2 Kings 10:6
New International Version
Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side and will obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Now the royal princes, seventy of them, were with the leading men of the city, who were rearing them.

New Living Translation
Jehu responded with a second letter: “If you are on my side and are going to obey me, bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Now the seventy sons of the king were being cared for by the leaders of Samaria, where they had been raised since childhood.

English Standard Version
Then he wrote to them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side, and if you are ready to obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at this time.” Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were bringing them up.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Jehu wrote them a second letter and said: “If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, then bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Now the sons of the king, seventy in all, were being brought up by the leading men of the city.

King James Bible
Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up.

New King James Version
Then he wrote a second letter to them, saying: If you are for me and will obey my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow. Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them.

New American Standard Bible
Then he wrote them a letter a second time, saying, “If you are on my side, and will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel about this time tomorrow.” Now the king’s sons, seventy men, were with the great people of the city, who were raising them.

NASB 1995
Then he wrote a letter to them a second time saying, “If you are on my side, and you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time.” Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them.

NASB 1977
Then he wrote a letter to them a second time saying, “If you are on my side, and you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time.” Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then he wrote a letter to them a second time saying, “If you are on my side, and you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me about this time tomorrow at Jezreel.” Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them.

Amplified Bible
Then Jehu wrote a second letter to them, saying, “If you are with me and will obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow about this time.” Now the [dead] king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them.

Christian Standard Bible
Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying: If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, bring me the heads of your master’s sons at this time tomorrow at Jezreel. All seventy of the king’s sons were being cared for by the city’s prominent men.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying: If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, bring me the heads of your master’s sons at this time tomorrow at Jezreel. All 70 of the king’s sons were being cared for by the city’s prominent men.

American Standard Version
Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be on my side, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to-morrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he wrote them a letter a second time and said: “If you are mine and you are listening to my voice, take the heads of the sons of your Master and bring them to me tomorrow at this time to Yizreil.” And the sons of the King were seventy men, and the Princes of the city had been raising them.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Ju wrote them a second letter, saying, If ye are for me, and hearken to my voice, take the heads of the men your master's sons, and bring them to me at this time to-morrow in Jezrael. Now the sons of the king were seventy men; these great men of the city brought them up.

Contemporary English Version
Jehu then wrote another letter which said, "If you are on my side and will obey me, then prove it. Bring me the heads of the descendants of Ahab! And be here in Jezreel by this time tomorrow." The 70 descendants of King Ahab were living with some of the most important people of the city.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he wrote letters the second time to them, saying: If you be mine, and will obey me, take the heads of the sons of your master, and come to me to Jezrahel by to morrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy men, were brought up with the chief men of the city.

English Revised Version
Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be on my side, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
So he wrote them a second letter. It read, "If you are on my side and ready to listen to me, bring the heads of your master's heirs to me in Jezreel about this time tomorrow." The 70 male heirs were staying with the city's most powerful men. These men had raised them.

Good News Translation
Jehu wrote them another letter: "If you are with me and are ready to follow my orders, bring the heads of King Ahab's descendants to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow." The seventy descendants of King Ahab were under the care of the leading citizens of Samaria, who were bringing them up.

International Standard Version
But Jehu wrote them another letter: "If you're loyal to me, and if you intend to obey my commands, then bring the heads of your master's sons and meet me in Jezreel about this time tomorrow." Now the king's sons, totaling 70 men, were living with the leading men of the city, who were their guardians.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying: 'If ye be on my side, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to-morrow this time.' Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.

Literal Standard Version
And he writes a letter to them a second time, saying, “If you [are] for me, and are listening to my voice, take the heads of the men—the sons of your lord, and come to me about this time tomorrow, to Jezreel”; and the sons of the king [are] seventy men, with the great ones of the city—those bringing them up.

Majority Standard Bible
Then Jehu wrote them a second letter and said: “If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, then bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Now the sons of the king, seventy in all, were being brought up by the leading men of the city.

