Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, July 19th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Bible Commentaries
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers Ellicott's Commentary
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
These files are public domain.
Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com. Used by Permission.
Bibliographical Information
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on 2 Chronicles 23". "Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers". https://studylight.org/commentaries/eng/ebc/2-chronicles-23.html. 1905.
Ellicott, Charles John. "Commentary on 2 Chronicles 23". "Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers". https://studylight.org/
Whole Bible (34)Old Testament (1)Individual Books (1)
Verse 1
XXIII.
THE FALL OF ATHALIAH, AND SUCCESSION OF JOASH.
(Comp. 2 Kings 11:4-20.)
(1) Jehoiada strengthened himself.âShowed himself strong or courageous, behaved boldly (1 Samuel 4:9). The chronicler has substituted a favourite expression (hithchazzaq) for the term used in Kings, âJehoiada sent.â
The captains of hundreds.âTheir names, added here, are not given in 2 Kings 11:4. On the other hand, Kings reads, âthe captains of the hundreds of the Carians (or body-guard) and the Runners (or couriers, i.e., royal messengers) ââterms which were probably obscure to the chronicler.
Azariah . . . and Azariah.âHeb.,âAzaryâh . . . and âAzaryâhû. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 21:2.) These names are introduced in the chronicler s well-known manner (by the prefix le, marking the object of the verb). His style is very visible in the additions to the narrative as compared with Kings.
Verse 2
(2) And they went about in Judah.â2 Chronicles 17:9; 1 Samuel 7:16.
The chief of the fathers.âThe heads of the clans, or chiefs of houses.
This and the next verse are added by the chronicler. In Kings the narrative passes at once to the charge of 2 Chronicles 23:4 : âThis is the thing that ye shall do,â which is there addressed to the âcaptains of the hundreds,â or centurions of the royal guard. In fact, the parallel text is nearly if not altogether silent as to the part played by the Levites in the Restoration; and the chronicler appears to have supplemented that account with materials derived from other authorities, and perhaps from Levitical traditions. That he should have done so, is only consistent with his general practice and the special purpose of his history. At the same time, allowing for certain characteristic additions, interpretations, and substitutions of phrase for phrase, which will be specified in these Notes, the narrative of the chronicler absolutely coincides with that of Kings, treating of the same events, and rigidly observing the same limits, as well as maintaining a general identity of language. We conclude, therefore, that in this case, as elsewhere, the chronicler has used as the groundwork of his relation a historical text which contained sections substantially identical with the present narratives of Kings, but accompanied by numerous details not found in those books.
Verse 3
(3) And all the congregation.âOf the assembled Levites and family chiefs, as well as the royal guard.
Made a covenant with the king.âComp. 2 Kings 11:4 : âAnd he made a covenant for them,â i.e., imposed a compact on them, made them swear fidelity to the young prince. (Comp. also 2 Samuel 3:21; 2 Samuel 5:3.)
The kingâs son shall reign.âOr, Behold the kingâs son! Let him be king.
As the Lord hath said.âSpake concerning the sons of David, in the oracle delivered by the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 7:4-17).
Verse 4
(4) This is the thing that ye shall do.â2 Kings 11:5 : âAnd he charged them saying, This is the thing,â (&c. There he charges the captains of the guard as being the leaders of the conspiracy.
A third.âThe third. So 2 Chronicles 23:5. âThe third of you who come in on the Sabbathâ is read also in 2 Kings 11:5. The chronicler has added the explanatory words: âbelonging to the priests and to the Levites.â This can hardly be harmonised with 2 Kings 12:4-12 - The chronicler may have misunderstood the words, which in the older account designate the royal guard; and it might have appeared to him impossible that any but members of the sacred orders would be called together in the Temple by the high priest. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 23:5-6 with 2 Kings 11:4 : âbrought them into the house of the Lord.â) But he may also have had before him an account in which the part taken by the sacerdotal caste in the revolution was made much more of than m the account of Kings. Moreover the priests and Levites would be likely to play a considerable part in a movement tending to the overthrow of a cultus antagonistic to their own, especially when that movement originated with their own spiritual head, and was transacted in the sanctuary to which they were attached. The chronicler, therefore, cannot with fairness be accused of âarbitrary alterations,â unless it be presupposed that his sole authority in writing this account was the Second Book of Kings. The priests and Levites used to do duty in the Temple from Sabbath to Sabbath, so that one course relieved another at the end of each week. (See 1 Chronicles 24:0; Luke 1:5.) That the companies of the royal guards succeeded each other on duty in the same fashion is clear from the parallel narrative.
Shall be porters of the doors.âWarders of the thresholds, that is, of the Temple (1 Chronicles 9:19; 1 Chronicles 9:22). 1 Kings 11:5 says: âThe third of you that come in on the Sabbath, they shall keep the guard of the kingâs house; âthe latter part of which answers to the first sentence of the next verse: âAnd the third part (shall be) at the kingâs house.â The kingâs âhouseâ in Kings means the royal palace; the chronicler appears to mean by it his temporary dwelling within the Temple precincts.
