 Chronicles 24:7

      For the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the house of God and had even used the sacred objects of the house of the LORD for the Baals.

  • Through

    2 Kings 8:18

    And Jehoram walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done. For he married a daughter of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the…

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 8:26

      Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.

  • Through

    1 Kings 20:18

    “If they have marched out in peace,” he said, “take them alive. Even if they have marched out for war, take them alive.”

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 14:8–12

      Then Amaziah sent messengers to the king of Israel Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu. “Come, let us meet face to face,” he said.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 22:10

    When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs of the house of Judah.

    it leads to

    • 2 Kings 11:1–3

      When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs.

Where this verse is studied

About 2 Kings

Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Elijah Ascends to Heaven in a Chariot of Fire, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
2 Kings: the study guide →Read 2 Kings 10 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.

Read on in 2 Kings 10 →