2 Kings 10:1

1 Ahab had seventy sons living in the city of Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the elders and officials of the city, and to the guardians of King Ahab’s sons. He said,

2 Kings 10:1 Meaning and Commentary

2 Kings 10:1

And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria
These might not be all his immediate sons, but some of them his grandsons, as such are sometimes called in Scripture:

and Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of
Jezreel;
who fled thither, perhaps on Jehu's coming to Jezreel, having slain Joram, being the metropolis of the kingdom, to consult about a successor, or how to oppose Jehu, and to frustrate his designs: but the Septuagint version is, "to the rulers of Samaria", which seems most likely to be the true reading:

to the elders;
the civil magistrates of the city of Samaria:

and to them that brought up Ahab's children:
who had the care of their education; who either always dwelt at Samaria, being the royal city, or were sent with their charge thither, when Joram went to Ramothgilead, for safety, supposing he should be worsted by the Syrians; or they fled thither with them upon the death of Joram:

saying;
as follows.

2 Kings 10:1 In-Context

1 Ahab had seventy sons living in the city of Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the elders and officials of the city, and to the guardians of King Ahab’s sons. He said,

2 “The king’s sons are with you, and you have at your disposal chariots, horses, a fortified city, and weapons. As soon as you receive this letter,

3 select the best qualified of your master’s sons to be your king, and prepare to fight for Ahab’s dynasty.”

4 But they were paralyzed with fear and said, “We’ve seen that two kings couldn’t stand against this man! What can we do?”

5 So the palace and city administrators, together with the elders and the guardians of the king’s sons, sent this message to Jehu: “We are your servants and will do anything you tell us. We will not make anyone king; do whatever you think is best.”

Footnotes

• [a]. As in some Greek manuscripts and Latin Vulgate (see also 10:6 ); Hebrew reads of Jezreel.