15 But Jehoiada H3077 the priest H3548 commanded H6680 the captains H8269 of the hundreds, H3967 the officers H6485 of the host, H2428 and said H559 unto them, Have her forth H3318 without H1004 the ranges: H7713 and him that followeth H935 H310 her kill H4191 with the sword. H2719 For the priest H3548 had said, H559 Let her not be slain H4191 in the house H1004 of the LORD. H3068
And the seventh H7637 year H8141 Jehoiada H3077 sent H7971 and fetched H3947 the rulers H8269 over hundreds, H3967 with the captains H3746 and the guard, H7323 and brought H935 them to him into the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 and made H3772 a covenant H1285 with them, and took an oath H7650 of them in the house H1004 of the LORD, H3068 and shewed H7200 them the king's H4428 son. H1121
And the captains H8269 over the hundreds H3967 did H6213 according to all things that Jehoiada H3077 the priest H3548 commanded: H6680 and they took H3947 every man H376 his men H582 that were to come in H935 on the sabbath, H7676 with them that should go out H3318 on the sabbath, H7676 and came H935 to Jehoiada H3077 the priest. H3548 And to the captains H8269 over hundreds H3967 did the priest H3548 give H5414 king H4428 David's H1732 spears H2595 and shields, H7982 that were in the temple H1004 of the LORD. H3068
Then Jehoiada H3077 the priest H3548 brought out H3318 the captains H8269 of hundreds H3967 that were set over H6485 the host, H2428 and said H559 unto them, Have her forth H3318 of the ranges: H1004 H7713 and whoso followeth H935 H310 her, let him be slain H4191 with the sword. H2719 For the priest H3548 said, H559 Slay H4191 her not in the house H1004 of the LORD. H3068
And he said H559 unto them, Defile H2930 the house, H1004 and fill H4390 the courts H2691 with the slain: H2491 go ye forth. H3318 And they went forth, H3318 and slew H5221 in the city. H5892
Thou therefore, son H1121 of man, H120 prophesy, H5012 and smite H5221 thine hands H3709 H3709 together, H5221 and let the sword H2719 be doubled H3717 the third H7992 time, the sword H2719 of the slain: H2491 it is the sword H2719 of the great H1419 men that are slain, H2491 which entereth into their privy chambers. H2314
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 2 Kings 11
Commentary on 2 Kings 11 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 11
2Ki 11:1-3. Jehoash Saved from Athaliah's Massacre.
1. Athaliah—(See on 2Ch 22:2). She had possessed great influence over her son, who, by her counsels, had ruled in the spirit of the house of Ahab.
destroyed all the seed royal—all connected with the royal family who might have urged a claim to the throne, and who had escaped the murderous hands of Jehu (2Ch 21:2-4; 22:1; 2Ki 10:13, 14). This massacre she was incited to perpetrate—partly from a determination not to let David's family outlive hers; partly as a measure of self-defense to secure herself against the violence of Jehu, who was bent on destroying the whole of Ahab's posterity to which she belonged (2Ki 8:18-26); but chiefly from personal ambition to rule, and a desire to establish the worship of Baal. Such was the sad fruit of the unequal alliance between the son of the pious Jehoshaphat and a daughter of the idolatrous and wicked house of Ahab.
2. Jehosheba—or Jehoshabeath (2Ch 22:11).
daughter of King Joram—not by Athaliah, but by a secondary wife.
stole him from among the king's sons which were slain—either from among the corpses, he being considered dead, or out of the palace nursery.
hid him … in the bedchamber—for the use of the priests, which was in some part of the temple (2Ki 11:3), and of which Jehoiada and his wife had the sole charge. What is called, however, the bedchamber in the East is not the kind of apartment that we understand by the name, but a small closet, into which are flung during the day the mattresses and other bedding materials spread on the floors or divans of the sitting-rooms by day. Such a slumber-room was well suited to be a convenient place for the recovery of his wounds, and a hiding-place for the royal infant and his nurse.
2Ki 11:4-12. He Is Made King.
4. the seventh year—namely, of the reign of Athaliah, and the rescue of Jehoash.
Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers, &c.—He could scarcely have obtained such a general convocation except at the time, or on pretext, of a public and solemn festival. Having revealed to them the secret of the young king's preservation and entered into a covenant with them for the overthrow of the tyrant, he then arranged with them the plan and time of carrying their plot into execution (see on 2Ch 22:10-23:21). The conduct of Jehoiada, who acted the leading and chief part in this conspiracy, admits of an easy and full justification; for, while Athaliah was a usurper, and belonged to a race destined by divine denunciation to destruction, even his own wife had a better and stronger claim to the throne; the sovereignty of Judah had been divinely appropriated to the family of David, and therefore the young prince on whom it was proposed to confer the crown, possessed an inherent right to it, of which a usurper could not deprive him. Moreover, Jehoiada was most probably the high priest, whose official duty it was to watch over the due execution of God's laws, and who in his present movement, was encouraged and aided by the countenance and support of the chief authorities, both civil and ecclesiastical, in the country. In addition to all these considerations, he seems to have been directed by an impulse of the Divine Spirit, through the counsels and exhortations of the prophets of the time.
2Ki 11:13-16. Athaliah Slain.
13. Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people—The profound secrecy with which the conspiracy had been conducted rendered the unusual acclamations of the vast assembled crowd the more startling and roused the suspicions of the tyrant.
she came … into the temple of the Lord—that is, the courts, which she was permitted to enter by Jehoiada's directions (2Ki 11:8) in order that she might be secured.
14. the king stood by a pillar—or on a platform, erected for that purpose (see on 2Ch 6:13).
15. without the ranges—that is, fences, that the sacred place might not be stained with human blood.
2Ki 11:17-20. Jehoiada Restores God's Worship.
17, 18. a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people—The covenant with the Lord was a renewal of the national covenant with Israel (Ex 19:1-24:18; "to be unto him a people of inheritance," De 4:6; 27:9). The covenant between the king and the people was the consequence of this, and by it the king bound himself to rule according to the divine law, while the people engaged to submit, to give him allegiance as the Lord's anointed. The immediate fruit of this renewal of the covenant was the destruction of the temple and the slaughter of the priests of Baal (see 2Ki 10:27); the restoration of the pure worship of God in all its ancient integrity; and the establishment of the young king on the hereditary throne of Judah [2Ki 11:19].