2 Kings 9:24-25

9:24 Jehu aimed his bow and shot an arrow right between Jehoram’s shoulders. ¹  The arrow went through ²  his heart and he fell to his knees in his chariot. 9:25 Jehu ordered ³  his officer Bidkar, “Pick him up and throw him into the part of the field that once belonged to Naboth of Jezreel. Remember, you and I were riding together behind his father Ahab, when the Lord pronounced this judgment on him,

2 Kings 10:7-8

10:7 When they received the letter, they seized the king’s sons and executed all seventy of them. ⁴  They put their heads in baskets and sent them to him in Jezreel. 10:8 The messenger came and told Jehu, ⁵  “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” Jehu ⁶  said, “Stack them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.”

2 Kings 10:10-11

10:10 Therefore take note that not one of the judgments the Lord announced against Ahab’s dynasty has failed to materialize. The Lord had done what he announced through his servant Elijah.” ⁷  10:11 Then Jehu killed all who were left of Ahab’s family in Jezreel, and all his nobles, close friends, and priests. He left no survivors.

2 Kings 10:17

10:17 He went to Samaria and exterminated all the members of Ahab’s family who were still alive in Samaria, ⁸  just as the Lord had announced to Elijah. ⁹ 

2 Kings 10:29-31

A Summary of Jehu’s Reign

10:29 However, Jehu did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam son of Nebat had encouraged Israel to commit; the golden calves remained in Bethel ¹⁰  and Dan. ¹¹  10:30 The Lord said to Jehu, “You have done well. You have accomplished my will and carried out my wishes with regard to Ahab’s dynasty. Therefore four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel.” ¹²  10:31 But Jehu did not carefully and wholeheartedly obey the law of the Lord God of Israel. ¹³  He did not repudiate the sins which Jeroboam had encouraged Israel to commit. ¹⁴ 

2 Kings 15:10-12

15:10 Shallum son of Jabesh conspired against him; he assassinated him in Ibleam ¹⁵  and took his place as king. 15:11 The rest of the events of Zechariah’s reign are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. ¹⁶  15:12 His assassination brought to fulfillment the Lord’s word to Jehu, ¹⁷  “Four generations of your descendants will rule over Israel.” ¹⁸  That is exactly what happened. ¹⁹ 

¹ tn Heb “and Jehu filled his hand with the bow and he struck Jehoram between his shoulders.”

² tn Heb “went out from.”

³ tn Heb “said to.”

⁴ tn Heb “and when the letter came to them, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered seventy men.”

⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “Know then that there has not fallen from the word of the Lord to the ground that which the Lord spoke against the house of Ahab. The Lord has done that which he spoke by the hand of his servant Elijah.”

⁸ tn Heb “and he struck down all the remaining ones to Ahab in Samaria until he destroyed him.”

⁹ tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he spoke to Elijah.”

¹⁰ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

¹¹ tn Heb “Except the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat which he caused Israel to commit, Jehu did not turn aside from after them – the golden calves which [were in] Bethel and which [were] in Dan.”

¹² tn Heb “Because you have done well by doing what is proper in my eyes – according to all which was in my heart you have done to the house of Ahab – sons of four generations will sit for you on the throne of Israel.” In the Hebrew text the Lord’s statement is one long sentence (with a parenthesis). The translation above divides it into shorter sentences for stylistic reasons.

¹³ tn Heb “But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “He did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam which he caused Israel to commit.”

¹⁵ tc The MT reads, “and he struck him down before the people and killed him” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT). However, the reading קָבָל עָם (qaval ’am), “before the people,” is problematic to some because קָבָל is a relatively late Aramaic term. Nevertheless, the Aramaic term qobel certainly antedates the writing of Kings. The bigger problem seems to be the unnecessary intrusion of an Aramaic word at all here. Most interpreters prefer to follow Lucian’s Greek version and read “in Ibleam” (בְיִבְלְעָם, bÿivle’am). Cf. NAB, TEV.

¹⁶ tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam, look, they are written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “It was the word of the Lord which he spoke to Jehu, saying.”

¹⁸ tn “sons of four generations will sit for you on the throne of Israel.”

¹⁹ tn Heb “and it was so.”