Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Kings 10:2

"And now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your master`s sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fortified city also, and armor;" — 2 Kings 10:2 (ASV)

Now as soon as this letter cometh. — Rather, And now when this letter comes. Only the conclusion of the letter, containing the gist of it, is reported here (Compare 2 Kings 5:6).

Seeing your master’s sons ... look even out (2 Kings 10:3)—Rather, there are with you both your master’s sons, and the chariots and the horses, and a fenced city, and the armory: so look out the best, etc.

A fenced city. —All the versions but the Arabic have “fenced cities;” and so Josephus. There is a tone of mocking irony in Jehu’s challenge to the nobles of Samaria, who were probably as luxurious and cowardly now as in the days of Amos, a few years later (Amos 3:12; Amos 6:3–6). . By his careful enumeration of their resources, he as good as says that his defiance is not the fruit of ignorance.