Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Chronicles 23:1

Clarke's Commentary

CHAPTER XXIII

Jehoiada the priest, after having taken counsel with the

captains, Levites, c., proclaims Joash, and anoints him

king, 1-11.

Athaliah, endeavouring to prevent it, is slain, 12-15.

He makes the people enter into a covenant, that they would

serve the Lord, 16.

The people break down the temple of Baal, and slay Mattan his

priest, 17.

Jehoiada makes several alterations, and remodels the kingdom,

18-21.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXIII

Verse 2 Chronicles 23:1. And in the seventh year — See on 2 Kings 11:4, &c.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Jezebel’s Baalism in Judah (21:1-23:21)

The Baalism of Ahab and Jezebel remained strong in the northern kingdom during the successive reigns of their sons Ahaziah and Joram (2 Kings 1:1-15). It spread to Judah in the reign of Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram, who was married to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel (21:1-20; see notes on 2 Kings 8:16-24).

Judah’s next king, Ahaziah, at the direction of his mother Athaliah and her northern relatives, cooperated with the idolatrous northern kingdom, and as a result met an early death (22:1-9; see notes on 2 Kings 8:25-29; 2 Kings 9:21-29; 2 Kings 10:12-14). The kings of both Judah and Israel were killed by Jehu, whose anti-Baal revolution in the northern kingdom is recorded in 2 Kings 9:1-36.

Upon the king of Judah’s death, Athaliah seized the throne for herself. She ruled for six years, during which she did all within her power to establish the northern Baalism of her parents in Judah. But the priests and Levites remained faithful to God. The Levites were the temple guards, and the writer emphasizes the part they played (in cooperation with the palace guards) in getting rid of Athaliah and restoring the throne to the Davidic dynasty. The Chronicler also points out that although the coup took place in the temple grounds, no one except the priests and Levites entered the temple buildings. People still had to respect the temple’s holiness (22:10-23:21; see notes on 2 Kings 11:1-20). The death of Athaliah marked the end of Jezebel’s Baalism in Judah.

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE SIX-YEAR REIGN OF ATHALIAH ENDS IN HER EXECUTION
VII. JOASH (837-800 B.C.) JEHOIADA'S PLAN TO
CROWN JOASH AND EXECUTE ATHALIAH

"And 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. And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers' houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king's son shall reign, as Jehovah hath spoken concerning the sons of David. This is the thing that ye shall do: a third part of you, that come in on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the thresholds; and 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 Jehovah. But let none come into the house of Jehovah, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall come in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the charge of Jehovah. And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever cometh into the house, let him be slain: and be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out."

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The five names do not occur in Kings; only, and incidentally, the five divisions of the royal guard (2 Kings 11:5 note).

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 23

And so chapter 23, Joash, this one son that escaped the sword of Athaliah, escaped the assassination attempts. When he was seven years old the priest Jehoiada called together the captains of the people of Judah and the chief men. And he said, "Look, I have Joash who is a descendant of David, because God promised that there would not cease to be a descendant of David upon the throne. Athaliah is not a descendant of David. She's a usurper and all. And so we want to establish him and set him up as the king. So I want you to divide into three companies. Three of you go out into the cities. Three of you stand at the gates, don't let anybody in. And the other third will stay in here. And we'll surround him and we will protect him."

And so they had him stand by the pillar. They put the crown upon his head, this little seven-year-old boy, and they began to cry, "God save the king, God save the king." And they began to rejoice and shout for the fact that God had again placed upon the throne a descendant of David. And Athaliah, when she heard the tumult of the people and heard them talking about a king, she came down into the temple and she saw this little fellow with the crown on his head and she began to cry, "Treason, treason!" And Jehoiada ordered the priest to grab her, not to kill her in the temple, but to take her outside and off the temple precincts and stone her. And so Athaliah was destroyed and now Joash began to reign as the king. He was only seven years old.

So in reality, he was just a little puppet type of a king, as long as Jehoiada the priest was alive. Jehoiada exercised tremendous influence over little Joash. He had raised him from a child and now did exercise tremendous influence over him. And with the influence of Jehoiada, actually, there was again a spiritual revival as they executed, actually, not only Athaliah but all of the other priests of Baal and all that had been established.

Now in verse 2 Chronicles 23:16 , chapter 23.

Jehoiada, [that is the priest who raised this little boy,] made a covenant between him and between all of the people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD's people ( 2 Chronicles 23:16 ).

In other words, let's return to the Lord. Let's get back to being God's people. So the people went to the temple of Baal and they broke it down. They broke down the altars and the images and they killed the priests of Baal there before the altars. And they re-established the priesthood there in Jerusalem and they began the worship within the temple once again, because the wicked sons of Amaziah had just gone in and ripped up the temple. It had become a disgrace, just almost a ruins. And so they sought then to repair.

