Melachim II Perek 10

Achav had seventy children in Shomron.

Yehu sent letters to the elders of Shomron, in order to clarify to whom the elders had pledged their allegiance, to the family of Achav or to Yehu.

The elders had pledged their allegiance to Yehu. Yehu demanded the heads of the seventy children of Achav.

The elders complied, and they sent the seventy heads of the children, in pots, to Yehu.

Yehu displayed the heads publicly. (Rashi, Radak: Yehu did this to show Yisrael that he was acting in accordance with the Divine will. Yehu took full responsibility for the deaths, but he did not want Yisrael to think that he was bloodthirsty. Yehu was fulfilling the prophecy of Eliyahu that all of Achav’s family would be wiped out.)

Yehu proceeded to kill the rest of Achav’s family in Yizre’el.

Yehu killed an additional forty two members of Achav’s family after realizing who they were.

Yehu enlisted the help of Yehonadav ben Rechav in wiping out the family of Achav and restoring Yisrael back to Hashem. (Da’as Sofrim: Yehonadav was one of the leading tzadikim of the generation, which gave Yehu credibility.)

Yehu rallied all of the Baal prophets and idol worshippers to serve and worship the idols together with him. This was actually a trick to get all of the false prophets in one location at one time in order to kill them all.

Yehu took extra measures to ensure that anyone who truly served Hashem would not be present.

Yehu had the entire crowd wiped out, killing all of the false prophets, and destroying the temple and idols.

Hashem’s reward to Yehu was that his descendants would sit on the throne for four generations.

Yehu did not follow in Hashem’s ways. Yehu himself turned to idol worship of the golden calves which Yeravam ben Nevat had set up.

According to Sanhedrin 102a, Yehu was considered a tzaddik. Why did he turn to idols? Because he had a special power of speech that whatever he would say would come true. Therefore, when Yehu pretended he was going to serve idols, since he had uttered those words, they eventually came true. Alternatively, Sanhedrin 102a, when Yeravam ben Nevat set up the golden calves, he tricked Achiya HaShulani into signing documents which granted approval to the idols. Yehu had seen these documents and was mislead into thinking that it was approved by Achiya Hashulani.

In those days Chaza’el, king of Aram, started encroaching on the borders of Yisrael.

Yehu reigned for 28 years.

Achazyahu, son of Yehu, ruled over Yisrael next.