They went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him. 20.16 Benhadad must have taken his orders from a different G.o.d, though, because he told his soldiers not to kill any prisoners. (The G.o.d of the Bible would never allow that. In fact, Ahab-along with his wife, family and friends-will later be killed by G.o.d for not killing Benhadad when he took him prisoner. See killings (96), (98), (105), (106), (107), (108), and (110).
He said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive. 20.18 So the Israelites go out and kill lots of Syrians with a "great slaughter."
They slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them ... And the king of Israel ... slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. 20.20-21 And now we all know for sure that G.o.d is the Lord.
(Who else would be so proud of killing so many people?) I guessed 10,000 for this one since it was a "great slaughter."
95. G.o.d killed 100,000 Syrians for calling him a G.o.d of the hills 1 Kings 20.29 Number Killed: 100,000 Syrians Don"t call G.o.d a G.o.d of the hills. He really doesn"t like it.
The Syrians called him that.
The servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their G.o.ds are G.o.ds of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. 1 Kings 20.23 Then an anonymous "man of G.o.d" told the king of Israel (Ahab) that G.o.d would slaughter the Syrians for calling him a hill G.o.d and, by so doing, show Ahab that he is the Lord.
There came a man of G.o.d, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is G.o.d of the hills, but he is not G.o.d of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great mult.i.tude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 20.28 So G.o.d delivered the Syrians into Ahab"s hand and the Israelites killed 100,000 in one day.
And the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day. 20.29 (That"s about twice as many as were killed in the three-day Battle of Gettysburg. But then, G.o.d wasn"t involved in that one. He couldn"t decide which side he was on.) 96. G.o.d killed 27,000 Syrians by making a wall fall on them 1 Kings 20.30 Number Killed: 27,000 Syrians In his last killing, G.o.d killed the 100,000 Syrians for calling him a hill G.o.d (95). But some of the name-calling Syrians escaped. G.o.d took care of them by having a wall fall on them, killing 27,000.
But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. 1 Kings 20.30a It was a really big wall.
Note: Benhadad (the king of Syria) somehow managed to escape the falling wall.
And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber. 1 Kings 20.30b He asked Ahab to let him live, offering to restore the cities that Syria had previously taken from Israel.
Thy servant Benhadad saith, I pray thee, let me live ... And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. 20.32-34a So Ahab made a treaty with Benhadad and let him live.
Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away. 1 Kings 20.34 b G.o.d would later kill him (98) and his family (105, 106, 107, 108, and 110) for this act of mercy.
97. G.o.d sent a lion to kill a man for not smiting a prophet 1 Kings 20.36 Number Killed: 1 A neighbor in the word of the Lord I don"t completely understand G.o.d"s thinking on this one. Maybe a believer can explain it to me.
It all happens fast, in just two verses. Here"s a summary: A "son of a prophet" asked a "neighbor in the word of the Lord" to smite him.
A certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour in the word of the LORD, Smite me, I pray thee. 1 Kings 20.35a The neighbor refused.
And the man refused to smite him. 20.35b So G.o.d sent a lion to kill him.
Then said he unto him, Because thou hast not obeyed the voice of the LORD, behold, as soon as thou art departed from me, a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a lion found him, and slew him. 20.36 It turns out, though, that there was some reason for the prophet"s madness. The prophet wanted a good disguise when he met King Ahab, and he figured a wound would help. So he wanted his neighbor to cut his face, so he could put a bandage on it, so King Ahab wouldn"t recognize him when he saw him. Or something like that.
(I don"t know why the prophet couldn"t just put a bandage on his face or a bag over his head to disguise himself. And I"m not sure why the disguise was necessary anyway. But I guess it was all very important to G.o.d.) Anyway, the bats.h.i.t crazy prophet found another guy who was willing to smite him.
Then he found another man, and said, Smite me, I pray thee. And the man smote him, so that in smiting he wounded him. 20.37 And so the prophet got his costume ready for his meeting with King Ahab.
