2 Kings 10 explained: Jehu Wipes Out Ahab's Dynasty

Letters to Samaria (vv. 1-8)

Seventy of Ahab's sons and descendants were being raised by leading men in the capital, Samaria, so Jehu dared those men to crown one and fight him. Terrified, they surrendered, and when he demanded the princes' heads, they killed the children in their own care and sent the heads to him.

Heads at the gate (vv. 9-11)

At the city gate, the town's public meeting place, Jehu used the grim display to point out that others had done this killing and to claim it fulfilled the prophet Elijah's earlier warning against Ahab's family. He then killed Ahab's officials, friends and priests in Jezreel.

Judah's royal relatives killed (vv. 12-14)

Forty-two relatives of Ahaziah, the king of Judah whom Jehu had already killed and whose mother was Ahab's daughter, were traveling to visit the royal family, apparently unaware of the coup. Jehu likely saw them as possible backers of the old dynasty and had them slaughtered at a well.

Jehonadab joins Jehu (vv. 15-17)

Jehonadab was a man known for a strict, simple way of life, and clasping hands was a way to seal an alliance or pledge loyalty. Having such a respected figure ride beside him was probably meant to win public support as Jehu went on to kill the rest of Ahab's family in Samaria.

The trap for Baal's worshippers (vv. 18-28)

Ahab and his wife Jezebel had promoted worship of Baal, a Canaanite god, so Jehu pretended to be an even greater devotee, gathered all Baal's followers into one temple in special robes, and had them killed. The temple was torn down and turned into a public toilet, a deliberate insult.

A mixed verdict (vv. 29-36)

The writer credits Jehu for ending Ahab's line and records a promise that his descendants would rule for four generations, but faults him for keeping the golden calf shrines at Bethel and Dan that Jeroboam, the northern kingdom's first king, had set up. In his time Hazael, king of Aram (Syria), began taking Israel's land east of the Jordan River.

Key verse: 2 Kings 10:31

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on how to read God's approval of Jehu in verse 30, since the later prophet Hosea announces punishment on Jehu's family for the bloodshed at Jezreel (Hosea 1:4), which some take as condemning Jehu's excess and others as condemning his self-serving motives.

Something to think about

When someone carries out violence in the name of a cause they believe is right, what would you need to know before deciding whether they were right?