2 Kings 11:1

Contextual Overview

¹When Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs. ¹ Now when `Atalyah the mother of Achazyah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. ¹ And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. ¹ Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. ¹ When Ahaziah's mother, Athaliah, saw that her son was dead, she killed all the royal family. ¹ When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she was determined to destroy the entire royal line. ¹When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah [king of Judah] saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal offspring.¹ When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and eliminated all the royal children.¹ Then Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah when she saw that her sonne was dead, she arose, & destroyed all the Kings seede. ¹Now Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son had died. So she rose and caused all the royal seed to perish.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

am 3120, bc 884

Athaliah: 2 Chronicles 22:10, 2 Chronicles 24:7

the mother: 2 Kings 8:26, 2 Kings 9:27

and destroyed: A similar history is related by Mr. Bruce, as having occurred in Abyssinia. Judith "surprised the rock Damo, and slew the whole of the princes, to the number, it is said, of about 400;" while the infant king, Del Naad, was conveyed for safety to a loyal province, and afterwards restored. Matthew 2:13, Matthew 2:16, Matthew 21:38, Matthew 21:39

seed royal: Heb. seed of the kingdom, 2 Kings 25:25, *marg. Jeremiah 41:1

Reciprocal: Judges 9:5 - slew 1 Kings 1:12 - the life 2 Kings 10:7 - slew seventy 2 Kings 10:14 - neither left 2 Kings 11:14 - Treason 2 Kings 12:1 - the seventh 2 Chronicles 18:1 - joined affinity Psalms 109:14 - let not Proverbs 14:1 - the foolish Isaiah 3:12 - children Isaiah 49:15 - they may Jeremiah 41:7 - slew Matthew 14:8 - Give

Cross-References

Isaiah 19:18
On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear loyalty to the Lord of Armies. One of the cities will be called the City of the Sun.

Isaiah 19:18
In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Mitzrayim that speak the language of Kana`an, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called The city of destruction.

Isaiah 19:18
In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction.

Isaiah 19:18
In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord of hosts. One of these will be called the City of Destruction.

Isaiah 19:18
On that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to the LORD of armies; one will be called the City of Destruction.

Isaiah 19:18
At that time five cities in Egypt will speak Hebrew, the language of Canaan, and they will promise to be loyal to the Lord All-Powerful. One of these cities will be named the City of Destruction.

Isaiah 19:18
In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of [the Hebrews of] Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One [of them] will be called the City of Destruction.

Isaiah 19:18
In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Yahweh of hosts; one shall be called The city of destruction.

Isaiah 19:18
In that day shall fiue cities in the lande of Egypt speake the language of Canaan, and shall sweare by the Lord of hostes. one shall be called the citie of destruction.

Isaiah 19:18
In that day five cities in the land of Egypt will be speaking the language of Canaan and swearing allegiance to Yahweh of hosts; one will be called the City of Destruction.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And when Athaiah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead,.... Who was the daughter of Ahab, and granddaughter of Omri 2 Kings 8:18, she arose,

and destroyed all the seed royal; that were left, for many had been slain already; the sons of Jehoshaphat, the brothers of Joram, were slain by him, 2 Chronicles 21:4 and all Joram's sons, excepting Ahaziah, were slain by the Arabians, 2 Chronicles 22:1, and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah were slain by Jehu, 2 Kings 11:8, these therefore seem to be the children of Ahaziah, the grandchildren of this brutish woman, whom she massacred out of her ambition of rule and government, which perhaps she was intrusted with while her son went to visit Joram king of Israel; other reasons are by some assigned, but this seems to be the chief. For the same reason Laodice, who had six sons by Ariarathes king of the Cappadocians, poisoned five of them; the youngest escaping her hands, was murdered by the people x, as this woman also was.

x Justin. e Trogo, l. 37. c. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Athaliah, as wife of Joram and mother of Ahaziah, had guided both the internal and the external policy of the Jewish kingdom; she had procured the establishmeut of the worship of Baal in Judaea 2 Kings 8:18, 2 Kings 8:27, and had maintained a close alliance with the sister kingdom 2Ki 8:29; 2 Kings 10:13. The revolution effected by Jehu touched her nearly. It struck away from her the support of her relatives; it isolated her religious system, severing the communication with Phoenicia; and the death of Ahaziah deprived her of her legal status in Judaea, which was that of queen-mother (the 1 Kings 15:13 note), and trausferred that position to the chief wife of her deceased son. Athaliah, instead of yielding to the storm, or merely standing on the defensive, resolved to become the assailant, and strike before any plans could be formed against her. In the absence of her son, hers was probably the chief anthority at Jerusalem. She used it to command the immediate destruction of all the family of David, already thinned by previous massacres 2 Kings 10:14; 2Ch 21:4, 2 Chronicles 21:17, and then seized the throne.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER XI

Athaliah destroys all that remain of the seed royal of Judah, 1.

Jehosheba hides Joash the son of Ahaziah, and he remains hidden

in the house of the Lord six years; and Athaliah reigns over the

land, 2, 3.

Jehoiada, the high priest, calls the nobles privately together

into the temple, shows them the kings son, takes an oath of

them, arms them, places guards around the temple, and around

the young king's person; they anoint and proclaim him, 4-12.

Athaliah is alarmed, comes into the temple, is seized, carried

forth, and slain, 13-16.

Jehoiada causes the people to enter into a covenant with the

Lord; they destroy Baal's house, priest, and images, 17, 18.

Joash is brought to the king's house, reigns, and all the land

rejoices, 19-21.

NOTES ON CHAP. XI

Verse 2 Kings 11:1. Athaliah — This woman was the daughter of Ahab, and grand-daughter of Omri, and wife of Joram king of Judah, and mother of Ahaziah.

Destroyed all the seed royal. — All that she could lay her hands on whom Jehu had left; in order that she might get undisturbed possession of the kingdom.

How dreadful is the lust of reigning! it destroys all the charities of life; and turns fathers, mothers, brothers, and children, into the most ferocious savages! Who, that has it in his power, makes any conscience

"To swim to sovereign rule through seas of blood?"

In what a dreadful state is that land that is exposed to political revolutions, and where the succession to the throne is not most positively settled by the clearest and most decisive law! Reader, beware of revolutions; there have been some useful ones, but they are in general the heaviest curse of God.