2 Kings 10:6

6 Forsooth he wrote again to them letters the second time, and said, If ye be mine, and obey to me, take ye (off) the heads of the sons of your lord, and come ye to me in this same hour tomorrow into Jezreel. And the sons of the king, seventy men, were nursed at the best men of the city. (And he wrote letters to them a second time, and said, If ye be mine, and obey me, then bring ye to me the heads of the sons of your lord, and come ye to me in Jezreel at this same hour tomorrow. And the sons of the king, seventy men, were nourished, or were cared for, by the best men of the city.)

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 And they dreaded greatly, and said, Lo! two kings might not stand before him, and how shall we be able to against-stand him? (And they greatly feared, and said, Lo! two kings could not stand against him, so how shall we be able to stand against him?)

5 Therefore the sovereigns of the house, and the prefect of the city, and the greater men of birth, and the nurses (of the sons) sent to Jehu, and said, We be thy servants; whatever things thou commandest, we shall do, and we shall not make a king to us; do thou whatever thing pleaseth thee. (And so the sovereign, or the ruler, of the household, and the prefect of the city, and the men of great age, that is, the elders, and the nurses, or the guardians, of Ahab's sons sent to Jehu, and said, We be thy servants; whatever thou commandest, we shall do, and we shall not make a king for us; do thou whatever thing pleaseth thee.)

6 Forsooth he wrote again to them letters the second time, and said, If ye be mine, and obey to me, take ye (off) the heads of the sons of your lord, and come ye to me in this same hour tomorrow into Jezreel. And the sons of the king, seventy men, were nursed at the best men of the city. (And he wrote letters to them a second time, and said, If ye be mine, and obey me, then bring ye to me the heads of the sons of your lord, and come ye to me in Jezreel at this same hour tomorrow. And the sons of the king, seventy men, were nourished, or were cared for, by the best men of the city.)

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.