2 Chronicles 23

In the seventh year, Jehoiada made himself strong. He brought five commanders of groups of a hundred soldiers into an agreement with him: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zichri.

1And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him.

NoteThe seventh year is the seventh year of Athaliah's rule. She was the mother of the previous king, Ahaziah; when he died she seized the throne and had the rest of the royal family killed. Jehoiada was the chief priest, and one infant son of Ahaziah, Joash, had been hidden from her inside the temple ever since. "Commanders of hundreds" were officers over units of about a hundred men, here, officers of the royal guard. The "agreement" (older versions say "covenant") is a binding pact sealed by oath, the standard way alliances and treaties were made.

2They traveled around Judah and gathered the Levites from all the towns of Judah, along with the heads of the family groups of Israel. Then they came to Jerusalem.

2And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.

NoteThe Levites were the tribe of Levi, set apart for service at the temple: guarding the gates, providing music, slaughtering and preparing offerings, and assisting the priests, who were one family within that tribe. "Heads of the family groups" were the senior men who spoke for the extended clans that made up the nation.

3The whole gathered assembly made an agreement with the king in God's house. Jehoiada said to them, "Look, the king's son will rule, just as the LORD promised about David's descendants."

3And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the LORD hath said of the sons of David.

NoteThe promise referred to is the one recorded in 2 Samuel 7: that David's descendants would hold the throne. Athaliah was not of David's line, so a son of Ahaziah had a claim she did not.

4"Here is what you are to do. One third of you priests and Levites who come on duty on the Sabbath will guard the doors."

4This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doors;

NotePriests and Levites served in rotating shifts, and the changeover happened on the Sabbath. That meant one group was arriving as another was leaving, twice the usual number of armed men on hand, without anything looking unusual.

5"One third will be at the king's palace, and one third at the Foundation Gate. All the rest of the people will be in the courtyards of the LORD's house."

5And a third part shall be at the king’s house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD.

NoteThe Foundation Gate is named only here; its location is unknown.

6"No one may go inside the LORD's house except the priests and the Levites who serve there. They may go in, because they have been set apart for that work. But all the other people must keep the duty the LORD assigned them."

6But let none come into the house of the LORD, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD.

Note"Set apart" means ritually qualified, cleansed and consecrated for temple service, which was what permitted a person to enter the building. The last phrase is uncertain in the Hebrew: it can mean the people were to keep the guard post assigned to them, or to observe the LORD's requirement by staying out.

7"The Levites must stand in a circle around the king, each man with his weapon in his hand. Anyone else who comes into the house must be put to death. Stay with the king wherever he goes."

7And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever else cometh into the house, he shall be put to death: but be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out.

Note"The house" here means the temple building itself, not the surrounding courtyards where the crowd stood. Entry to the building was restricted to qualified priests and Levites.

8So the Levites and all Judah did everything Jehoiada the priest had ordered. Each commander took his own men, both those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty, because Jehoiada had not let any of the work groups go home.

8So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go out on the sabbath: for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses.

NoteDavid had organized the priests and Levites into twenty-four divisions that took turns on duty. Jehoiada kept the outgoing division from going home, so both shifts were present at once.

9Then Jehoiada the priest handed out to the commanders of hundreds the spears and the large and small shields that had belonged to King David and were kept in God's house.

9Moreover Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David’s, which were in the house of God.

NoteWeapons captured in war were often dedicated and stored in the temple. These were old ceremonial arms from David's time, kept there for generations.

10He placed all the men in position, each with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side, near the altar and the temple, so they surrounded the king.

10And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by the king round about.

NoteThe temple faced east, so "right side" and "left side" mean the south and north sides as seen from inside looking out.

11Then they brought out the king's son, put the crown on him, and handed him the testimony, and they made him king. Jehoiada and his sons poured oil on him to set him apart as king, and they shouted, "Long live the king!"

11Then they brought out the king’s son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.

NoteThe "testimony" is disputed. It may be a written copy of the law or of the terms of kingship handed to the new king, or a royal emblem of some kind; the Hebrew word elsewhere refers to the covenant document. Pouring oil over the head was the formal act that installed a king in office, the word "anointed" comes from it. The shout is literally "May the king live!"; older English versions render it "God save the king."

12When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and cheering for the king, she came out to the people at the LORD's house.

12Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD:

NoteAthaliah was the queen who had held the throne for six years, and the grandmother of the boy now being crowned.

13She looked, and there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officials and the trumpeters stood beside him. All the people of the land were celebrating and blowing trumpets, and the singers with their instruments were leading the songs of praise. Athaliah tore her clothes and shouted, "Treason! Treason!"

13And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.

NoteKings had a customary standing place by one of the pillars at the temple entrance, used on formal occasions. "The people of the land" is a set phrase for the landowning free citizens of Judah, who acted as a political body at moments like this. Tearing one's own clothes was the standard public display of grief, horror, or protest.

14Then Jehoiada the priest sent out the commanders of hundreds who were over the army. He told them, "Bring her out between the rows of soldiers, and kill with the sword anyone who follows her." The priest had said, "Do not put her to death inside the LORD's house."

14Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the LORD.

Note"Between the rows of soldiers" translates an obscure Hebrew phrase; it probably means she was marched out surrounded by the ranks so no one could reach her, though some take it as a structural part of the temple. The order not to kill her inside was about the building itself: an execution there would defile it.

15So they seized her. When she reached the entrance of the Horse Gate by the king's palace, they killed her there.

15So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate by the king’s house, they slew her there.

NoteThe Horse Gate was an entrance on the palace side of the temple complex, apparently where horses were brought in and out.

16Then Jehoiada made an agreement between himself, all the people, and the king, that they would be the LORD's people.

16And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD’s people.

17So all the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed its altars and its idols to pieces, and they killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars.

17Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.

NoteBaal was the Canaanite storm and fertility god, worshiped widely in the region. Athaliah's family had promoted his worship in Judah, including a temple for him in Jerusalem with its own priest, Mattan. The "idols" are carved or cast cult statues.

18Jehoiada also put the care of the LORD's house in the hands of the priests, who were Levites. David had assigned them their duties in the LORD's house, to offer the burnt offerings to the LORD as the law of Moses says, with joy and with singing, just as David had arranged it.

18Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the LORD by the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David.

NoteA burnt offering was an animal burned whole on the altar, rather than one partly eaten by priests or worshipers. The arrangement credited to David is the division of priests and Levites into fixed rotations of duty, described in 1 Chronicles 23–26.

19He stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the LORD's house, so that no one who was unclean in any way could go in.

19And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the LORD, that none which was unclean in any thing should enter in.

Note"Unclean" is a ritual category, not a matter of dirt. Contact with a corpse, certain illnesses, and various bodily conditions made a person temporarily unfit to enter the temple until a set period had passed and the prescribed washings were done.

20He took the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the LORD's house. They went through the Upper Gate into the king's palace and seated the king on the royal throne.

20And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of the LORD: and they came through the high gate into the king’s house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.

NoteThe temple stood on higher ground than the palace, so one literally went down from one to the other. The Upper Gate was an entrance on the north side of the temple area.

21All the people of the land celebrated, and the city was calm, because Athaliah had been put to death with the sword.

21And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.