2 Kings 9:17

9:17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and saw Jehu’s troops approaching. ¹  He said, “I see troops!” ²  Jehoram ordered, ³  “Send a rider out to meet them and have him ask, ‘Is everything all right?’” ⁴ 

2 Kings 10:6

10:6 He wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are really on my side and are willing to obey me, ⁵  then take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel at this time tomorrow.” ⁶  Now the king had seventy sons, and the prominent ⁷  men of the city were raising them.

[9:17]  ¹ tn Heb “the quantity [of the men] of Jehu, when he approached.” Elsewhere שִׁפְעַה (shif’ah), “quantity,” is used of a quantity of camels (Isa 60:6) or horses (Ezek 26:10) and of an abundance of water (Job 22:11; 38:34).

[9:17]  ² tn The term שִׁפְעַת (shifat) appears to be a construct form of the noun, but no genitive follows.

[9:17]  ³ tn Heb “said.”

[9:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “Get a rider and send [him] to meet him and let him ask, ‘Is there peace?’”

[10:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “If you are mine and you are listening to my voice.”

[10:6]  ⁶ sn Jehu’s command is intentionally vague. Does he mean that they should bring the guardians (those who are “heads” over Ahab’s sons) for a meeting, or does he mean that they should bring the literal heads of Ahab’s sons with them? (So LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and some mss of the Targum) The city leaders interpret his words in the literal sense, but Jehu’s command is so ambiguous he is able to deny complicity in the executions (see v. 9).

[10:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “great,” probably in wealth, position, and prestige.