2 Kings 10:18

THE MESSAGE

Next, Jehu got all the people together and addressed them: Ahab served Baal small-time; Jehu will serve him big-time. "Get all the prophets of Baal here—everyone who served him, all his priests. Get everyone here; don't leave anyone out. I have a great sacrifice to offer Baal. If you don't show up, you won't live to tell about it." (Jehu was lying, of course. He planned to destroy all the worshipers of Baal.)

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him a lot.

Hebrew Names Version
Yehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ach'av served Ba`al a little; but Yehu will serve him much.

King James Version
And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much.

English Standard Version
Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much.

New Century Version
Then Jehu gathered all the people together and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve Baal much.

New English Translation
Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, "Ahab worshiped Baal a little; Jehu will worship him with great devotion.

Amplified Bible
Jehu assembled all the people and said [in pretense] to them, "Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much [more].

New American Standard Bible
Then Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Iehu assembled all the people, and sayd vnto them, Ahab serued Baal a litle, but Iehu shal serue him much more.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much.

Contemporary English Version
Jehu called together the people in Samaria and said: King Ahab sometimes worshiped Baal, but I will be completely faithful to Baal.

Complete Jewish Bible
Next, Yehu assembled all the people and said to them, "Ach'av served Ba‘al in limited measure, but Yehu will serve him with full zeal.

Darby Translation
And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little: Jehu will serve him much.

Easy-to-Read Version
Then Jehu gathered all the people together and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve Baal much.

George Lamsa Translation
Then Jehu gathered all the people together and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much.

Good News Translation
Jehu called the people of Samaria together and said, "King Ahab served the god Baal a little, but I will serve him much more.

Lexham English Bible
Then Jehu assembled all of the people and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will worship him greatly.

Literal Translation
And Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu shall serve him much.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And Iehu gathered all the people together, and saide vnto them: Achab did Baal but litle seruyce, Iehu wyll serue him better.

American Standard Version
And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much.

Bible in Basic English
Then Jehu got all the people together and said to them, Ahab was Baal's servant in a small way, but Jehu will be his servant on a great scale.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And Iehu gathered all the people together, and sayd vnto them: Ahab serued Baal a litle, but Iehu shall serue him more.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them: 'Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much.

King James Version (1611)
And Iehu gathered all the people together, and said vnto them, Ahab serued Baal a litle, but Iehu shall serue him much.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And Ju gathered all the people, and said to them, Achaab served Baal a little; Ju shall serve him much.

English Revised Version
And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much.

Berean Standard Bible
Then Jehu brought all the people together and said, "Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him a lot.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor Hieu gaderide to gidere alle the puple, and seide to hem, Achab worschipide Baal a litil, but Y schal worschipe hym more.

Young's Literal Translation
And Jehu gathereth the whole of the people, and saith unto them, `Ahab served Baal a little -- Jehu doth serve him much:

Update Bible Version
And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Jehu convened all the people, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little; [but] Jehu shall serve him much.

World English Bible
Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu will serve him much.

New King James Version
Then Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little, Jehu will serve him much.

New Living Translation
Then Jehu called a meeting of all the people of the city and said to them, "Ahab's worship of Baal was nothing compared to the way I will worship him!

New Life Bible
Then Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, "Ahab worshiped Baal a little. Jehu will worship him much.

New Revised Standard
Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, "Ahab offered Baal small service; but Jehu will offer much more.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then Jehu gathered together all the people, and said unto them, - Ahab, served Baal, a little, - Jehu, will serve him, much.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And Jehu gathered together all the people, and said to them: Achab worshipped Baal a little, but I will worship him more.

Revised Standard Version
Then Jehu assembled all the people, and said to them, "Ahab served Ba'al a little; but Jehu will serve him much.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
Then Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, "Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much.

