Ahab’s Seventy Sons Killed
Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the officials of Jezreel, 1 to the elders, and to the guardians of the sons 2of Ahab, saying: 1Ki 13:32Jdg 8:301Ki 16:241Ki 16:281Ki 21:8-142Ch 22:92Ki 5:3Deu 16:18 “When this letter arrives, since your master’s sons are with you and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city and weaponry, 2Ki 5:6 select the best and most worthy son of your master, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.” 1Ki 1:24-251Ki 12:20-211Sa 10:241Sa 11:152Sa 2:12-172Sa 2:8-9Deu 17:14-15Jhn 18:36
But they were terrified and reasoned, “If two kings could not stand against him, how can we?” 2Ki 9:242Ki 9:27Isa 27:4Jer 49:19Luk 14:31Nam 1:6
So the palace administrator, the overseer of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent a message to Jehu: “We are your servants, and we will do whatever you say. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your sight.” 1Ki 20:321Ki 20:4Jos 9:112Ki 18:14Jos 9:8Jer 27:17Jer 27:7-8Jhn 12:26
Then Jehu wrote them a second letter and said: “If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, then bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Rev 2:20-231Ki 21:8-112Ki 9:32Deu 5:9Isa 14:21-22Job 21:19Jos 7:24-25Luk 9:50
Now the sons of the king, seventy in all, were being brought up by the leading men of the city. 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. 1Ki 21:212Ki 11:12Ch 21:42Ki 10:9Jdg 9:5-57Mat 14:8-11
When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, “They have brought the heads of the sons of the king.” 1Ki 21:142Sa 11:18-21Deu 21:23Mrk 6:28
And Jehu ordered, “Pile them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.”
The 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? 2Ki 9:14-241Sa 12:3Hos 1:4Isa 5:3 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.” 1Ki 21:291Ki 21:192Ki 9:7-101Ki 21:21-242Ki 9:36Zec 1:61Sa 15:291Sa 3:19
So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his great men and close friends and priests, leaving him without a single survivor. Job 18:191Ki 14:101Ki 15:291Ki 16:111Ki 18:191Ki 18:401Ki 21:221Ki 22:6
Then Jehu set out toward Samaria. At Beth-eked of the Shepherds, Jehu met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, “Who are you?” 2Ki 8:292Ki 8:242Ch 21:172Ch 22:1-102Ki 9:21-27
“We are relatives of Ahaziah,” they answered, “and we have come down to greet the sons of the king and of the queen mother.”
Then Jehu ordered, “Take them alive.” So his men took them alive, then slaughtered them at the well of Beth-eked—forty-two men. He spared none of them. 1Ki 20:182Ch 22:102Ch 22:82Ki 10:10-112Ki 10:62Ki 11:12Ki 8:18
When he left there, he found Jehonadab son of Rechab, who was coming to meet him. Jehu greeted him and asked, “Is your heart as true to mine as my heart is to yours?” Jer 35:14-191Ch 2:55Ezk 17:18Ezr 10:191Ch 12:17-18Gal 4:122Ki 10:132Ki 9:21
“It is!” Jehonadab replied.
“If it is,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.”
So he gave him his hand, and Jehu helped him into his chariot, saying, “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD!” So he had him ride 3in his chariot. 1Ki 19:102Ki 10:31Mat 6:51Ki 19:141Ki 19:172Ki 9:7-9Ezk 33:31Mat 6:2
When Jehu came to Samaria, he struck down everyone belonging to Ahab who remained there, until he had destroyed them, according to the word that the LORD had spoken to Elijah. 2Ki 9:82Ch 22:81Ki 21:212Ki 10:10-112Ki 9:25-26Mal 4:1Psa 109:8-9
Jehu Kills the Priests of Baal
Then Jehu brought all the people together and said, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him a lot. 1Ki 16:31-321Ki 18:191Ki 18:221Ki 18:402Ki 3:2Job 13:7Php 4:8Rom 3:8 Now, therefore, summon to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. See that no one is missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing will not live.” 1Ki 22:61Ki 18:191Th 2:32Co 11:13-152Co 11:32Co 12:16-182Co 4:22Ki 10:18
But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.
And Jehu commanded, “Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal.” So they announced it. Jol 1:14Exo 32:51Ki 18:19-201Ki 21:12
Then Jehu sent word throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; there was not a man who failed to show. They entered the temple of Baal, and it was filled from end to end. 1Ki 16:322Ki 11:18Jdg 16:27Jol 3:11-14Jol 3:2Rev 16:16
And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out garments for them. Exo 28:2Mat 22:11-12
Next, Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rechab entered the temple of Baal, and Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Look around to see that there are no servants of the LORD here among you—only servants of Baal.” Mat 13:30Mat 13:41Mat 25:32-33
And they went in 4to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and warned them, “If anyone allows one of the men I am delivering into your hands to escape, he will forfeit his life for theirs.” 1Ki 20:30-42
When he had finished making the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guards and officers, “Go in and kill them. Do not let anyone out.” Rev 16:6-71Ki 18:40Ezk 22:21-22Deu 13:6-11Exo 32:27Ezk 9:5-7
So the guards and officers put them to the sword, threw the bodies out, and went into the inner room of the temple of Baal.
They brought out the sacred pillar of the temple of Baal and burned it. 1Ki 14:232Ki 19:182Ki 3:22Sa 5:21 They also demolished the sacred pillar of Baal. Then they tore down the temple of Baal and made it into a latrine, which it is to this day. Dan 2:5Dan 3:29Ezr 6:111Ki 16:322Ch 34:3-72Ki 18:42Ki 23:7-14Deu 7:25
Jehu Repeats Jeroboam’s Sins
Thus Jehu eradicated Baal from Israel, but he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan. 1Ki 12:28-301Ki 13:33-341Ki 14:161Co 8:9-131Sa 2:242Ki 13:112Ki 13:22Ki 14:24
Nevertheless, the LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in My sight and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, four generations of your sons will sit on the throne of Israel.” 2Ki 10:352Ki 13:12Ki 13:102Ki 14:231Ki 20:421Ki 21:221Ki 21:291Sa 15:18-24
Yet Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit. 2Ki 10:29Pro 4:23Heb 2:1Psa 78:101Ki 14:161Ki 2:42Ch 6:162Ki 3:3
In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael defeated the Israelites throughout their territory 1Ki 19:172Ki 8:122Ki 13:222Ki 13:252Ki 14:25 from the Jordan eastward through all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh), and from Aroer by the Arnon Valley through Gilead to Bashan. Amo 1:3-4Deu 2:36Deu 3:12-17Jos 13:9-12Num 32:33-42
Jehoahaz Succeeds Jehu in Israel
As for the rest of the acts of Jehu, along with all his accomplishments and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 1Ki 11:411Ki 14:191Ki 14:292Ki 12:192Ki 13:8
And Jehu rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz reigned in his place. 1Ki 1:211Ki 14:201Ki 14:311Ki 2:102Ki 13:12Ki 13:7-82Sa 7:12 So the duration of Jehu’s reign over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.