2 Kings 10:9
in 2 Kings 10The next morning, Jehu went out and stood before all the people and said, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these?
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye are righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him; but who smote all these?
KJV
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?
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This verse in 2 Kings 10
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Ye be righteous - i. e., “Ye are just, and can judge aright.” Jehu unfairly keeps back the fact that he had commanded the execution.
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
, 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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Ye be righteous - Another irony, intended partly to excuse himself, and to involve them in the odium of this massacre, and at the same time to justify the conduct of both, by showing that all was done according to the commandment of the Lord.
The words behind it
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֤י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בַבֹּ֙קֶר֙ | vaboker | in the morning | H1242 → | 214 times |
| וַיֵּצֵ֣א | vaiyetze' | and he went out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| וַֽיַּעֲמֹ֔ד | vaiyaamod | and he stood | H5975 → | 521 times |
| וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| הָעָ֔ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| צַדִּקִ֖ים | tzadikim | [are] righteous | H6662 → | |
| אַתֶּ֑ם | ʾatem | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| הִנֵּ֨ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אֲנִ֜י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| קָשַׁ֤רְתִּי | kasharti | I conspired | H7194 → | 44 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אֲדֹנִי֙ | ʾadoni | master my | H113 → | 333 times |
| וָאֶהְרְגֵ֔הוּ | vaehregehu | and I killed him | H2026 → | 167 times |
| וּמִ֥י | umi | and who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| הִכָּ֖ה | hikah | did he strike down | H5221 → | 499 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֵֽלֶּה׃ | ʾeleh | these | H428 → | 746 times |
וַיְהִ֤יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
בַבֹּ֙קֶר֙in the morning
vabokerH1242 →214 times
וַיֵּצֵ֣אand he went out
vaiyetze'H3318 →1067 times
וַֽיַּעֲמֹ֔דand he stood
vaiyaamodH5975 →521 times
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙and he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
הָעָ֔םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
צַדִּקִ֖ים[are] righteous
tzadikimH6662 →
אַתֶּ֑םyou
ʾatemH859 →1094 times
הִנֵּ֨הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
אֲנִ֜יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
קָשַׁ֤רְתִּיI conspired
kashartiH7194 →44 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אֲדֹנִי֙master my
ʾadoniH113 →333 times
וָאֶהְרְגֵ֔הוּand I killed him
vaehregehuH2026 →167 times
וּמִ֥יand who?
umiH4310 →423 times
הִכָּ֖הdid he strike down
hikahH5221 →499 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אֵֽלֶּה׃these
ʾelehH428 →746 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 Samuel 12:3Here I am. Bear witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken? Whom have I cheated or oppressed? From whose hand have I accepted a…
it leads to
- Acts 20:33
I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.
- Numbers 16:15
Then Moses became very angry and said to the LORD, “Do not regard their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them or mistreated a single one of them.”
- 1 Peter 5:2
Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over them not out of compulsion, but because it is God’s will; not out of greed, but out of eagerness;
- Deuteronomy 16:19
Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.
- 1 Samuel 24:6
So he said to his men, “The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed. May I never lift my hand against him, since he is the…
- Acts 20:33
Through
Hosea 1:4Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 10:7–8
And when the letter arrived, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.
- 2 Kings 10:10–11
Know, 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.”
- Jeremiah 3:8
She saw that because faithless Israel had committed adultery, I gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away. Yet that unfaithful sister Judah had no fear and prostituted herself as well.
- 2 Kings 10:7–8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
