Bible Strands
2 Kings 10:1
Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders, and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab, saying:
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jehu writes to the officials of Jezreel, the elders, and the guardians of Ahab’s sons in Samaria, initiating a coordinated political and military takeover. The correspondence occurs at the moment royal authority shifts from Ahab’s dynasty to a new regime.
The words — The Hebrew שִׁבְעִ֥ים (shiv‘im) literally means “seventy,” precisely counting Ahab’s offspring in Samaria. The term בָּנִ֖ים (banîm) translates directly to “sons,” identifying the specific familial line targeted by the decree.
The thread — The number seventy appears in Judges 8:30 where Gideon fathers seventy sons, establishing a recurring biblical marker for royal lineage. This numerical pattern links the succession narratives of Israel’s major dynasties.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge how written orders function as instruments of regime change. It demands attention to the structural mechanics of power transfer rather than moral justification.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab’s children, saying,
Cross-references
- Judges 8:30 Gideon had seventy sons of his own, since he had many wives.
- 1 Kings 13:32 for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass.”
- Deuteronomy 16:18 You are to appoint judges and officials for your tribes in every town that the LORD your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment.
- Judges 10:4 He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys. And they had thirty towns in the land of Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth-jair.
- Judges 12:14 He had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who rode on seventy donkeys. And he judged Israel eight years.
- 1 Kings 16:24 He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a city there, calling it Samaria after the name of Shemer, who had owned the hill.
- 1 Kings 16:28 And Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab reigned in his place.
- 1 Kings 21:8 Then Jezebel wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived with Naboth in his city.
- 2 Kings 5:3 She said to her mistress, “If only my master would go to the prophet who is in Samaria, he would cure him of his leprosy.”
- 2 Chronicles 22:9 Then Jehu looked for Ahaziah, and Jehu’s soldiers captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. So Ahaziah was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.” So no one was left from the house of Ahaziah with the strength to rule the kingdom.