2 Kings 10:6

6 He wrote a second letter to them, which said, "If you are on my side, and if you are ready to obey my orders, then bring the heads of your master's sons to me in Yizre'el by this time tomorrow." Now the seventy sons of the king were with the prominent men who had raised them.

2 Kings 10:6 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 10:6

Then he wrote a letter the second time to them
Having gained his point by the former:

saying, if ye be mine,
acknowledge yourselves my subjects and servants;

and if ye will hearken to my voice;
obey my commands:

take ye the heads of the men your master's sons;
that is, take off their heads:

and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time
meaning with the heads along with them:

(now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of
the city, which brought them up;)
they were in their houses, and under their tuition, and so had an authority over them, and could dispose of them at pleasure; they were not ordinary persons to whose care they were committed, but the principal men of the city.

2 Kings 10:6 In-Context

4 They were panic-stricken and said, "If the other two kings couldn't withstand him, how will we?"

5 So the administrator of the palace, the governor of the city, the leaders and the children's guardians sent this message to Yehu: "We are your servants. We will do everything you ask us to; we won't appoint anyone king. Do as you see fit."

6 He wrote a second letter to them, which said, "If you are on my side, and if you are ready to obey my orders, then bring the heads of your master's sons to me in Yizre'el by this time tomorrow." Now the seventy sons of the king were with the prominent men who had raised them.

7 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.

8 A messenger came and told him, "They have brought the heads of the king's sons." He said, "Leave them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning."