2 Kings 9:26
“Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Jehu invokes the word of the LORD, recalling the innocent blood of Naboth and his sons, and declaring that the judgment spoken long ago is now being executed.
Context
This is a quotation or paraphrase of the prophecy originally delivered by Elijah (1 Kings 21:19). Yesterday refers to the past, not literally the previous day. Naboth and his sons had been murdered to seize their vineyard (1 Kings 21:8-14).
What Does 2 Kings 9:26 Mean?
The blood of the innocent cries out from the ground, and the LORD answers. Naboth and his sons, murdered for their land, slain by the conspiracy of Ahab and Jezebel, their blood has not been forgotten. What seemed to be successfully hidden, what the powerful thought they had covered with conspiracy and false witness, has been seen and remembered by the LORD. Now, in this moment, He says: I will repay. The scales are balanced. The field that Ahab seized through bloodshed will receive the blood of his heir.
We see here the deep justice that runs through the biblical narrative: the innocent are not ultimately abandoned, and the guilty are not ultimately shielded by their power or their cunning. Jehu speaks the word of the LORD because he understands that he is not inventing this judgment, but merely speaking and executing what God has long since determined. The shed blood of the righteous calls to heaven, and heaven answers.
In the Original Language
Dam (דם), blood -- the word suggests both the physical blood and the life poured out unjustly, a claim that rises before God
Application
Justice delayed is still justice. When we are victims of injustice, or when we witness the innocent suffer at the hands of the powerful, we can trust that God sees and remembers. We are called to trust His ultimate justice rather than seek our own revenge, and to be agents of His justice when He calls us to it.