Bible Strands
2 Kings 10:5
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The palace administrator, city overseer, elders, and guardians of Samaria send a message to Jehu immediately after two opposing kings failed to stop him. They offer unconditional submission to avoid the fate of the previous monarchy.
The words — The Hebrew term בַּיִת (bayit) denotes the "house" or royal household, identifying the palace administrator as the head of the king's domestic administration. The phrase עַל־הָעִיר (al-ha'ir) literally means "over the city," marking the civic official's jurisdiction.
The thread — This posture of total surrender echoes the submission of the Gibeonites to Joshua in Joshua 9:11 and the Syrian officials' capitulation to the king of Israel in 1 Kings 20:4 and 1 Kings 20:32.
Why it lands — The text records a political capitulation where local leaders abandon royal succession to preserve their lives under a new military ruler. It demands recognition that human authority shifts when divine judgment removes the reigning house.
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 he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes.
Cross-references
- Joshua 9:11 So the elders and inhabitants of our land told us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go to meet them and say to them: We are your servants. Please make a treaty with us.’
- 1 Kings 20:4 And the king of Israel replied, “Just as you say, my lord the king: I am yours, along with all that I have.”
- 1 Kings 20:32 So with sackcloth around their waists and ropes around their heads, they went to the king of Israel and said, “Your servant Ben-hadad says, ‘Please spare my life.’” And the king answered, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.”
- Joshua 9:8 “We are your servants,” they said to Joshua. Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where have you come from?”
- 2 Kings 18:14 So Hezekiah king of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand from me.” And the king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
- Joshua 9:24 The Gibeonites answered, “Your servants were told clearly that the LORD your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land and wipe out all its inhabitants before you. So we greatly feared for our lives because of you, and that is why we have done this.
- Jeremiah 27:7 All nations will serve him and his son and grandson, until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will enslave him.
- Jeremiah 27:17 Do not listen to them. Serve the king of Babylon and live! Why should this city become a ruin?
- John 12:26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.