What Does 2 Kings 10:19 Mean in the King James?
Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Jehu’s “great sacrifice” is both bait and cover: the announced offering hides his plan to destroy its worshippers.
THE MEANING
Jehu gathers every prophet, servant, and priest of Baal under the declared promise of a great sacrifice, and threatens death for anyone absent. The verse makes his concealed intent explicit: the gathering is a trap meant to destroy Baal’s worshippers.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A religious announcement does not guarantee that its purpose is sacred or safe; here, the sacrifice is cover for planned killing.
THE ROOT
בְּעָקְבָּה
bəʿāqbāh
GROWS FROM
עקב
ʿ-q-b
Heel; to follow at the heel and supplant.
The root holds the image of following at someone’s heel and supplanting them. English “subtilty” can sound like mere cleverness; the Hebrew ties Jehu’s plan to an underhanded overtaking.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāqēb: Heel.
עָקֵב
The heel is the root’s concrete image: what follows behind, close enough to overtake.
ʿāqab: To follow at the heel; to supplant.
עָקַב
This verb names the act of overtaking or taking another’s place, echoing the concealed strategy in Jehu’s summons.
Yaʿaqōb: Jacob; a name linked with heel-taking and supplanting.
יַעֲקֹב
The name’s root-family makes the same hidden overtaking visible in a person’s name.
זֶבַח
zevaḥ
GROWS FROM
זבח
z-b-ḥ
To slaughter or sacrifice.
The promised זֶבַח (zevaḥ, sacrifice) is not empty ceremony: its root carries the act of slaughter. Here the ritual promise gives Jehu’s lethal plan its cover.
ALSO GROWS
zāvaḥ: To slaughter; to sacrifice.
זָבַח
The verb makes the physical act inside “sacrifice” plain, sharpening the violence concealed by Jehu’s announcement.
mizbēaḥ: Altar, the place of sacrifice.
מִזְבֵּחַ
The altar belongs to the same root-family of slaughter and offering; in this verse, sacrificial language masks an intended killing.
הַאֲבִיד
haʾăvîd
GROWS FROM
אבד
ʾ-b-d
To perish or be lost; in a causative form, to cause to perish.
“destroy” in this verse is haʾăvîd. The root אבד (ʾ-b-d) carries “perish, lose the way”; here its causative form states that Jehu intends to make the worshippers perish. The verb puts the violence directly in the sentence: his purpose is their destruction.
ALSO GROWS
ʾāḇad: To perish; to lose the way.
אָבַד
This base verb supplies the perishing that Jehu’s causative form intends to bring about.
ʾăḇaddōn: Destruction; ruin.
אֲבַדּוֹן
This related form names the ruin contained in Jehu’s stated purpose.
THE PATTERN
A destructive plot can hide beneath the outward signs of worship, loyalty, or welcome.
And it came to pass after forty years, that Absalom said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the LORD, in Hebron.And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.THE THREAD
And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?“Supplanted” comes from the same root עקב (ʿ-q-b), “heel; follow at the heel and supplant,” as “subtilty” in 2 Kings 10:19. Jacob’s name and Esau’s accusation make the root’s overtaking image explicit; Jehu’s plan carries that same root-family into concealed strategy.
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