Then: The common Hebrew conjunction at the beginning of this verse provides a temporal link between the order given in the previous verse and Jehu’s action in this verse.

Jehonadab the son of Rechab: The more common, shortened form of the name Jehonadab should probably be used here as in verse 15 (Good News Translation “Jonadab”). It may sound unnecessarily redundant to repeat the words the son of Rechab since this information was just given in verse 15.

Search, and see: The two imperative verbs reinforce each other. Together they portray the idea of carefully observing the people gathered in order to be certain of their commitment to Baal. Some possible model translations are “Look around and see” (New International Version), “Look around, and make sure” (New Century Version), and probably better, “Look carefully and make sure” (Revised English Bible).

Jehu was concerned that there was no servant of the LORD (see verse 19) in the group because he knew that if any such person remained, it would mean certain death for that person.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .