And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, they have
brought the heads of the king's sons
Perhaps this messenger to Jehu came from the great men of Samaria themselves, to let him know that they had obeyed his orders:
and he said, lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate
until the morning;
very probably it was towards or at the evening they were brought; and he ordered them to be taken out of the baskets, and laid in two heaps at the entering of the gate of the city, that they might be taken notice of, and publicly viewed by the people that passed and repassed the gate; and where they met in great numbers, either on account of the market there, or court of judicature there held, especially in mornings; and here they were to remain till the morning, though not without a guard, that they might still be more exposed to view; Noldius F16 renders it, "without the door of the gate", for they were brought at night, when the gate was shut.