Bible Commentaries
2 Kings 11

Verse 1

11:1 And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the {a} seed royal.

(a) Meaning, all the posterity of Jehoshaphat, to whom the kingdom belonged: thus God used the cruelty of this woman to destroy the family of Ahab.

Verse 2

11:2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, {b} 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 {c} the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.

(b) The Lord promised to maintain the family of David, and not to quench the light of it, therefore he moved the heart of Jehosheba to preserve him.

(c) Where the priests slept.

Verse 4

11:4 And the seventh year {d} 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.

(d) The chief priest, Jehosheba’s husband.

Verse 5

11:5 And he commanded them, saying, This [is] the thing that ye shall do; A third part of {e} you that enter in on the sabbath shall {f} even be keepers of the watch of the king’s house;

(e) Of the Levites, who had charge of the keeping of the temple, and kept watch by course.

(f) That no one should come on them, while they were crowning the king.

Verse 6

11:6 And a third part [shall be] at the gate of {g} 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.

(g) Called the east gate of the temple, 2 Chronicles 23:5.

Verse 7

11:7 And two parts of all you that {h} go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD about the king.

(h) Whose charge is ended.

Verse 9

11:9 And 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 {i} sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.

(i) Read 2 Kings 11:5; 2 Kings 11:7.

Verse 10

11:10 And to the captains over hundreds did the {k} priest give king David’s spears and shields, that [were] in the temple of the LORD.

(k) That is, Jehoiada.

Verse 12

11:12 And he brought forth {l} the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and [gave him] {m} the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king.

(l) That is, Joash, who had been kept secret six years.

(m) Meaning, the law of God, which is his chief charge, and by which only his throne is established.

Verse 14

11:14 And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a {n} 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.

(n) Where the king’s place was in the temple.

Verse 15

11:15 But 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 {o} followeth her kill with the sword. For the priest had said, Let her not be slain in the house of the LORD.

(o) To take her part.

Verse 17

11:17 And Jehoiada made a {p} covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD’S people; between the {q} king also and the people.

(p) That both the king and the people should maintain the true worship of God and destroy all idolatry.

(q) That he should govern and they obey in the fear of God.

Verse 18

11:18 And 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 {r} altars. And the {s} priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD.

(r) Even in the place where he had blasphemed God, and thought to have been helped by his idol, there God poured his vengeance on him.

(s) That is, Jehoiada.

Verse 20

11:20 And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was in quiet: {t} and they slew Athaliah with the sword [beside] the king’s house.

(t) Who by his cruelty and persecution had troubled the whole land.