2 Kings 10:14

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.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Jehu commands his men to capture the forty-two relatives of Ahaziah who have come to greet the royal family, then orders their execution at the well of Beth-eked. This occurs immediately after Jehu questions the men about their identity in 2 Kings 10:13.

The words — The Hebrew תִּפְשׂוּם חַיִּים (tifśûm chayyîm) literally commands "seize them alive," while וַיִּשְׁחָטוּם (wayyišḥāṭûm) states "and they slaughtered them." These terms mark the deliberate shift from capture to execution.

The thread — The order to take captives echoes the tactical instruction in 1 Kings 20:18, while the systematic elimination of royal kin fulfills the purge directive in 2 Kings 10:6 and the covenant judgment against the house of Ahab in 2 Kings 8:18.

Why it lands — The text records a calculated eradication of a rival dynasty, showing Jehu enforcing total removal without mercy. It demands recognition of the absolute severity of covenant judgment and the ruthless political methods used to secure a new royal line.

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

וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙va/i.Yo.merand/ he said תִּפְשׂ֣וּםtif.Su/mseize/ them חַיִּ֔יםchai.Yimalive וַֽיִּתְפְּשׂ֖וּםva/i.yit.pe.Su/mand/ they seized/ them חַיִּ֑יםchai.Yimalive וַֽיִּשְׁחָט֞וּםva/i.yish.cha.Tu/mand/ they slaughtered/ them אֶל־'el-to בּ֣וֹרBor[the] pit of בֵּֽית־beit-Beth עֵ֗קֶד'E.kedEked אַרְבָּעִ֤ים'ar.ba.'Imforty וּשְׁנַ֙יִם֙u./she.Na.yimand/ two אִ֔ישׁ'Ishman וְלֹֽא־ve./lo'-and/ not הִשְׁאִ֥ירhish.'Irhe spared אִ֖ישׁ'ishanyoneמֵהֶֽם׃ סme./Hemfrom/ them

King James Version

And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them.

Cross-references

1 Kings 20:18 “If they have marched out in peace,” he said, “take them alive. Even if they have marched out for war, take them alive.”
2 Kings 8:18 And Jehoram walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done. For he married a daughter of Ahab and did evil in the sight of the LORD.
2 Kings 10:6 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.” Now the sons of the king, seventy in all, were being brought up by the leading men of the city.
2 Kings 10:10 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.”
2 Kings 11:1 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs.
2 Chronicles 22:8 So while Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the rulers of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers who were serving Ahaziah, and he killed them.
2 Chronicles 22:10 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs of the house of Judah.