So the prophet departed, and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with ashes upon his face. 20.38 Which leads us to G.o.d"s next killing.
98. G.o.d killed Ahab for not killing a captured king 1 Kings 20.39-42, 22.35 Number Killed: 1 Ahab In G.o.d"s last killing (97), he sent a lion to kill a man for not smiting a prophet when the prophet asked him to. But the next guy that came along was willing to do it, so the prophet was able to put ashes on his face and have a proper disguise for his meeting with King Ahab.
When King Ahab pa.s.sed by, the prophet (with his cool disguise) said to him: Thy servant went out into the midst of the battle; and, behold, a man turned aside, and brought a man unto me, and said, Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, then shall thy life be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver. And as thy servant was busy here and there, he was gone. 1 Kings 20.39-40a Which, of course, was complete bulls.h.i.t. G.o.d"s prophet was not only crazy, but a liar, as well.
King Ahab played along though, and said, "OK, whatever."
The king of Israel said unto him, So shall thy judgment be; thyself hast decided it. 20:40b Then the prophet wiped off the ashes on his face and revealed his true ident.i.ty. He was a prophet! (It"s really hard to tell a prophet when he has ashes on his face.) He ... took the ashes away from his face; and the king of Israel discerned him that he was of the prophets. 20.41 And then the prophet told King Ahab the bad news. G.o.d was going to kill the king (and his family, of course) for letting king Benhadad live. (See 1 Kings 20.34 and note at the end of 96) Thus saith the LORD, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed to utter destruction, therefore thy life shall go for his life, and thy people for his people. 20.42 And that"s what happened. G.o.d carefully arranged things so that King Ahab would die while fighting the Syrians.
The battle increased that day: and the king [Ahab] was stayed up in his chariot against the Syrians, and died at even: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot. 22.35 And that is G.o.d"s last killing in 1 Kings 20. (Five in one chapter!) 99. G.o.d burned 102 men to death for asking Elijah to come down from his hill 2 Kings 1.10-12 Number Killed: 102 Israelites messengers King Ahaziah (of Israel) became ill after falling though a lattice floor. So he sent some messengers to ask Baalzebub if he would recover.
Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baalzebub the G.o.d of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. 2 Kings 1.2 Then an angel told Elijah to tell some messengers to tell Ahaziah that G.o.d would kill him for asking the wrong G.o.d.
The angel ... said to Elijah ... Arise, go up to meet the messengers ... and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a G.o.d in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the G.o.d of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith the LORD, Thou shalt not come down from that bed ... but shalt surely die. 1.3-4 So the messengers delivered the message to King Ahaziah.
The messengers ... said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Is it not because there is not a G.o.d in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baalzebub the G.o.d of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. 1.5-6 Ahaziah asked them what the guy who gave them the message looked like. They said he was "a hairy man" with "leather about his loins."
What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words? And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. 1.7-8 When the king heard that, he knew it was Elijah. n.o.body dresses like Elijah!
He said, It is Elijah. 1.8b So the king sent a captain and fifty men to go find Elijah. They found him sitting on top of a hill and said to him, "Come down."
Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of G.o.d, the king hath said, Come down. 1.9 Which was the wrong thing to say, judging from Elijah"s response.
Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of G.o.d, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. 1.10a And that"s what happened. Fire came down from heaven and burned the 51 guys to death.
There came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. 1.10b I"m not sure how Ahaziah found out about all this, but he did, and he sent another captain and 50 men to try again.
Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. 1.11a They found Elijah sitting on top of the same hill and the captain told him the same thing: "Come down quickly." (I guess they added the quickly for emphasis.) He ... said unto him, O man of G.o.d, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly. 1.11b Elijah responded in the usual way.
Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of G.o.d, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. 1.12a You probably can guess what happened next.
The fire of G.o.d came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. 1.12b Once again the king found out what had happened. So he sent another captain with 50 men. (He figured it worked out well the first two times.) He sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. 1.13a But this time the captain didn"t ask Elijah to come down. He got on his knees and groveled in front of Elijah, begging him not to burn him to death.
