Bible Strands
2 Kings 10:17
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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jehu arrives in Samaria and executes Ahab’s remaining relatives and supporters while fulfilling a prior divine mandate. The narrative places him at the center of a political and religious purge immediately after his alliance with the prophet’s companion.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיַּךְ (va.yakh) translates literally as “and he struck down,” denoting violent execution. The noun הַנִּשְׁאָרִים (ha.nishʾārîm) means “the remaining ones,” specifying the survivors of Ahab’s lineage left in the city.
The thread — This destruction fulfills the prophecy recorded in 2 Kings 9:8 and 1 Kings 21:21, where the LORD declares through Elijah that Ahab’s house will be cut off. The same campaign is referenced in 2 Chronicles 22:8 as Jehu executing judgment on that dynasty.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that historical violence is presented here as the direct fulfillment of divine speech. It demands attention to how prophetic declarations are executed without moral commentary from the narrator.
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The Hebrew words
King James Version
And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the Lord, which he spake to Elijah.
Cross-references
- 2 Kings 9:8 The whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, both slave and free, in Israel.
- 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.
- 1 Kings 21:21 This is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring calamity on you and consume your descendants; I will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both slave and free.
- 2 Kings 9:25 And Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, “Pick him up and throw him into the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember that when you and I were riding together behind his father Ahab, the LORD lifted up this burden against him:
- 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.”
- Psalms 109:8 May his days be few; may another take his position.
- Malachi 4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”