2 Kings 10:21 - Exposition

And Jehu sent through all Israel ; i.e. through the whole of his own kingdom, from Dan on the north to Bethel on the south. And all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not. Duty and inclination for once coincided. The king's command made it incumbent on them, they would argue, to attend; and attendance would, they supposed, result in a time of excitement and enjoyment, which they were not disposed to miss. The death-penalty threatened for non-attendance ( 2 Kings 10:19 ) was scarcely needed to induce them all to come. And they came into the house of Baal. Ahab had erected a temple to Baal in Samaria shortly after his marriage with Jezebel ( 1 Kings 16:22 ). Like the other temples of the time, in Judaea, in Egypt, and in Phoenicia, it was not a mere "house," but contained vast courts and corridors fitted for the reception of immense numbers. And the house of Baal was full from one end to another ; literally, from brim to brim ; i.e. brimful—"metaphora sumpta a vasibus humore aliquo plenis."