Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 10
At last, Jehu entered Samaria, his capital city, as its king. He had already gained the support of its elders, the leaders of the city. On his instructions, they had killed the 70 princes of Ahab’s family who were in the city (10:1-7).
With him, Jehu brought Jehonadab who had become his friend, his supporter and probably his chief adviser. Jehu had told Jehonadab that he (Jehonadab) would see Jehu’s zeal for the Lord – in other words, Jehu’s eager attitudes for the true God (10:16).
Jehu meant that he was eager to carry out God’s judgment against the whole family of Ahab. That judgment was in the prophecy (message from God) that Elijah gave in 1 Kings 21:21-24.
In Samaria, Jehu carefully searched for everyone who belonged to Ahab’s family. He killed them all. In this strict judgment, he did not care about anyone’s power, importance, age, wealth – or even their good or evil deeds. They all had to die. Actually, it seems that most of them were very evil. 2 Chronicles 22:9 tells us that he found Ahaziah, the king of Judah there, too. Of course, Jehu killed him.
Jehu was clearly very eager. We ask, however, whether he was truly eager for God. The Bible’s answer seems to be that he was not. He did not obey God’s law; he followed the wrong religion that Jeroboam established (10:31). Jehu had a strong ambition to gain absolute power for himself. However, he carried out God’s judgment against Ahab’s family and he opposed fiercely the religion of Baal.
Next part: Jehu lies that he will serve Baal (2 Kings 10:18)
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© 2025, Keith Simons.