2 Kings 11

When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she rose up and destroyed the whole royal family.

1And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.

NoteAthaliah was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel of the northern kingdom of Israel, married into the royal family of Judah in the south; her son Ahaziah, king of Judah, had just been killed. Wiping out rival heirs was a standard move for someone seizing a throne, since any surviving descendant of David would have a stronger claim to rule Judah than she did.

2But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram and the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, Ahaziah's son, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being killed. She hid him and the woman who nursed him in a bedroom, out of Athaliah's reach, so he was not killed.

2But 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.

NoteJehosheba is called a daughter of King Joram (also spelled Jehoram), Athaliah's husband, so she was Ahaziah's sister or half-sister, and not necessarily Athaliah's own daughter. 2 Chronicles 22 adds that she was married to Jehoiada the priest, which is why she had access to the temple buildings. The nurse is a wet nurse, a woman who breastfed and cared for the child; Joash was still an infant.

3Joash stayed hidden with her in the house of the LORD for six years, while Athaliah ruled the land.

3And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land.

Note"The house of the LORD" is the temple in Jerusalem, built by Solomon. It was not a single hall but a walled compound with courtyards, gates and side rooms used as living quarters, storerooms and offices by the priests, a place where a child could be kept out of sight for years.

4In the seventh year, Jehoiada the priest sent for the commanders of the units of a hundred men, along with the royal bodyguards and the palace guards, and brought them to him inside the house of the LORD. There he made an agreement with them and put them under oath, and he showed them the king's son.

4And 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.

NoteThe army was organized in units of a hundred, a thousand and so on, so a "commander of a hundred" is roughly a company officer. Behind "royal bodyguards" is the Hebrew word Carites, apparently foreign mercenary troops kept as the king's personal guard; the palace guards were the regular runners who escorted and protected the king. An agreement of this kind (a covenant) was a formally sworn, binding pact, not a casual understanding.

5He gave them these orders: "Here is what you are to do. A third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath are to stand guard at the royal palace.

5And 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;

NoteThe guard units, like the priests, served in rotating shifts that changed over on the Sabbath. That made the changeover day the one day when two sets of troops, those arriving and those leaving, were legitimately in and around the temple at the same time, which is what makes the plan work without arousing suspicion.

6Another third are to be at the gate of Sur, and another third at the gate behind the guards. In this way you will take turns guarding the house so that no one breaks in.

6And 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.

NoteThe gate of Sur is otherwise unknown; the parallel account in 2 Chronicles 23 calls it the gate of the foundation. Its exact location in the temple and palace complex is not recoverable.

7And the two divisions of you who would normally go off duty on the Sabbath are to guard the house of the LORD, protecting the king.

7And 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.

8You are to form a circle around the king, each man with his weapon in his hand. Anyone who comes inside your lines is to be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes."

8And 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.

9The commanders of the units of a hundred did everything Jehoiada the priest had ordered. Each one took his own men, both those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty, and they came to Jehoiada the priest.

9And 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.

10The priest gave the commanders the spears and shields that had belonged to King David and were kept in the house of the LORD.

10And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king David’s spears and shields, that were in the temple of the LORD.

NoteAccording to 2 Samuel 8, weapons captured in David's wars were dedicated and stored at the sanctuary. Handing these out armed the guard and, because they were David's own, tied the moment publicly to the dynasty the boy belonged to.

11The guards took their places, each man with his weapon in his hand, standing all around the king. They stretched from the south side of the temple to the north side, along by the altar and the temple building.

11And 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.

NoteThe temple faced east, so a person standing in the doorway looking out had south on the right and north on the left; the King James "right corner" and "left corner" mean the south and north sides. The altar here is the large altar for burnt offerings, which stood in the open courtyard in front of the temple building, so all of this is happening outdoors, in front of a crowd.

12Then Jehoiada brought out the king's son, put the crown on him, and handed him the covenant document. They made him king and poured oil on him to set him apart for the office. The people clapped their hands and shouted, "Long live the king!"

12And 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.

NoteWhat Jehoiada hands the boy is called in Hebrew the 'edut, "the testimony." It is usually taken as a written copy of the covenant terms or of the law, which Deuteronomy 17 says a king was to keep by him; some scholars instead take it as a royal emblem or a document of the king's protocol. The text does not settle it. Pouring olive oil on the head was the standard public ceremony for installing a king or a priest in office, the origin of the word "anointed."

13When Athaliah heard the noise made by the guards and the people, she came in to the people, into the house of the LORD.

13And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the LORD.

14She looked, and there stood the king by the pillar, as the custom was. The officers and the trumpet players were beside the king, and all the people of the land were celebrating and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes and shouted, "Treason! Treason!"

14And 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.

NoteThe king had a fixed ceremonial station by one of the pillars of the temple; "as the custom was" means this was the recognized spot for a king appearing at the sanctuary. "The people of the land" is a set phrase for the free landholding citizens of Judah, who acted at times as a political body and more than once decided who would sit on the throne. Ripping one's own clothing was the conventional public display of grief, outrage or horror.

15But Jehoiada the priest gave orders to the commanders of the units of a hundred, the officers in charge of the army: "Bring her out between your lines, and kill with the sword anyone who follows her." The priest had said she must not be put to death in the house of the LORD.

15But 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.

NoteBlood shed inside the sanctuary would have made it ritually unusable until it was purified, so executions were carried out beyond its walls. The instruction is about the location, not about sparing her.

16So they seized her, and she went out by the road the horses used to enter the palace grounds. There she was put to death.

16And 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.

17Then Jehoiada made a formal agreement between the LORD and the king and the people, that they would be the LORD's people. He also made an agreement between the king and the people.

17And 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.

NoteTwo separate sworn agreements are made: one binding the LORD, the king and the people together as the LORD's people, and a second between the king and the people, setting out what each owed the other. Ancient Near Eastern kingship was routinely defined by such mutual obligations rather than by unlimited royal power.

18All the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed his altars and his images to pieces and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, in front of the altars. Then Jehoiada the priest posted men to watch over the house of the LORD.

18And 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.

NoteBaal was the storm and fertility god worshiped across Canaan and Phoenicia, and the chief rival to the worship of the LORD in Israel and Judah; the temple to him in Jerusalem was presumably built or supported during Athaliah's reign, since she came from a family that promoted his worship. The "images" are carved or cast statues of the god. Mattan was the official in charge of sacrifices at that temple, the counterpart to Jehoiada.

19He took the commanders of the units of a hundred, the royal bodyguards, the palace guards, and all the people of the land, and together they brought the king down from the house of the LORD. They went to the palace by way of the gate of the guards, and Joash sat down on the royal throne.

19And 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.

20All the people of the land celebrated, and the city was calm, because Athaliah had been put to death by the sword at the royal palace.

20And 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.

21Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign.

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

NoteJehoash and Joash are the long and short forms of the same name and refer to the same boy; English translations vary between them. In Hebrew Bibles this line is numbered as the first verse of chapter 12 rather than the last of chapter 11.