2 Kings 10:9

9 And when it was clear day, he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be just men; if I conspired against my lord, and killed him, who killed all these?

2 Kings 10:9 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 10:9

And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and
stood, and said to all the people
Who were gathered together to this shocking sight, or on the above accounts:

ye be righteous;
having had no concern in taking off the heads of those men:

behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him;
I own it, and some may blame me for it, and charge me with treason and murder:

but who slew all these?
not he, but the chief men of Samaria, and therefore must be more guilty than he, having shed the blood of so many persons, who had not offended against God and man to so great a degree as Joram; this he said to lessen his own sin, and wipe off the reproach of it, that his character might appear fairer in the eyes of the people, concealing, at the same time, his orders for the slaying of them.

2 Kings 10:9 In-Context

7 And when the letters had come to them, they took the sons of the king, and killed those seventy men, and they putted the heads of them in coffins; and sent those to Jehu into Jezreel (and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel).

8 And a messenger came to him, and showed to him (and told him), and said, They have brought the heads of the sons of the king. Which answered, Put ye those heads (in)to twain heaps, beside the entering of the gate, till the morrowtide.

9 And when it was clear day, he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be just men; if I conspired against my lord, and killed him, who killed all these?

10 Therefore see ye now, that none of the words of the Lord hath fallen down into the earth, which the Lord spake on the house of Ahab; and the Lord hath done that, that he spake in the hand of his servant, Elijah. (And so see ye now, that none of the words of the Lord hath fallen to the ground, words which the Lord spoke about the house of Ahab; yea, the Lord hath done what he spoke by his servant Elijah.)

11 Therefore Jehu smote all that were left of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all the best men of him, and his known men, and his priests, till no relics of him (were) left. (And so Jehu struck down all who were left of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his best men, and his friends, and his priests, until none was left.)