Bible Strands
2 Kings 9:26
‘As surely as I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons yesterday, declares the LORD, so will I repay you on this plot of ground, declares the LORD.’ Now then, according to the word of the LORD, pick him up and throw him on the plot of ground.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jehu commands his officer Bidkar to seize the slain king and cast his body into Naboth’s field. He issues this order immediately after fulfilling the prophetic judgment against Ahab’s house.
The words — The Hebrew phrase אִם־לֹא (im-lo) literally means “if not” and functions here as an emphatic oath marker. It introduces the divine guarantee that the blood of Naboth and his sons will be repaid on the exact ground where they were killed.
The thread — The judgment directly fulfills the prophecy recorded in 1 Kings 21:19 against Ahab for murdering Naboth and seizing his land. The principle of measured retribution aligns with the warning in Exodus 20:5 and Deuteronomy 5:9 regarding God visiting the iniquity of those who oppose Him.
Why it lands — The text establishes that God’s judgments are specific, geographically precise, and historically executed. It requires the reader to acknowledge that divine justice follows declared words rather than human discretion or political circumstance.
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
Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the Lord; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the Lord. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the Lord.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 21:19 Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”
- Exodus 20:5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
- Deuteronomy 5:9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
- Deuteronomy 24:16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.
- 2 Chronicles 24:25 And when the Arameans had withdrawn, they left Joash severely wounded. His own servants conspired against him for shedding the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him on his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
- 2 Chronicles 25:4 Yet he did not put their sons to death, but acted according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not be put to death for their children, and children must not be put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.”
- Ezekiel 18:19 Yet you may ask, ‘Why shouldn’t the son bear the iniquity of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right, carefully observing all My statutes, he will surely live.