2 Kings 10:11 - Exposition

So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks ; rather, and Jehu slew . Encouraged by his past success, having killed Jehoram, Ahaziah, and Jezebel, having secured the adhesion of the chief men in Samaria, and effected the destruction of all those who might naturally have claimed the succession and involved him in civil war, Jehu proceeded to greater lengths. He "slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel"—the princesses probably, as well as the princes—and further put to death all the leading partisans of the dethroned dynasty, the "great men," perhaps even those who had worked his bloody will at Samaria, and the intimate friends and supporters of the house—the מְיֻדָּעִים , as they are here called—not relatives, but "intimate acquaintances." And his priests. This expression causes a difficulty, since the destruction of the Baal-priests is related subsequently ( 2 Kings 10:19-25 ). It has been suggested to understand by כֹּהֲניִם , not" priests," but "high state officers" (Bahr)—a meaning which the word is thought to have in 2 Samuel 8:18 and 1 Kings 4:5 . But this signification of כֹּהֵן is scarcely an ascertained one. Perhaps the same persons are intended as in 1 Kings 4:19 , the present notice of their death being a mere summary, and the narrative of 1 Kings 4:19-25 a full statement of the circumstances. Until he left him none remaining ; i.e. until the entire Ahabite faction was blotted out.