2 Kings 10:1

King James Version (KJV)

And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab’s children, saying,

Adam Clarke
Bible Commentary

Ahab had seventy sons - As he had several wives, he might have many children. The Israelites, from the earliest part of their history, were remarkably fruitful. How amazingly did they multiply in Egypt, even under the hand of the severest oppression! And as to the individuals of whose families we have an account, they are quite remarkable: Rehoboam had thirty-eight sons; Abdon had forty; Tola had thirty; Ahab, seventy; and Gideon, seventy-one.

Unto the rulers of Jezreel - It certainly should be, unto the rulers of Samaria; for to them and to that city the whole context shows us the letters were sent. See 2 Kings 10:6.

To them that brought up Ahab's children - It appears that the royal children of Israel and Judah were intrusted to the care of the nobles, and were brought up by them, (see 2 Kings 10:6;); and to these, therefore, Jehu's letters are directed. It is supposed Isaiah ( Isaiah 49:23;) alludes to this custom: Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens thy nursing mothers.

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Albert Barnes
Notes on the Whole Bible

Seventy sons - i. e., descendants; there were included among them children of Jehoram (2 Kings 10:2-3, etc.).

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Matthew Henry
Concise Bible Commentary

In the most awful events, though attended by the basest crimes of man, the truth and justice of God are to be noticed; and he never did nor can command any thing unjust or unreasonable. Jehu destroyed all that remained of the house of Ahab; all who had been partners in his wickedness. When we think upon the sufferings and miseries of mankind, when we look forward to the resurrection and last judgment, and think upon the vast number of the wicked waiting their awful sentence of everlasting fire; when the whole sum of death and misery has been considered, the solemn question occurs, Who slew all these? The answer is, SIN. Shall we then harbour sin in our bosoms, and seek for happiness from that which is the cause of all misery?

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SDA Bible Commentary (limited)
Volume 1-7

1. Seventy sons. Large though this number is, it would not be impossible in a country where polygamy was practiced. But the word “sons” is here employed in the usual Hebrew sense of the term, “descendants.” Ahab had been dead 12 years and had left a large posterity.

Jehu wrote letters. Jehu was not only courageous but crafty. In the situation in which he found himself he must use not only force but guile. At the moment he had with him at Jezreel only a small force of men, the main part of the army having been left on guard at Ramoth-gilead. There was no telling what the outcome would be if Jehu himself went down to Samaria, the capital, where the bulk of Ahab’s descendants lived. These men, alone, with their supporters, might well have been sufficient to overwhelm the new king with his present guard. So Jehu would first sound out the inclinations of the leading men at the capital by writing letters before making a personal visit. For “Jezreel” the LXX reads “Samaria.” The sense of the passage seems to require this reading. Jehu was already in Jezreel, and there seems to be no purpose in sending letters to the rulers of that city. There exists, of course, the probability that the princes of Jezreel were in Samaria on some mission and hence were included in the address. Since Jezreel was also a royal city, its princes would appropriately be numbered among those called upon to set up the new king.

For a comment on the ethical problems involved in many of the militant acts of those called by God to stamp out apostasy, see p. 199.

Them that brought up. Heb. ha’omenim, foster fathers. The word occurs in Num. 11:12 and Isa. 49:23, where it is translated as “nursing father.” They were of the nobles of Israel who acted as guardians over the members of the royal family and saw to it that they received a proper training, and who would be held accountable for the behavior of their wards.

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Ellen G. White
SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 2 (EGW), 1038

16, 18. Jezebel's Scheme Unsuccessful—With her seductive arts, Jezebel made Jehoshaphat her friend. She arranged a marriage between her daughter Athaliah and Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat. She knew that her daughter, brought up under her guidance and as unscrupulous as herself, would carry out her designs. But did she? No; the sons of the prophets, who had been educated in the schools which Samuel established, were steadfast for truth and righteousness (Manuscript 116, 1899). 2BC 1038.1

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Cross References

seventy sons

in Samaria