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Wednesday, July 9th, 2025
the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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The NET Bible®

2 Kings 10:7

When they received the letter, they seized the king's sons and executed all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to him in Jezreel.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Ahab;   Basket;   Children;   Enthusiasm;   Government;   Homicide;   Jehu;   Massacre;   Thompson Chain Reference - Baskets;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Jezreel;   Punishments;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Ahab;   Jehu;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Kill, Killing;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Basket;   Behead;   Jezreel;   Writing;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Basket;   Letter;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Elijah;   Jehu;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Jezreel ;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Jehu;   Writing;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Basket;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Jehu;   Punishments of the Hebrews;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Epistle;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Basket;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Baskets;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
When the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and slaughtered all seventy, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.
Hebrew Names Version
It happened, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and killed them, even seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Yizre`el.
King James Version
And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel.
English Standard Version
And as soon as the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.
New Century Version
When the leaders received the letter, they took the king's sons and killed all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.
Amplified Bible
When the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.
New American Standard Bible
When the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and slaughtered them, seventy men, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezreel.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And when the letter came to them, they tooke the Kings sonnes, and slewe the seuentie persons, and layde their heads in baskets, and sent them vnto him to Izreel.
Legacy Standard Bible
Now it happened that when the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezreel.
Contemporary English Version
And when these people read Jehu's second letter, they called together all seventy of Ahab's descendants. They killed them, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jezreel.
Complete Jewish Bible
When the letter reached them, they seized the king's sons and killed them, all seventy of them, put their heads in baskets and sent them to Yehu in Yizre‘el.
Darby Translation
And it came to pass when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slaughtered seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jizreel.
Easy-to-Read Version
When the leaders of the city received the letter, they took the king's sons and killed all 70 of them. Then the leaders put the heads of the king's sons in baskets and sent the baskets to Jehu at Jezreel.
George Lamsa Translation
And as soon as the letter reached them, they took the kings sons and slew them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to him in Jezreel.
Good News Translation
When Jehu's letter was received, the leaders of Samaria killed all seventy of Ahab's descendants, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.
Lexham English Bible
When the letter came to them, they took the sons of the king, and they killed seventy men. Then they put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.
Literal Translation
And it happened, when the letter came to them, they took the sons of the king and killed them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent to him in Jezreel.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Now whan this letter came they toke the kynges sonnes, and slewe them euen thre score men and ten, and layed their heades in ba?kettes, and sent them to him vnto Iesrael.
American Standard Version
And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew them, even seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them unto him to Jezreel.
Bible in Basic English
And when the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and put them to death, all the seventy, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And when the letter came to them, they toke the kinges children, and slue them, euen threescore and ten persons, & layed their heades in baskettes, and sent them to him to Iezrahel.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew them, even seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them unto him to Jezreel.
King James Version (1611)
And it came to passe when the letter came to them, that they tooke the kings sonnes, and slewe seuentie persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Iezreel.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and slew them, even seventy men, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezrael.
English Revised Version
And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and slew them, even seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them unto him to Jezreel.
Berean Standard Bible
And when the letter arrived, they took the king's sons and slaughtered all seventy of them, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And whanne the lettris hadden come to hem, thei token the sones of the kyng, and killiden seuenti men, and puttiden the heedis of hem in coffyns; and senten to hym in to Jezrael.
Young's Literal Translation
And it cometh to pass, at the coming in of the letter unto them, that they take the sons of the king, and slaughter seventy men, and put their heads in baskets, and send unto him to Jezreel,
Update Bible Version
And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew them, even seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezreel.
Webster's Bible Translation
And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent [them] to him to Jezreel.
World English Bible
It happened, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and killed them, even seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezreel.
New King James Version
So it was, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons and slaughtered seventy persons, put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.
New Living Translation
When the letter arrived, the leaders killed all seventy of the king's sons. They placed their heads in baskets and presented them to Jehu at Jezreel.
New Life Bible
When the letter came to them, they took the king's seventy sons and killed them. They put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.
New Revised Standard
When the letter reached them, they took the king's sons and killed them, seventy persons; they put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And it came to pass, when the letter reached them, that they took the sons of the king, and slew them, seventy persons, - and put their heads in baskets, and sent unto him to Jezreel.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And when the letters came to them, they took the king’s sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezrahel.
Revised Standard Version
And when the letter came to them, they took the king's sons, and slew them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezreel.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
When the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezreel.

Contextual Overview

1 Ahab had seventy sons living in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the leading officials of Jezreel and to the guardians of Ahab's dynasty. This is what the letters said, 2 "You have with you the sons of your master, chariots and horses, a fortified city, and weapons. So when this letter arrives, 3 pick the best and most capable of your master's sons, place him on his father's throne, and defend your master's dynasty." 4 They were absolutely terrified and said, "Look, two kings could not stop him! How can we?" 5 So the palace supervisor, the city commissioner, the leaders, and the guardians sent this message to Jehu, "We are your subjects! Whatever you say, we will do. We will not make anyone king. Do what you consider proper." 6 He wrote them a second letter, saying, "If you are really on my side and are willing to obey me, then take the heads of your master's sons and come to me in Jezreel at this time tomorrow." Now the king had seventy sons, and the prominent men of the city were raising them. 7 When they received the letter, they seized the king's sons and executed all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to him in Jezreel. 8 The messenger came and told Jehu, "They have brought the heads of the king's sons." Jehu said, "Stack them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning." 9 In the morning he went out and stood there. Then he said to all the people, "You are innocent. I conspired against my master and killed him. But who struck down all of these men? 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."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

slew seventy: 2 Kings 10:9, 2 Kings 11:1, Judges 9:5-57, 1 Kings 21:21, 2 Chronicles 21:4, Matthew 14:8-11

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 4:7 - took his head 2 Samuel 14:30 - And Absalom's 2 Samuel 20:21 - his head 1 Kings 21:11 - did as Jezebel Psalms 81:6 - from the pots Proverbs 29:12 - General Hosea 1:4 - and I Hosea 7:7 - devoured Habakkuk 2:10 - consulted

Cross-References

Genesis 2:11
The name of the first is Pishon; it runs through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.
1 Kings 10:1
When the queen of Sheba heard about Solomon, she came to challenge him with difficult questions.
Psalms 72:10
The kings of Tarshish and the coastlands will offer gifts; the kings of Sheba and Seba will bring tribute.
Isaiah 21:13
Here is a message about Arabia: In the thicket of Arabia you spend the night, you Dedanite caravans.
Ezekiel 27:15
The Dedanites were your clients. Many coastlands were your customers; they paid you with ivory tusks and ebony.
Ezekiel 27:22
The merchants of Sheba and Raamah engaged in trade with you; they traded the best kinds of spices along with precious stones and gold for your products.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And it came to pass, when the letter came to them,.... They did not in the least hesitate, but immediately complied with the contents of it:

that they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons; which was the whole number of them:

and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jezreel; as a present to Jehu, just as they carried the firstfruits, as Abarbinel observes.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Kings 10:7. Put their heads in baskets — What cold-blooded wretches were the whole of these people!


 
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