Now this little Joash ordered them to collect funds throughout all the land to repair the temple. But the priests did not bring the money in. And so he called Jehoiada and he said, "Hey, I've ordered the temple repaired. How come the people haven't... how come the priests haven't brought the money in?" So he had a chest made and he set the chest there in the temple. And then he ordered all of the people of Judah according to the law of Moses, they were to give a tenth unto the Lord. And so the people came and they began to put it in, and the money was designated for the refurbishing and the rebuilding of the temple. And so they gave the money then unto skilled men and the temple was rebuilt.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

G. Athaliah ch. 23

The Chronicler did not have much interest in Athaliah because she was not of the Davidic line; she was the daughter of Ahab. His concern in this chapter was with the events that brought the next Davidic king to the throne: Joash.

Instead of protecting the temple, as had all the good kings of Judah so far, Joash enjoyed protection in the temple. The temple was a visual symbol of the continuity of the Davidic dynasty. Even though there was no visible king during Athaliah’s usurpation, the temple reminded the people that God would fulfill His promise to David of an unbroken royal line.

Many years later, the returned exiles were in a similar situation. A Davidic king was not on the throne in their day, but the rebuilt temple gave hope that a successor to David would again sit on his throne. In their day, they could not set a king on their throne, because they were no longer a sovereign nation but only a province of the Persian Empire. Evidently the people had already rebuilt the temple when the Chronicler wrote this book (cf. 2 Chronicles 5:9). Clearly the restoration community’s hope of the fulfillment of the promise God made to David centered on the temple. As long as they had permission to rebuild the temple, there was hope that someday a successor to David might rule over them again. The temple was in that sense the protector of the promise to David, both in Athaliah’s day and in the Chronicler’s day.

The public presentation of Joash recalls the anointing of Solomon, which ended Adonijah’s vain attempt to succeed David (1 Kings 1:39-40; 1 Kings 1:45-46).

Jehoiada’s reforms indicated the extent to which Judah had departed from God’s ordained worship (2 Chronicles 23:16-17). Jehoiada was the Chronicler’s ideal high priest. [Note: Thompson, p. 313.] It is interesting to read that the popular reaction to Athaliah’s death was joy (2 Chronicles 23:21).

"All the people of the land rejoiced, a characteristic response found in Chronicles whenever the Lord’s will was being followed." [Note: Ibid., p. 311.]

The flame of love for Yahweh burned low, but it was still alive among His people. In the absence of a king, the Lord raised up the high priest as Judah’s spiritual leader.

"The story of Athaliah, like that of Jehoram and Ahaziah, is a testimony to the ephemeral and ultimately illusory character of brute power exercised in a self-serving way." [Note: McConville, p. 206.]

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 And 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.   2 And 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.   3 And 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.   4 This 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;   5 And 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.   6 But 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.   7 And 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.   8 So 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.   9 Moreover 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.   10 And 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.   11 Then 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.

      We may well imagine the bad posture of affairs in Jerusalem during Athaliah's six years' usurpation, and may wonder that God permitted it and his people bore it so long; but after such a dark and tedious night the returning day in this revolution was the brighter and the more welcome. The continuance of David's seed and throne was what God had sworn by his holiness (Psalms 89:35), and an interruption was no defeasance; the stream of government here runs again in the right channel. The instrument and chief manager of the restoration is Jehoiada, who appears to have been, 1. A man of great prudence, who reserved the young prince for so many years till he was fit to appear in public, and till the nation had grown weary of the usurper, who prepared his work beforehand, and then effected it with admirable secresy and expedition. When God has work to do he will qualify and animate men for it. 2. A man of great interest. The captains joined with him, 2 Chronicles 23:1; 2 Chronicles 23:1. The Levites and the chief of the fathers of Israel came at his call to Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 23:2; 2 Chronicles 23:2) and were there ready to receive his orders. See what a command wisdom and virtue will give men. The Levites and all Judah did as Jehoiada commanded (2 Chronicles 23:8; 2 Chronicles 23:8), and, which is strange, all that were entrusted with the secret kept their own counsel till it was executed. Thus the words of the wise are heard in quiet,Ecclesiastes 9:17. 3. A man of great faith. It was not only common equity (much less his wife's relation to the royal family) that put him upon this undertaking, but a regard to the word of God, and the divine entail of the crown (2 Chronicles 23:3; 2 Chronicles 23:3): The king's son shall reign, must reign, as the Lord hath said. His eye to the promise, and dependence upon that, added a great deal of glory to this undertaking. 4. A man of great religion. This matter was to be done in the temple, which might occasion some breach of rule, and the necessity of the case might be thought to excuse it; but he gave special order that none of the people should come into the house of the Lord, but the priests and Levites only, who were holy, upon pain of death, 2 Chronicles 23:6; 2 Chronicles 23:7. Never let sacred things be profaned, no, not for the support of civil rights. 5. A man of great resolution. When he had undertaken this business he went through with it, brought out the king, crowned him, and gave him the testimony,2 Chronicles 23:11; 2 Chronicles 23:11. He ventured his head, but it was in a good cause, and therefore he went on boldly. It is here said that his sons joined with him in anointing the young king. One of them, it is likely, was that Zechariah whom Joash afterwards put to death for reproving him (2 Chronicles 24:20; 2 Chronicles 24:20), which was so much the more ungrateful because he bore a willing part in anointing him.