And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them.
And he said, 'Capture them alive.' So they captured them alive and killed them at the pit by the sheep-shearing house—all forty-two men. He didn't let any of them escape.
This verse describes Jehu executing forty-two relatives of the king of Judah as part of his violent campaign to eliminate Ahab's family line.
📚 Historical Context
This occurs during Jehu's divinely commissioned but brutal purge of King Ahab's dynasty around 841 BC. Jehu had been anointed by God's prophet to destroy the house of Ahab for their idolatry and persecution of God's prophets. The forty-two men were relatives of Ahaziah, king of Judah, who had unfortunate family ties to the condemned house of Ahab through marriage alliances.
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