Contextual Overview

¹⁵ He went on from there and came upon Jehonadab the Recabite who was on his way to meet him. Greeting him, he said, "Are we together and of one mind in this?" Jehonadab said, "We are—count on me." "Then give me your hand," said Jehu. They shook hands on it and Jehonadab stepped up into the chariot with Jehu. ¹⁶ "Come along with me," said Jehu, "and witness my zeal for God ."Together they proceeded in the chariot. ¹⁷ When they arrived in Samaria, Jehu massacred everyone left in Samaria who was in any way connected with Ahab—a mass execution, just as God had told Elijah. ¹⁸Next, Jehu got all the people together and addressed them: Ahab served Baal small-time; Jehu will serve him big-time. "Get all the prophets of Baal here—everyone who served him, all his priests. Get everyone here; don't leave anyone out. I have a great sacrifice to offer Baal. If you don't show up, you won't live to tell about it." (Jehu was lying, of course. He planned to destroy all the worshipers of Baal.) ²⁰ Jehu ordered, "Make preparation for a holy convocation for Baal." They did and posted the date. ²¹ Jehu then summoned everyone in Israel. They came in droves—every worshiper of Baal in the country. Nobody stayed home. They came and packed the temple of Baal to capacity. ²² Jehu directed the keeper of the wardrobe, "Get robes for all the servants of Baal." He brought out their robes. ²³Jehu and Jehonadab the Recabite now entered the temple of Baal and said, "Double-check and make sure that there are no worshipers of God in here; only Baal-worshipers are allowed." Then they launched the worship, making the sacrifices and burnt offerings. Meanwhile, Jehu had stationed eighty men outside with orders: "Don't let a single person escape; if you do, it's your life for his life." ²⁵When Jehu had finished with the sacrificial solemnities, he signaled to the officers and guards, "Enter and kill! No survivors!" And the bloody slaughter began. The officers and guards threw the corpses outside and cleared the way to enter the inner shrine of Baal. They hauled out the sacred phallic stone from the temple of Baal and pulverized it. They smashed the Baal altars and tore down the Baal temple. It's been a public toilet ever since. ²⁸ And that's the story of Jehu's wasting of Baal in Israel.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ahab served Baal: 2 Kings 3:2, 1 Kings 16:31, 1 Kings 16:32, 1 Kings 18:19, 1 Kings 18:22, 1 Kings 18:40

Jehu: Job 13:7, Romans 3:8, Philippians 4:8

Reciprocal: 2 Kings 10:19 - But Jehu 2 Kings 17:16 - Baal 2 Kings 21:3 - he reared Matthew 2:8 - that

Cross-References

2 Samuel 8:9
Toi, king of Hamath, heard that David had struck down the entire army of Hadadezer. So he sent his son Joram to King David to greet and congratulate him for fighting and defeating them, for Toi and Hadadezer were old enemies. He brought with him gifts of silver, gold, and bronze. King David consecrated these along with the silver and gold from all the nations he had conquered—from Aram, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and from Amalek, along with the plunder from Hadadezer son of Rehob king of Zobah.

2 Kings 17:24
The king of Assyria brought in people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and relocated them in the towns of Samaria, replacing the exiled Israelites. They moved in as if they owned the place and made themselves at home. When the Assyrians first moved in, God was just another god to them; they neither honored nor worshiped him. Then God sent lions among them and people were mauled and killed.

2 Chronicles 13:4
Abijah took a prominent position on Mount Zemaraim in the hill country of Ephraim and gave this speech: "Listen, Jeroboam and all Israel! Don't you realize that God , the one and only God of Israel, established David and his sons as the permanent rulers of Israel, ratified by a ‘covenant of salt'— God 's kingdom ruled by God 's king? And what happened? Jeroboam, the son of Solomon's slave Nebat, rebelled against his master. All the riffraff joined his cause and were too much for Rehoboam, Solomon's true heir. Rehoboam didn't know his way around—besides he was a real wimp; he couldn't stand up against them.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And Jehu gathered all the people together,.... The people of Samaria, at least the principal of them:

and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little, [but] Jehu shall serve him much; which some understand as spoken ironically; but the words seem to be spoken with a design to deceive the idolatrous inhabitants of Samaria, making them to believe that he was hearty in the worship of Baal, and should show a greater respect to it, and more constantly attend it, than Ahab had done; and this he said with a view to draw them to the temple of Baal, and there destroy them, as the sequel shows; and in which he is not to be justified, however good his intention was; for evil is not to be done that good may come.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Though we cannot ascribe to Jehu a spirit of true piety (see 2 Kings 10:29), we can well enough understand how the soldier, trained in the Syrian wars, revolted against the unmanly and voluptuous worship of the Dea Syra, and wished to go back to the simple solemn service of Yahweh. These views and feelings it would have been dangerous to declare during the lifetime of Jezebel. Even after her death it was prudent to temporise, to wait until the party of Ahab was crushed politically, before broaching tbe religious question. Having now slain all the issue of Ahab in the kingdom of Israel, and all the influential men of the party 2Ki 10:7, 2 Kings 10:11, 2 Kings 10:17, Jehu felt that he might begin his reformation of religion. But even now he uses “subtilty” rather than open violence. “Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Kings 10:18. Ahab served Baal a little — Jehu had determined to have no worship in Israel but that of the golden calves at Dan and Bethel; therefore he purposes to destroy all the worshippers of Baal: and that he may do it without suspicion, he proclaims a great sacrifice; and that he may do it the more easily, he gathers them all together into one place.