The third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah ... and said unto him, O man of G.o.d, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight. 1.13b-14 And that worked a lot better. An angel of the Lord told Elijah to go down with them to see Ahaziah. And he did.
The angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king. 1.15 So the moral of the story is this: If you see a hairy man dressed in a leather loin cloth sitting on top of a hill, don"t ask him to come down (unless you grovel first) or G.o.d will burn you to death.
100. G.o.d killed Ahaziah (of Israel) for asking the wrong G.o.d 2 Kings 1.16-17 Number Killed: 1 Ahaziah of Israel In his last killing (99), G.o.d burned 102 men to death (in two shifts of 51 each) for asking Elijah to come down from his hill. The problem, I guess, was not so much in what they asked, but in how they asked it. The first two times, the captain asked directly, and G.o.d burned them all to death. The third time the captain groveled first and asked later, and that worked out fine. There"s a lesson there somewhere.
There was a reason, though, that Ahaziah wanted Elijah to come down from his hill. He wanted to ask Elijah to ask G.o.d if he was going to recover from his illness. And now that the third group of 51 got Elijah to come down from his hill, Ahaziah could ask Elijah to ask G.o.d about it.
[But Elijah had already told Ahaziah (via messengers) back in 2 Kings 1.6 that G.o.d was going to kill him for asking the wrong G.o.d, so I don"t know why he had to send the three sets of 51 to asked Elijah again. I guess he wanted Elijah to come down and give him the message directly.]
In any case, Elijah came down the mountain to talk to the king.
He arose, and went down with him unto the king. 2 Kings 1.15 Here"s what Elijah told the king (again).
Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the G.o.d of Ekron, is it not because there is no G.o.d in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. 1.16 And in the next verse, King Ahaziah dies "according to the word of the Lord."
So he died according to the word of the LORD which Elijah had spoken. 1.17 101. G.o.d sent two bears to rip apart 42 boys for making fun of a prophet"s bald head 2 Kings 2.23-24 Number Killed: 42 Boys After Elijah went up to heaven in a chariot of fire, his disciple, Elisha, put on Elijah"s mantle and started to perform miracles of his own. First he parted the Jordan River by slapping it with Elijah"s mantle, and then he healed some water by adding a bit of salt.
Then he decided to go to Bethel.
While he was walking along, a group of 42 young boys started to make fun of Elisha"s bald head.
As he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. 2 Kings 2.23 So Elisha decided to try his new-found prophet powers by cursing the little b.u.g.g.e.rs in the name of the Lord. Then he stood back to watch what would happen.
He turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. 2.24a What happened must have been hard to watch. Two she bears came out of the woods and tore all 42 boys apart.
There came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. 2.24b The Bible doesn"t say how Elisha reacted to the slaughter. It just says that he kept going on his journey to Bethel.
He went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria. 2.25 I bet G.o.d got a kick out of the whole thing, though. He"s the type.
102. The Lord delivered the Moabites 2 Kings 3.24-25 Estimated Number Killed: 5,000 Moabites This is a boring one. But since the Bible gives G.o.d the credit for this killing, so will I.
Here"s the story.
Elisha tells the Israelites that G.o.d will deliver the Moabites into their hand.
The LORD ... will deliver the Moabites ... into your hand. 2 Kings 3.18 And when he does, G.o.d wants the Israelites to chop down the trees, ruin the wells, and destroy the land.
Ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones. 3.19 So the Israelites kill the Moabites, their trees and crops, and ruin their cities and wells.
The Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites ... And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees. 3.24-25 Finally, the Moabite king sacrificed his son as a burnt offering in a desperate attempt to stop the ma.s.sacre. And it seemed to work, too, since the Israelites stopped killing after that.
Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land. 3.27 Since G.o.d helped the Israelites smite several Moabite cities, I"ll guess 1000 Moabites were killed in five cities, for a total of 5000.
