What is the meaning of 2 Kings 10:17?

When Jehu came to Samaria

• Samaria was Israel’s capital (1 Kings 16:24), the stronghold of Ahab’s house.

• Jehu had already removed Joram, Ahaziah, and Jezebel in Jezreel (2 Kings 9:24–33) and was continuing the divine mandate given in 2 Kings 9:6-7.

• His arrival shows God directing history through human agents (see Isaiah 10:5-7).

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he struck down everyone belonging to Ahab who remained there

• The slaughter was limited to Ahab’s line, fulfilling 1 Kings 21:21-24.

• It completed the purge that began with the seventy princes (2 Kings 10:1-11).

• Judgment fell because of long-standing idolatry and bloodshed (1 Kings 16:30-33; 21:15-16).

• God’s justice, though patient, is certain (Ecclesiastes 8:11-13; 2 Peter 3:9-10).

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until he had destroyed them

• The wording stresses total obedience, unlike Saul’s partial obedience with Amalek (1 Samuel 15:3, 20-23).

• Jehu “left none who breathed” of Ahab’s house (2 Kings 10:11), mirroring the complete ban of Deuteronomy 7:2.

• Full obedience brings divine approval; half-measures do not (1 Kings 13:21-22).

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according to the word that the LORD had spoken to Elijah

• Elijah’s prophecies in 1 Kings 19:16-17 and 21:17-24 are now fulfilled.

• The phrase highlights Scripture’s absolute reliability (Joshua 21:45; Numbers 23:19).

• Fulfilled prophecy strengthens faith and calls believers to trust and obey (Romans 15:4; Revelation 19:10b).

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summary

2 Kings 10:17 records Jehu’s arrival in Samaria and his thorough destruction of Ahab’s remaining household, exactly as Elijah had foretold. The verse underscores God’s sovereignty, the certainty of His judgment against persistent sin, and the unfailing accuracy of His Word.