Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen. (2 Kings 10:13)
Not the actual brothers of the king, for these had been slain by the Arabs before Ahaziah came to the throne (2 Chron. 21:17; 22:1), but the sons of his brothers, as is made clear in 2 Chron. 22:8.
We go down to salute.
The frankness of the answer given by these men indicates that they had as yet had no word of the events that had occurred at either Jezreel or Samaria. This shows the speed with which Jehu had carried through his measures against the throne. There seems to have been a close relationship between the royal families of Judah and Israel at this time, for such visits to be made back and forth. They had probably heard that Joram had sufficiently recovered from his wounds, and that a friendly visit was in order from his kinsfolk in the royal household of Judah.