103. A skeptic is trampled to death 2 Kings 7.17-20 Number Killed: 1 A skeptical officer There was a famine in Samaria that was so severe that a donkey"s head and a cup of bird dung sold for 80 and 5 shekels of silver, respectively. (About 500 and 32 current U.S. dollars) There was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an a.s.s"s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove"s dung for five pieces of silver. 2 Kings 6.25 Women were busy negotiating a schedule for eating each other"s sons.
This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him. 6.28-29 But Elisha and G.o.d said things were about to change. Tomorrow, 7.5 liters of flour and 15 liters of barley will sell for 1 shekel of silver. (About 6 current U.S. dollars) Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 7.1 An officer overheard Elisha"s forecast for the commodities market, and he didn"t believe it. He said that even if G.o.d made it rain, prices wouldn"t fall so much in a single day.
Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of G.o.d, and said, Behold, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? 7.2a Elisha responded that the skeptical officer would see it happen, but wouldn"t be able to take advantage of the low prices. (Because he"d be dead.) Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 7.2b Later that day, G.o.d made the Syrians hear things. The whole Syrian army heard the noise of non-existent chariots, horses, and soldiers. It was one ma.s.sive, G.o.d-induced, collective, auditory hallucination. It was like the entire army was on a bad acid trip, and it scared the h.e.l.l out of them.
The LORD had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hitt.i.tes, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us. 7.6 So the Syrian army left Samaria because of the noises that G.o.d put in their heads.
Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their a.s.ses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life. 7.7 And the price of commodities fell, just like G.o.d and Elisha predicted.
So a measure of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the LORD. 7.16 And what happened to the skeptical officer?
He was trampled to death.
And the king appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of G.o.d had said ... And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died. 7:17-20 (I don"t know if G.o.d caused this to happen or not. But it seems pretty clear that he approved of it.) 104. G.o.d"s seven year famine 2 Kings 8.1 Estimated Number Killed: 7,000 Israelites Well, there"s not much to say about this one. It all happens in a single verse.
Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou and thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn: for the LORD hath called for a famine; and it shall also come upon the land seven years. 2 Kings 8.1 G.o.d called for a seven year famine. The Bible doesn"t say why G.o.d did this. But I guess G.o.d can starve people to death if he wants to, for any reason, or for no reason at all.
The Bible doesn"t say how many starved in G.o.d"s seven year famine, so I"ll just guess 7000, 1000 per year.
105. Jehoram of Israel 2 Kings 9.24-26 Number Killed: 1 Jehoram of Israel Remember back in G.o.d"s 98th killing when G.o.d killed Ahab for not killing a captured king? You might have thought that that would be the end of it. But no. G.o.d still had Ahab"s family to kill. It was his way of paying it forward.
The story is a bit complicated, but it starts with Elisha, who called one of "the children of the prophets" and told him to "gird his loins," get some oil, and go anoint Jehu as king of Israel. (You know you"re in for some big-time prophet action when Elisha tells you to grab some oil and gird your loins.) Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil ... And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu ... and ... take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. 2 Kings 9.1-3 So that"s what that son of a prophet did. He girded his loins and made Jehu king.
So the young man, even the young man the prophet ... arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD G.o.d of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel. 9.4-6 Then he told the new king that G.o.d had a job for him.
Thus saith the LORD G.o.d ... thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel. 9.6-7 Just in case it wasn"t clear, the son of the prophet elaborated a bit. G.o.d wanted Jehu to kill everyone in Ahab"s family, especially those that had ever "p.i.s.sed against a wall."
For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that p.i.s.seth against the wall. 9.8 He reminded Jehu of the last two families that G.o.d had executed: Jeroboam"s (88), 89) and Baasha"s (90). He wanted Jehu to go and do likewise to Ahab"s family.
I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam ... and Baasha. 9.9 But there was one person that G.o.d wanted more than just dead. Ahab"s wife, Jezebel, was to be not just killed, but fed to the dogs, so that there would be nothing left of her body to bury.
