select the best and most worthy son of your master, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Select the best and fittest of your master’s sons, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.”
- KJV Look even out the best and meetest of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.
- NKJV choose the best qualified of your master’s sons, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.
- NASB select the best and most capable of your master’s sons and seat him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.”
- NLT select the best qualified of your master’s sons to be your king, and prepare to fight for Ahab’s dynasty.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
He told them to pick the best of Ahab's sons, enthrone him, and fight for the royal house. The dare exposed the hopelessness of their cause.
Overview
Jehu's taunt, urging them to defend Ahab's dynasty, is calculated to provoke a realistic assessment of their odds. By challenging them to fight, he forces them to weigh resistance against submission. The verse highlights how God's purpose advances as human opposition is overcome by fear and the evident futility of standing against His decree.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Deut 17:14–15When you enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”
- 1 Sam 10:24Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
- 1 Kgs 12:20–21When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah followed the house of David.
- 1 Sam 11:15So all the people went to Gilgal and confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the LORD. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the LORD, and Saul and all the Israelites rejoiced greatly.
- John 18:36Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is not of this realm.”
- 2 Sam 2:12–17One day Abner son of Ner and the servants of Ish-bosheth son of Saul marched out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
- 1 Kgs 1:24–25“My lord the king,” said Nathan, “did you say, ‘Adonijah will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne’?
- 2 Sam 2:8–9Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth, moved him to Mahanaim,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 10:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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