And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel.
Parallel translations
- WEB When the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and killed them, even seventy people, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezreel.
- BSB And when the letter arrived, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.
- NKJV So it was, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons and slaughtered seventy persons, put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.
- NASB When the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and slaughtered them, seventy men, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezreel.
- NLT When the letter arrived, the leaders killed all seventy of the king’s sons. They placed their heads in baskets and presented them to Jehu at Jezreel.
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
The leaders killed all seventy of Ahab's sons and sent their heads in baskets to Jehu at Jezreel. The royal line of Ahab was wiped out.
Overview
The gruesome obedience of Samaria's rulers completes the cutting off of Ahab's male descendants. The horror of the scene reflects the violence of the age, even as it fulfills God's word of total judgment on the dynasty. Scripture records such events soberly, neither glorifying the bloodshed nor denying that God used it to accomplish His decree.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 1 Kgs 21:21Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel,
- 2 Kgs 11:1And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.
- Judg 9:5–57And he went unto his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.
- 2 Chr 21:4Now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself, and slew all his brethren with the sword, and divers also of the princes of Israel.
- Matt 14:8–11And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger.
- 2 Kgs 10:9And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?
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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 10:7 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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