2 Kings 10:11

2Ki 10:11 So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

Ver. 11. So Jehu slew all.] Neither was this cruelty, but zeal and justice; because according to God’s will, which is the rule of righteousness. There cannot be a better or more noble act, than to do justice upon obstinate malefactors. {a} It was therefore without good reason that the Roman laws forbade the common executioner, as accursed, to dwell within the city, or to draw breath therein. Doth not God truss up notoriously wicked men sometimes with his own bare hand? and are not his angels executioners of his judgments, as on the Sodomites, Sennacherib, &c.?

And his priests.] His household chaplains: and had not Baal’s priests now some cause to be afraid of Jehu?

Until he left none remaining.] This had been well done, but that he had ill aims; and so there was malum opus in bona materia. Works materially good, may never prove so formally and eventually.

{a} Cic., pro Rabir.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 10:11. So Jehu slew all his great men — Whom Ahab had advanced and made great in wealth, or honour and quality; who had been partners with him in his sins, and were likely to avenge Joram’s death. And his priests — Who had served him in his idolatrous worship, and confirmed him in it. Or, his chief officers of state, as the word rendered priests sometimes signifies, and is translated: see 2Sa 8:18; 1Ch 18:17. Until he left him none remaining — To wit, in that place: but there were still some remaining in Samaria, (2Ki 10:17,) whom he afterward destroyed, and some of the royal seed of Judah, descended from Ahab’s daughter.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

10:11 Jehu also killed all of Ahab’s surviving relatives and associates without a single survivor, exceeding his divine commission and pursuing a selfish quest for power at any cost. The Lord condemned his excesses through the prophet Hosea (Hos 1:4).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Meaning, which were the idolatrous priests.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 11. Jehu slew all] So it appears that the great men who had so obsequiously taken off the heads of Ahab's seventy sons, fell also a sacrifice to the ambition of this incomparably bad man.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(11) So.—Rather, And. The verse relates further massacres.

In Jezreel.—The seat of the court.

His great men—i.e., high officials of his court; persons who owed their exaltation to him.

Kinsfolks.—Rather, his friends (literally, his known ones; “familiares ejus”).

Priests.—See Notes on 2Sa_8:18; 1Ki_4:5; 1Ch_18:17.

None remaining.—No survivor.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. and his kinsfolks] R.V. familiar friends. The word indicates those who were well known to him, [LXX. γνωστοὺς] and contains no notion of kinship. It is rendered, by A.V. ‘familiar friends’ in Job_19:14, and ‘acquaintance’ in Psa_31:11 and in several other places. The final s in kinsfolks makes the form unusual in English.

and his priests] On this word, which is most frequently rendered ‘priests’, see note on 1Ki_4:2, where it is pointed out that ‘chief ruler’ or ‘principal officer’ appears sometimes to be its meaning. That sense appears more appropriate here, where the family and the acquaintances of Ahab’s family are spoken of. The priests of Ahab, who would be the Baal-priests, would be included in the wholesale destruction of the Baal-worship described later on in this chapter.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel,.... Which to do, and to justify himself in so doing, was the design of what he said in the preceding verses:

and his great men; his ministers of state and counsellors, that advised him to, and abetted him in his idolatrous practices, and so justly suffered for the same; and perhaps some of them at least were those very men that cut off the heads of his sons in complaisance to Jehu:

and his kinsfolks: more distantly related to him or his acquaintance and familiars, his associates in sin and wickedness:

and his priests: who officiated for him and offered his sacrifices to Baal; the priests he kept in his palace, and ate at his table:

until he left him none remaining; either of his kindred or his priests, that is, that were at Jezreel; for there were others at Samaria, Kg2 10:17.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

So Jehu slew - Rather, “And Jehu slew.” The reference is to fresh executions (compare 2Ki 10:17). He proceeded on his bloody course, not merely destroying the remainder of the kindred of Ahab, but further putting to death all the most powerful of Ahab’s partisans.

His priests - Not the Baal priests generally, whose persecution came afterward 2Ki 10:19, but only such of them as were attached to the court.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Chief men, probably including those perfidious wretches, who had so basely betrayed their trust, and slain the 70 sons of Achab, "the nobles of the kingdom, his kinsmen, and friends." (Chaldean; Arabic) --- Friends. Some copies of the Septuagint have connoisseurs, of magicians, Leviticus xix. 31. --- Priests, princes of the court (2 Kings viii. 18.) and those who offered sacrifice to idols, (Calmet) being of Achab’s descendants. (Menochius) --- He afterwards inveigled all the priests of Baal, to their entire ruin, ver. 19. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

All his great men; whom he had advanced and made great in wealth, for honour, and quality; who had been partners with him in his sins, and who were likely to be avenged of his death.

His priests; his domestic priests, which had waited upon Ahab and Jezebel in their idolatrous services, and were fed at the king’s table. Compare 1Ki 18:19. Or, his chief officers of state, as that word is sometimes used; of which see 2Sa 8:18, compared with 1Ch 18:17.

Object. These were included in

his great men mentioned before.

Answ. Yet may they well be mentioned apart, as a distinct and the most eminent sort of them.

He left him none remaining, to wit, in that place and kingdom; for he did leave some of the royal seed of Judah, 2Ki 1:1,2.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Slew all that remained — There was yet remaining in Jezreel not a few of the court favourites and friends of the royal family, and these Jehu proceeded at once to slay, and probably in presence of all the people. None dared oppose or resist him, for the people felt, as he had shown, that this was a fulfilling of prophecy.

Great men — State officers who were then in Jezreel.

Kinsfolks — Distant relatives, or intimate acquaintances, who had been accustomed to receive court favours.

Priests — His private court priests, who were devoted to the calf-worship which Jeroboam had established, and Ahab had continued to encourage.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks; rather, and Jehu slew. Encouraged by his past success, having killed Jehoram, Ahaziah, and Jezebel, having secured the adhesion of the chief men in Samaria, and effected the destruction of all those who might naturally have claimed the succession and involved him in civil war, Jehu proceeded to greater lengths. He "slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel the princesses probably, as well as the princes and further put to death all the leading partisans of the dethroned dynasty, the "great men," perhaps even those who had worked his bloody will at Samaria, and the intimate friends and supporters of the house the yum, as they are here called not relatives, but "intimate acquaintances." And his priests. This expression causes a difficulty, since the destruction of the Baal-priests is related subsequently (vers. 19-25). It has been suggested to understand by not" priests," but "high state officers" (Bahr) a meaning which the word is thought to have in 2Sa_8:18 and 1Ki_4:5. But this signification of heKo is scarcely an ascertained one. Perhaps the same persons are intended as in ver. 19, the present notice of their death being a mere summary, and the narrative of vers. 19-25 a full statement of the circumstances. Until he left him none remaining; i.e. until the entire Ahabite faction was blotted out.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Left none - In that place and kingdom; for he did leave some of the royal seed of Judah.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The effect of these words was, that the people looked quietly on when he proceeded to slay all the rest of the house of Ahab, i.e., all the more distant relatives in Jezreel, and "all his great men," i.e., the superior officers of the fallen dynasty, and "all his acquaintances," i.e., friends and adherents, and "all his priests," probably court priest, such as the heathen kings had; not secular counsellors or nearest servants (Thenius), a meaning which כּהנים never has, not even in Sa2 8:18 and Kg1 4:5.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)