Verse 5
(5) And a third part at the gate of the foundation.â2 Kings 11:6 reads: âthe gate Sûr,â which appears there as a gate of the palace. (LXX., âthe middle gate;â Syr. and Arab., âthe Butchersâ gateâ)
And all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord.âThis appears to be written from the point of view of a strict legalist, according to which none might enter the holy house itself save the priests. It looks like a protest against 2 Kings 11:4, where it is said that Jehoiada brought the centurions of the royal guard into the house of the Lord.
Verse 6
(6) But let none come into the house of the Lord.âThis verse is not read in Kings. Apparently it is merely an emphatic repetition of the direction of the last verse that all the people were to remain in the courts, and not to break the law by presuming to enter the holy chambers. In 2 Kings 11:7 we read instead: âAnd the two parts among you, all that go out on the Sabbath, they shall keep the watch of the house of the Lord, with regard to the king.â The last words of the present verse, âAnd all the people shall keep the watch of the Lordâ repeat a portion of this, but in a different sense: âLet all the people carefully observe the legal rule against entering the sanctuary.â
Verse 7
(7) And the Levites shall compass.âKings, âAnd ye (i.e., the centurions of the royal guard) shall compass.â (See Note on 2 Chronicles 23:4.) The chronicler characteristically dwells on the share of the Levites in the matter; but he does not expressly exclude the royal guard; and it is utterly unfair to allege that he has metamorphosed the guardsmen of Kings into Levites, âin order to divert to the priesthood the honour which properly belonged to the Praetoriansâ (Thenius). The truth may perhaps be that the high priest Jehoiada brought about a combination of the royal guard with the Levitical warders of the Temple; and that the united body acted under the command of the five centurions of the guard.
Cometh into the house.â2 Kings 11:8 has, âinto the ranks;â a rare word (sedçrôth), occurring only four times, viz., in this narrative thrice, and once in 1 Kings 6:8 (in a different sense).
But be ye.âSo Kings. But some MSS. and the LXX., Vulg., Targ., and Arab. read here: âand let them (i.e., the Levites) be.â (See Note on 2 Kings 11:8.)
Verse 8
(8) The Levites and all Judah.â2 Kings 11:9 reads, âthe captains of the hundreds.â The rest of the verse is the same in both narratives so far as the words âgo out on the Sabbath.â
For Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses.âThe companies of priests and Levites, whose weekly duties had been fulfilled, and who under ordinary circumstances would have been formally âdismissedâ by the high priest, were detained at the present emergency as auxiliaries to their brethren who were âcoming in.â
Instead of this clause Kings has: âAnd they came to Jehoiada the priest,â i.e., the captains of the hundreds came, to him; a remark which quite naturally preludes the statement of the next verse both there and here.
Verse 9
(9) Moreover.âAnd. This verse is essentially identical with 2 Kings 11:10 : âAnd the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds the spear and the shields that had been king Davidâs, which were in the house of Jehovah.â The chronicler has added Jehoiada and the bucklers, and turned the spear into spears, rightly according to most critics.
Spears, and bucklers, and shields.âEach word has the article in the Hebrew.
That had been king Davidâs.âComp. 1 Chronicles 18:7; 1 Chronicles 18:11; also 1 Samuel 22:10; 1 Samuel 17:7.
Verse 10
(10) And he set all the people.â2 Kings 9:11 : âAnd the Couriers stood.â By âthe people,â the chronicler obviously means, not the mass of the congregation, but the armed body who were to âcompass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his handâ (2 Chronicles 23:7).
His weapon.âOr, his missiles, arms. LXX., á½ Ïλοα. (Comp. 2 Chronicles 32:5.) Kings has a commoner word. The remainder of the verse is identical with its parallel.
Along by.âTowards the altar.
Verse 11
(11) Then.âAnd. So in 2 Chronicles 23:14; 2 Chronicles 23:17.
They brought out . . . and put.â2 Kings 11:12 : âhe (Jehoiada) brought out . . . and put.â
Put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony.âLiterally, put upon him the crown (nçzer; Exodus 29:6; 2 Samuel 1:10) and the law (ha-âêdûth; Exodus 25:21-22; Exodus 31:18). Was a scroll of the ten words wrapped round the diadem, or laid on the kingâs shoulder? (Comp. Vulg., âimposuerunt ei diadema testimonium dederuntque in manu ejus tenendam legem;â as if a copy of the law was solemnly presented to the newly-crowned king.)
Jehoiada and his sons.âThe chronicler adds this to make it clear that it was the priests who anointed the king. (Comp. 1 Kings 1:39.)
Verse 12
THE EXECUTION OF ATHALIAH (2 Chronicles 23:12-21).
(See 2 Kings 11:13-20.)
(12) Now when Athaliah . . . she came.âAnd Athaliah heard . . . and she came.
The noise of the people running and praising the king.âOr, the noise of the people, the Couriers, and those who were acclaiming the king. (1 Kings 11:13, âthe noise of the runners, the people;â where the people may be an inadvertent repetition, as the same expression follows directly. The rest of the verse is the same as here.)
Verse 13
(13) Stood.âWas standing.
