Discovery Box2 Kings 10:6-9 
Context10:6 He wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are really on my side and are willing to obey me, 1 then take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel at this time tomorrow.” 2 Now the king had seventy sons, and the prominent 3 men of the city were raising them. 10:7 When they received the letter, they seized the king’s sons and executed all seventy of them. 4 They put their heads in baskets and sent them to him in Jezreel. 10:8 The messenger came and told Jehu, 5 “They have brought the heads of the king’s sons.” Jehu 6 said, “Stack them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.” 10:9 In the morning he went out and stood there. Then he said to all the people, “You are innocent. I conspired against my master and killed him. But who struck down all of these men?
1 tn Heb “If you are mine and you are listening to my voice.”
2 sn Jehu’s command is intentionally vague. Does he mean that they should bring the guardians (those who are “heads” over Ahab’s sons) for a meeting, or does he mean that they should bring the literal heads of Ahab’s sons with them? (So LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and some
3 tn Heb “great,” probably in wealth, position, and prestige.
4 tn Heb “and when the letter came to them, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered seventy men.”
5 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jehu) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
