2 Kings 9:7
in 2 Kings 9And you are to strike down the house of your master Ahab, so that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets and the blood of all the servants of the LORD shed by the hand of Jezebel.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of Jehovah, at the hand of Jezebel.
KJV
And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezebel.
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This verse in 2 Kings 9
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThou shalt smite the house of Ahab - For their most cruel murders they have forfeited their own lives, according to that immutable law, “He that sheddeth man’s blood by man shall his blood be shed.” This and the two following verses contain the commission which Jehu received from the Lord against the bloody house of Ahab.
This site's exposition
shalt smite the house of Ahab
on 2 Kings 9:7-10
The commission names the charge precisely: not the calf worship first raised against Jeroboam, but the blood of the Lord's prophets and servants, shed at Jezebel's hand. The sentence on Ahab's house borrows the exact extermination formula already used against Jeroboam's house and Baasha's, him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left, so a reader of Kings recognizes a third dynasty condemned by the same words. The last line names what this book has been waiting to happen, the dogs eating Jezebel in Jezreel, and the young prophet is gone before the door shuts behind him.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Then the prophet Elisha called a member of the company of prophets and said to him, 'Gird up your loins; take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead.' " Here the Scripture reports the just sentence that befalls the house of …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
That they were idolaters was bad enough, and merited all that was brought upon them; yet that is not mentioned here, but the controversy God has with them is for their being persecutors, not so much their throwing down God's altars as their slaying his prophets with the sword.
Those whom God sends on his errands shall not go without full instructions. (3.) He also ordered him, [1.] To do it privately, to single out Jehu from the rest of the captains and anoint him in an inner chamber (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master,....
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהִ֨כִּיתָ֔ה | vehikitah | and you will strike down | H5221 → | 499 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בֵּ֥ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| אַחְאָ֖ב | ʾachav | Ahab | H256 → | 92 times |
| אֲדֹנֶ֑יךָ | ʾadoneikha | master<s> your | H113 → | 333 times |
| וְנִקַּמְתִּ֞י | venikamti | and I will avenge | H5358 → | |
| דְּמֵ֣י׀ | demei | [the] blood<s> of | H1818 → | 360 times |
| עֲבָדַ֣י | ʾavadai | servants my | H5650 → | 799 times |
| הַנְּבִיאִ֗ים | haneviim | the prophets | H5030 → | 314 times |
| וּדְמֵ֛י | udemei | and [the] blood<s> of | H1818 → | 360 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| עַבְדֵ֥י | ʾavdei | [the] servants of | H5650 → | 799 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| מִיַּ֥ד | miyad | from [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| אִיזָֽבֶל׃ | ʾizavel | Jezebel | H348 → | 22 times |
וְהִ֨כִּיתָ֔הand you will strike down
vehikitahH5221 →499 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
בֵּ֥ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
אַחְאָ֖בAhab
ʾachavH256 →92 times
אֲדֹנֶ֑יךָmaster<s> your
ʾadoneikhaH113 →333 times
וְנִקַּמְתִּ֞יand I will avenge
venikamtiH5358 →
דְּמֵ֣י׀[the] blood<s> of
demeiH1818 →360 times
עֲבָדַ֣יservants my
ʾavadaiH5650 →799 times
הַנְּבִיאִ֗יםthe prophets
haneviimH5030 →314 times
וּדְמֵ֛יand [the] blood<s> of
udemeiH1818 →360 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
עַבְדֵ֥י[the] servants of
ʾavdeiH5650 →799 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
מִיַּ֥דfrom [the] hand of
miyadH3027 →1618 times
אִיזָֽבֶל׃Jezebel
ʾizavelH348 →22 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
Deuteronomy 32:43Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all God’s angels worship Him. Rejoice, O nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His children. He will take vengeance on His adversaries…
it leads to
- Romans 12:19
Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
- Revelation 19:2
For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her…
- Revelation 6:10
And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
- Psalms 85:1
You showed favor to Your land, O LORD; You restored Jacob from captivity.
- Deuteronomy 32:35
Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”
- Romans 12:19
Through
1 Kings 21:21This is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring calamity on you and consume your descendants; I will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both slave and free.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 14:10
Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house…
- Exodus 20:5–6
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…
- 1 Kings 14:10
Through
1 Kings 18:4for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)
it leads to
- 1 Kings 18:13
Was it not reported to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the LORD? I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD, fifty men per cave, and I provided them…
- 1 Kings 18:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 2 Kings

Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonDivided kingdomJezebelSidonian princess and Ahab's queen who institutionalized Baal worship in Israel, ordered Elijah's death after Carmel, and engineer…
- PersonDivided kingdomAhabSeventh king of the northern kingdom, son of Omri, who "did evil above all that were before him"; Elijah's chief antagonist, conde…
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS 9:1-24; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