At his pillar.âOn his stand. So 2 Kings 23:3. Kings here has, âon the stand;â LXX., á¼Ïá½¶ Ïá¿Ï ÏÏá½±ÏεÏÏ Î±á½Ïοῦ; Vulg., âstantem super gradum.â
At the entering in.âIn the entry. LXX., á¼Ïá½¶ Ïá¿Ï εἰÏá½¹Î´Î¿Ï . Kings reads, âaccording to the custom.â So the Syriac and Arabic here.
And the princes.âSee Note on 2 Kings 11:14. Some Hebrew MSS. here also read âsingers;â one MS. has âCouriers.â
Rejoiced.âWere rejoicing and sounding.
Also the singers with instruments of music, and such as taught to sing praise.âAnd the minstrels (or musicians) with the instruments of music, and men leading the chanting (literally, teaching to praise). This is one of the writerâs characteristic additions to the older text.
Said.âKings, âcried,â which is more original.
Verse 14
(14) Then.âAnd. This verse is the same as 2 Kings 11:15, with a few formal variations.
Brought out.âKings, âcommanded.â The Heb. words are so nearly alike that one may easily be a corruption of the other. The Syriac and Arabic agree with Kings. The LXX. gives both readings.
Have her forth of the ranges.âMake her go out between the ranks of guards.
Let him be slain.âAn explanation of the form used in Kings (the infinitive).
Slay her not.âYe must not slay her. Kings, âLet her not be slain.â So the Syriac here.
Verse 15
(15) So they laid hands on her.âRather, And they made way for her on both sides. LXX., καὶ á¼Î´Ïκαν αá½Ïá¿ á¼Î½ÎµÏιν. Syriac, âAnd they made room for her.â
To the entering of the horse gate.âKings reads: âAnd she went by the way of the entry of the horses into the kingâs house.â Syriac, âAnd she entered into the way of the entry of the horses, and was killed there.â
Verse 16
RENEWAL OF THE THEOCRATIC COVENANT AND ABOLITION OF BAAL-WORSHIP
(2 Chronicles 23:16-21).
(16) A covenant between . . . the king.âA slight but characteristic variation from 2 Kings 11:17 : âthe covenant between Jehovah and the king and the people, that they should become a people for Jehovah.â
Between him.âOr rather, himself. The high priest is thus regarded as representing Jehovah in the transaction; and the apparent irreverence of making the Deity a direct co-partner with men in a compact is avoided.
Be the Lordâs people.âLiterally, become a people for Jehovah. Kings adds: âand between the king and the people,â a not unimportant clause, for it relates to certain limitations of the royal prerogative, which were usually agreed upon at the beginning of a reign (2 Samuel 3:21; 2 Samuel 5:3; 1 Samuel 10:25).
Verse 17
(17) Brake it down.âPulled it down.
And brake.âAnd its altars, &c., they broke in pieces. Kings adds, âthoroughly.â (See 2 Kings 11:18.)
Verse 18
(18) Also Jehoiada appointed.âThis and the next verse are a thoroughly characteristic expansion of the brief notice: âAnd the priest set officers over the house of the Lordâ (Kings). Render, âAnd Jehoiada put the offices of the house of the Lord into the hand of the priests the Levites.â Syriac, âAnd Jehoiada made prefects (shallîtônê) in the house of the Lord, and the priests and Levites.â The LXX. renders: âAnd Jehoiada the priest took in hand the works of the house of the Lord, by the hand of priests and Levites.â
Whom David had distributed.âDivided into courses or classes (1 Chronicles 23:6; 1 Chronicles 23:24-25).
In the house.âFor the house.
As it is written.âA reference to the Pentateuch. (Comp. Ezra 3:2.)
With rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David.âSee the margin, and comp. the Notes on 1 Chronicles 25:2; 1 Chronicles 25:6; 1 Chronicles 23:5.
The meaning of all this is that the high priest now restored the regular services of the Temple, as arranged by David, which had been neglected or at least irregularly conducted during the six years of Athaliahâs usurpation.
Verse 19
(19) And he set.âStationed, or appointed.
At the gates.âOr, over the gates. (See 1 Chronicles 23:5; 1 Chronicles 26:1-19.)
That none which was unclean . . . should enter.âComp. 2 Chronicles 23:6, and Leviticus 5:7; Numbers 5:19; Deuteronomy 24:1-3; Deuteronomy 24:10-11.
Verse 20
(20) And he took.âSee 2 Kings 11:19.
The nobles, and the governors of the people.âKings has: âAnd the Carians and the Couriers.â (See Note on 2 Chronicles 23:1.)
The nobles.âComp. Psalms 16:3.
Governors of the people.âComp. Isaiah 28:14. These ânobles and governorsâ are perhaps âthe heads of the clansâ of 2 Chronicles 23:2, and âthe princes of 2 Chronicles 23:13; though the phrase certainly looks like an attempt at explaining the obscure titles of the royal guard.
And they came through the high gate.âKings, âAnd they came by the way of the Couriersâ Gate.â (See Note on 2 Chronicles 23:5, supra.) The Couriersâ Gate may have been called the High Gate, as being the grand entrance to the palace. A gate of the Temple has the same designation in 2 Chronicles 27:3.