2 Kings 10:6
Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, 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.
Then he wrote a letter the second time to them,.... Having gained his point by the former:
saying, If ye be mine, acknowledge yourselves my subjects and servants;
and if ye will hearken to my voice; obey my commands:
take ye the heads of the men your master's sons; that is, take off their heads:
and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time meaning with the heads along with them:
(now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up;) they were in their houses, and under their tuition, and so had an authority over them, and could dispose of them at pleasure; they were not ordinary persons to whose care they were committed, but the principal men of the city.