101 And Ahab hath seventy sons in Samaria, and Jehu writeth letters, and sendeth to Samaria, unto the heads of Jezreel, the elders, and unto the supporters of Ahab, saying, 2 'And now, at the coming in of this letter unto you, and with you 'are' sons of your lord, and with you 'are' the chariots and the horses, and a fenced city, and the armour, 3 and ye have seen the best and the uprightest of the sons of your lord, and have set 'him' on the throne of his father, and fight ye for the house of your lord.' 4 And they fear very greatly, and say, 'Lo, the two kings have not stood before him, and how do we stand—we?' 5 And he who 'is' over the house, and he who 'is' over the city, and the elders, and the supporters, send unto Jehu, saying, 'Thy servants we 'are', and all that thou sayest unto us we do; we do not make any one king—that which 'is' good in thine eyes do.' 6 And he writeth unto them a letter a second time, saying, 'If ye 'are' for me, and to my voice are hearkening, take the heads of the men—the sons of your lord, and come unto me about this time to-morrow, to Jezreel;' and the sons of the king 'are' seventy men, with the great ones of the city those bringing them up. 7 And it cometh to pass, at the coming in of the letter unto them, that they take the sons of the king, and slaughter seventy men, and put their heads in baskets, and send unto him to Jezreel, 8 and the messenger cometh in, and declareth to him, saying, 'They have brought in the heads of the sons of the king,' and he saith, 'Make them two heaps at the opening of the gate till the morning.' 9 And it cometh to pass in the morning, that he goeth out, and standeth, and saith unto all the people, 'Righteous are ye; lo, I have conspired against my lord, and slay him—and who smote all these? 10 Know ye now, that nothing doth fall of the word of Jehovah to the earth that Jehovah spake against the house of Ahab, and Jehovah hath done that which He spake by the hand of His servant Elijah.' 11 And Jehu smiteth all those left to the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintances, and his priests, till he hath not left to him a remnant. 12 And he riseth, and cometh in and goeth to Samaria; he 'is' at the shepherds' shearing-house in the way, 13 and Jehu hath found the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and saith, 'Who 'are' ye?' and they say, 'Brethren of Ahaziah we 'are', and we go down to salute the sons of the king, and the sons of the mistress.' 14 And he saith, 'Catch them alive;' and they catch them alive, and slaughter them at the pit of the shearing-house, forty and two men, and he hath not left a man of them.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 10:1-14
Commentary on 2 Kings 10:1-14
(Read 2 Kings 10:1-14)
In the most awful events, though attended by the basest crimes of man, the truth and justice of God are to be noticed; and he never did nor can command any thing unjust or unreasonable. Jehu destroyed all that remained of the house of Ahab; all who had been partners in his wickedness. When we think upon the sufferings and miseries of mankind, when we look forward to the resurrection and last judgment, and think upon the vast number of the wicked waiting their awful sentence of everlasting fire; when the whole sum of death and misery has been considered, the solemn question occurs, Who slew all these? The answer is, SIN. Shall we then harbour sin in our bosoms, and seek for happiness from that which is the cause of all misery?