2 Kings 10:30

2Ki 10:30 And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing [that which is] right in mine eyes, [and] hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that [was] in mine heart, thy children of the fourth [generation] shall sit on the throne of Israel.

Ver. 30. And the Lord said unto Jehu,] sc., By some prophet, but by whom, it skilleth not.

Because thou hast done well.] Well in its kind, for the matter not amiss; but for the motive, manner, and end, no whit well. To speak properly, Bonum non fit nisi ex integra causa, malum ex quolibet defectu.

The children of the fourth generation.] This was a favour not vouchsafed to any other king of Israel, since the division of the kingdom. God will not be indebted to any man; nor shall those that do or suffer aught for him, complain of a hard bargain.

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 10:30. The Lord said unto Jehu — By some prophet. Because thou hast done well, &c. — That is, in part. The extirpating of idolaters and idolatry was a thing so far right in God’s eyes, idolatry being an iniquity which he visits as surely and severely as any other, and which is a source of a variety of other abominations. Thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne — Which they did, namely, Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam, and Zachariah. This was more than took place in any of the other royal families of that kingdom. Of the house of Ahab, indeed, there were four kings, but the last two, namely, Ahaziah and Joram, were brothers, so that its reign reached only to the third generation, and that whole family continued but about forty-five years in all: whereas Jehu’s house continued in power for four generations after himself, and in all about a hundred and twenty years: for no services done for God shall go unrewarded.

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

10:30 God fulfilled his promise of a royal line to the fourth generation; four generations of Jehu’s descendants reigned as kings of Israel (Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, and Zechariah).

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

Thus God approveth and rewardeth his zeal, in executing God’s judgment, albeit his wickedness was afterward punished.

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

Verse 30. Thy children of the fourth generation] These four descendants of Jehu were Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam the second, and Zechariah; see 2 Kings 14 and 15. This was all the compensation Jehu had in either world, as a recompense of his zeal for the Lord.

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

(30) And the Lord said.—Perhaps through Elisha.

And hast done.—So the Syriac and Arabic versions. The Hebrew wants the and.

Thy children of the fourth generation.—The fulfilment of this oracle is noticed in 2Ki_15:12. (Comp. the words of the commandment, “visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation;” Exo_20:5.)

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

30. Because thou hast done well] i.e. To a certain extent. When David strives to do God’s will perfectly with a true heart, the promise is that ‘he shall not be without a lamp before God for ever’. The partial obedience of Jehu obtains the gift of a succession for four generations.

thy children [R.V. sons] of the fourth generation] For the fulfilment see chap. 2Ki_15:12. The son of Jehu was Jehoahaz who was succeeded by his son Joash, and he by Jeroboam II, with whose son Zechariah the fourth generation and the sovereignty of Jehu’s family terminated.

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.

In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short,.... To bring their dominions into a narrower compass; this was done in the days of Jehu, though he was so active and courageous, wherefore the hand of God was the more seen in it:

and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel; which bordered on his country, when he did what Elisha foretold he would, Kg2 8:12.

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

And the Lord said unto Jehu - Probably by the mouth of Elisha. To a certain extent Jehu’s measures were acts of obedience, for which God might see fit to assign him a temporal reward.

Thy children ... - This was accomplished in the persons of Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam, and Zachariah, the son, grandson, great-grandson, and great-great-grandson of Jehu (compare the marginal references). No other family sat upon the throne of Israel so long. The house of Omri, which furnished four kings, held the crown for three generations only and for less than 50 years - that of Jehu reigned for five generations and for more than 100 years.

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

Generation. So Joachaz, Joas, Jeroboam II, and Zacharias, succeeded to the throne. This small temporal reward he obtained for the little good which he had done; while, on the other hand, he was punished for his manifold transgressions. Osee (i. 4,) reproaches him even for the blood which he had spilt in Jezrahel; for, though Achab and Joram were guilty, was Jehu innocent? Can this murder of Ochozias be justified? (Calmet) --- "What advantage was it to him that he received some little transitory reward of a temporal kingdom, for his obedience in exterminating the house of Achab; which he indeed exhibited to gratify his own lust of dominion?" (St Augustine, contra mend. ii. c. 2.) This holy doctor observes, that moral good works are thus rewarded. (Worthington)

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 Lord said unto Jehu; by some prophet, as above, 2Ki 9:7.

Executing that which is right in mine eyes, i.e. in part, and so far as is here expressed, these actions were good and right, though his heart was not so.

Thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel; and so they did; namely, Jehoahaz, below, 2Ki 10:35; Joash, 2Ki 13:10 Jeroboam, 2Ki 14:24; and Zachariah, 2Ki 5:8.

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

30. The Lord said unto Jehu — Probably by one of the prophets of the time.

Children of the fourth generation — Jehu’s son Jehoahaz reigned seventeen years; Jehoash, sixteen; Jeroboam, forty-one; and Zachariah, six months. Zachariah, of the fourth generation, was slain by Shallum, and thus was this word of the Lord fulfilled; (compare 2Ki_15:12;) and thus, too, according to the prophecy of Hosea, (Hos_1:4,) did the Lord “avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu.” For when the minister of Divine judgment himself turned to idolatry, the very blood of his guilty victims might well call for vengeance on him for doing the same things for which be had executed the Divine judgment on them. Rom_2:1.

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

And the Lord said unto John scarcely by direct revelation, rather by the mouth of a prophet, most probably of Elisha, as Thenius supposesBecause thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes. In making himself the executor of God"s will with respect to the house of Ahab, and utterly destroying it, as he had been commanded, (2Ki_9:7) Jehu had "done well;" he had also done well in putting down the worship of Baal, and slaying the idolaters, for the destruction of idolaters was distinctly commanded in the Law (Exo_22:20 Exo_32:27; Num_25:5) These acts of his are praised; but nothing is said of his motives in doing them. They were probably to a great extent selfish. And hath done unto the house of Ahab all that was in mine heart, (see 2Ki_9:26-37 2Ki_10:1-7, 2Ki_10:11, 2Ki_10:14) thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. External obedience was suitably rewarded by an external, earthly honor the honor of having his dynasty settled upon the throne during five generations, and for a period of above a hundred years. No other Israelite dynasty held the throne longer than three generations, or for so much as fifty years. The "children" or descendants of Jehu who sat upon the throne after him were Jehoahaz, his son, Jehoash or Joash, his grandson, Jeroboam II, his great-grandson, and Zachariah, son of Jeroboam II, his great-great-grandson

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

Done well - In part, and so far as is here expressed.

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

Jehu is promised the possession of the throne to the fourth generation of his sons for having exterminated the godless royal house of Ahab (vid., Kg2 15:12). The divine sentence, "because thou hast acted well to do right in mine eyes. (because thou) hast done as it was in my heart to the house of Ahab," refers to the deed as such, and not to the subjective motives by which Jehu had been actuated. For it is obvious that it had not sprung from pure zeal for the honour of the Lord, from the limitation added in Kg2 10:31 : "but Jehu did not take heed to walk in the law of Jehovah with all his heart, and did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam."

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.)

Adonoy said to Yeihu. Through Yonah.

Four generations of your sons. Four generations [as reward] for your having destroyed the house of Achov, which reigned for four generations: Omri, Achov, Achazyoh, and Yehorom.

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.