New American Bible
So Jehu wrote them a second letter: “If you are on my side and will obey me, bring along the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel at this time tomorrow.” (The seventy princes were in the care of prominent men of the city, who were rearing them.)

NET Bible
He wrote them a second letter, saying, "If you are really on my side and are willing to obey me, then take the heads of your master's sons and come to me in Jezreel at this time tomorrow." Now the king had seventy sons, and the prominent men of the city were raising them.

New Revised Standard Version
Then he wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side, and if you are ready to obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at this time.” Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the leaders of the city, who were charged with their upbringing.

New Heart English Bible
Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, "If you are on my side, and if you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time." Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, if ye are mine, and if ye will hearken to my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to-morrow this time. Now the king's sons being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.

World English Bible
Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, “If you are on my side, and if you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men who are your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time.” Now the king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.

Young's Literal Translation
And he writeth unto them a letter a second time, saying, 'If ye are for me, and to my voice are hearkening, take the heads of the men -- the sons of your lord, and come unto me about this time to-morrow, to Jezreel;' and the sons of the king are seventy men, with the great ones of the city those bringing them up.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jehu Slaughters Ahab's Family
5So 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.” 6Then Jehu wrote them a second letter and said: “If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, then bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.” Now the sons of the king, seventy in all, were being brought up by the leading men of the city. 7And 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.…

Cross References
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."

2 Kings 10:7
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.

2 Kings 10:9
The next morning, Jehu went out and stood before all the people and said, "You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these?


Treasury of Scripture

Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If you be mine, and if you will listen to my voice, take you the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up.

If ye be mine [heb] if ye be for me

2 Kings 9:32
And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.

Matthew 12:30
He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

Luke 9:50
And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.

take ye

Numbers 25:4
And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel.

1 Kings 21:8-11
So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth…

your master's sons

Deuteronomy 5:9
Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,

Joshua 7:24,25
And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor…

Job 21:19
God layeth up his iniquity for his children: he rewardeth him, and he shall know it.

which brought them up.

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2 Kings 10
1. Jehu, by his letters, causes seventy of Ahab's sons to be beheaded
8. He excuses the fact by the prophecy of Elijah
12. At the shearing house he slays forty-two of Ahaziah's brothers
15. He takes Jehonadab into his company
18. By subtilty he destroys all the worshippers of Baal
29. Jehu follows Jeroboam's sins
32. Hazael oppresses Israel
34. Jehoahaz succeeds Jehu














(6) The second time.--Some MSS., the LXX., and the Arabic read "a second letter."

Take ye the heads.--Jehu knew his men. The cool cynicism of his savage order is worthy of a Sulla or a Marius.

The heads of the men your master's sons.--Literally, the heads of the men of the sons of your master Some MSS., the Syriac, Arabic, and Vulg., as well as the MSS. mentioned by Origen, omit the word men. Thenius thinks that this word is used to indicate that only male descendants of Ahab were to be put to death (?). The Alexandrian LXX. omits sons; and four Hebrew MSS. read instead house. The Authorised Version, however, is a permissible interpretation of the Hebrew.

Come.--LXX., bring (them) which is a natural conjecture.

To Jezreel.--A journey of more than twenty miles.

By to morrow this time.--Jehu is urgent for despatch, because time is all-important. He wishes to convince the people of Jezreel as soon as possible that none of the royal princes were left to claim the crown, and that the nobles of Samaria have joined his cause.

Now the king's sons . . . brought them up.--This is a correct translation. According to the Masoretic punctuation, and supposing that the particle 'eth (rendered "with") might here be used merely to introduce the subject, we might render: "Now the king's sons were seventy persons; the great men of the city were bringing them up." But such a usage of 'eth is very doubtful. (Comp. 2Kings 6:5.) The sentence, in any case, is only a parenthetic reminder of what was stated in 2Kings 10:1. The total seventy is, perhaps, not to be taken as exact, seventy being a favourite round number. (See Note on 1Chronicles 1:42.) . . .

