1 And when Athaliah H6271 the mother H517 of Ahaziah H274 saw H7200 that her son H1121 was dead, H4191 she arose H6965 and destroyed H6 all the seed H2233 royal. H4467
Two H8147 and twenty H6242 years H8141 old H1121 was Ahaziah H274 when he began to reign; H4427 and he reigned H4427 one H259 year H8141 in Jerusalem. H3389 And his mother's H517 name H8034 was Athaliah, H6271 the daughter H1323 of Omri H6018 king H4428 of Israel. H3478
But when Athaliah H6271 the mother H517 of Ahaziah H274 saw H7200 that her son H1121 was dead, H4191 she arose H6965 and destroyed H1696 all the seed H2233 royal H4467 of the house H1004 of Judah. H3063 But Jehoshabeath, H3090 the daughter H1323 of the king, H4428 took H3947 Joash H3101 the son H1121 of Ahaziah, H274 and stole H1589 him from among H8432 the king's H4428 sons H1121 that were slain, H4191 and put H5414 him and his nurse H3243 in a bedchamber. H2315 H4296 So Jehoshabeath, H3090 the daughter H1323 of king H4428 Jehoram, H3088 the wife H802 of Jehoiada H3077 the priest, H3548 (for she was the sister H269 of Ahaziah,) H274 hid H5641 him from H6440 Athaliah, H6271 so that she slew H4191 him not. And he was with them hid H2244 in the house H1004 of God H430 six H8337 years: H8141 and Athaliah H6271 reigned H4427 over the land. H776
But when Ahaziah H274 the king H4428 of Judah H3063 saw H7200 this, he fled H5127 by the way H1870 of the garden H1588 house. H1004 And Jehu H3058 followed H7291 after H310 him, and said, H559 Smite H5221 him also in the chariot. H4818 And they did so at the going up H4608 to Gur, H1483 which is by Ibleam. H2991 And he fled H5127 to Megiddo, H4023 and died H4191 there.
But it came to pass in the seventh H7637 month, H2320 that Ishmael H3458 the son H1121 of Nethaniah, H5418 the son H1121 of Elishama, H476 of the seed H2233 royal, H4410 came, H935 and ten H6235 men H582 with him, and smote H5221 Gedaliah, H1436 that he died, H4191 and the Jews H3064 and the Chaldees H3778 that were with him at Mizpah. H4709
For the sons H1121 of Athaliah, H6271 that wicked H4849 woman, had broken up H6555 the house H1004 of God; H430 and also all the dedicated things H6944 of the house H1004 of the LORD H3068 did they bestow H6213 upon Baalim. H1168
Now it came to pass in the seventh H7637 month, H2320 that Ishmael H3458 the son H1121 of Nethaniah H5418 the son H1121 of Elishama, H476 of the seed H2233 royal, H4410 and the princes H7227 of the king, H4428 even ten H6235 men H582 with him, came H935 unto Gedaliah H1436 the son H1121 of Ahikam H296 to Mizpah; H4709 and there they did eat H398 bread H3899 together H3162 in Mizpah. H4708
And G1161 when they G846 were departed, G402 behold, G2400 the angel G32 of the Lord G2962 appeareth G5316 to Joseph G2501 in G2596 a dream, G3677 saying, G3004 Arise, G1453 and take G3880 the young child G3813 and G2532 his G846 mother, G3384 and G2532 flee G5343 into G1519 Egypt, G125 and G2532 be thou G2468 there G1563 until G2193 I G302 bring G2036 thee G4671 word: G2036 for G1063 Herod G2264 will G3195 seek G2212 the young child G3813 to destroy G622 him. G846
Then G5119 Herod, G2264 when he saw G1492 that G3754 he was mocked G1702 of G5259 the wise men, G3097 was exceeding G3029 wroth, G2373 and G2532 sent forth, G649 and slew G337 all G3956 the children G3816 that were in G1722 Bethlehem, G965 and G2532 in G1722 all G3956 the coasts G3725 thereof, G846 from G575 two years old G1332 and G2532 under, G2736 according G2596 to the time G5550 which G3739 he had diligently enquired G198 of G3844 the wise men. G3097
But G1161 when the husbandmen G1092 saw G1492 the son, G5207 they said G2036 among G1722 themselves, G1438 This G3778 is G2076 the heir; G2818 come, G1205 let us kill G615 him, G846 and G2532 let us seize G2722 on his G846 inheritance. G2817 And G2532 they caught G2983 him, G846 and cast G1544 him out of G1854 the vineyard, G290 and G2532 slew G615 him.
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].