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2 Kings 10:8

in 2 Kings 10

When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, “They have brought the heads of the sons of the king.” And Jehu ordered, “Pile them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.”

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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 entrance of the gate until the morning.

KJV

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.

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This verse in 2 Kings 10

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Lay ye them in two heaps - It appears that the heads of these princes had arrived at Jezreel in the night time: Jehu ordered them to be left at the gate of the city, a place of public resort, that all the people might see them, and be struck with terror, and conclude that all resistance to such authority and power would be vain.

This site's exposition

Lay ye them in two heaps

on 2 Kings 10:8-10

The heads are heaped at the city gate overnight, a public display meant to warn Samaria before Jehu speaks a word. In the morning Jehu names his own conspiracy against Joram plainly, then asks who struck down the seventy, deflecting blame onto the men who obeyed his letter. His declaration that nothing of the word of the Lord concerning Ahab's house shall fall to the earth names Elijah's prophecy at 1 Kings 21 as the standard by which the killing is measured, not his own ambition.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

The Lord is known by these judgments which he executeth. Interview between Jehu and Jehonadab; the Worshippers of Baal Destroyed. 15 And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:82%@v15-17

And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, they have brought the heads of the king's sons,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate, &c.--The exhibition of the heads of enemies is always considered a glorious trophy. Sometimes a pile of heads is erected at the gate of the palace; and a head of peculiarly striking appearance selected to grace the summit of the pyramid.
Two heaps - Probably placed one on either side of the gateway, to strike terror into the partisans of the late dynasty as they passed in and out of the town.

The words behind it

18 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.

  • וַיָּבֹ֤אand he came

    vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times

  • הַמַּלְאָךְ֙the messenger

    hamalokhH4397 →213 times

  • וַיַּגֶּד־and he told

    vaiyaged-H5046 →370 times

  • ל֣וֹto him

    lo

  • לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying

    lemorH559 →5305 times

  • הֵבִ֖יאוּthey have brought

    heviuH935 →2568 times

  • רָאשֵׁ֣י[the] heads of

    rasheiH7218 →599 times

  • בְנֵֽי־[the] sons of

    venei-H1121 →4930 times

  • הַמֶּ֑לֶךְthe king

    hamelekhH4428 →2525 times

  • וַיֹּ֗אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH559 →5305 times

  • שִׂ֣ימוּmake

    simuH7760 →584 times

  • אֹתָ֞ם<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

  • שְׁנֵ֧יtwo

    sheneiH8147 →768 times

  • צִבֻּרִ֛יםheaps

    tziburimH6652 →

  • פֶּ֥תַח[the] entrance of

    petachH6607 →164 times

  • הַשַּׁ֖עַרthe gate

    hashaarH8179 →374 times

  • עַד־until

    ʾad-H5704 →1261 times

  • הַבֹּֽקֶר׃the morning

    habokerH1242 →214 times

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

Related verses

4 in all, six open

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 21:23

    you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must…

    it leads to

    • Galatians 3:13

      Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

    • John 19:31

      It was the day of Preparation, and the next day was a High Sabbath. In order that the bodies would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to have…

    • 2 Corinthians 5:21

      God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

    • Leviticus 18:25

      Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.

    • Joshua 10:26–27

      After this, Joshua struck down and killed the kings, and he hung their bodies on five trees and left them there until evening.

  • Through

    1 Kings 21:14

    Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.”

    it leads to

    • Ecclesiastes 8:14

      There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of…

    • Ecclesiastes 5:8

      If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and…

    • 2 Samuel 11:14–24

      The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.

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 on the Old Testament; 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 (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in 2 Kings 10 →