2 Kings 10:1 - Exposition

And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. By " sons" we must understand "male descendants. Most of the seventy wore probably his grandsons (see 2 Kings 10:3 ); some may have been great-grandsons. They lived in Samaria; since Samaria was the principal residence of the court, Jezreel being simply a country palace—the "Versailles," as it has been called, or "Windsor" of the Israelite kings. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel. "Jezreel" is almost certainly a corrupt reading. The "rulers of Jezreel" would be at Jezreel; and, if Jehu wished to communicate with them, he would not need to "write." Had any chance taken them to Samaria—a very improbable circumstance—they would have had no authority there, and to address them would have been useless. John's letters were, no doubt, addressed to the rulers of Samaria ; and so the LXX . expressly state ( ἀπέστειλεν ἐν σαμαρείᾳ πρὸς τοὺς ἄρχοντας σαμαρείας ); but the reading "Jezreel" can scarcely have arisen out of "Samaria" ( יזרעאל out of שׁמרון ), since the difference of the two words is so great. Most probably the original word was "Israel" ( ישׂראל ), which is easily corrupted into "Jezreel" ( יזרעאל ). The rulers of Samaria, the capital, might well be called "the rulers of Israel." To the elders rather, even the elders . Not distinct persons from the "rulers," but the same under another name (see 1 Kings 21:8 , 1 Kings 21:13 ; and compare the Revised Version). And to them that brought up Ahab's children— i.e. the tutors, or governors, under whose charge they were placed— saying —