The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. 9.10 And that was the end of the message from G.o.d.
So Jehu took off in his chariot to get started on G.o.d"s killings. When people saw him coming, they"d say, "That must be Jehu because he"s driving like crazy." (Jehu is the patron saint of reckless drivers.) And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously. 9.20 It wasn"t long before Jehu found G.o.d"s first victim: Ahab"s son, Jehoram of Israel-a wall-p.i.s.ser if there ever was one!
So Jehu did what G.o.d told him to do. He shot him right through the heart and threw his dead body in the field of Naboth, "according to the word of the Lord."
Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart ... Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain ... cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD. 9.24-26 And so died the first wall-p.i.s.ser in Ahab"s family.
Then Jehu got back in his chariot and drove off furiously to find the rest.
106. Jezebel 2 Kings 9.33 Number Killed: 1 Jezebel Next on G.o.d"s. .h.i.t list for Jehu was Jezebel. So he drove his chariot over to her house.
When she heard Jehu was coming, she put on her make-up and sat by the window.
When Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window. 2 Kings 9.30 As he entered the gate, she said, "Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of your master?", referring to Zimri"s murder of king Baasha and his family (90).
As Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? 9.31 Jehu poked his head in the window and said to Jezebel"s eunuchs, "Who is on my side?"
He lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. 9.32 And then, "Throw her down."
And he said, Throw her down. 9.33a So the eunuchs threw her out the window, where she was trampled by horses, her blood splattering everywhere.
So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. 9.33b Then Jehu went off to eat and drink, telling his people to go take a look the "cursed woman" and then bury her.
When he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king"s daughter. 9.34 But when they went to bury her, they couldn"t find her, at least not very much of her. Dogs had already eaten everything except her skull, feet, and the palms of her hands.
And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands. 9.35 Which, of course, is just like G.o.d said it would be. Jezebel would be eaten by dogs and her body would be treated like s.h.i.t.
This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field 9.36-37 107. Ahab"s sons: Seventy heads in two heaps 2 Kings 10.7 Number Killed: 70 Ahab"s sons Jehu was on a mission from G.o.d. (Like Anton Chigurh in "No Country for Old Men," but without the coin tosses.) First he killed one of Ahab"s sons, Jehoram (105). Then he killed Ahab"s wife, Jezebel (106). Now it was time to take care of the rest of Ahab"s family.
He started by writing letters to the rulers of Jezreel challenging them fight for Ahab"s sons.
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 ... fight for your master"s house. 2 Kings 10.1-3 But they were intimidated by Jehu (they"d probably heard about his previous murders) and said that they would do whatever he wanted.
But they were exceedingly afraid, and said ... We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes. 10.4-5 So Jehu wrote another letter telling them what he wanted: Bring him the heads of all 70 of Ahab"s sons tomorrow.
Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying ... take ye the heads of the men your master"s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king"s sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up. 10.6 And that"s what they did. They killed Ahab"s 70 sons, put the heads in baskets, and brought them to Jehu.
When the letter came to them, that they took the king"s sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel. 10.7 When Jehu heard that the heads had arrived, he said to put them in two heaps at the city gate and let them stay there overnight.
There came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king"s sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning. 10.8 The next morning Jehu went out and told the people that "the LORD hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah."
In the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said ... the LORD hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah. 10.9-10 (Elijah ... answered ... Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that p.i.s.seth against the wall. 1 Kings 21.20-21) But there were still others that G.o.d wanted Jehu to visit.
108. Ahab"s hometown family, friends, and priests 2 Kings 10.11 Estimated Number Killed: 20 Ahab"s family, friends, and priests In G.o.d"s last killing (107), the chicken-s.h.i.t leaders of Jezreel sent Jehu the heads of Ahab"s sons, all 70 of them.
But that didn"t quite satisfy Jehu. He had his orders from G.o.d, given to him by Elisha when Jehu was made king.