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2 Kings 10:6

in 2 Kings 10

Then 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.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be on my side, 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, who brought them up.

KJV

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.

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This verse in 2 Kings 10

Commentary

5 notes on this verse
The heads of rivals, pretenders, and other obnoxious persons are commonly struck off in the East, and conveyed to the chief ruler, in order that he may be positively certified that his enemies have ceased to live. In the Assyrian sculptures we constantly see soldiers conveying heads from place to place, not, however, in baskets, but in their hands, holding the head by the hair.

This site's exposition

take ye the heads of the men

on 2 Kings 10:6-7

Jehu's second letter turns loyalty into an order, bring the heads of your master's sons by tomorrow. The men who raised these seventy princes obey without hesitation, and their obedience becomes the very act that empties Ahab's house of heirs. Their swift compliance answers Elijah's old sentence on Ahab's line with human hands willing to carry it out.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

): If you be mine, bring me the heads of your master's sons by to-morrow 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.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

Then he wrote a letter the second time to them,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Come to me to Jezreel - Therefore the letters were not written to Jezreel, but from Jezreel to Samaria.

The words behind it

31 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.

  • וַיִּכְתֹּ֣בand he wrote

    vaiyikhtoH3789 →224 times

  • אֲלֵיהֶם֩to them

    ʾaleihemH413 →5510 times

  • סֵ֨פֶר׀a letter

    seferH5612 →186 times

  • שֵׁנִ֜יתsecond

    shenitH8145 →156 times

  • לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • אִם־if

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • לִ֨י[belong] to me

    li

  • אַתֶּ֜םyou

    ʾatemH859 →1094 times

  • וּלְקֹלִ֣י׀and to voice my

    ulekoliH6963 →506 times

  • אַתֶּ֣םyou

    ʾatemH859 →1094 times

  • שֹׁמְעִ֗ים[are] listening

    shomeimH8085 →1159 times

  • קְחוּ֙take

    kechuH3947 →966 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • רָאשֵׁי֙[the] heads of

    rasheiH7218 →599 times

  • אַנְשֵׁ֣י[the] men of

    ʾansheiH582 →566 times

  • בְנֵֽי־[the] sons of

    venei-H1121 →4930 times

  • אֲדֹנֵיכֶ֔םmaster<s> your

    ʾadoneikhemH113 →333 times

  • וּבֹ֧אוּand come

    uvouH935 →2568 times

  • אֵלַ֛יto me

    ʾelaiH413 →5510 times

  • כָּעֵ֥תabout <the> this time

    kaetH6256 →296 times

  • מָחָ֖רtomorrow

    macharH4279 →52 times

  • יִזְרְעֶ֑אלָהJezreel towards

    yizreelahH3157 →36 times

  • וּבְנֵ֤יand [the] sons of

    uveneiH1121 →4930 times

  • הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙the king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • שִׁבְעִ֣יםseventy

    shivimH7657 →91 times

  • אִ֔ישׁman

    ʾishH376 →1663 times

  • אֶת־[were] with

    ʾet-H854 →929 times

  • גְּדֹלֵ֥י[the] great [people] of

    gedoleiH1419 →526 times

  • הָעִ֖ירthe city

    hairH5892 →1090 times

  • מְגַדְּלִ֥ים[who] were bringing up

    megadelimH1431 →

  • אוֹתָֽם׃<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

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

Related verses

12 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.

Revelation 2:20–23But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols.3 worksIsaiah 14:21–22Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the iniquities of their forefathers. They will never rise up to possess a land or cover the earth with their cities.2 worksNumbers 25:4Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that His fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”2 worksDeuteronomy 5:9You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,2 worksLuke 9:50“Do not stop him,” Jesus replied, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”2 worksJob 21:19It is said that God lays up one’s punishment for his children. Let God repay the man himself, so he will know it.2 works
The other 6 cross-references, with their words ▾
Matthew 12:30He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.2 worksJoshua 7:24–25Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the cloak, the bar of gold, his sons and daughters, his oxen and donkeys and sheep, his tent, and everything else he owned, and brought them to the Valley of Achor.2 works1 Kings 21:8–11Then Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.2 works2 Kings 9:32He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three eunuchs looked down at him.2 works2 Kings 10:14Then 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.2 works2 Samuel 11:16So as Joab besieged the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he saw the strongest enemy soldiers.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

    Deuteronomy 5:9

    You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth…

    it leads to

    • Exodus 20:4–6

      You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.

    • Exodus 34:7

      maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and…

    • Numbers 14:18

      ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abounding in loving devotion, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon…

    • Daniel 9:4–9

      And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments,

  • Through

    Luke 9:50

    “Do not stop him,” Jesus replied, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”

    it leads to

    • Luke 11:23

      He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

    • Matthew 12:30

      He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.

    • 1 Corinthians 12:3

      Therefore I inform you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

    • Philippians 1:15–18

      It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.

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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Kings 10 →