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2 Kings 11

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Athaliah Seizes the Throne 1–3

1
And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. ​
2
But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. ​
3
And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land. ​

Jehoiada Organizes the Coup 4–12

4
And the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds, with the captains and the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the LORD, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the LORD, and shewed them the king's son. ​
5
And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch of the king's house; ​
6
And a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard: so shall ye keep the watch of the house, that it be not broken down.
7
And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD about the king.
8
And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand: and he that cometh within the ranges, let him be slain: and be ye with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in.
9
And the captains over the hundreds did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that should go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.
10
And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king David's spears and shields, that were in the temple of the LORD. ​
11
And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, round about the king, from the right corner of the temple to the left corner of the temple, along by the altar and the temple.
12
And he brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king. ​

Athaliah Is Executed 13–16

13
And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the LORD.
14
And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets: and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason, Treason. ​
15
But Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the host, and said unto them, Have her forth without the ranges: and him that followeth her kill with the sword. For the priest had said, Let her not be slain in the house of the LORD. ​
16
And they laid hands on her; and she went by the way by the which the horses came into the king's house: and there was she slain.

Restoration of the Davidic Covenant 17–20

17
And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD'S people; between the king also and the people. ​
18
And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD. ​
19
And he took the rulers over hundreds, and the captains, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of the LORD, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king's house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.
20
And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was in quiet: and they slew Athaliah with the sword beside the king's house.

Jehoash Begins His Reign 21

21
Seven years old was Jehoash when he began to reign. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for 2 Kings 11

Verse 1

destroyed all the seed royal — ‘Seed’ (zera) is the word of the promise to David, ‘I will set up thy seed after thee’ (2 Sam 7:12), so what Athaliah strikes is the line that promise was made to. She acts when she sees ‘that her son was dead’ (9:27). 2 Chr 22:10 adds ‘of the house of Judah’.

Verse 2

Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram — 2 Chr 22:11 names her ‘the wife of Jehoiada the priest’ and again ‘the sister of Ahaziah’, and calls her father Jehoram. She ‘stole’ (ganab) the child Joash from among the king’s sons who were being slain, and hid him with his nurse ‘in the bedchamber’. The line promised ‘a light’ (8:19) is kept by her act.

Verse 3

hid in the house of the LORD six years — The child is kept in the house of the LORD for the years of Athaliah’s reign, as 2 Chr 22:12 also records. ‘Hid’ is chaba, to hide oneself away. Jehoiada’s move ‘the seventh year’ (v.4) ends the hiding.

Verse 4

made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them — Jehoiada brings the captains ‘into the house of the LORD’, and both covenant (berit) and oath are taken there, before ‘the king’s son’ is shown to them. 2 Chr 23:1 names the five captains of hundreds he took into covenant. The place gives the pledge the LORD as its witness.

Verse 5

on the sabbath — The plan rests on the changing of the watch: ‘his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that should go out on the sabbath’ (v.9). A third of those entering are to keep the watch of the king’s house. 2 Chr 23:4 says this third was ‘of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doors’.

Verse 10

king David’s spears and shields — They were kept ‘in the temple of the LORD’. David had taken ‘the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer’ and brought them to Jerusalem (2 Sam 8:7), and 2 Chr 23:9 says the arms Jehoiada gave out ‘had been king David’s’. The captains are armed from the store of the king whose line they are defending.

Verse 12

gave him the testimony — ‘Testimony’ (edut) is the word for what was put ‘into the ark’ (Ex 25:16). It is handed to the king with the crown; compare the king’s ‘copy of this law’ in Deut 17:18. ‘God save the king’ is literally ‘let the king live’ (chayah), the shout of 1 Sam 10:24, which is also heard at Solomon’s anointing (1 Kgs 1:39).

Verse 14

by a pillar, as the manner was — The king stands at the pillar, as Josiah later did when he ‘made a covenant before the LORD’ (2 Kgs 23:3). Athaliah’s ‘Treason’ is qesher, an unlawful alliance, the noun of the verb used of Jehu, ‘conspired’ (9:14). The people ‘blew with trumpets’, as for Solomon (1 Kgs 1:39).

Verse 15

Let her not be slain in the house of the LORD — Jehoiada commands the captains to take her ‘without the ranges’ (sederot, rows or ranks of soldiers) and to kill whoever follows. The temple is kept free of her death; v.16 has her led ‘by the way by the which the horses came into the king’s house’, and ‘there was she slain’.

Verse 17

a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people — The first covenant is that they ‘should be the LORD’S people’, as Moses said: ‘that he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself’ (Deut 29:13). The second, ‘between the king also and the people’, is like David’s league with the elders ‘before the LORD’ (2 Sam 5:3).

Verse 18

slew Mattan the priest of Baal — The people break the house of Baal, its altars and images, as Deut 12:3 commanded of such places, and kill its priest ‘before the altars’. 2 Chr 24:7 says Athaliah’s sons had given ‘all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD’ to the Baalim. The priest then ‘appointed officers over the house of the LORD’.

Verse 21

Seven years old was Jehoash — ‘Jehoash’ (Yehoash) and ‘Joash’ (Yoash) in v.2 are one name in two forms. 2 Chr 24:1 gives the same age and forty years of reign, and 2 Chr 24:2 says he ‘did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest’. 12:1 dates his reign to ‘the seventh year of Jehu’.