Verse 6 - Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying; rather, a second time. The reply of the Samaritan authorities gave Jehu an opportunity, of which he was not slow to take advantage. They might have been contented with their negative response, "We will not make any man king;" but they had gone beyond it - they had departed from the line of neutrality, and had placed themselves unreservedly on Jehu's side. "We are thy servants," they had said, "and will do all that thou shalt bid us." It is always rash to promise absolute obedience to a human being. To volunteer such a promise, when it is not even asked, is the height of folly. If ye be mine - as they had said they were, when they called themselves his "slaves" - and if ye will hearken unto my voice - i.e., obey me, do as I require - take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel. The Samaritan authorities were ordered to bring the heads with them, that they might be seen and counted. In the East generally, the heads of rebels and pretenders, by whatever death they may have died, are cut off, brought to the sovereign, and then exposed in some public place, in order that the public at large may be certified that the men are really dead (comp. 1 Samuel 31:9). By tomorrow this time. As Jezreel was not more than about twenty miles from Samaria, the order could be executed by that time. It necessitated, however, very prompt measures, and gave the authorities but little time for consideration. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up (comp. ver. 1).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Then Jehu wrote
וַיִּכְתֹּ֣ב (way·yiḵ·tōḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3789: To grave, to write

them
אֲלֵיהֶם֩ (’ă·lê·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

a second
שֵׁנִ֜ית (šê·nîṯ)
Number - ordinal feminine singular
Strong's 8145: Second (an ordinal number)

letter
סֵ֨פֶר ׀ (sê·p̄er)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 5612: A missive, document, writing, book

and said:
לֵאמֹ֗ר (lê·mōr)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“If
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

you are on my side,
אַתֶּ֜ם (’at·tem)
Pronoun - second person masculine plural
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

and if you
אַתֶּ֣ם (’at·tem)
Pronoun - second person masculine plural
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

will obey me,
שֹׁמְעִ֗ים (šō·mə·‘îm)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 8085: To hear intelligently

then bring
קְחוּ֙ (qə·ḥū)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine plural
Strong's 3947: To take

the heads
רָאשֵׁי֙ (rā·šê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 7218: The head

of your master’s
אֲדֹנֵיכֶ֔ם (’ă·ḏō·nê·ḵem)
Noun - masculine plural construct | second person masculine plural
Strong's 113: Sovereign, controller

sons
בְנֵֽי־ (ḇə·nê-)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

to me
אֶת־ (’eṯ-)
Direct object marker
Strong's 853: Untranslatable mark of the accusative case

at Jezreel
יִזְרְעֶ֑אלָה (yiz·rə·‘e·lāh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular | third person feminine singular
Strong's 3157: Jezreel -- 'God sows', two Israelites, also two cities in Israel, also a valley in Northern Israel

by this time
כָּעֵ֥ת (kā·‘êṯ)
Preposition-k, Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 6256: Time, now, when

tomorrow.”
מָחָ֖ר (mā·ḥār)
Adverb
Strong's 4279: Deferred, the morrow, tomorrow, hereafter

Now the king’s
הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙ (ham·me·leḵ)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4428: A king

sons,
וּבְנֵ֤י (ū·ḇə·nê)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1121: A son

seventy
שִׁבְעִ֣ים (šiḇ·‘îm)
Number - common plural
Strong's 7657: Seventy (a cardinal number)

in all,
אִ֔ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

were being brought up
מְגַדְּלִ֥ים (mə·ḡad·də·lîm)
Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 1431: To grow up, become great

by the leading men
גְּדֹלֵ֥י (gə·ḏō·lê)
Adjective - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1419: Great, older, insolent

of the city.
הָעִ֖יר (hā·‘îr)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 5892: Excitement


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OT History: 2 Kings 10:6 Then he wrote a letter the second (2Ki iiKi ii ki 2 kg 2kg)
2 Kings 10:5
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