2 Kings 10:13

2Ki 10:13 Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who [are] ye? And they answered, We [are] the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen.

Ver. 13. And Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah.] That is, his nephews and near kindred: for his brethren were all carried away by the Arabians. {2Ch 21:17}

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.

We are the brethren of Ahaziah--that is, not full, but step-brothers, sons of Jehoram by various concubines. Ignorant of the revolution that had taken place, they were travelling to Samaria on a visit to their royal relatives of Israel, when they were seized and put to death, because of the apprehension that they might probably stimulate and strengthen the party that still remained faithful in their allegiance to Ahab's dynasty.

children of the queen--that is, of the queen mother, or regent, Jezebel.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 13. The brethren of Ahaziah] The relatives of his family; for it does not appear that he had any brethren, properly so called: but we know that the term brethren among the Jews signified the relatives of the same family, and especially brothers' and sisters' children: and that these-were such, see 2Ch 22:8.

We go down to salute, &c.] So promptly had Jehu executed all his measures, that even the nearest relatives of the murdered kings had not heard of their death, and consequently had no time to escape. They were all taken as in a net.

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

(13) Jehu met with.—Literally, And Jehu found.

The brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah—i.e., Ahaziah’s kinsmen. His brothers, in the strict sense of the word, were slain by a troop of Arabs, in the lifetime of his father Jehoram (2Ch_21:17; 2Ch_22:1). (See the Notes on 2Ch_22:8.)

We go down.—Rather, we have come down.

To salute—i.e., to inquire after their health, to visit them.

The children of the king—i.e., the sons of Joram.

The children of the queen.—Literally, the sons of the mistress (gebîrah)—i.e., the sons of the queen-mother, Jezebel, and so Joram’s brothers. Both these and the former are included in the “sons of Ahab” whom Jehu slew.

The news of the taking of Ramoth, and of Joram’s convalescence, may have reached Jerusalem, and induced these princes to make a visit of pleasure to the court of Jezreel, not suspecting the events which had meanwhile happened with the headlong rapidity characteristic of Jehu’s action.

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

13. the brethren of Ahaziah] And so part of Ahab’s kinsfolk, of whom Jehu was commissioned to leave none remaining.

the children of the king] i.e. Of Joram. They manifestly knew nothing of what had happened in the last few days in Jezreel.

the children of the queen] The original is the word employed elsewhere for the ‘queen-mother’. Cf. 1Ki_15:13. So here the word must have reference to Jezebel, whose influence in Israel was very great. The LXX. notes the word by rendering it ἡ δυναστεύουσα.

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.

Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah,.... At the above place; these were the sons of his brethren, called his brethren, as Lot was called Abraham's brother, being his brother's son; for as for his brethren, they had been slain by the Arabians before he was made king, Ch2 22:1,

and said, who are ye? though perhaps he knew who they were:

and they answered, we are the brethren of Ahaziah; the sons of his brethren:

and we go down to salute the children of the king, and the children of the queen; meaning either the children of Ahab and Jezebel, or of Joram and his queen; for they knew nothing of the death of Joram and Jezebel, and the revolution made in the kingdom, and therefore with great simplicity tell who they were, and where they were going, and on what account.

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

The brethren of Ahaziah - Not the actual brothers of Ahaziah, who had all been slain by the Arabs before his accession to the throne 2Ch 21:17; 2Ch 22:1; but his nephews, the sons of his brothers (marginal reference). It is remarkable that they should have penetrated so far into the kingdom of Israel without having heard of the revolution.

The children of the king ... - i. e.” the sons of Jehoram, and the children (sons and grandsons) of the queen-mother, Jezebel.” Some of both may well have been at Jezreel, though the younger branches of the royal family were at Samaria 2Ki 10:1.

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

Brethren. The Arabs had destroyed all his brothers by the same mother; (2 Paralipomenon xxii. 1.) but these were near relations, and they durst not deny the fact. (Menochius) --- In 2 Paralipomenon xxii. 8., they are styled princes of Juda, and sons of the brethren of Ochozias. Jehu must have used surprising diligence (Calmet) and secrecy (Haydock) to prevent the many important transactions and changes which had lately taken place from being known at Jerusalem, or even at Beth-heked, ver. 12., which was so little distant from Samaria. (Calmet) --- Queen. The wife of Joram, or the children of Jezabel, (Menochius) with whom they were connected by affinity and friendship, to their great detriment. (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).

The brethren; not strictly so, for they were killed before this, 2Ch 21:17; but his brethren’s sons, as they are called, 2Ch 22:8, or others of his near kinsmen, such being oft called brethren in Scripture; as Gen 13:8.

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

Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah King of Judah. The actual "brethren" of Ahaziah had been carried off and slain by the Arabians in one of their raids into Palestine, as we learn from 2Ch_21:17 2Ch_22:1; the youths here mentioned were their sons, (2Ch_22:8) and therefore Ahaziah"s nephews. And said, Who are ye? Travelers in a foreign country were always liable to be questioned, and were expected to give an account of themselves. (see Gen_42:7-13; Story of Saneha, line 38; Herod, 2:159, etc.) The princes were thus not surprised at the inquiry, and readily answered it. And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king. There is something abnormal and needing explanation in this visit. Forty-two princes, with their retinues, do not, under ordinary circumstances, start off on a sudden from one capital, on a complimentary visit to their cousins at another. Perhaps Ewald is right in surmising that, "at the first report of disturbances in the kingdom of the ten tribes, they had been sent off by Athaliah to render any assistance that they could to the house of Ahab in its troubles" ("History of Israel," vol. 4. p. 100, Eng. trans.). In this case their answer must be regarded as insincere. Falling in with an armed force stronger than their own, they pretended ignorance of the revolution that had taken place, and sought to pass off their hostile purpose under the pretence of a visit of compliment. But the pretence did not deceive Jehu. And the children of the queen. The queen-mother, Jezebel, is probably intended. Her rank entitled her to special mention.

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

And the queen’s sons. Ezevel.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.